I'll Be There

To Late to Apologize?

Alex had begun to drum her fingers against the wood of the table as she sat impatiently awaiting the male's return. "What is taking so long?" she mumbled as she drummed her fingers harder.

"Alex relax; he'll be back soon," Tony reassured. "Just be patient."

"Dad, I don't know how much more of this I can take!" Alex snapped in a hush tone. "I know that there's not much I can do, but I can't just sit here and—"

"I'll find out where he is. You stay put," Tony interjected as he began to get up from his seat. Just as he stood up, he saw the man that Alex had been waiting impatiently for which led Tony to sigh in relief. "I see him coming," Tony mentioned as he sat back down and heard Alex whisper, 'Thank god.'

"I'm so sorry to keep you waiting," a male voice apologized as he approached the two.

Alex turned to face him and smiled as her eyes caught a glimpse of what she had been waiting for. "It's fine," she grinned. "This is definitely worth the wait."

"You just said—" Tony began to say before he was nudged in the ribs by Alex.

The man had smiled at the two as he placed two large white dishes in front of them. "Garlic mussels marinara for the gentleman and a pasta carbonara for the lady. Enjoy."

"And did you get the package I sent you?" asked a female voice.

"Yes mom," responded Alex as she lifted the oversized plush bear in front of her laptop's camera so that her mom could see it through their video call. "Although, I read that infants shouldn't sleep with stuffed animals for the first few months. You know this so I don't know why you sent it to me."

Alex heard a small gasp from her mother accompanied with a fake face of shock.

"Mr. Tyler is not an 'it'," Christina replied as she pretended to sound offended. "And he's not for squishy; he's for you."

"Okay, mom," Alex scoffed.

"Honey, I'm serious. I know that that argument you had with Steve is still bothering you and you won't be able to get over it until you've talked with him which will be lord knows when," Christina explained. "But I don't like seeing you upset which is why I sent Mr. Tyler to you. He used to make you smile when you were sad as a kid; I thought that maybe he could do the same for you now."

Christina's response caused a small smile to form on Alex's face as she unconsciously gave the soft stuffed bear a small squeeze. "You're such a mom," Alex sighed. "Thank you for the bear and thank you for not getting mad when I told you what I did."

"Of course I'm a mom, Alex. I'm your mom so. How can I not act like one?" replied Christina in a 'matter-of-fact' tone. "And as for what you did, it must have hurt you more than anyone so of course I'm not going to get mad. I was a little heartbroken to hear it, but there's no need for me to be mad," she said sympathetically.

"I know but—" Alex began before she was cut off.

"Give him time, Alex. He'll come around just like you did when you were mad," Christina interrupted.

Before Alex could respond, her attention was directed to the halls of the apartment where she could hear the front doors being opened.

"I guess that's dad back with food."

"What did you make him get you this time?"

"Well, I wanted lasagna, but since he took me to an Italian restaurant yesterday, I settled for ramen," Alex explained.

"Well, you enjoy your food and make sure you take your vitamins. I love you, sweetie."

"I love you too, mom; and I will," Alex said as she waved 'good-bye' to her mother and closed her laptop. She then placed the large stuffed animal to the side of the bed after giving it one final squeeze and made her way to the kitchen area.