This Story's Going Somewhere

Chapter 24 - Patrick

When we walked into her father's house, Nora was positively buzzing with excitement. She left me in the doorway and quickly waddled herself into the kitchen, calling for her dad all the way. I took my taking my shoes off and followed her into the house, just as he father came into the kitchen from the living room. Nora beamed at him. "Dad!" She gasped, her hands on her belly, "What is it? What's the surprise?"

    Her father chuckled at her enthusiasm, and pulled out a kitchen chair to sit down. As he did so, I pulled out a chair for Nora, gently pulling her arm until she sat down. Mr. Hawkins smiled at us both. "It's in your bedroom, Nora," he said slowly, but held up one hand when Nora nearly leaped right back onto her feet. "Hold on," he continued, "I want to talk to you first." At his insistence, Nora slowly relaxed in her seat. Mr. Hawkins hesitated a long moment, and a distant smile spread over his face. "What's up there waiting for you, is something that once belonged to you, Nora. I built it myself. And inside of it, is something your mother made for you."

    I glanced at Nora. Her face was blank, but her eyebrows were slowly drawing themselves closer together. She was confused. "Something mom made for me?" She questioned, "I don't remember having anything like that."

    Mr. Hawkins nodded, his smile fading. "That's because you never had it...I never gave it to you, Nora." He looked away then, down at his lap. He knew how she would react to that.

    "You had something from mom...and you never gave to me? Dad...." Nora trailed off, shaking her head because she didn't understand. I reached over, pulling one of her hands from her belly to lace our fingers together.

    "I know," Mr. Hawkins said, frowning now as he looked back up at Nora. "I should have given it to you a long time ago, but after you were born, after... it happened...I just couldn't bring myself to look at it. I packed it away, with a lot of your mother's things, and I never thought about it again. Not until you two came to me and told me you were pregnant. I thought now would be the time to tell you. It's yours, Nora, and I think...you would want your baby to have it." When he finished speaking, the room was silent for a long moment.

Nobody said anything, until Nora took a deep breath and looked up at her father. "Can I go see it now?" She asked simply, and when he looked back at her she gave him a small, sad smile, as if to tell him she understood why he had never given her mother's gift to her. He nodded, and Nora stood up.

I got up as well, but Mr. Hawkins suddenly waved me back down. "Patrick...can I talk to you for a minute? I think Nora should have a minute alone anyways." I glanced at Nora, and she squeezed my hand before letting go. She left the room, and I turned back to her father. He looked down at his lap again, folding his hands together on the table. "How long will you be gone?" He asked suddenly.

"Five weeks," I said shortly, swallowing hard. The man still made me nervous. "I'll be back a few weeks before her due date."

He nodded slowly. "Her mother went into labor with her early. Did you know that?" I shook my head, panic beginning to rise like bile in my throat. "If she does the same...do you have a plan?"

"I'll be here," I stated, without really even thinking about it. "Wherever I am, I'll come home for it. I won't be far; The next few shows are in Ohio, and then the furthest I'll be right before coming home is Maryland."

"That's not too bad," Mr. Hawkins mused. "Just be careful with her. She's scared, even when she doesn't show it."

"I know," I said quietly, my heart beating so loudly that I feared he might hear it. What if she did go into labor early? What if everything happened in exactly the same way, and there was nothing anyone could do about it? What if this killed her?