Chapter 10 April 30, 2008

Excerpt from the diary of Devonny Winden,

She arrived at our front door very recently and I cannot say I am pleased to see the trollop appear on our property…

“April?” Lex said as he opened the door. “What are you doing here?”

“Hi Lex..” April replied her voice a bit hesitant and worried.

“Are.. Are you here to see Devonny? She’s a bit occupied at the moment, but maybe -”

“I came to talk to you.”

Lex closed the door quietly behind him as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“You know it isn’t the best idea to come talk to me at home. Devonny’s been very.. skeptical of me the past while.”

“I know, but we need to sort some things out.” April said, looking to the side.

“What’s the matter?”

“Devonny suspects something between us. She called me the other day and accused me of being a husband stealer and I didn’t know how else to clear it up but by through you. You need to pay more attention to her, she’s becoming insecure.”

“Me? You know exactly what I’m going through! I’m doing my best here! I told you about this whole entire pregnancy! Sure it would be nice to have a little child run around, but not now! We’ve barely settled in, and our house is not even fully ours yet! The mortgage, the bills, and my job! You understand right?” Lex said with a hysteric smile on his face.

“You knew that she might’ve gotten pregnant if you slept with her that night! She took that as a yes to you wanting to have a child!” April replied in a slightly more elevated voice, yet her expression didn’t change.

They both stood there in silence for a bit not knowing what to say. Lex was the first to break the silence.

“It’s gotten dark, you should go.” Lex muttered trying to brush off April as he heard the door open behind him.

“I’m not going anywhere until you sort this out! Devonny was the first friend I had when I arrived here! So for her sake I’m going to sort this out!” April whispered back angrily.

“Lex, what’s going on out here?” Devonny’s voice shot through the night like steel. April and Devony’s eyes met briefly before April’s attention was shifted back to Lex.

“Just leave, now!” Lex hissed through clenched teeth.

“Lex what are you doing with her outside our house?” Devonny asked icily.

Lex turned around to greet his wife, and as he tried explaining to his pregnant wife, April kept staring at Devonny, trying to tell her it was all a misunderstanding, but the glare Devonny shot her silenced her voice completely.

“Nothing darling, go back inside, she just dropped by and was just asking how you were doing,” Lex replied trying to usher her back into the house.

“If so then why didn’t she just ask me in person instead of asking you?” Devonny asked her eyes never leaving April.

“I thought you were resting inside and didn’t want to disturb you.” Lex replied as he tugged on her arm to lead her inside. “She was leaving anyways,” he added.

“Well here I am now, she can ask me to my face and you can stop playing messenger.” Devonny shot back as she wrenched her arm free of Lex’s grasp.

“Fine, but just don’t take too long, it’s cold out here.” as he turned around back to the house.

As Lex returned to the house, he shot April one last look, pleading with her to leave now, and left the door open behind him.

“So? Didn’t you have something to ask me?” Devonny challenged.

April hesitated at this sudden confrontation and decided to take the safer route. “Yeah, I was wondering how you were doing… and the baby too..”

“We’re both fine and healthy.” Devonny replied back testily. “We’re not dying anytime soon if that’s what you’re wanting to hear.”

April’s eyes widened in shock at Devonny’s accusation that she had hoped they were both dead.

“I didn’t mean to offend! I was just concerned!”

“As if you didn’t want me out of the way to get my husband! Just leave now and get out of my sights.” Devonny hissed extending her arms out in the direction of April’s house. “You may leave that way.”

April’s hands opened in shock. She hadn’t wanted it to go this way.

“Devonny, there’s nothing going on between me and Lex, we’re just friends, and nothing more! I would never steal him away as you so said,” April tried explaining but Devonny closed her eyes and held her head as if she had a headache.

“I’m begging you April just leave. Please. Haven’t you caused us more than enough grief?” Devonny replied as she held her other hand to her heart, almost as if she couldn’t breathe.

April backed away, scared of the sudden change in Devonny’s physical state. “Devonny are you okay? Should I call the ambulance?”

“Just leave.” Devonny gritted out as she felt another stab of pain go through her.

“But Devonn-”

“Leave!” Devonny shouted as she wobbled back into the house and slammed the door behind her.

April was shocked by Devonny’s response to her. She almost seemed as if she were a completely different person.

As she turned to leave, she couldn’t help but hear the shouts of Lex and Devonny arguing once again, and she couldn’t help but feel as if she was the cause of it all.

—–

“- you’re being delusional, there’s nothing going on!” Lex shouted as he left the kitchen

“Get back down here Lex! I’m not finished with you!” Devonny yelled, ignoring the pains in her stomach as she gripped the side of the sofa with one hand and her stomach with the other.

Lex ignored her yells as he grabbed his coat and left the house, slamming the door behind him.

“Damn, her.. it’s all her fault.” Devonny cursed as she went upstairs. “I’m going to take a bath and forget about all this.”

But as soon as she entered the bathroom her water broke.

“Shit, not now,” was her thought as she felt the pains grow increasingly and let out a small yell of pain. She quickly yelled for Lex, but Lex wasn’t there.

“Shit,” she thought as another stab of pain shot through her body. She painfully limped her way to the phone in the hallway and called for an ambulance and did the breathing exercises she had been taught when she did go through the pregnancy.

Luckily, the ambulance arrived and quickly transported her to the hospital. When the nurses asked if they should call someone, Devonny bit her cheek. Lex wouldn’t come, and she knew it. So she told them no.

A few hours later, she had a healthy baby boy and when the nurse gave him to her to hold, she couldn’t help but notice that he was the spitting image of Lex.

“Miss? Are you going to name him?” the nurse asked as she was writing things down on the clipboard. Devonny thought about it for a while, would it be alright if she named the baby without consulting Lex?

Screw that, she went through hell for him so she was naming him whether or not Lex liked it! She looked at the nurse and made up her mind.

“Bryce. I’ll name him Bryce.”

The next day, Lex had arrived at the hospital. How he knew she had gone into labour? The lovely mess she had left him to clean up from the bathroom to the phone on the second floor.

“How long will you be in the hospital for?” he asked.

“Probably another couple of days.” Devonny replied. The two sat in silence for a while as if they were two strangers at a bar.

“I saw the baby,” Lex said breaking the silence. “He looks… a lot like me.”

“Yes, he does. His name is Bryce.”

“Bryce huh,” Lex said as if testing the name. “It’s … a nice name for him.” and after that he left.

Devonny arrived home courtesy of a friend at night carrying baby Bryce. Lex had long fallen asleep and didn’t wake up to the sound of the front door or the bedroom door. Devonny quickly washed Bryce and put him in the crib and took a shower herself.

As she got out of the shower, she glanced at her once again, flat stomach. She had been lucky, and had not gotten any visible stretch marks, but she couldn’t help but feel a little empty now that Bryce was born.

“The baby’s born, no more torture,” she thought to herself as she got ready for bed.

So why don’t I feel relieved at all?