When the Walls Come Crashing Down

“Joe?” Faith called from where she lounged in the backyard. Joe poked his head out of the sliding glass doors. “Come here!”

“What’s up babe?” he asked once he was close to her. He sat in the chair next to her and placed a kiss on her cheek before leaning back.

“What do you want to name the baby if it’s a girl?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought about it,” he said and she raised an eyebrow.

“You’re lying,” she said, a slight smirk on her face.

“How could you tell?”

“Your eyes. They say everything.”

“Okay, you caught me,” he said with a sigh, reaching over and grabbing her hand, running his thumb over the back of her hand.

“So spill, if it’s a girl what do you want to name her?” she asked, placing her other hand on her stomach lovingly.

“Before I tell you… you should really try calling Nick. Ask him what he thinks too. Remind him that there’s a 50% chance that he’ll be a Dad.”

“No,” she said, pursing her lips and looking straight ahead.

“It’s been six months, Faith,” he said, giving her hand a slight squeeze. “If he was still in love with you in January I’m sure he’s not anymore. Especially with Charlotte in the picture.”

“Is it bad that right now I have no urge to ever want to talk to him again and I pray every night that it’s your baby?” she asked, turning to look at him, sadness in her eyes.

“No… because I pray for the same thing.”

“It’s just… you’ve been here for the past six months. You’ve watched ultrasound videos. You have ultrasound pictures in your wallet. You put the crib together the other day. If Nick really cared about this baby he would have called and asked how the pregnancy was going or stopped by with some gifts or just… something.”

“I know babe but maybe he’s scared… maybe he feels like you won’t forgive him,” Joe said, shrugging his shoulders.

“I don’t want to be the bigger person,” she muttered.

“Somebody has to.”

“I know!” Faith said, a huge smile on her face. “You can talk to him!”

“Oh no. No, no, no,” he said, shaking his head. “This is your problem.”

“But he’s your brother!”

“Yeah, but he was your husband… and is the possible father of this baby,” he said quickly.

“Fine,” she said, slumping back in the chair. “I’ll call him.”

“Good,” Joe said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and handing it to her.

“Now?”

“No time like the present,” he said, smirk on his face. “I’ll be inside if you need me.”

“Don’t you dare!” She said as Joe backed across the lawn onto the deck. “Joseph Adam!”

“Have fun!” he called to her, waving as he slid the glass door shut.

“Ass,” she muttered, looking down at the phone. She let out a sigh and found contacts on the menu and typed in Nick’s name. It was highlight. All she had to do was click send and then she’d just have to wait for him to pick up but instead she just stared at the phone, his name blurring from the double vision.

It may sound silly but this was a difficult thing for Faith to do. She hadn’t spoken to Nick much really in about eight month’s time. The past six months had passed in complete silence with barely even a mention of him unless his parents were around. She did, however, think of him on and off. There was the possibility that the baby she was carrying was his and she had been battling in her head about what should happen. Should the baby call Nick Daddy and Joe Uncle? Should the baby call them both Daddy? Should it call Nick Daddy and Joe Dad? It was just a big mess that always left her confused so she would try to think of anything else so that she wouldn’t think of that. With a sigh she hit send and listened to the ringing, waiting for him to pick up.

“Hello?” he asked, sounding confused.

She was calling from Joe’s phone so his name would show up but they hadn’t spoken in months so why would he be calling now? His voice sounded so different to her. She didn’t know what to say so she just listened to him breathe. She closed her eyes and remembered doing that late at night as her head rested on his chest, listening to his heart beat along with the breaths. She could feel the warmth on her cheek and her hand automatically rose to press her cheek, trying to hold it there.

“Joe? Are you there? Is Faith alright? Is… is the baby coming?” he asked, he choked on the word baby and Faith’s eyes widened a moment. It really was so different… almost foreign. Thinking that she had heard that voice everyday for so long didn’t even seem like it had been real.

“It’s me, Nick,” she said softly.

“Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?” he asked and she felt herself smile a little, comforted by the genuine sounding concern. Maybe he really did care.

“No, I’m fine. I just wanted to talk to you… if that’s alright,” she said, biting her lip.

“Um, yeah. It’s fine. What’s up?”

“We’ve been kind of um… distant… the past six months and haven’t talked about the baby,” she said, trying to find the right words. It was still weird for her, talking to him. The last time they had talked he had told her that he hadn’t stopped loving her.

“Go on,” he said and he sounded like he was truly interested.

“Well, Joe and I were talking about names a little earlier and he mentioned that maybe you’d like to have a say in it since there’s a 50/50 chance that you’re the father. And if you’re up to it… this could wait until after the baby is born… but I was wondering if we could talk about arrangements for if the baby is yours and what we should do as far as baby care.”

“Actually… I have been thinking of names,” he said, letting out a slightly nervous laugh. “And as far as arrangements go… I kind of would like to wait until after the birth… if that’s alright?”

“Yeah… that’s… that’s fine,” she said, still surprised over the fact that he said he had been thinking about names. “Hey, would you like to um… come over and talk over some names with us?”

”Oh uh… sure. I’d like that,” he said and Faith smiled. “I’ll just get ready and head over in a minute.”

“Alright. You have the new address right?”

“Yeah, Kevin e-mailed it to me. See you soon.”

“Bye,” she said quietly, hanging up the phone. She bit her lip and shook her head as she looked down at the phone as the screen turned black. “Nicholas Jerry… you always have a way of surprising me…”

“I’M PREGNANT!!!!!!!” Danielle screamed as she ran across the yard towards Faith. Faith’s eyes widened in surprise as a huge smile formed on her face.

“Oh my God!” she shouted, struggling to get out of the chair. Kevin rushed across the yard after his wife and helped Faith stand up. She threw her arms around both of them as Dani jumped up and down. “Congratulations!”

“Thanks,” Kevin said happily, giving Faith a kiss on the cheek.

“When did you find out?”

“Five minutes ago!” Dani said, still excited. Joe came outside, a huge smile plastered on his face as well and four glasses in his hand.

“I couldn’t find any champagne or even sparkling cider so apple juice will have to do,” he said, passing around the glasses for a toast.

“To Danielle and to Faith, the most beautiful, pregnant women we have ever had the pleasure to love,” Kevin said, raising his glass. Joe, Faith, and Dani followed suit, clinking glasses together before drinking the juice.

“This is so exciting!” Faith said, grabbing Dani’s hand. “Our kids are going to be cousins and best friends!”

“I know! Ah… I can’t wait!!!”

“Did you call your parents?” Faith asked looking between Dani and Kevin who then proceeded to look at each other.

“We’ll be right back,” Kevin said, grabbing Dani’s hand and leading her to the house.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe it!” Faith said, leaning into Joe’s chest.

“I know. I’m really happy for them,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “So how did the talk with Nick go?”

“Pretty well, actually,” she said, turning to face Joe. “He’s actually going to be here in a little bit. He wants to talk about baby names.”

“Really?” Joe asked, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

“I know, I still can’t get over it,” she said with a laugh. “Come on, we should go wait for him and compile a list of our ideas.”

Joe nodded his head in agreement before linking his fingers with her. Together they walked into the house, their house; Faith still couldn’t get over that. Kevin and Danielle were in the living room talking to Meg and Lizzy about the pregnancy and Faith smiled. This… this was home.