Broken Promises

20(2)

She sighed. "Ali." She said as she tried to reach for my hand. She never wants me to put blame on myself, even though it is my fault.

"No Em. This is my fault. I should've told you that I was pregnant when I found out. I just didn't want to ruin things for you."

"What could you have ruined?"

"Everything." When she didn't answer I sat on the bed and waited for her to sit beside me but she never did. "Can you please sit down? I'll never be able to explain with you staring down at me like this." She shook her head and sat beside me, facing me.

"Why do you think telling me that you're pregnant would have ruined things for me?" I sighed as I tried to find the words to explain to her.

"The day I found out that I was pregnant was the day I fainted in gym class and had to go to the hospital." I stopped and studied her face and knew the exact moment when everything clicked in her mind. I continued before she could say anything. "You had basketball practice that night so I decided that I would tell you when you called, but when you did, you started talking about how the coach said that scouts were coming to watch you play in your first game. When you told me that I knew that I had to keep this from you so you could focus. Because if I would have told you, you would have been on the first flight available here and would have lost any chance of getting that scholarship you wanted. Also I didn't want to ruin that feeling of excitement for you." She reached for my hands before she spoke.

"Ali, basketball has never and will never be more important than you. You should know that. You should have told me about the baby when you first found out because you two are way more important than scouts and scholarships. I can pay my way to school, just like I'ma pay yours." I sighed as I smiled a little.

"It's just, this is all happening so fast. Like I know we talked about kids but it was always gonna be after college and after we established our careers." She smiled.

"Well, it's happening a little sooner than that, but we can still make all of those things come true. We just have to work a little harder than most kids our age.

"It was never my intention to keep our daughter away from you Em. I just thought it would be best…"

"Wait, daughter? We're having a girl?" She asked with a huge smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Yes, we're having a girl." I put my hands on my stomach and rubbed it a little. Earning a kick from her "Her name is Isabel." She looked at me for a second before she gently put her hand on top of mine.

"After my grandmother." She said quietly and I nodded slowly while smiling. "So, I did name our first child..." she said with cockiness. I threw my head back and laughed a little.

"Oh my god. Well you wanted her name to be 'Isabella' not 'Isabel'." I pointed out.

"Whatever, same context. She's still gonna be called Bella for short." She said as she stared into my eyes with so much love shining through them. It felt like we stared into each other's souls for hours when it was only for a few seconds before she blinked and cleared her throat. "Ali .." she started as she gripped my hand. "I uh.. I know we're young but we can do this. You never made it clear if we're back together or not but I want to raise our daughter together, as a family. I don't want her going from house to house… unless it's to visit her grandparents." I smiled a little at that before I took a deep breath. 

"I want the same thing Em. I want to be with you and raise our daughter together and have everything else we talked about." She pulled me into a hug for about a minute before she pulled away.