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4 months later:

 

Alissa and Brooke came back to the house after her doctor’s appointment. She was getting bigger and her hormones were running wild. The doctor told her she was having a little boy and the thought of that made her heart ache even more. All she wanted to do was call AJ and tell him, but she knew he wouldn’t answer her calls or listen to any voicemails she left. He made it clear that he didn’t care anymore.

 

“I feel like a house.” Alissa said sadly getting out of the car.

 

“Everyone feels like that. It’s going to get worse over the next few months before the baby comes. Lucas used to….”

 

“I don’t want to hear about what Lucas used to do!” Alissa snapped. “I have to do this by myself and I’m tired of hearing what it’s like to have someone else help you!”

 

“I’m sorry Alissa. I don’t mean to upset you.” Brooke said apologetically.

 

Alissa sighed. “I know you don’t. I’m just stressed out right now. I’m in pain, exhausted and I don’t have the same kind of support that you had with Lucas. This baby has one parent, not two.”

 

Watching her cousin struggle like this hurt Brooke deeply. She hated AJ right now but she would give anything to have him come back and help Alissa. She would do whatever it took to fix this for both of them.

 

Knowing that she wasn’t able to do much, she suggested that they do something that might brighten Alissa’s mood. “Do you feel like going shopping for the little one? Now that you know the sex, it’ll be easier to buy stuff. We can bring Anne and have a girls’ day.”

 

Alissa nodded. She didn’t really feel like going shopping but she had to do something before she went insane.  She loved her niece and it might be nice to spend some time not hating everything.

 

 Alissa did tell Brooke that she wanted to call Denise before they left. The other woman answered on the second ring and was surprised to hear Alissa’s voice.

 

“Hi sweethe….hi Alissa. How are you?” Denise didn’t want to push Alissa away by acting like nothing had happened.

 

“Hi Denise. I was calling to let you know that I went to the doctor today and I found out that it’s a little boy. I just thought you’d want to know.”

 

“That’s wonderful! Thank you so much for calling me to let me know.” She wanted to add that she would do whatever she could to help but it didn’t seem like the best time.

 

“You’re welcome Denise. I promised to make sure you stay a part of this baby’s life and I meant it. I’ll call you again soon.”

 

Denise hung up the phone and thought about calling AJ. She had no idea if he wanted to know but she decided to text him anyway. She didn’t care about his feelings at this point. He was being stubborn and unreasonable about this. AJ needed to realize what was at stake.

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AJ didn’t know what to feel after the text from his mother. He was having a little boy. No, he thought to himself. Alissa’s having a baby boy. He made it clear to her that he wanted no part of this and the door’s already shut. The thought of never seeing her again though created so much pain for him.

 

He pulled open the mini fridge in the hotel room where he was staying. Grabbing all the bottles of liquor and a glass, he went to the sink to mix himself a drink. Pouring the liquid into the glass, he stared at it and remembered the times he used it to kill his pain. Alissa’s face flashed through his mind. The one thing he knew how to do well to escape everything wasn’t working any more. He took one more look and then poured the glass and all the bottles down the drain.