Two Pieces

Rylee stood in front of the body mirror that sat next to her bedroom dresser, fixing her hair up into a bun. She pulled the hairpin that she held firmly between her lips and pinned back her bangs. Then she grabbed a bottle of hair spray and spritzed it in her hair.

“That should do,” she mumbled to herself.

She tugged on the flowery yellow sundress that flowed down to her ankles, making her baby bump appear smaller than it actually was.

Usually she wouldn’t even bother getting dressed up. That’s because she doesn’t do much. Her days consist of waking up, showering and snacking while either watching TV or interacting with her daughter. Even before that unfortunate visit to her parent’s house, she didn’t do much. But since then, leaving her house is a rare occurrence. Unless she needs to go grocery shopping. That’s about as far as she’ll get in town. And that’s only because she’s eating for two. If she weren’t pregnant, her kitchen would probably be desolate…

Once she deemed herself decent enough, she carefully made her way back down stairs. Before she could even reach the last step, she could smell something burning.

“Shit!” she cursed, rushing into the kitchen.

She had forgotten about the apple pie that was baking in the oven. She grabbed a pair of oven mitts and opened the oven door. She groaned as she bent down to take out the steaming hot dessert. She quickly placed it on the countertop and discarded her oven mitts.

“Please don’t be burnt,” she pleaded.

She took a good look at it and breathed out a sigh of relief when it wasn’t as bad as she thought. It was just a bit past golden brown. Nothing a scoop of vanilla ice cream couldn’t fix.

She left the pie on the countertop to cool while she gathered up three plates and napkins to set on the table. She was expecting company in under an hour. Her in-laws, to be exact. The thought of preparing dinner for Matt’s parents always made her a bit nervous.

She still remembers the first dinner she prepared for them. The roast came out like rubber and the mashed potatoes were soggy––which was Matt’s doing, by the way. She freaked out, even though Matt assured her that they wouldn’t mind. And he was right. His parent’s waved it off, said it wasn’t a big deal and ordered a pizza. Her and Mrs. Sanders still laugh about it occasionally. But even though she knows they would never judge her cooking, she still puts in extra effort to make each meal perfect.

After re-heating the lasagna, she placed it in the center of the table.

The doorbell rang right on time.

She took a deep breath and wiped her clammy hands on her dress. She put on a bright smile and opened the door.

“Hi, Kim and Gary!” she greeted.

“Hello, Rylee,” they greeted in unison.

“It’s so nice to see you. And you’ve gotten so big,” said, Mrs. Sanders, referring to her stomach.

Rylee laughed and reached in for a hug. Kim held on to her tightly, hugging her longer than usual. Right then Rylee knew why.

“How are you holding up, sweetie?”

Matt told them what happened. In a way, knowing that they knew already made her relieved. It was hard enough telling her mother everything. But telling his parents seemed 10 times as difficult.

Rylee forced a small smile and pulled away. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

She tried to sound convincing. But by the pitied look on Kim’s face, it didn’t sound convincing at all.

Rylee gave Mr. Sanders a hug before leading them into the dining room.

She got out a spatula to serve lasagna but Mrs. Sanders stopped her. “You sit! I’ll serve.”

Rylee didn’t complain. She lowered herself down next to Gary, who placed his hand on her shoulder in the process.

“How’s my grandbaby doing?” he asked.

“She’s doing great. This morning she was pretty active so I turned on some Guns N’ Roses for us to jam to.” Rylee beamed. “ She kicked almost as if she was following the beat. It was so cool.”

Rylee always found herself getting excited when talking about her daughter. Maybe because she rarely got to talk to anyone about the baby. It was seriously the one thing she missed about not having Matt around.

“Raising her right already,” said Gary.

Kim served out the lasagna and drinks. Rylee silently prayed that it was to their liking. She used a recipe her mother passed down to her. Matt always said it was good, but sometimes she didn’t know if he was being honest or just being nice.

She refrained from taking a bite, waiting for them to take the first bite. Once she heard groans of satisfaction, she regained her appetite and joined them.

“This is amazing, Rylee,” Gary complemented.

Rylee smiled and thanked him.

“Gonna have to get this recipe from you one day, if you don’t mind,” said Kim.

Rylee took a drink of her water and nodded, “Sure! It’s a family recipe passed down from my great-great grandmother. But we are family now, so I don’t mind sharing it.”

Kim sent her an appreciative smile.

An hour and a half later, Rylee was warming up the apple pie. She took it from the oven after 2 minutes and placed it on the table.

“I’m sorry if it’s a bit crisp. I accidently forgot about it earlier,” she explained.

Gary waved her off. “Don’t worry about it, Ryles. You can’t screw up pie.”

Rylee smiled wide, feeling relieved.

“Yeah, stop apologizing. We love all of your flaws," said Mrs. Sanders.

Rylee chuckled,”Aww! Thanks.”

Mr. Sanders scooped out the ice cream and they all dug in. Rylee couldn’t help but groan in satisfaction, earning chuckles from her in-laws.

“Have you been craving apple pie?” asked Kim.

“No. But this is so good. Plus vanilla ice cream is my favorite.”

Kim pointed her spoon at her playfully, “I knew there was a reason my son married you.”

Gary disagreed, “Chocolate will always be the best.”

They laughed one last time before things turned serious.

“Have you talked to Matt since leaving tour?” asked Kim.

Rylee diverted her eyes down to her plate, feeling uncomfortable. “No I haven’t…”

“And that’s alright. It’s okay that you haven’t.”

Rylee nodded slowly and pretended to take interest in her dessert. It was silent for a few minutes, making her even more uncomfortable. She thought of ways to break the silence.

She decided to ask if Matt had contacted them, even though she knew he did. “Um…has he contacted you guys?”

“Yup,” Gary grumbled with a mouth full of pie.

He cleared his throat and continued, “We both would like to apologize on Matt’s behalf.”

“We never thought he would betray you like he did and we are truly sorry for his actions," Kim added.

Rylee’s posture softened at their words of apology. She couldn’t think as to why they were expressing their sorrow at first. Then it started to make sense. They were parents. Their child wronged another person and naturally, they, in a way, felt accountable for his actions.

“It’s fine, you guys. Really.”

Mrs. Sanders, again, didn’t believe the words that spew from Rylee’s mouth. She reached over and took hold of her hand.

“When we talked to Matt a couple of days ago, he didn’t sound like himself. He’s just as broken as you are Rylee.”

Rylee’s face fell.

“He was stubborn at first but eventually he broke down. He told me everything from start to finish. I won’t bring up anything about the initial issue, but he told me why you left. I know it’s not my job to tell you this but I think you really need to hear this.”

She stopped and took a deep breath.

“As you know Matt was receiving text messages from the woman he cheated with. And I’m not sure if you know this already or not but he never actually responded to her messages. He claimed he was telling the truth when he said he wanted nothing to do with her. He said he kept it from you because he didn't want to open another can of issues.”

Rylee squinted her eyes at her.

“I don’t know if you believe me or not but it’s true. I know my son. He hates showing emotion. But when he’s close to sobbing, I know he’s telling the truth. And you know that too.”

Rylee knew she was right. Her husband doesn't cry unless it's serious.

She took in a quivering breath and nodded. “I believe you.”

Kim sent her a small smile.

“He blocked her number and even threatened her with a restraining order.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And i think it’s time you two work things out. You barely have two months left before the baby is here and you guys haven’t even decided on a name,” said Gary.

Rylee let everything sink in. While Matt did hide stuff from her, he really didn’t do anything wrong. And Mr. Sanders was right; they needed to prepare for the baby.

It was time for them to either push their differences aside until after the birth or patch things up before she arrived. Either way, Rylee decided that she needed to make the first move. Quickly!

“I’ll give him a call later. I promise.”

They both gave her bright smiles; obviously happy they could get through to her.

“I promise everything will be okay. You guys can overcome this.”

Later on that night, Rylee lied in bed debating if she should call Matt or wait until morning to call him. Her heart thumped in her chest each time she went to press the call button.

“Should I call daddy now or wait?” she asked her daughter.

When she received a nudge she pressed the call button without hesitation. Her nerves grew more severe with each passing second. Her heart jumped at the sound of his deep voice but quickly fell when she realized it was his voice mail.

–––––––

Matt didn’t even hear his phone when his wife tried calling him. He was busy drinking at the bar, alone.
He thought for sure he would feel better after sending Bella away for good. But then he started thinking about how to win his wife back.

How was he going to convince her to take him back again? How was he going to convince her that he is truly sorry for everything and that he will remain faithful to her until death do them part?

The words sounded clear as day in his mind, but as soon as he went to call her he would chicken out. So instead of dealing with the internal battle, he came to the bar to relieve some mental stress.

He drank the last of his beer and signaled for the bar tender to close his tab. He signed the slip and took his receipt.

He put on his jacket and checked his pockets to see if his keys and wallet were still there.

He walked outside, shivering from the cold Chicago air.

He walked without direction. He wasn’t ready to return to the bus just yet. He spotted a gas station up ahead. He walked further up the sidewalk, passing by people who looked to be in the same drunken state, and entered the small gas station.

The cashier greeted him gruffly from behind the counter, which Matt failed to return. The way he stalked around the tiny store probably looked suspicious to onlookers. But he didn’t think much of it.

He glanced past the snacks and the beverages, not caring for either.

Finally he made his way back to the front of the store with nothing to buy. Packages of cigarettes caught his eye from beside him. He doesn’t smoke often. He thought it over a bit before grabbing the pack and joining the short line of people.

“I want candy daddy!”

The voice of a little girl caught Matt’s attention immediately. A man and a woman, who looked to be no more than 25, walked around, putting groceries into a basket while the little girl followed behind them.

Matt watched the dainty family shop around. He couldn’t help but think of his daughter and wife. And in that moment, it hit him. He didn’t belong there. He dropped the cigarettes to the floor and slowly made his way to the entrance. He finally made a decision.

A decision that would surely upset people.

A decision that he felt was right..