𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃

꧁ TWENTY SIX ꧂

Nessa notices the change in her mood and puts down her fork- her eyes scanning over Patty's face for any trace of what's wrong.

"Patty? You okay?".

Wiping the scowl off of her face, Patty looks over at Nessa and offers her a half smile that she clearly forced. "I'm fine sweetie honestly. I just hate how we're hardly ever here for you and Josh. I hate it ya know? Leaving him all the time. I'm just like his sorry excuse of a father. Leaving him to fend for himself every chance I get and being a part time parent whenever it suits me".

Josh steps into the kitchen and takes both women by surprise. Neither of them had heard him approach the kitchen. The tall boy makes his way over to his mom and wraps his arms around her, giving her a warm- much needed hug. He smooths out her short shoulder length hair with his hand and squeezes her gently before letting go.

"You're the most perfect mom okay? Do not doubt yourself just because you want to go and have new experiences with the love of your life. I'm perfectly okay here with my own little family".

Nessa feels her heart warm at his words and she doesn't dare look at him directly; fear that her hormonal emotions will get the best of her.

"But I feel like I'm always leaving" she sighs, holding onto his hand.

"What's wrong with that? If you're scared that it makes me think you're anything like Martin then you're wrong. The difference is that you always come back- he doesn't. You call and check up on me every waking hour and bombard my phone with texts every second. You allow me the opportunity to take care of my family and have given me so much so don't you start doubting your abilities as a parent now, you're amazing and I love you".

Patty stands up and pulls her son in for a proper hug. She holds him tight and kisses his cheek. Josh may tower over her a little but she still hugs him as if he were seven years old again.

_____

Josh had left to drop his parents off at the airport a half hour ago- leaving Nessa all alone in the house to over think about what she would be doing right now had she not fell pregnant and been kicked out of her home. Her heart starts to ache while thinking about her family and her little brother in particular. She would give anything just to be able to be there right now with them.

Getting up off of the couch, Nessa makes her way into the kitchen. She quickly spots the bottle of wine that Patty had been drinking from before she left. The half empty bottle beacons for her to come closer which she oddly found herself doing. Maybe it was the hormones or the raging fire of regret and hatred she currently has going on but before she knew it, Nessa had picked up the bottle and she swiftly removes the cap, flicking it off of the bottle with her finger. In a moment of emotion she takes a swig of the alcohol and then another and then another.

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"Hey Ness? I'm home" Josh calls from the front door. He hears water running from upstairs and assumes she's in the shower. He places his car keys in the bowl beside the door and takes off his shoes. The lingering smell of dinner and ginger bread welcomes him into the living room. He notices a wet patch on the carpet and cusses under his breath.

Heading into the kitchen, he grabs a dish towel from the counter. Josh whistles as he collects the supplies to clean up the spill. Just as the rushed boy starts the leave the room- his eyes catch sight of the empty wine bottle placed on the island. He frowns, furrowing his brows a little at it. He could have swore that when he left, it was only half empty. His mom begged him to let her drink it in the car but he explicitly remembers telling her no.

Josh walks over to the bottle and picks it up, trying to think of how a half empty bottle of wine is now suddenly empty.

Then Nessa walks into the kitchen, oblivious to his presence. She's trying to towel dry her hair and wipe the mascara smudge lines that she has down her face in streaks. When she does look up however, she is suddenly stuck to the floor in surprise and she notices the bottle Josh is holding at once.

Josh studies the expression that she wears carefully. Her pupils are wide with shock and all the color drains from her face like she's just seen a ghost. He shakes his head furiously as if he were trying to get something out of his hair.

"No". Is all he says while dragging a hand down his face. Nessa opens her mouth to explain but no words are coming out.

He slams the bottle down on the counter and they're both surprised that the thing didn't shatter there and then. It's impossible to put the feelings that are coursing through his body into words. How could she do that?! Why would she do that.

"Are-are you drunk?" He asks with a spiteful tongue.

Nessa drops her head, tears spilling out of her ashamed eyes. She holds her hand up to her mouth as an attempt to muffle her sobs. She looks back up at him with a sincere glance.

"No, not drunk. I stopped myself before-"

"Stopped yourself?" Josh interrupts, pointing to the bottle. "You finished the whole thing! You only stopped because you ran out!".

"That's not true!" She cries, her voice breaking.

Josh leans back against the sink, his eyes switching between looking at the bottle on the island and the crying girl beside it. He is beyond furious that she would even do something so stupid as if the pregnancy isn't risk enough as it is, she now has to sabotage it even more. He can't bare to look at her without wanting to say a million horrible things that he knows he'd regret the second he said them so he comes up with a conclusion of his own.

"Where are you going?" Nessa calls when he storms out of the room. She follows behind him, holding onto her stomach.

"I'm leaving. You stay here".

"Leaving? Leaving...me? Josh it was a stupid mistake -"

"A stupid mistake that for all we know, could have killed our daughter" He yells back- startling her. Nessa has never been yelled at by him like that before and she feels like the smallest person in the world.

In a voice so small it's almost a whisper, she says "It was a little bit of wine. She's okay Joshua I can feel her kicking".

Josh stares at her in disbelief.

He smirks, chuckling to himself. He grabs his keys from the bowl and puts on his hoodie, adjusting the hood.

"Well in that case, why don't you go have some more. Merry Christmas".