Don't Lose Sight of Me

(28) Mourning Them

Juliette

I notice Tom's keys hanging by the door. He must be home. We walk into the kitchen where Tom stood with his hand over a glass of what seemed to be whiskey and a blue manilla file in front of him. A half empty bottle stood nearby. He looks up at us, and it's only then that I notice his eyes are bloodshot.

Before I can speak, Austen must notice something is off because he grabs my hand, pulling me behind him. "H-hey man. What's.. what's going on?" Austen asks as he slowly approaches tom who's eyes were stuck on me. "Watcha got there?" Austen asks looking down at the mysterious blue file. He goes to try and take the glass of whiskey from Tom, but flinches as Tom flexes his hand into a fist and looks at him. He turns his attention back to me and sniffles.

"One last time Juliette." He sniffles. "Why the fuck were you hospitalized 3 months after I left."

Austen turns to look at me, worried. My mouth instantly goes dry. I was beginning to shake, especially with Tom behaving this way. "I had pains from the therapy." I whisper.

He grabs the cup he was drinking from, flinging it off the table. I scream as the glass explodes. Austen manages to grab the bottle near Tom, but it didn't matter. He was already walking towards me. "Why did you go to the hospital Juliette!" He barks louder. "And don't fucking tell me it was because of therapy."

He stares down at me, the blue file in his hand. My full legal name written at the top.

"JULIETTE ANSWER ME!" He screams. "Tom! Stop what are you doing?" Austen growls now standing next to us. Tom keeps his eyes on me, as I stare down at the file in his hand. "You're over reacting, come on." Austen mumbles to him.

Tom's stare was heavy, his eyes were beginning to get watery again, and his face twisted in pain. "Say it Juliette." He hisses. I stay quiet, unable to push out any words. "SAY IT!!" He screams, his face beginning to turn red. Austen grabs Tom's shoulder trying to pull him away from me. "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!!" He screams at Austen, shaking his head profusely as he begins crying. "What the fuck is going on." Austen asks.

Tom looks back at me, continuing to shake his head at me. "I asked you." He hisses. "I ASKED YOU MULTIPLE TIMES JULIETTE!!" He screams with tears running down his face.

He pushes the folder against my chest. "FUCKING TELL ME JULIETTE!!" He screams as he backs away from me. I clench the folder, seeing my name on it. And I had no doubt about it. He knew. "Juliette what is that?" Austen asks. I look towards Tom apologetically. But he looks at me as if he were repulsed.

Austen takes the file from my hands as Tom and I continue to stare at one another. My eyes were stinging with tears. He looks up from my medical file, staring behind him at Tom who was shaking. "You were pregnant?" Austen whispers looking at me now.

"Pregnant. You were fucking pregnant and you didn't tell me." Tom manages to choke out. "It was never the right time.." I whisper. It never was. He was busy with shows and interviews. Then the Rosie thing happened. Then the Josiah thing. Then the car accident.. and then, he left. "I thought it was best to wait to tell you.. until everything was okay again."

"THAT WASN'T YOUR CHOICE TO MAKE JULIETTE!!" He screams reaching for the file that Austen was barely holding on to. "YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T WANT KIDS!" I scream at him.

"THINGS CHANGE JULIETTE!!!"

"HOW WAS I GOING TO TELL YOU! AND WHY DOES IT MATTER IF IT'S DONE!? IF I LOST THE BABY!!"

Tom flips through some pages tearing something out and dropping the entire file on to the nearby table. "BECAUSE IT WAS MY BABY TOO JULIETTE!!" He screams at the top of his lungs, shakily holding up the 13 week ultrasound. "IT WAS MY BABY AND YOU COULDN'T FUCKING TELL ME!!" He lowers the ultra sound turning it towards him and squeezing his eyes shut as if it were too painful to look at the photos. He lets out a sob, holding the ultrasound against his chest, careful as to not wrinkle the series of photos.