We Happy Few | Band of Brothers

Chapter 79: Together

Margot waited with bated breath for Joe to say something. She knew that being pregnant hadn't been on any of their to-do lists and probably wouldn't have been any time soon. They had barely even discussed marriage, let alone children. They had been happy just living in the moment and now they were forced to think about the future. Everything was happening so fast.

Joe was still silent, his mouth wide open but no noise coming out. Margot's heart was beating hard and quick, nervous energy coursing through her and getting more intense for every second that Joe refused to speak. Margot had thought she knew Joe—knew that he cared about her enough to stand by her side no matter what—but now she wasn't so sure. 

"Joe?" Margot finally decided to break the silence. "Do you maybe want to say something?"

Joe closed his mouth, swallowed hard, and stood up. "I'm sorry." He grabbed his coat and crutches. "I just ... I just need a minute." And with that, he walked out the front door and down the sidewalk.

Margot's heart broke and a quiet sob poured from her lips. Right then, at that moment, she wanted her mother and Annie. All she wanted was to not be alone, and even though, in a way, she wouldn't ever be alone for the next few months, she felt the most isolated from everyone in her life than she ever had.

Margot sat right there, in the same spot on the couch, for about twenty minutes waiting for Joe to come back. He never did. Margot tried not to cry, she really did, but with the onslaught of sudden emotion, she broke down, and not just about her pregnancy. She cried about her mother and her father, she cried about the war, she cried about all the friends she had lost, and she cried about Joe seemingly walking out on her. She cried about the life she was living; the life she felt trapped in. 

When she finally couldn't take being alone anymore, Margot got up and went next door to Irv's house. It was early evening by then but the kitchen and living room lights were still on, so she hoped he was still awake.

When Irv opened the door to a sobbing Margot, he didn't ask a single question before ushering her inside, helping her settle on the couch and heading into the kitchen to fix a warm cup of tea. When he returned a few minutes later with a piping hot mug in his hands, he sat down with the now calmer woman and listened. 

Irv listened to Margot talk and talk until she couldn't talk anymore and had to take a sip of her tea, which by then, was only lukewarm. Then, he gave her the best advice that he could. 

"My dear, while I cannot tell you exactly what your dear Joe is thinking right now, or even where he might have gone, what I can tell you is to just give him a little time. I've made my fair share of mistakes throughout my own life, and I can't even count the number of times my late Judith should have left me in the dust because of them. But she didn't, and do you know why that was?"

Margot grabbed a tissue from the box on the coffee table and wiped away her tears. "Because she loved you?"

"Because she loved me." Irv nodded. "Love isn't about making or not making mistakes with each other, it is about having faith in the other person to do the right thing when those mistakes do happen, because they always do. No one is perfect. I know I like to joke a lot, but I see the way you and Joe are together. I do a lot of watching, remember? He loves you, that is clear."

"How do you know?"

"Because he looks at you the same way I used to look at my Judith and I loved her more than anything in this world."

Taking another sip of her tea, Margot sighed. "Do you have any children?"

"No." Irv shook his head. "Never got around to it. We were always waiting for the right time, but let me tell you, there is no right time. There never will be. This is your right time, and although it seems hard now, it's a blessing. Embrace it. Enjoy it."

"Thank you." Margot smiled. "What would I do without your endless pools of wisdom?"

"Wisdom is for the thinkers instead of the doers," Irv repeated the same thing he had said to Margot on their first meeting. "What I have to offer is life experience." 

After a little bit more chatting to calm Margot down, the two friends said goodnight to each other and went their separate ways. Margot thanked Irv once more for the tea and conversation before making her way back to the house. 

Joe still hadn't returned, and while that did worry Margot, she didn't freak out about it. Following Irv's advice, she continued to give him more time, and as the hours passed, she reminded herself that she loved Joe and that he loved her. He wouldn't leave her. 

While she waited, Margot crafted a letter to Annie asking her advice. She never really had any intention to ever send it, but she felt the process of writing down her feelings to be therapeutic. In the end, she could hear Annie's voice in her head, telling her what to do. 

Sometime in the early hours of the morning, the front door finally opened. Sitting up in bed, Margot threw her housecoat and slippers on and shuffled out of the bedroom, ready to finally have the conversation both she and Joe had been dreading. 

As soon as Margot turned on the main living room light, Joe turned around, a handful of flowers in his hand and a look of utter guilt plastered on his face. "I'm so sorry," he spoke first. "I shouldn't have done what I did. I shouldn't have left. I had to clear my head and think about things so I went for a walk and then before I knew it the sun was setting and I realized that I had been a total asshole so I tried to get you some flowers but all of the shops were closed so I ended up going to every single one in town and I don't walk so fast and then ... well, I stole these from a flowerbed in the town park." He held up the handful of red tulips that had clumps of dirt still attached to their roots. "I'm so sorry. I thought for sure you would have left my sorry ass by now, but you didn't, you haven't. You're still here."

"I'm still here." Margot felt her heart well up. Irv was right; all she needed was a little faith in the man she loved. "And you came back."

"Of course, I came back. I love you." Joe dropped the flowers onto the table and made his way to Margot, wrapping her tight in his arms. "I was scared. I didn't think I was ready to be a father, but I forgot the most important thing. I'm not doing this alone, I'm doing it with you, and together we can do anything."

Margot felt so overwhelmed by her emotions that she began to laugh and cry at the same time. It had been a difficult past few months, but now she finally felt like everything was going to be okay. "So you're in?" she asked. "You want to have this baby with me?"

"I want nothing more than to have this baby with you. It's gonna be a challenge, but together, we can do it." Joe kissed Margot on the top of her head. "Who would have thought we would end up like this, huh?"

Margot smiled wide. "Not me. I thought you were kind of a dick when we first met, to be honest."

"And I thought you were a little entitled." 

"That's fair."

"Hey." Joe pressed his fingers to the underside of Margot's chin and tilted her head up. "Thank you for being so patient with me."

"And thank you for being so patient with me."

"I love you."

Margot pressed her lips to Joe's. "I love you, too."