We're going to need more than five minutes

Will you give me a second chance?

Carefully, she nodded. Of course he was. She could see it in his eyes and in his entire body. "And you have every right to be", she whispered, "Don't think I don't know that."

"We're here", their Uber driver mumbled into his beard, impatiently. They had stopped about a minute ago, and even though he somehow thought to recognize that woman from somewhere, he had no mind to listen to this conversation any longer. After all, you saw and heard A LOT as an Uber driver in LA...

When she opened the door, she noticed that he was hesitating. No wonder: not too long ago he had thought this would become his permanent home, and then he went straight to thinking he'd never ever come back here. She herself hadn't been home in a few days, since her friends had taken her away on her birthday and she had stayed at Bex' ever since. And now... she was stepping through the door a different person. A mother-to-be.

"Where are the dogs?", she heard him wonder about the unusual silence that surrounded them, he certainly must miss Levi in particular, his best little buddy. Or, not so little anymore by now.

"They're still at Bex'. I've spent the weekend there since... my birthday."

He nodded and mumbled, fairly uncomfortably. "Happy belated birthday! I wanted to congratulate you, but..."

"I know", she nodded.

"Did you have a good day?"

She scoffed. If he only knew... "It was nice, yes... thank you. Uhm... would you like anything to drink? Coffee, tea... soda, wine, a beer?"

"Just water, please. I won't be long. Thanks."

"Coming right up. Please, have a seat."

He sat down in the kitchen just by the kitchen counter, he didn't even bother heading to the living room. He did not seem interested in a long conversation at all. She took a deep breath, she mustn't come on too strong right away. She needed to give him time too. If she was feeling confused, she could only imagine how he must be feeling right now.

Meanwhile, he looked around, uncomfortably kneading his fingers, not a single clue what to feel, what to expect or hope for. Then he stopped, and it was as if he could feel his heart squirm inside his chest.

"You took off the picture?", he pointed to from where Bob Marley's eyes had usually looked at him, but now there was nothing but an empty piece of wall that screamed of the failure of their relationship.

She nodded as she served him a glass of water. "I did... I just couldn't look into those eyes anymore, you know... It was like every time, they were judging me. I still have it though. It's downstairs in the basement."

He nodded and quickly took a sip. He most certainly hadn't ever intended for this picture to end up in her basement that quickly, and she could have slapped herself for it.

"Well then", demonstratively he checked his watch, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

She sighed and walked around the counter to be able to sit next to him, then reached for his hand. They had been holding hands before, so surely he wouldn't mind, and she just needed to hold him right now, needed him to hold her. He didn't pull away his hand, but wasn't holding on to her much either. When she looked at him, it was the first time that she saw his face without the mask, and she caught herself studying his features, every inch of his face. His eye color, his skin color, his eye lashes, his beard stubble, his short and tight curls that she so loved to 'mess' with, and she couldn't help but let her thoughts wander off for a few heartbeats to the little human who was with them right now, even though its father had no idea yet. What would he or she look like – if they ever came into this world? Would they have their father's eyes? His hair? How light or dark would their skin be?