Moments Between Sleep

I sat in silence. The only noise around was the faint sound of Alex's mother taking a deep breath every now and again. Our warm conversations had turned into solid ice, it's not like we could speak anyways, the screaming coming from above us were the only sounds we could hear.

I had yet to see Lisa, but my first impression of her was clear. She was madly in love with Alex, and it made me sad to think that he didn't feel the same. Or, maybe he did, who was I to judge? Maybe I was just something that never meant to happen, something that completely blew up in his face. Though from my side of things, Alex didn't seem so heart broken about telling her the bad news.

When he greeted her at the door, I could hear how happy she was just to see him. The loud kiss she planted on his face, and the sound of her car keys jingling as she hugged his frame. From there, I heard the sounds of their footsteps leading upstairs, and then I heard a door shut. The house was silent for a moment, I almost thought that Alex wasn't going to get the words out of his mouth, but then I heard a scream that made the nerves in my body flinch.

"You did what?" She screamed, her voice cracking with every word. "She's pregnant?"

For a few long minutes, her voice was the only one I heard. She was screaming curse words so loud that they all seemed to blend into a stream of nothing, but that was broken by the sounds of glass breaking and Alex screaming back.

"Lisa, I am sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen!"

"But it did! You cheated on me, and she's pregnant! I bet you wouldn't have even told me if it wasn't for that! You're worthless, Alex. You're a worthless piece of shit!"

My body stiffened when I heard two pairs of feet hitting hard on the stairs. I could hear Lisa repeating over and over, 'I want to meet her.' But Alex never said a word. I swallowed hard, glancing at Mrs. Gaskarth for help, but she simply gave me a frown and grabbed my hand.

"So you're the girl, huh?" She burst through the kitchen door, mascara dripping down her face to her bright pink nose. Her body was roughly shaking, and I thought she was going to attempt murder. "You're really pregnant?"

Unable to speak, I simply nodded, feeling terrible for every tear that was running down her face. She nodded back, rolling her eyes lightly as she clutched her fist.

"Did you know about me?"

"I..." I glanced at Alex with an apologetic look. "I honestly had no idea."

"I'm sorry that you're knocked up," she sniffed loudly, turning to stare down Alex as she did so. "Fuck you, Alex." She spat. "We're so done. I have you two have a wonderful, wonderful life!"

I let out a deep breath when Lisa turned on her heel, her hair flying behind her back, leaving a slight scent of her shampoo. Alex and I made eye contact for a slipt second, but it was broken by an angry grown. He chased Lisa through the house, mumbling things until the front door slammed and we could faintly hear them yelling outside.

"Poor Lisa," Alex's mother sighed. "That can't be an easy thing to hear. You don't have a boyfriend, do you?"

"Oh, Heavens no!" I gave her a small laugh. "This was all just a big accident. I don't believe you should have sex with someone unless you love them."

"So then what happened with my son?"

"He gave me vodka."

I could feel the tension break when she smiled. It was a warm smile, the kind of smile that a mother gives her child when they come home from college or graduate high school. It was a smile that made me a lot less afraid of the months ahead.

"I like you," she nodded. "Not that I don't like Lisa or anything. Her and Alex go way back, but maybe he needed this. It's not fair of him to cheat on her."

"Does he love her?"

"Love?" She shook her head quickly, getting up from the table and rushing to the oven to check her food. "I don't believe Alexander knows what love is."

I nodded, unsure of what to say. It was okay that he didn't love Lisa. It was okay that he barely liked me. Hell, it'd be okay if he didn't like me. But more than anything, I needed him to love this baby.