The Second Catch

Chapter 2: A Mutual Agreement

Anthony stared at her. Now everything she had done made perfect sense. Was? She said was. Yet he didn't recall seeing any child with Melanie in all the times they were together. That meant two things. She gave it up for adoption or.... He shook his head. He didn't want to think of the other thought. "When you said was.." He asked cautiously. He was almost too afraid to ask. For he knew that the few different options he was thinking of were all too horrible to think about. He of course knew it was a possibility that she had miscarried. But for some reason, the two options Anthony seemed to be thinking on was that she either gave it up for adoption, or that she went for an abortion. Which for some reason, he couldn't see her being the type of person that would do that. At least he hoped she wasn't.

Melanie stayed quiet even longer at that question. "It, it was a miscarriage, and that is why I can't keep this baby. I can't go through the same thing I did last time." She whispered. "And I don't believe that I would make a good mother. I wasn't able to keep my last child safe, so how am I going to keep this one safe? I was suppose to protect them, both of them and I couldn't." Anthony took a deep breath. "Melanie, you don't need to do this. You don't need to give up my child for adoption. Our child. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened. Sometimes, unfortunately things just happen. I know, I shouldn't be speaking. For with what happened with my sister, I blamed the doctors for a long time that they couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. Because they were doctors, I thought they were supposed to help her and be able to fix everything. And they couldn't. I still am not a fan of doctors or nurses. But I at least know now, that it wasn't their fault. They tried everything they could. Just like you did everything that you could. Unfortunately some things just happen that you can't control, no matter how much you wish you could. But please think about this. We, we don't need to be together. But at least please think about this. You don't need to give the child up. Because I am here. I am here, and I am not going anywhere. I will be here to help any way I can. You won't be having to do this alone. If by the time he or she is born, and you still don't think you can do this. I won't allow you to give up my child. I will sign for full custody, and I will raise them. You can be as much of a part of their life as you want to be. Again, I won't push you to doing something you don't want to do." Though he was hoping she would somehow change her mind once the baby was born and actually saw them. He had a better understanding now of why she behaved like she did. But he still didn't understand why she'd want to give the child up for adoption, especially when he was going to be there. "I can't do this on my own." She closed her eyes. Anthony gave her hand another small squeeze, letting out a sigh. It was like she didn't hear anything that he said. "You won't. I am not going anywhere Melanie. I will do whatever I can to help." He repeated.

Melanie opened her eyes to look back at him. "You don't know that Anthony, you're a cop. A detective. Your field is unpredictable, something could go wrong, then I'd be alone again with the child. I can't do it alone. I can't lose anybody else." Melanie suddenly became a bit frantic letting her mind dwell in all the possibilities that could go wrong. Anthony had earlier on sensed the reason why she wasn't getting so close to anyone, was because she was afraid to lose people. But he wasn't sure why. Now he knew. He understood Melanie completely, for he did the same thing when Greta died. Now that he knew, perhaps he could find a way to get through to her.

Anthony stayed quiet at her words, just sitting there and watching her. Trying to figure out what he could say. "Yes, there is always that small chance. But I am very careful at what I do. I have had very good training to make sure that nothing goes wrong." He of course knew she was right. But it was the only thing he could think of to say to help her somewhat feel better. "Even the best of the best can have something go wrong Tony. Even when they're careful." He looked surprised at her using his nickname. He nodded. "I know you're afraid. So am I. So was I, when Greta died." He hesitated to continue, but he knew he had to, hoping that perhaps he could somehow get through to Melanie. "Greta was the only person who really cared about me besides my grandparents. So when I lost her, I thought I had lost everything. I too chose to block the world out for a while. But then, one day I decided to pick myself back up, and now I am here. I already told you, I am not going to push you into anything you don't want to do. But at least please let me be here to help you." He took another deep breath. "I am hoping, perhaps some time in the future, we can make this work. Especially now that we have a child on the way. I meant what I said, when I said that I would wait for however long it takes."

Melanie looked up at him. "And what if it takes forever?" "Then it is as I said. If you know for sure later on, this situation won't work. We can go to the courthouse to sign some papers, granting me full custody of the child. I can't let someone else raise my child Mel. So please don't make me do anything I don't want to do. I will go to court over this if I have to." He warned. Anthony was worried that she still might try to make a run for it. Melanie kept her eye on him before nodding her head for her answer. She wasn't all that surprised with what he said. Melanie was very sure that he would go to the extremes if she tried pulling anything. With his earlier behavior, and seeing how he acted so suddenly to things sometimes, she was very certain that he was right, that he would take those measures. Anthony held his breath while he waited for Melanie's response. Letting out a small sigh at hearing her reply. "Okay.. I think we.. I can do that."

Anthony smiled a little. There was a reasoning he had for it all. "And you can always come to see the baby whenever you would like, if you want to. I just can't let someone else take my.. Our child." He repeated. Melanie nodded. "I know." She whispered. Anthony had hoped that Melanie would agree. He was hoping that down the road, Melanie would see the child and change her mind about everything, and choose to want to have her or him in her life, and maybe even change her mind about Anthony as well.