Chapter 2: The Truth
Chapter 2: The Truth
The next morning, Sophie was cleared to go home.
As I signed her discharge papers, Elias stood silently beside her bed.
Finally, he spoke.
"Please tell me the truth."
I looked at him.
His eyes weren't demanding.
They were desperate.
"The baby is yours."
The room fell silent.
For a moment, Elias simply stared.
Then he sat down heavily in the nearest chair.
His face turned pale.
"You were pregnant when you left?"
"Four weeks."
He covered his mouth.
"Oh my God."
Tears filled his eyes.
Not dramatic tears.
The quiet kind.
The kind that come when someone realizes exactly what they've lost.
"You should have told me."
A bitter laugh escaped me.
"You never called."
His shoulders dropped.
Because he knew I was right.
For months, he had convinced himself that I left because I stopped loving him.
The truth was much simpler.
I left because I was tired of loving someone who refused to choose me.
That afternoon, Elias followed me to the parking lot.
"I'm not asking you to forgive me," he said.
"I'm asking for a chance to be a father."
I looked at him carefully.
For the first time since I'd known him, he wasn't trying to protect his pride.
He was protecting his child.
"Being a father isn't a chance," I said.
"It's a responsibility."
He nodded.
"I know."
Weeks passed.
Slowly, cautiously, we learned how to speak to each other again.
Not as lovers.
Not yet.
As two people preparing to raise a child.
And surprisingly, Sophie became the bridge between us.
Every hospital visit.
Every baby appointment.
May you like
Every awkward conversation.
She was there, smiling and holding my hand.
