Before It's Too Late

Chapter 52

"ETHAN AND I GOT married weeks ago. In our hearts and on paper, Nathaniel Thomas James is our son. We are a family."

David couldn't believe the bomb Avery had just dropped. A muscle in his jaw twitched. The color drained out of his face as his mouth fell open. He came to win her back. What she declared broke the last hope he'd been hanging on to.

It was twice the pain. First, he lost the woman he loved, the mother of his child. Second, the man who stole Avery's heart was claiming his son. The suffering was too intense. He couldn't find a word to describe it. If what he was feeling was death, he felt like dying repeatedly. If it was fate's revenge on him, he sure got the message.

For David, nothing was more unbearable than realizing that the person you want to be with doesn't feel the same about you. Confirming the one great gift you once had in your life wasn't yours anymore was suffocating. Truth slapping in his face was like having his heart broken into a gazillion pieces. Yet, only one question came into his mind. Was it this painful when he betrayed Avery?

Silence filled the room. Shelly kept rubbing Avery's back. Suddenly, a loud whimper echoed in the room. David broke down. All his remorse, resentment, sorrow, and desperation came out in sobs and tears. Shelly and Avery gaped at each other with wonder. The David in front of them wasn't the same as the one who cried to Avery in the hospital in LA. They were witnessing a defeated David.

Shelly's heart ached for the good friend she had in David. She believed the cheating David got what he deserved. Avery felt the heaviness and pain the man he once loved was suffering. She wasn't happy. It was her words that had caused everything. But she wouldn't regret speaking her truth. If there was one thing she learned from it all, it was the importance of honesty.

Avery slowly moved near David's seat. If there was any space left in her heart for him, it was for all the beautiful memories they shared before all the cheating happened.

She patted David's back. "Even if we aren't together, we will always have a connection because of Nathaniel. So, please find it in your heart to accept the situation. I don't want to always fight with you. I want to replace all the hurt and bad memories with good ones for the baby's sake." Avery whispered to a still sobbing David. David answered with both hands covering his welled-up face, "I don't know how I can live without you, Ave! I never imagined my future without you!"

Avery removed her hand from David's back and sighed aloud. "Live for your son. Plan a future that will make him look up to you. Make a life that will make him a son proud of his father."

Shelly stood up and grabbed the box of tissues from a distance. She took some from the box and sat beside David. Then, quietly, she placed the tissue on his hand. At that moment, she allowed herself to be a friend to a lost and agonizing David. When she looked at Avery, they nodded and gave each other a half-smile. Then, with only their eyes talking, they agreed on one thing. Most of the time, regret comes at the end when it's too late.

"I don't know if I can. I don't even know where to start. Thinking that you won't be with me is killing me..." David wiped his tears and looked at Avery.

Avery met his gaze. "Accept reality and forgive yourself, David. That should be a start. Eventually, you'll realize things will fall into place. Before I left for Florida, I realized I also needed to forgive myself and let go of all the blame and regrets. It was only after I found myself again. Sometimes we are too focused on chasing after what we can't have; we don't see the goodness of what we have. To be free from the past, to be free from the pain, we must learn to let go."

***

After their talk, David left, saying nothing. Avery didn't press him for any reaction. She knew David needed time to absorb everything she had revealed. He needed to think things through. But she didn't let him leave without giving her word. Instead, She promised to contact him to spend time with the baby before he went to Boston.