Whose Fault? (Editing)

Chapter Twenty-One

Dr. Clarey began to use the scope thing to do her work. As she did, my sole focus was on the screen of the machine. I couldn't take my eyes off the tiny form of a baby up there. For several minutes it was as if nothing else in the world even mattered; how could it, when there was a human being growing inside of me?

I didn't know how much time passed before Dr. Clarey spoke up again, "the baby's growth is on the right track. You ready to find out the sex?" I couldn't get the words to form, so I just nodded my head excessively. "Looks like they're very comfortable in there, look at all that movement." She said as she pointed to the screen.

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Of course! You should be able to feel it a little bit, as the baby grows more it'll become more noticeable." Once again, I nodded in response, trying to see if I could feel any of the movements we could see on the screen. I did a bit, as she had said, but I couldn't wait to feel it more. "Let's see here..." she muttered to herself.

I could feel my heart practically beating out of my chest as I waited in anticipation for her to tell me. It was a minute or so later before Dr. Clarey said, "congratulations, Wren! You're having a girl!"

Tears formed from excitement, "a girl?" The doctor only nodded with a smile. I looked over to Max as I spoke to him, "Maxie, did you hear that? I'm having a girl!"

He gave me a small smile, and Dr. Clarey handed me a paper towel to wipe off my belly with.

My baby girl, I couldn't wait.

"Here," the doctor handed me a picture of the sonogram, "and remember, don't hesitate to call if you have any questions or concerns. We'll see you in another month."

I thanked her a million times over as I hopped down, and readied myself to leave.

Dr. Clarey walked out of the room and closed the door. Before I could make my way out to schedule the next appointment, Max grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. When I looked up at him, his face was all scrunched together. Something was bothering him, "what's wrong Max?"

"I gotta ask you a question. That I've been meaning to ask since you told me. But it's probably going to ruin your mood." He warned me.

"...Okay..."

Even though he said that he had to ask me something, he was hesitant to do so. It was another minute or so before he spoke up, "is she Xavier's?"

My whole body went rigid, simply nodding my head as an answer. That was not a question I was expecting, I guess it made sense though since I told him what happened but nothing else. He must have thought the baby was Eli's the whole time. And a small part of me wished that it was.

My heart clenched in pain at the thought. It brought up a whole bunch of memories that I still wasn't ready to deal with. There were only a few times where I had let myself wonder about a future with Eli. I had fallen in love with him and it was difficult to force those thoughts out as that happened. I thought about kids and marriage. Now those thoughts left a sour taste in my mouth and a deep ache in my chest.

I turned around and walked towards the front desk to make my next appointment, then made my way to the car.

The ride home was completely silent. Max's question got me thinking.

Xavier might have been the reason she existed, but she wasn't his. He, hopefully, didn't even know about her. And I wasn't going to let him step a foot near her, or me for that matter, again.

But what if he does know about her?

The second we arrived at home, I rushed upstairs and assessed my entire living space. I began looking between crevices and corners, under pillows and cushions, between sheets, even inside the fridge and cabinets in the kitchen. I searched everywhere.

Before I could get too far or make too much of a mess, Max pulled me to a stop, "what are you doing?"

"Searching," I replied as I began going through my belongings again.

"Why? For what?" He asked.

I paused on my own accord this time and looked at him. The confusion could be clearly seen on his face, I grabbed his arm and dragged him through my room and into the closet. Before I spoke though, I searched between every article of clothing, every box, nook and cranny in the closet just to make sure. Only when I was absolutely positive no one besides Max and I were listening did I speak, "I think he's been spying on me."

"Spying on you? Who?"

"Xavier."

"What makes you think that??" He asked, incredulously.

I fidgeted with my hands as I hesitated to answer. Talking about this was still extremely difficult, nearly impossible, for me. "Because... when he was here, that night... h-he mentioned something that only I knew about. He mocked me about a private moment I thought that Eli and I shared, then shoved it in my face and used it against me."

"What are you talking about? Were you here with Eli when that happened?"

"No, but there was no way he could have known that information though, so he had to have been watching or following me."

"So you're searching through the house for what? Cameras? Listening devices?" He asked, even though I was sure he already knew the answer.

I simply nodded at him, then continued explaining, "I don't want him to know anything more than he already does. If he has been watching me, he knows too much and I hate that."

Why didn't I think of this sooner??

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid!

Max had a grave look on his face, he seemed like he wanted to say something, but he held back, and just nodded.

"Will you help me?" I asked him.

"Of course," he replied. He didn't look happy at all.

The rest of the afternoon was spent searching through my house, I didn't find anything but Max seemed to search over everything after I did anyway. If he found anything he didn't tell me and he hid it very well. When we were through, we sat down on the couch, both of us seemingly lost in our thoughts.

One thing was for sure, whether there were devices lying around my house or not: I didn't feel safe there anymore. It would be too much to do right then, but the second things settled down, I needed to move out of that house.

Eventually Max spoke up, shaking me from my thoughts. "I know this is hard for you, Wren. But I'm so lost and confused in all of this. Can you please explain everything to me? The right way?"

It took me a few minutes to think it over, and the decision I made I felt was the right one. So, for the first time in an extremely long time, I told someone the full truth.

💜❤️

Hiiii!

This chapter is 3,356 words!

I have decided to just upload the rest of the chapters and then worry about the sequel. So here you go 😁

TM