Love's A Hard Game To Play

The Nightmare

Stevie finally stopped crying and got up from the floor and went to lay down on her bed.
She was of course alone; Joe was in the studio working on his up coming album.
There wasn't anything else to do, so Stevie fell asleep.

She was woken up hours later by Joe who was clearly intoxicated. He was already on top of her pulling at her nightgown; she suppressed a sigh and just let it happen.

After he was done, he rolled off of her and laid next to her and fell asleep in seconds.
Stevie covered herself with her blanket then turned her back on him and cried silently until she eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, Joe rolled over and noticed Stevie wasn't lying next to him.
He was about to go on a rampage but then he heard retching coming from the bathroom.

He stood up and pulled on some boxers then walked to the bathroom door.
It was open a bit so he pushed it to peek inside.
He saw Stevie leaning over the toilet vomiting into it.

Joe leaned in the doorway now and crossed his arms. "So, are you a drunk now?"
Stevie stiffened but continued to vomit; she just shook her head no.
He then looked over and noticed the pregnancy stick in the trash can; it was right on top.

Joe walked closer and his eyes were wide when he saw the two pink lines.
"Stevie, what the hell is this?" Joe asked.

Stevie's tears fell fast down her cheeks. She heaved a few times then flushed the toilet.
She stood up and walked to the sink to brush her teeth.

When she was done, Stevie turned to Joe and whispered. "I'm...pregnant."
It was no use wiping her tears away, they just kept falling.
Stevie closed her eyes as she waited for the worst to come.

She was shocked when it didn't; instead, Joe stepped up to Stevie and wiped her tears away.
Stevie flinched a little then opened her eyes.
She stared at him not believing what he was doing.

What was even more shocking was he had a genuine smile on his face. "I'm going to be a dad."
Stevie couldn't help but smile back. "Yes."
Joe hugged her then let her go and asked. "How far along are you?"
Stevie didn't know what to make of his behavior.
"I don't know, I just took the test yesterday. I'm going to make a doctors appointment for tomorrow." Stevie said.
"I'll come with you!" Joe said.
Stevie smiled. "Okay."

Joe cancelled his studio time to go with Stevie to her appointment.
Stevie laid back on the examination table with her shirt pulled up, her doctor squeezed a gel onto her abdomen and began to move the transducer around.
Joe held her hand in his.

Stevie had tears of joy when she saw the screen.
"Alright, you are measuring around seven weeks." The doctor said. He then pushed a button and the room was instantly filled with sound of a heartbeat.
Stevie was over the moon listening to her baby's heartbeat; that's when her tears fell down her cheeks.
She looked over at Joe and he too had tears in his eyes.
In that moment, Stevie felt like the Joe she fell in love with was coming back to her.

As the weeks passed, Stevie couldn't believe the turn around of Joe's behavior towards her.
He was so attentive, caring, sweet; he made sure Stevie was as comfortable as possible.
Her bruises were starting to heal.
Stevie stopped using cocaine, it was difficult at times but for her child she would do anything to protect them and make sure they were healthy.

Joe had stopped drinking and the drug use.
He would still go to the studio to work on his album.
Also, he told Stevie to put out the album she had been working on which of course he didn't let her release. She had recorded an album a few months before behind Joe's back which didn't go well. She had ended up in the hospital for it.