AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This is my house, he can leave.” Tyler snaps back as if he has any more authority here than I do.
His words are bull, and he knows it. I won’t allow Tyler’s toxic attitude to tear down a man that has done nothing but help me stand when I’ve felt like crumbling over the past few months. A man who has shown me that I’m braver than I ever imagined I was.
I can do hard things. I’m about to do one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I close my eyes slowly, breathing deeply through the words I know I have to say.
I open my eyes again, and I break my own heart to give life to the tiny one that beats beneath the fabric of my shirt.
“That’s how you want this to be, fine. But hear my words right now, Tyler Eugene Patterson. I will never speak to you again, and you will never know the beautiful human this baby will be. You’ve lost so much today, and you don’t even realize it yet. Your sister. Your best friend. But most of all, you’ve lost a lifetime of knowing the joy that this sweet baby will bring into the world. I will call Mama and Jeff later. Damien, we’re leaving.” The words burn my throat like acid as I say them, but this is what has to happen. I won’t allow him to poison this baby. I won’t allow his negativity to infiltrate my mind. I have to protect my own mental health.
“Are you sure about this, Gia?” Damien walks to where I’m standing and takes my hand in his. A silent show of support. I thread my fingers with his. I need him. I need him so much more than he knows.
“Yeah, Gia, you sure you want to do this?” Tyler sneers as he watches us with a look of pure disgust on his face. It only confirms the decision I’ve made in my heart already.
I need to say goodbye. Sometimes relationships have to die so that others can thrive.
This baby is my priority. Damien is the father of my child. I choose them. I choose this life. And I choose to say goodbye for now. Maybe even forever.
My heart breaks a little bit more, but he did this. Tyler did this.
“Goodbye, Tyler. I hope you never forget that this was your fault. You chose.” My voice cracks, but I force the words out. “You broke our family.” Damien squeezes my hand.
Tears streak down my face. My throat burns. I can’t breathe. It’s time to go.
When I turn to leave, Damien follows me. I leave my suitcase. I leave my childhood home. I leave it all behind. I choose this baby. I choose Damien. I choose my family.
I cry as we slowly drive away, and I silently mourn my childhood.
Chapter Four
Gia
May of the following year
“Breathe through the pain, Click. In and out, just like they taught us in that class.”
I shoot shards of broken glass at Damien with my eyes. As far as I’m concerned, this is all his fault.
Also, the crunchy moms. This is their fault too. Fuck them and their steel-cut oats.
This is what happens when you wind up on the granola side of TikTok. Dammit, I should have known better. My own mama tried to tell me to take the drugs, but no, I was convinced that I was totally prepared to push a basketball out of my vagina unmedicated.
Alert the media.
I. Was. Not. Prepared.
“Damien, I swear to God, I will cut your dick off.” The threat is a battle cry that I fully intend to follow through on. If I survive this. Death feels imminent.
Oh, God.
“You heard that, right? That’s a premeditated threat. I might need a witness after this is over. Would you be willing to testify in court, if needed?” Damien has the nerve to joke with the nurse that currently has her entire hand inside of my body.
The man has a death wish.
“I heard nothing.” She looks up at me with a small smile teasing her lips.
I like her, but the audacity of her to smile at a time like this is beyond me.
I can’t smile. I can’t do anything but grimace and hold my breath as another wave of white-hot pain burns through every square inch of my body. It’s excruciating. This pain is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I’m living for the brief seconds of reprieve I get in between the waves of hell that continue to move closer and closer together in a relentless tsunami of torture.
