The Final Goodbye © By: J.L. Jacobs

Chapter Twenty-Three: Resolutions

     "When I came in here last night I overheard a conversation being discussed about me. First, I would like to sincerely apologize for the way I reacted. I had gone all day without eating and I was just really hungry, tired, and feeling emotional to begin with. Ever since I got pregnant my emotions have been getting the best of me. However, that still doesn't give me the excuse to react to the situation in the way I did. For that, I am truly so sorry. I know Travis likes to joke around with me that it's my pregnancy hormones going crazy but it's not a good enough excuse. To be honest, I was genuinely hurt that such a big secret like that was being talked about without me here. I planned on telling you about it, truly. I haven't done so already because I did not want Mikey and Hope to know about what is going on and I still don't. I want what I tell you within this room to stay between us and only us. Can you all agree to that?" Sophia looked around the table to saw nods of affirmation come from her parents, Joseph, and Rachel. Rachel was already in tears which made Sophia feel awful. "Before I tell you my story, I want to know how you found out exactly. Who told you if it wasn't my husband?" Sophia asked forthwith. It was a few moments before anyone spoke up. "Actually, it was Hope." Travis finally confessed, giving her a look of guilt. Sophia looked at him incredulously, "What do you mean it was Hope? Hope doesn't know! How could she have possibly found about that?" Travis looked around the room and when no one volunteered to answer that question for him, he knew he had no other option than to tell her. "When you didn't come down for supper last night, we were all worried about you. I went upstairs to get you thinking that perhaps you were lying down for a nap. When you weren't in your room, Joseph and myself tried to ask Rachel many times where you were at but she wouldn't tell us." Travis replied. "Wait just one minute!" Rachel interrupted while glaring Travis down. Her cheeks and face took on a reddish color, "It's not that I wouldn't, I couldn't. I honestly did not know exactly where she was at." she implored. But the guilty look on her face said otherwise and it was Joseph who called her out on it. "I only think that's partially true Rachel and you know it. Every time we asked, you got this uncomfortable look on your face. Perhaps you weren't certain where she had gone but you had an idea of where Sophia could have been. That's a little different than not knowing at all." Rachel's face turned an even brighter shade of red from being called out like that, especially by her own husband! There was no denying that fact and she couldn't help but feel ashamed as her husband only spoke the truth. "I wasn't sure and there was no use telling you something if I wasn't one hundred percent positive of where she had gone." She looked over at Sophia and narrowed her eyes while silently mouthing the words, "Thanks a lot!" It was obvious to Sophia that her sister had covered for her against her better judgment and wasn't happy about it at all. Sophia couldn't blame her sister though, as it wasn't Rachel's fault that she had decided on a whim to go see Jeremy. "So you did know where my wife was at? Why didn't you tell me?" Travis asked her out of sheer frustration. He was now starting to feel quite perturbed after learning he had been somewhat misled by Rachel last night. "Like I said before, I wasn't completely sure where she had gone. Even if I were, it wasn't my place to tell." Rachel replied quickly. Travis shot up from his chair and glowered at her, "My wife's whereabouts are always my concern! She almost lost the baby once. What if something like that had happened again last night? With you refusing to tell me where she was at, then who knows what may have happened." "Uh oh," Sophia thought to herself, "not only was this conversation already getting out of hand and off topic but now another one of her secrets had just been accidentally revealed!" This slip of the tongue by Travis incensed her! That little secret was not one she had wanted her family to know about! "You almost lost the baby?" Lucinda cried out in shock. Her face was drawn with worry. "What in the hell is going on around here? Since when did anyone in this family start keeping secrets from one another?" Louis said gruffly. Even though he was not raising his voice like usual, Louis's face was turning a dark shade of red and the vein on his left temple started to make an appearance. Sophia attenuated her eyes at her husband saying, "I thought I was utterly clear that I did not want them knowing about that!" Travis put his arms on the table and cradled his head within them while using his fingers to rub at his temples. This was almost getting to be too much for him to deal with right now. "Will everyone just stop!" Joseph said impatiently while standing up, "Surely if Sophia had complications with her pregnancy once, then perhaps we all need to stop this senseless bickering. Let Sophia talk! I can imagine she must be under quite a bit of stress as it is. We're all a family here and we all love one another. Let's not let our frustrations get the better of us." Sophia was shocked that her brother-in-law came to her defense like that and couldn't help but smile in gratitude at him. He sat back down and everyone else stopped talking. Grudgingly, they all realized that Joseph was right.