ᴛʜᴇ ʙɪʟʟɪᴏɴᴀɪʀᴇꜱ ꜱᴜʀʀᴏɢᴀᴛᴇ

Runaway

LEAH

I walked in through the front door and sighed heavily. It was so late. Ethan and Jake were like two hyperactive teenagers. As I walked in deeper, I noticed Aaron sleeping on the couch.

He must have been waiting for me..

I got down on my knees in front of him and listened to the sound of his breathing. I brushed his messy hair from his face. I didn't want to wake him he looked so peaceful. I noticed a cast on his wrist and a bottle of hospital grade painkillers.

What happened to him?

I sighed and then pulled a blanket over him. I kissed his forehead and wiped some of his drool. He's probably loaded up on pain medication or sleeping pills. No matter how I'm feeling right now, I still care about Aaron. I was so tired I didn't even realize I fell asleep right there on the floor.

When I woke up the next morning, I yawned softly and sat up. Aaron was still asleep on the couch.

Jeez, how many pills did he take?

"I'll come back to check on you.." I whispered to him and then made my way upstairs.

I rubbed my face as I walked up the steps. All I wanted to do was sink into a bath and relax.

"Mama."

I froze and turned my head to see the little boy. Tristan, was it? He was wearing a footie onsie and held a blanket in his hand.

"Um..."

"Mama." He says, holding his hands out to me.

I've never been so uncomfortable in my entire life. I pressed myself against the wall to avoid him and began looking in every bedroom for his mother, but she wasn't here.

Maybe she went out for a while.

"Mama." He sniffed, and I hesitantly picked him up.

He lays his head on my shoulder, and I still feel uncomfortable, but I can't be afraid of a one year old. I walked down steps down to the kitchen, and Leo followed me.

"Um, okay.. what do you eat?" I ask Tristan as I sat him on the counter.

He just stares at me and sucks his finger. I don't want to wake Aaron, especially since he was injured.

"Mommy." He says.

Okay, kid, I get it.

I sighed and opened the fridge and took the milk.

Shit no bottle. Oh wait, I think Aaron bought some when he was decorating the nursery. I looked around the kitchen and finally found the pack.

"Oh, here we go." I said and started washing it.

He's quiet. Is that good or bad?

As I begin to make his bottle, Leo nudges my leg. He's hungry, too.

"Mama." Tristan calls out.

I shake the bottle and test the temperature.  I don't know much about babies because I never planned on having any. I handed the bottle to Tristan, but he reached out for me instead.

Where the hell is his mother?

AARON

I wake up from my sleep to Leo, licking my face. I push him away and sit up. My head feels foggy, but reality quickly sinks in again. I reached out for my pills, but they're not there. I get up and make my way to the kitchen. My throat feels dry.

I walked into the kitchen to see Leah holding Tristan as he drank from a bottle. This is how I want to see her every day but with our own baby.

Last night Tristan was screaming his lungs out before I took some pills to sleep. He didn't seem to like neither Ava nor me. I did try with him, but he tugged on my hair and poked me in the eye.

"Hey. Morning." I say to her.

"Morning." She answers.

"Why are you feeding him and not Ava?" I asked and poured myself a glass of water.

"I don't know. I was looking for her but couldn't find her." Leah tells me then pats Tristan's back.

"What do you mean you couldn't find her? Where'd she go?" I ask her.

"I mean, she wasn't here. I checked." Leah answered.

I quickly ran upstairs and frantically looked in every room. I opened the door to the guest room, and her bag was gone. All that was there was a few things of Tristan's clothes.

"No!" I yelled and pulled out my phone.

I dialed in her number, but it went straight to voice-mail. I kept calling over and over again.

"Ava where the fuck are you?! I'm not taking care of your kid!" I shout into the voice-mail.

"Aaron, what's wrong?" Leah asks.

She's still holding Tristan. I don't want Leah to feel responsible for taking care of my problems. Whether Tristan is mine or not, it shouldn't be on her.

"Ava is gone."

"Wait she left without her kid?" Leah asked, stunned.

I sighed and took Tristan from her gently, but he started crying immediately.

Jesus.

I try to calm him down, but it's not working. Is this how it's gonna be when I have my own kids? This one hates me. What if my future kid hates me?

"Come on, stop crying, please." I say desperately.

Leah stares at me with pity and places her hand on my arm. "Let me try."

I hesitantly passed him to her, and he wrapped his arms around Leah's neck, laying his head on her.

I groaned and sat on the edge of the bed.

"What the hell am I gonna do now?"

Tristan calms down, and Leah sits next to me. "We'll figure it out." She says sweetly.

"This isn't your problem, Leah. It shouldn't be on you." I said sighing.

"It kinda is my problem."

I shake my head and run my fingers through my hair. "It's not."

"Of course it is. You're the father of my baby." She said to me, and I glanced at her.

"What are you talking about?" I asked her.

She places Tristan on his feet and plays with my hair. "I'm pregnant."

My eyes widen and I get down my knees in front of her. "You're... pregnant?"

She gives me a small smile and nods. I lift her shirt and kissed her flat belly. This is what I want. Me, Leah and our baby. I'm not sure if she even wants to be with me right now but I don't want to press the issue.

"You're gonna get your baby after all." She says running her fingers through my hair.

I looked up at her. "Our baby."

She tries not to smile but she fails. Tristan comes over and places his hand on Leah's belly copying what I'm doing. I still don't know if he's my son but right now everything feels like it's going to be okay.

~

Don't get too comfortable Aaron.....