Love is Only Sleeping

Part 24

Tracey sat in the brown Mercedes in the parking lot of the hospital in Carmel, CA. It was a gloomy, misty day,  a chill was in the air, typical for Winter. She held the orange envelope in her hand that read "Schneider," her ex-husbands last name. Her hands were trembling as she wiped tears away from her face.
Mike didn't know Tracey was dealing with this private battle, or so she thought. 'This will change everything,' she thought.
She looked down at the envelope, wishing it said "Nesmith" instead. She could only hope the results were in Mike's favor.
'What will happen if the baby is David's? I can't have another abortion. I won't! And I can't go back to David. I want Mike.'
Thoughts of Mike and their life together raced through her mind, she felt awful she was keeping such a huge secret from him early on, and the deceit could not have made her feel any better.
She decided to rip open the envelope, and as she saw the results, she burst into tears, slamming on the steering wheel with her hands.
"God dammit! Why is it his?!"
Tracey sat in the car and felt this urge, this need to run away, to leave Mike, to just start over, because she felt like this time, it was over for them, for good.

She drove in the rain along the Monterey coast, with no clear destination, in silence. She ended up in San Francisco, where Mike was, working on one of his video projects.

She walked into the studio, drenched from the rain, a look on her face that told Mike she was devastated.

The second he saw her walk in, he told the other two gentlemen to leave, as he walked up to Tracey and grabbed her shoulders.

"Baby, you're soaked to the bone now, come here, take your coat off," he said, nervously.
Tracey backed away, shaking her head, and said quietly, "No, it's okay, I don't plan on staying very long."

Mike, taken aback, said "What do you mean? You drove all the way here,now come here and sit with me so we can talk."
"I just came here to tell you goodbye," Tracey said, tears steaming down her face.
"Goodbye?! What the hell do you mean?"
"I just, I can't, I can't tell you why, just know that, I love you, and I, I, this is for the best, you don't deserve my mess," Tracey said, trembling as she ran out of the studio.

Mike ran after her in the pouring rain as she swiftly made her way down the block, hearing him yell "Tracey! Tracey!"
She finally stopped to catch her breath as her body couldn't take it any longer and turned to face Mike.
"Babe, I love you! Whatever is going on, we can work it out!" Mike gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

"Well, guess what?! I'm pregnant! And David is the father!" Tracey yelled out, crying with her head in her hands, shaking.

Mike grabbed Tracey and held her, and tears started falling from his eyes.
"Don't worry, baby, it'll be alright, I'll take care of you and the baby," he said quietly. "Now let's get you inside where it's dry and warm."

Tracey was stunned. She looked up at Mike and saw a look of a man who truly loved her, and would love her baby.

"But, its not yours, why would you want this baby?"

"Because it's a part of you, because you deserve anything you want, because I love you." Mike said as he pushed the tears and wet hair away from her face and kissed her passionately in the rain.

While they were in the studio, she looked over at Mike as she was drying her hair with a towel he found in a dressing room.

"Mike?"
"Yeah babe?"
"You knew, right?"
"Yeah, I knew."
"I'm sorry. I was hoping it was yours, but..."
"You knew it was David's."

Tracey nodded, looking down at her towel, tears forming in her eyes.

Mike walked over and gave her a hug, holding her, rubbing her back.

"You have nothing to feel bad about," he whispered as he kissed her forehead.
"I know, I just feel like I'm being punished, for having the abortion, for me cheating on my husband, for all of it," she said, crying in his shoulder.

"Think of this as a second chance," Mike said quietly.