Ghosts (A Christian Yelich Story)

Chapter Ninety-Six: Definitely Not Forever

I had security set up a meeting with Darby after the All-Star Game concluded. I took her to a Walgreens where we picked up a pregnancy test, and then we drove together to my hotel. I marked the test with a permanent marker, so she couldn't spring a fake positive on me. After the two-minute waiting period, only the control lined showed up. Of course she was lying, and, in the process, she likely ruined my relationship.

"Why did you do this?" I asked her. "What did you get out of this?"

She rolled her eyes. "You treated me like garbage. You deserved this."

"I deserved to lose the mother of my child and potentially my child because of your twisted revenge fantasy? Cool. Please leave."

She left. I called Annie. No answer. I texted Annie. No answer. I called Hannah. No answer. I called my mom. No answer.

I texted Annie throughout the night without a single response. I booked the first flight out of Cleveland I possibly could – 7:00 am. Hopefully Annie would be in Milwaukee – not on her way to California – by the time I landed in Wisconsin.

Hannah finally answered her phone around 5:00 am. "Yo," she answered.

"Where's Annie?" I asked, maybe a bit too frantically. "She won't respond to me."

"She's in route to your apartment. Speaking of your apartment, could you please call your landlord and tell him to let me into your place? I don't feel like checking into a hotel. I realize it's late, but it's worth a shot."

"Sure," I responded.

"I already wrote up a press release regarding the poster incident. MLB.com will post it in a few hours. Just to confirm, there is no baby, right? That's all bullshit? Annie is the only one impregnated with your spawn?"

"There's definitely not a baby. I confirmed that with science."

"Okay, cool. This should blow over easily then. Are you okay?"

I sighed. "No. She always just leaves . . ."

"Yeah, she has major trust issues." Hannah paused. "The timing for the Darby situation was also just really bad."

"Is she going to leave me?" I asked her. I could feel myself getting choked up, but I mentally talked myself out of crying.

"Of course not, Christian. She's probably more afraid that you'll leave her at this point. She feels ridiculous for making your mom drive her here."

"That will never happen," I said quietly. "I'm not going anywhere."

***

I got into Milwaukee around 8:30 am. When I made it back to the apartment, Hannah was watching a movie in the living room.

"Hey, dude," she greeted me. "Your mom just left. Annie is sound asleep. I don't think she's feeling well."

"I'm going to go in and lie down with her. I'm exhausted."

"Go get her, tiger," Hannah said with a small smile. "It's going to be fine."

I slowly opened the bedroom door, trying not to make too much noise. Annie was on top of the covers, sleeping on her side with a pillow between her legs. Even though we weren't in a good place, seeing her lying there in just her underwear made me smile.

I quietly stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed next to her. When I wrapped an arm around her and placed my hand on her stomach, she instinctively placed a hand over mine. "Christian," she whispered.

I was unsure if she was awake or talking in her sleep, but I responded anyway. "Yeah, baby?" I replied. "What do you need?"

She turned around and faced me, and I readjusted my arm and placed my hand on her hip instead of her tummy. She looked exhausted, but she was definitely awake. "I'm sorry I can be so awful."

I shook my head. "You're not awful . . . You're just . . . Scared."

"So scared," she confirmed.

"I'm scared too."

"I need to trust you more. I know I made a mistake in leaving last night, but the idea of you being with her became more real when I saw her there with that stupid glittery poster that advertised to the world that you two had sex. Deep down, I knew the baby storyline was bullshit, but I was just jealous she got to be with you at all. I didn't handle it very well. I'm objectively the worst. And I'm so sorry."

"No one would have handled that well," I said softly while rubbing my hand up and down her side. "I mean, I'm surprised you fled the state, but . . ."

She took a deep breath and shut her eyes tightly. "I'm trying. I promise."

"You're doing a great job, sweetheart. One slipup doesn't undo everything." I kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I need this baby out of me right now." She finally gave me a small smile.

"Ten weeks until we're parents."

She groaned. "I feel like this baby should come tomorrow. Look at this." She got on her back and arched her body upward to emphasize the size of her pregnant tummy.

"Yeah, that's a baby in there. So what?" I smirked. "You're still perfect." I got on my hands and knees and hovered over her before kissing her.

"Oh, please. I just crossed state borders to run away from my sweet and loving hus – boyfriend," she corrected herself. "That's not perfect."

"Did you almost just call me your husband?" I teased.

She laughed. "Maaaaaaybe."

"Oh, so should I re-propose?"

"You should probably wait until I stop being such an overdramatic flake."

"How long is that gonna be?" I teased again. "Forever?"

She rolled her eyes, wrapped her hand around my neck, and pulled me in for a deep, long kiss. "Definitely not forever."