Give up Forever to Touch You

Andie stirred at the sound of Abigail crying, rubbing her eyes as she pushed herself out of her small bed she leaned over and took the tiny month old baby out of the Moses basket and pulled her gently to her chest.

“Morning baby, you hungry?” she said softly walking over to the small kitchen and taking a pre-made bottle out of the refrigerator. She quickly warmed it and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs to give it to her daughter.

Once Abigail had finished her bottle, Andie showered and got dressed before bathing and dressing Abi before having some breakfast of her own. She sat at the small breakfast table with the small radio on in the background, watching Abi in bouncer.

A smile crept onto her lips as her cell phone began to ring, the sound of a guitar solo catching her daughter’s attention. “You like Daddy’s solo hey?” she asked as she let Brian’s call go through to voice mail yet again.

She sighed and got up to wash her breakfast dishes before grabbing her cell phone again and sitting down in front of Abi.

“If your Aunty Rhian starts yelling at me then you’ve got to save me okay?” she asked with a smile as Abi’s eyes found hers, a small smile appearing on her tiny lips.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Okay, here it goes.” She said taking a deep breath as she dialled Rhian’s number.

“Andie? Is that you?” Rhian’s excited voice called through the phone without a hello.

“Hey, yeah it’s me.” she replied sheepishly.

“Where the fuck are you? And what the fuck do you think you were doing taking off like that?” she yelled.

“Rhi, I’m sorry, I really am but I just needed to-“ she began to apologise.

“I’ve been worried sick about you. You know all you had to do was send me a text or leave me a voice mail, just something, anything to let me know that you were okay.” she continued.

“I sent you a picture of Abi when she was born didn’t I?” she tried to defend.

“And that was it! That was a month ago. You’ve been gone for almost two months and that’s all the contact I’ve had with you.” Rhian retorted.

“Rhi, I’m sorry, but I couldn’t. Can we meet up somewhere? I’ll explain everything.” she replied.

“Of course we can. Where are you? I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She replied.

“Before I tell you I need you to promise me that you won’t tell anyone where I am. Not even Jimmy.” she said sternly.

“Andie I –“

“Please Rhi.” She pleaded.

“Okay. I promise.” She sighed “No where are you?”

*****

An hour and a half later Andie sat at a booth of a small café, Abi sleeping in her stroller next to her. As she took small sips of her lemonade she looked up nervously every time she heard the door open. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked up to see a familiar figure walk through the door, scanning the room as she removed her sunglasses.

A small smile appeared on her lips as their eyes met and she quickly made her way over to the booth. Andie stood up and was quickly drawn into a hug by her best friend.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Andie said as they parted.

“Well all you had to do was call me you know that.” she replied. “Now let me take a look at my beautiful God daughter.”

“She should wake up soon for her lunch.” Andie said as Rhian peered into the stroller at the sleeping baby.

“And, she’s beautiful.” She whispered in reply as they took their seats.

“I know, I find myself staring at her sometimes, amazed that I made her.” she replied with a smile as the waitress came over to take Rhian’s order.

“Why haven’t you been in touch?” she asked after a long silence.

“I’m sorry Rhi, but I couldn’t. I needed time away from everyone. I needed to give Brian the opportunity to try and forget about his feelings for me and go back to being a proper family again.” she tried to explain.

“It’s a bit late for that now Andie, Michelle found out. Brian’s been living at Jimmy’s for the past three weeks” she replied.

“What? How did she find out?” she asked in disbelief.

“She saw the picture of Abi on his cell and all the times he’s tried ringing you. She asked him outright and he told her the truth.” She explained. “She kicked him out there and then.”

“Shit! Shit!” Andie muttered running her fingers through her hair. “This was exactly what I was trying to avoid. I didn’t want things to end up like this. All I wanted was them to be a family.”

“Yeah, well, that was never going to work out was it? You knew full well what you were getting yourself into when you started the affair. You knew that he would be risking-“

“I tried to stop it, you know that.” Andie interrupted.

“Yeah I know, and I’m not trying to make you feel any worse than I know you’re already feeling, but you knew it was never going to be simple.” Andie sighed and nodded her head.

“How are the kids taking it?” she asked.

“I don’t think they really understand what’s going on. Connor was heartbroken when Brian told him that you’d left and now his dad has moved out. Thankfully Ella’s too young to really notice anything going on.” She replied.

“Shit!” Andie muttered again as Abigail stirred and gave out a small cry. “Shh, sweetie its okay.”

Rhian watched with a smile as Andie took Abi out of the stroller and into her arms to soothe her. “Can I have a hold?”

“Of course you can. You’re going to be near enough an Aunty to her after all.” She replied with a smirk standing up to gently place the baby in her arms.

“Hey there you, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Rhian whispered, smiling at Abi who was watching her intently. “I’m your Aunty Rhian and I’m going to be here for you whenever you need me, and the same goes for your mother too and she knows that or she probably wouldn’t have called me today.”

Andie diverted her eyes away from Rhian’s gaze, her finger tracing the beads of condensation that had formed on her glass. “I’m sorry, I wanted to call sooner, but I was scared.”

“Scared? Why would you be scared of calling me?” Rhian asked.

“I don’t know. I just didn’t want you to turning up here with Brian; I couldn’t deal with that, with him. Not yet.” She replied.

“Andie, you should have more faith in me. If you don’t want Brian to know then I won’t tell him.” she replied calmly.

“Okay, I know, I’m sorry. I don’t want to put you in an awkward position, what with Jimmy being best friends with Brian.” she replied.

“Jimmy understands you know. If I ask him not to tell Brian then he won’t.” Rhian assured her.

“But he’s his best friend Rhi. His loyalty lies with him not me.” Andie replied with a shake of her head.

“Okay, you’ve got a point, but you are my best friend and my loyalty lies with you.” Rhian replied.

“Thanks Rhi, that means more than you could imagine.” She said with a smile. “I’ve missed to having you to talk to. I’ve felt so alone up here on my own.”

“I can imagine. I’ve missed you too. And I wish I’d have been there for you when you were giving birth to this little one.” She said with a smile as she looked down at Abi.

“Oh believe me, that’s when I needed you the most. It’s the scariest thing I’ve done.” She replied.

“Worth it though right?” she said with a smirk.

“Oh most definitely. If anything good has come from what happened with Brian it’s her. She’s perfect.” Andie said with a proud smile.

“She certainly is. So where exactly are you living now?” she asked.

“A few blocks away from here, in a small apartment.” She replied.

“How are you doing for money?” Rhian asked.

“I’m okay for now. But I could do with a few of my things that I left at your place.” She said in reply.

“Okay, make a list of what you need and I can bring it up to you.” she replied with a nod.

**

“Thank you so much for coming up to see me.” Andie said an hour later as she hugged Rhian goodbye.

“Hey, that’s what friends are for right. I’m just glad that you finally got in touch with me. I’ve been so worried about you.” she replied.

“I know, and again I’m sorry.” Andie apologised.

“Don’t be. Anyway, I’ll be back in a couple of days with all this stuff, and if you think of anything else then just call me.” she replied.

“I will, thank you Rhi.” She said giving her another hug before watching her best friend get into her car. “Drive safe.”

“I always do.” Rhian replied as she pulled away from the sidewalk and into the LA traffic. She sighed as she watched her best friend push the stroller up the street in her rear view mirror and turned the radio up full blast.

She was so happy that she’d seen Andie and Abi after almost two months, but now she was faced with a dilemma on whether or not she should tell Jimmy. Andie had been right, his loyalty lies with Brian and she knew he would feel obligated to tell him. But at the same time she knew she would find it hard to keep anything away from Jimmy, and he would also know that there was something going on when he realised that the stuff from Andie’s old room was disappearing.

She pulled up into Jimmy’s driveway and sat in the car for a long moment thinking about what she should do. Then with a deep breath she got out of the car and walked up to the front door and let herself in.

“Hey baby, I wasn’t expecting you here so soon.” Jimmy called from the kitchen, poking his head around the doorway and blowing her a kiss.

“Hey, um, is Brian around?” she asked quietly.

“No, he’s visiting the kids. Why? Baby are you okay?” Jimmy replied.

“I’m fine, but listen, I’ve got something to tell you, but you’ve got to promise me not to tell Brian.” she said as he pulled her gently into his arms.

“Okay. Baby, what’s going on?” he asked.

“Andie called me today. I know where she is, I’ve been to see her.” she said watching Jimmy’s eyes widen and his jaw hang open.

“What? You’ve actually talked to her?” he asked.

“Yeah, I saw Abi too.” she replied with a nod.

“Are they both okay? Where is she?” he asked.

“They’re both doing great, although I think she maybe lonely. But Abi’s beautiful, so adorable.” She said smiling.

“Where is she?” Jimmy repeated.

“I’m sorry babe, I promised her I wouldn’t tell you, I shouldn’t even have told you that I’d seen her.” she replied.

“But don’t you think Brian deserves to know?” he asked.

“Jim, please, don’t make this harder for me. She’s my best friend and right now she’s the only person she has. I know Brian has the right to know where she is, or at least where Abi is, but she’s not ready to face him.” she replied staring pleadingly up into his piercing blue eyes.

He sighed and nodded his head. “Okay, I won’t say anything. So what did she want?”

“To talk, and she wants me to take her a few things. I told her I’d take them to her in a couple of days.” She explained.

“Did you tell her about Brian and Michelle?” he asked.

“Yeah, I filled her in with everything that’s happened.” She replied.

“Do you think she’ll come back?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I hope she does. I think she just needs time to get her head straight. She’s confused and scared right now. I think she just needs a friend and I’m going to make sure I’m there to support her and help her whenever she needs it. I’m not going to try and talk her into doing something that she’s not ready to do.” She said with a smile.

“Okay, and don’t worry, I won’t push anything.” He replied softly. She smiled back at him, stretching up to kiss his lips.

“Thank you.” she whispered against his lips, smiling as she kissed him again, applying more pressure.