so long - t.s.h [sequel to pinky promises]

[two]

Tom was at the cafe much too early. But he couldn't help it; he was nervous. He'd only seen Amber for five minutes in his doorway, and she'd already managed to turn his entire world upside down. That was her specialty, it seemed. She had a habit of making his life significantly harder, and it'd taken him much too long to realize that. He could never truly regret having Amber in his life, though, because she had given him Maggie, and Maggie was something that Tom could never regret. Maggie was easily the best thing in his life, and he'd be forever grateful for his daughter. Still, though, having Amber show up again was not something he ever wanted to happen.

Fingers drumming against the table, Tom stared absentmindedly at his tea in front of him. His mind was all over the place, but mostly, he just wanted to get this over with. It wouldn't take long — he had no desire to hear her side of the story, or whatever excuse she would come up with. There was no excuse for abandoning your daughter of less than a year. No excuse whatsoever. And whatever reasoning she had for coming back now was pointless. Tom simply wasn't going to let it happen.

You'd offered to come with Tom to meet with Amber, even if it was just to sit in silence in support of your best friend. You knew that this was hard on him, and you just wanted to do everything you could for him, even if that meant having to face the witch who had broken your best friend's heart four years earlier. There was no doubt in your mind that she had some kind of ulterior motive; why else would she show up suddenly after four years of radio silence? It wasn't like her to not have an evil plan brewing. But, anyway, Tom had declined your offer. This was something he felt like he needed to do by himself, and anyhow, someone needed to be with Maggie.

Lost in his own world, Tom didn't notice when Amber finally walked in. She waited for barely a second for him to notice before placing her bag on the table, "Tom?"

"Amber," he replied coolly as he looked up, not wanting to show her any emotion.

He watched as she took a seat across from him, and looked almost nervous, which wasn't a look he'd seen many times from Amber. The only other time he could recall her looking even the tiniest bit nervous was when she told him that she was pregnant, and both of their lives had changed forever in that moment.

"Tommy?" Amber called out his name as soon as she heard the front door close, "Can you come here?"

"Are you alright?" he asked as he quickly made his way to their bedroom, where her voice was coming from. As hard as things had been between them lately, he still cared about her and wanted her to be okay. In the bedroom, Tom found Amber sitting on the bed, staring at something she was clutching in her hand, "Love, what is it?"

"Tom, I'm... I'm pregnant," she blurted out, looking up to meet Tom's eyes. She was nervous, he could tell, from the way her eyes darted to his and away again and how she fiddled with her fingers, but there was something else lacing her voice that he couldn't quite make out.

Eyes widening, Tom froze in place, as his entire world turned upside down in less than a minute. This wasn't the plan. He wasn't ready for a child, not only emotionally, but he knew he didn't quite yet have the money to take care of a baby in the way one would deserve. Not to mention, things with Amber had been rough, and he had no idea how it would affect their relationship. Still, though, something immediately sparked inside of him, and he knew that he would do whatever he could to make it okay.

After a moment, Tom sank onto the bed next to Amber. He had barely even processed anything at all, but he knew that they'd figure it out, "Oh... oh wow. Okay. I— we'll figure this out. I promise. I'll start working more, and my parents will help out, and—"

Looking back up to Tom again, Amber's eyebrows furrowed together slightly as she cut him off, "You want to keep it?"

"Of course," he replied, nodding adamantly, "of course I want to keep our baby."