We Won't Back Down

Chapter Thirty-Two.

Max.

Three Months Later

I sat up, working on a song I was writing for the band. They usually didn’t care much for my songs but I figured I’d try anyway. I kept finding it hard to concentrate with my mind on one thing. Sheila. She was fast asleep in my bed at the moment while I stayed up to work on music. But she honestly, the real reason I stayed up was to keep an eye on her. Something wasn’t quite right with her these days. I knew what it was, I was just waiting for her to come around and actually tell me.

She had gone from wearing form fitting clothes to extremely baggy clothes, she was eating healthy which was shocking for her and wasn’t joining in with us guys when we drank. Not to mention, she threw up every morning which was beginning to worry me, because it could be some cancerous thing that she didn’t want to worry me with. Though it would be bothering me for the eight months that we were on tour. I checked our bandpage, seeing that we had gotten more fan mail which was sometimes a pain in the ass to actually answer. We did it anyway to keep our fanbase strong and happy before we went on tour. I began answering them when Sheila bolted out of my bed and towards the bathroom, while I followed close behind.

“Sheila? Are you alright?” I asked her, attempting to comfort her the way she used to comfort me when I got shitfaced. She emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl, which wasn’t much. Then she sat back on the floor next to the toilet to look at me.

“Yes Maxwell… I’ll be fine. I think its just a stomach bug.” She told me and I raised an eyebrow at her, not buying it.

“I seriously doubt that. Sheila, you want to tell me what’s going on here? Because I don’t like surprises!” I said, halfway beginning to freak out.

“Go downstairs...I’ll tell you after breakfast.” she muttered, pushing me out of the bathroom and locking the door. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and walking downstairs, finding mom busy cooking breakfast. “Ma, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure sweetheart, anything.” she smiled at me, flipping her pancake like a professional and looking back at the stove.

“Have you noticed how odd Sheila has been lately or am I just loosing it?” I asked seriously, walking over and sitting on the counter. She looked at me, motioning for me to continue and so I did. “Wearing baggy clothes, super grumpy and emotional, change in appetite and she throws up the same time in the morning.” Her eyes widened and she turned to me.

“Have you two been having sex?” Leave it to my mother to ask this question so bluntly.

“Yes mom, we had sex like...three months ago.” I felt my cheeks heat up from telling my mother this, sure we were close but this was my sex life.

“Were you protected?” She looked at me with such seriousness and I was starting to get worried. “Maxwell Scott Green!” her voice erupted like cannon fire.

“No mom! Shit. We weren’t okay!” I answered her, beginning to shake and I put my face in my hands and sighed.

“Alright, well dear, it looks like we’re starting off our day with a visit to the hospital. Why don’t you set the table and we’ll head over there first thing after you kids eat. God! My baby got my other baby pregnant! I always dreamed of this, but it came a little sooner than expected.” She answered and I rolled my eyes. My mom had been obsessed with the idea of me and Sheila getting together since we were smallish children. Sheila came down the stairs at that moment, wearing a baggy black Avenged Sevenfold hoodie a pair of faded jeans.

“Good morning Sweetheart, how did you sleep?” My mom asked her as she flooded down the steps and took her seat across from me at the table.

“Not too bad mom. Max made sure I was comfortable.” She looked over at me and gave me a weak smile.

“Good. I’m glad to hear it. Listen, sweetie, you know I love you like my own daughter don’t you?” Mom replied, trying to be subtle and failing.

“Well of course. Why do you ask?” Sheila questioned, her expression turning to confusion.

“I want you to know, that I know what you are going through and I will be as much help to you as I possibly can be, as will Max...right?” She said looking at me and Sheila’s eyes shot to mine, fear overtaking her features.

“I wouldn’t leave you because of this, that would be so messed up of me and I couldn’t hurt you like that.” I state, reaching over and taking her hand into mine. Tears started to well up in her eyes and spill over, causing me to go to her side and wipe them away.

“How did you both find out?” she whispered, her voice shaking as she finally met my eyes and my mom chuckled.

“Max had no idea what was going on with you, but once he informed me of your symptoms, it was pretty obvious.” she smiled, shaking her head as she finished eating. “not to mention, you stopped drinking pop and that is not like you. I had my suspicions for awhile now, but I wanted to see if I was correct.”

“You’re not mad at me are you?” Sheila whispered and I crouched down, so I was staring into her eyes and kissed her softly.

“I’m a little upset you didn’t tell me sooner, but I can understand why though.” I state and brought her into my arms, while she started crying into my shirt. I looked at mom, who had her phone out and was taking pictures. “Mom really?” I asked, causing her to chuckle a little bit and she put it away.

“Can’t blame me, I’m going to be a grandmother, I am pretty excited about this.” she states and it causes Sheila to stop crying and giggle a little bit. “So hospital, then find out a way to make cute baby announcements and looking at baby names and tal…”

“Mom!” I exclaimed at her, she tended to go off her rocker whenever it came to baby talk. Whenever one of my mom’s sisters was pregnant, she literally dropped me off at Craig’s for the third trimester and was badgering her sister to no end. I just felt bad that I had to leave Sheila alone during this...I would miss the gender reveal and listening to it’s heartbeat and feeling it move and kick. I tried not to let my emotions come through, but they must have cause Sheila put a hand on my shoulder.

“Max, it’ll be okay.” She said, giving me a small smile, “Your mom will be here to take care of me through the process. And I have my aunt and my sisters who will be there to help as well. Plus Lex too. I have a great support system. I’m going to miss you so much when you leave though…” She stated, confidence evident in her voice, but sadness picked at it when she finished. I gave her a peck on the lips and she perked back up for a moment.

“I know… its just… I’m going to miss everything. If you want me to stay I can tell the guys and-” I didn’t even get the chance to finish my sentence before Sheila grabbed the chocolate chip pancake off of her plate and smacked me across the face with it.

“No! Don’t you dare drop out of this tour! You guys earned it. You owe yourself and you owe your fans. Don’t disappoint the guys like that. I will be just fine Maxwell.” She stated and I nodded, unsure of what I was going to do and unsure of what had just happened.

“Fine I won’t, just because you asked so nicely and slapped me with a pancake...who slaps someone with a pancake?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her and she starts laughing.

“It seemed like the thing to do at the time.” she shrugged and at the pancake she slapped me with.

“I hope it tastes like my face now!” I exclaimed and she looked at me in shock, bringing me closer and licking my face like a full on Nala Simba porno.

“No Maxie my dear, you taste like pancake.” she chuckled and I just stared at her in shock, glancing over to see my mom had her damn camera out and was filming this time.

“Now kids, lets finish up our breakfast and get to the hospital, shall we?” she asked, going and putting her dish in the sink, before heading upstairs to change. I smiled at Sheila as I sat back across from her and we ate the rest of our breakfast in silence.

The whole way to the hospital, mom was going on and on about all the crazy things that can go on with a woman’s body while she is pregnant and Sheila was actually listening along intently. I was busy rubbing circles on her back and at random moments, found myself touching her stomach like a weirdo, but she was completely fine with it. She had finally shown me her little baby bump and it made my heart skip a beat knowing my child was growing in there. I couldn’t wait to see the guys reactions to this when I told them!

We arrived at the hospital and my mom and I were able to go back with Sheila when the doctor called for her. They hooked her up to an ultrasound and rubbed that cold jelly neatly on her baby bump. I smirked when she yelped out when the doctor squirted it on stomach from how cold it was.

“Well Miss Sheila, it looks like your baby is pretty healthy for the time being, a little small for 3 months but we can prescribe you some prenatal vitamins and that should help to speed things along a little bit. Also, are you the father?” the doctor turned to me and I could feel my face heat up from the question.

“Y-yes sir.” I answered and he grinned at me.

“Good. I want you talk to this little guy directly, sing to him, anything on a daily basis. If you’re going to be sticking around to help your girlfriend raise your child, early outside stimulation can help a bond between father and baby.” he told me and my heart sank. I wasn’t going to be around to any that… I was seriously rethinking this whole tour now. That also brought something else to my attention. He called Sheila my girlfriend. I hadn’t really given it much thought into putting a label on what we had, but I sure as hell wasn’t sharing her, even before I knew she was carrying my child. Maybe something needed to be done about that matter too. It was obvious we belonged to each other, but I hadn’t exactly asked her out officially yet.

The doctor wrote Sheila a few prescriptions to take while she was pregnant and they let us go. I was contemplating a two things. One: Was I going to go on tour like planned, or should I stay here and help Sheila have and raise my child? Two: How was I going to ask Sheila out?

“Heys...What ya thinking about?” Sheila asked me, pulling me out of my thoughts on the way back out to our car.

“Oh nothing. Just, its kind of a lot to take in.” I replied, smiling at her. She took my hand and I brought her into my arms, kissing the top of her head. “Sheila, I know it’s a little late considering I’m leaving tomorrow...but I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend, if you’ll have me.”

“Better late than never.” she smiled at me, her grey-blue eyes staring into my green ones, she got on her tiptoes and kisses me softly. “Yes, I will be your girlfriend, Max.”

“Thank you!” I exclaim and we go into the car, with me helping her in and head for home. We stopped at the shop, mom wanting so bad to take a fun pictures as an announcement and I had just the idea. I found a baby drum set and grabbed an old fashioned microphone for Sheila and a bass for myself and we acted like we were singing and playing and mom got a picture.

We went home and mom edited it to where it said “Position to be filled: March 17th” and she posted it, sent it to friends and family and then we waited for the phone calls to flood in. My mind was still on my first question that I would have to ask the guys about later. All of this was so conflicted!

Craig.

“Morning beautiful!” I said while Athena was walking down the stairs. She had been acting weird these last few months and was more argumentative than normal, so I decided that I would take her on a date before I left tomorrow for the tour. Planned a whole day of video games, a picnic that I prepared myself and candle light dessert of chocolate mousse cheesecake where I had a beautiful surprise for her, while we watched Spiderman.

“Ugh, I feel like shit.” she said, putting her head on the table and I walked over, rubbing her back and I kissed the top of her head. “Thank you sweetheart, so what are we doing on our last day together?”

“I was thinking we could play Mortal Kombat, Mario Kart, DDR and games like that.” I stated, watching her eyes widen in excitement, “If you’d like, we could play some music together, then I have a lunch prepared for us and then dessert and movies in the movie room.” I continued and I thought she was going to die of happiness. I went over and started making her chocolate chip waffles with freshly sliced strawberries to go with it.

“Going to spoil me today, hmm?” she asked chuckling and I grinned at her, popping a strawberry in my mouth.

“Anything for my love.” I state, finishing up and putting it in front of her with a glass of milk with it. She scarfed it down and I watched her completely in shock, wondering where it all goes and laughing when she asks for seconds. “You are a hungry lately, you know that?”

“yeah...I guess I am huh?” She said, her face falling like she was ashamed. I got up to make her more waffles and I kissed her on the forehead.

“Is everything okay there Athena? You haven’t quite seemed like yourself since… well since we, ya know.” I said, avoiding being blunt.

“Everything’s fine Craig… I just… haven’t been feeling the best lately. It’s really nothing to worry about.” She told me. I felt like she was hiding something but I didn’t want to pry if she didn’t want to tell me. But it would definitely worry me on tour.

“Promise?” I asked her, pulling the waffles out of the waffle maker. “Ow shit!” I yelped, yanking my hand back after completely burning the shit out of my fingers.

“Are you okay?” Athena exclaimed, standing up and coming over to where I was.

“Yeah, yeah...I’m fine. Son of a bitch!!!” I replied, and she turned on the faucet and gently grabbed my hand to put it under the cool water.

“Got any pickles?” She asked me. I raised an eyebrow at her.

“That’s a weird craving. Are you sure there’s not something you want to tell me?” I asked her, half kidding. She paused for a moment then continued.

“Pickles take the sting out of burns pretty decently.” She answered and ran over to the fridge to pull out a jar of dill pickles.

“You’re joking right, that is something I have never heard before…” I watched her like she was insane while she came over and put my hand in the pickle jar. It started to feel a lot better and I smiled at her, kissing her softly. “Now my hand is going to smell like pickles all day.” I whined, taking it out of the jar and putting it under water to get the smell off. I salvaged the waffles I had been making and they thankfully hadn’t burned, so I set them in front of her. “Bon appetite!”

“So, what is the occasion for all the festivities today?” She asked between bites of waffles and I shrugged.

“I figured I’d treat my girl to a romantic and fun day!” I exclaimed, sitting across from her and watching her eat her breakfast. Her cheeks bugged out and she looked at me, reminding me of Mulan when Mushu was feeding her porridge and I busted up laughing. “Oh my god, I need to get a picture...where is my phone when I need it?!”

She started covering her face and trying to finish the rest of her food without me getting a picture, but alas she wasn’t fast enough for the master! I chuckled and put my phone away, watching her get up and try to get it away from me.

“Don’t you dare post that to Facebook, Craig Edward Mabbitt!” she exclaimed and I picked her up, kissing her deeply. “You think kissing me is going to make me forget?”

“It’s a start!” I laugh, bringing her into the living room and dropping her down on the couch, letting her relax while I set up the XBox for us to game on. “So which game do you want to start on?” I asked her, wondering which one she prefered.

“Hmm… mario-kart!” she exclaimed and I snickered at her excitement and popped in the mario-kart disc and waited for it to load up while I grabbed the controllers and plopped down on the couch next to her. She sat up and took one of the controllers. “You are way to excited for this.” I laughed at her ready position, on the edge of her seat, her elbows propped on her knees and she looked so focus that I thought she might hurt herself… That’s my girlfriend ladies and gentlemen.

“I’m excited to kick yo ass!” she exclaimed and I dropped my jaw in surprise.

“Oh! Is that so? Do I get another date out this wager as well?” I asked her, being a smart mouth. She just scrunched up her face like she mad at me and stuck her tongue out. “Hey now, don’t stick it out if you’re not going to use it.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and laughed so hard she snorted and I cracked up even harder. The game loaded and we raced several tracks with her winning some and me winning some.

“Looks like we’re evenly matched, boyfriend.” She said, turning to me after she won the last race.

“Oh you think so? Tiebreaker?” I proposed and she thought for a moment. “Don’t hurt yourself now, its only a yes or no question.” I said picking on her and she shoved me playfully. She nodded finally and I got up, putting in the Mortal Kombat disc, letting it load while I started to leave the room and she called after me.

“Where are you going?” she asked and I popped my head out of the kitchen, smiling at her.

“I am getting our lunch, just sit back and relax, I’ll be right back out.” I stated, before going back into the kitchen and grabbing the picnic basket. I had prepared poppy seed chicken casserole, corn on the cob, green bean casserole and some freshly squeezed lemonade. Those cooking shows really came in handy when you wanted to make a big and somewhat fancy meal for your lady. I walked back out, seeing that she was already playing by herself on the game and I set up our plates.

“Holy shit Craig, did you make this all by yourself?!” she exclaimed, causing her opponent, Sub-Zero to K.O. her. She didn’t even care that she had lost as she got off the couch and came to sit across from me. “I don’t know where to start, all of it looks so damn good.”

“Yeah, I learned from cooking shows to be completely honest with you.” I said, seeing her looking at me in complete shock. “Yes, I watch cooking shows...call it a guilty pleasure.”

“Honestly, if you continue cooking like this for me once you get back, I think I will probably marry you.” She said, causing me to spit take all over the floor. “Oh my god Craig, I was completely joking!”

“I knew that!” I said, trying to lie and cover my tracks, looking away embarrassed. I knew I loved her and I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her… but marriage? I hadn’t really thought about it yet. Not that I wouldn’t marry the woman I love, it just seemed a little soon to be considered.

“Uh huh, sure you did, that’s why your lemonade is all over the floor.” She replied, taking a napkin and dabbing at the carpet. Her expression fell from happy and excited to sadness and I wondered why the sudden change in mood. Did my reaction to the word marry upset her? I hoped not. I didn’t want the evening to be ruined by such a little thing.

“Hey… ‘Thena love, what’s wrong?” I asked her and she started down at the stain in the rug. She was quiet or minute and then tears started streaming down her cheeks. “Hey now, babe come on. What are the water works for?” I asked her, moving closer to wipe bring her into arms.

“I… I’m fine. I just… it sucks you know.” she said through muffled sobs as she cried into my chest.

“What sucks ‘Thena?” I asked her and she sniffled several times before replying.

“Craig… you’re about to go on tour for several months. I just got you back after two and half years of hell...and now I feel like I’m losing you all over again.” she finally told me. Was this what was bothering her all summer?

“Babe, you know we’ll have constant contact. I’ll even send you guys tickets to come to one of the nearest shows and you can come stay the night with me on the tour bus or one of the hotels. Nothing is going to change. And I’ll miss you like hell too. If I could take you with me on tour, I would in a heartbeat.” I told her, trying to comfort her as best as I could.

“I know you would, I will get used to it I guess.” she said and started eating her food, “Damn Craig, this is fantastic!” she stated in complete and utter shock. “If you don’t start eating yours, I’m going to get ahold of yours.”

“Oh no you don’t,” I chuckled at her, starting to eat and the flavors exploded in my mouth. “Oh I did a fantastic job, I applaud myself and I shall pat myself on the back.” I say and do so, causing her to giggle and snort once more.

I watched her finished hers and go for seconds, thirds even and then she sat back against the couch and patted her stomach. “That was heaven, can you cook for me from now on?”

“Of course I will, every day from the day I get back on tour.” I grin and go back into the kitchen, doing the dishes really quick and going back into the living room to game more. We played for four more hours, deciding to work on music together and that was going fantastically. Both of our phones went off at the same time, mine from Max and her from Sheila and they both contained a pretty shocking image.

Max and Sheila stood side by side in the shop, him with a bass and her with an old fashioned microphone and between the two of them was a child’s drumset. Above them it had a banner that said: “Position to be filled” and below it had the date of “March 17th” which meant we would still be on tour. My best friend was going to have a baby, it was the most shocking thing I had ever seen. They looked so happy though, which was good news because Max normally ran away from commitment. I looked over at Athena to ask her what she thought. But when I looked up, I found her staring down at her belly, her hand on her stomach and her expression was so solemn. Something else was bothering her but I couldn’t figure out what. I figured she would be happy for her sister and Max.

“Hey you, what’cha thinking about?” I asked putting down my guitar and going over to where she was leaning on against the wall. She jumped when I touched her and then without saying a word she buried her face in my chest and clung to me, closing her eyes shut tightly. “I just… I’m so happy for them, but it’s kind of scary you know? With Max gone, things are going to get rough for her…” she almost whispered and I lifted her chin to force her to look at me. She met my eyes and I almost got lost in her hazel orbs.

“Sheila will be perfectly fine, with a great sister by her side like you. Now come on, cheer up. There’s something I wanted to give to you.” I told her and she looked at me confused. “I was going to wait until you saw it on your own, but I can’t wait anymore. Go look in your guitar case.” I told her and she skeptically made her way over to her guitar case and opened the small compartment where she usually stored her pics. She gasped upon seeing and she held it up to the light to see it better. It was a sterling silver Starship Enterprise spaceship ring with small diamonds, rubies, and sapphires encrusted in it to make it look like a small scale replica. "It was expensive as hell, but I pulled a few strings. Plus I had the cash from winning the contest." I couldn’t help but grin as she stood up and turned around to meet my gaze.

“What...what’s this Craig?” she asked me, this time with happy tears glazing her eyes.

“It’s a promise ring ‘Thena. I promise to always be honest, to always be true, to be faithful and loving. I promise to work my ass off spending every day making you fall in love with me a little more. But most of all, I promise not to mess this up.” I said, walking over to her and stopping mere inches from her. I looked her in the eyes with every word that came out of my mouth and the tears of joy streamed down her face. I took the ring and slid it on her finger. “Fits beautifully.” I stated, looking at her gorgeous face and flashing her a smile before leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to her perfect lips.

“I love you…” she managed to breathe out.

“I love you too. Now come one, double dark chocolate mousse cheesecake and Spiderman awaits!” I exclaimed running off into the kitchen to grab the desert before we sat down to watch the old Spiderman movies. She followed me into the living room and stuffed herself with three decent sized pieces of chocolate mousse cheesecake and snuggled up to me on the couch while we commenced watching the movies. She was fast asleep be the middle of the second one.