FicWad

Chapter Twenty Five

I climbed the familiar stairs to Maddie’s apartment on Saturday morning. Her parents were going to be stopping by for brunch and Maddie seemed hectic about it when they talked yesterday. ‘I need you to be good, Patrick’ she had hissed. It was like I was talking to my mother and she was scolding me before Thanksgiving dinner.

I rapped on the door and Josie answered quickly. “Oh, you showed up,” she said flatly.

“Sorry to disappoint, Josie,” I chimed moving my way past her and into the apartment. Josie gave a snort as a reply and shut the door behind me. “Where is she?” I asked searching the room for Maddie. I had butterflies just thinking about seeing her again.

“Back in her room,” Josie nodded. “But tread lightly. She’s testy today.”

I acknowledged the warning feeling as if maybe Josie and I actually had a moment. The fear of letting Maddie down was our bonding ties. “Thanks Josie. How have you been?” I asked nicely.

She gave a short laugh and turned towards the kitchen. Maybe I got ahead of myself about the whole ‘friendship with Josie’ thing. I let it go and cautiously made my way to the hallway and back to Maddie’s bedroom.

I smelled her scent before actually seeing her and I felt weak. The past few weeks seemed distant now and the only thing that mattered was making this right. I stood at the doorway and found her sitting on the floor with her backed turned. A long mirror stood in front of her and various beauty products accompanied her on the floor. Her gorgeous blond hair cascaded down her back in loose ringlets. She wore black tights and a loose fitting pink polka-dotted blouse. I caught her shining blue eyes in the mirror staring back at me.

“Hi,” I squeaked.

“Hi,” she answered and twisted her body around to climb up off the floor. As she did, I caught a glimpse of her bulging bump under her blouse, clearly bigger than I remembered. “You made it,” she said coming to stand in front of me.

I gave a small chuckle. “Did you both think I wasn’t going to show?” I questioned.

Instead of answering she unexpectedly grabbed my hand and led me to the bed. She sat down and indicated I do the same. I sat down with the grace I had and turned to her. “I know we’ve been taking some time,” she began looking at me with pure courage. “but I had to ask you to be here. I hope that’s ok.”

“Yeah,” I bumbled. “I want to be.” I tried to reassure her.

She seemed to brush off my statement and continued. “I just want, no I need my parents to believe there’s a united front on this pregnancy. I screwed up things in my life that my parents never seemed to get over, like college. If they really knew how this,” she said indicating the bump under her blouse, “came to be, I’m sure they’ll peg it as another way that I messed up.”

I wish I could refute her statement, but the reality was we had both been careless in this. “Look Maddie,” I started. “I just want to apologize for this summer.”

She quickly held up her hand to my mouth and covered it gently. “No Patrick,” she said staring into my eyes. God, her skin smelled amazing. “I don’t want to talk about that now,” she continued lowering her hand. “Let’s just get through this without those emotions playing out.”

I nodded. Would this girl ever let me apologize? I didn’t get to say more though because Josie appeared at the bedroom door. “They’re here,” she announced.

Maddie sighed and grasped my hand again. “C’mon,” she said. I followed without a word still feeling my skin tingle from her every touch.


I sat across from Maddie’s mother and father at the small table that had been wedged into Maddie’s apartment living room. Her father seemed like a likable man with his Magnum P.I. mustache and graying hair. As soon as he had entered the apartment he doted on his daughters, hugging and kissing their cheeks with a smile as wide as the Mississippi. He had shaken my hand strongly and I felt the roughness in his skin. “I’m Doug,” he said with gruffness. “Nice to meet you Patrick.” Even his name came out with a confidence I knew I highly lacked.

Yet, I felt a softness from Maddie’s dad that was only magnified when her mom came up to me. “Patrick,” she said extending a hand. My name seemed like it was the word of the devil falling from her lips. “Debra,” she said shortly. Her dark brown eyes burned into me as if reading my every move. Although the women gave me chills, she looked good for a mother of two older daughters. Her short red hair curled nicely into a bob and the few wrinkles visible on her face showed an expression of joy, not the distaste that was directed at me.


“So Maddie,” Debra began as the five of us began picking at our meal of eggbake and hashbrowns. “How have you been feeling?”

I felt Maddie stir in her seat next to me at the question. “Good,” she answered. “I had very minimal morning sickness in my first trimester and now it’s just the occasionally weakness.”

I dug further into my eggs feeling Maddie’s uneasiness radiating from her body.

“Patrick, Maddie tells us you’re away most of the time.”

I looked up at Maddie’s mother’s dark eyes staring back at me. Although her words had been a flat statement, I assumed she was waiting for an answer from me. “Yeah,” I said laying down my fork. “I don’t know if Maddie told you, but I’m in a band and we just got back from tour actually.”

“Oh,” she answered taking a small bite. “Will that continue when the baby comes?”

“Mom,” Maddie hushed quickly. I turned to her as she slammed her fork down on the plate. I tried to force a smile at her letting her know it was alright. “Patrick’s doing very well in his career.” She emphasized ‘career’ and surprisingly touched my hand below the table. I instantly froze, hoping the touch would last.

“I didn’t mean anything by it Madeline,” her mom answered. “Just a question.”

“It’s fine,” I found my voice. “I want to be here for Maddie as much as possible.” Maddie’s hand slipped away and she retook possession of her fork on her plate.

“Patrick,” Maddie’s father rang from the table. “Are you from Chicago?”

The brunch continued with small chit chat between the family. I felt the awkwardness suck the air dry and by the end I was gasping for breath. Now I knew why Maddie had been so uptight. Her father was quiet and joked frequently, but her Mother seemed to question every answer Maddie gave. She was particular to point out that her tiny apartment would not be sufficient enough when the baby came. “It’s bad enough now with you and Josie,” she had pointed out. Maddie had brushed the subject off quickly.

After cleaning off the table, I offered to take the trash out if nothing more than to get a few moments for my thoughts alone. I walked out into the Chicago air and breathed a sigh of relief. Meeting the parents would never be easy. I chuckled softly at my situation because that was all I could do.

After taking my time, I climbed up the stairs to Maddie’s apartment. I saw that the door was cracked an inch, and I went to push it open but stopped when I heard voices from inside mention my name.

“What are you doing with Patrick, honey?” Debra was asking. “Are you waiting for him to ask you to move in with him? To marry him?”

Wait, what? The idea had never crossed my mind. I just assumed Maddie would reject the thought as soon as it came up in a conversation.

“Mother,” Maddie replied. “I don’t expect anything from Patrick.”

“He seems so….unorganized,” her mother replied finding the right word.

“Mom.” This time it was Josie I heard reply to Debra’s words. “You don’t know him.”

Did Josie just stick up for me? Maybe I should take another look at this ‘friendship with Josie’ thing.

“I suppose,” Debra sighed out. I heard dishes clatter in the sink as bodies walked around. “Madeline, honey, why don’t you just move back in with your father and I?”

The next sound was an outburst of frustration from Maddie. I just imagined her blue eyes rolling up in irritation. “Because I don’t want to Mother,” she retorted. “I am perfectly capable of handling this. I want this child, but I want it my way.”

A smile crept on my lips. There was my courageous Maddie. Her bravery was something I had always admired and now I felt proud of her unbelievable strength. Here I was the last few weeks, cowering and hiding from my situation like a teenage boy. She stood firmly by her decision and embraced the obstacles.

I thought my eavesdropping had gone on long enough and loudly stumbled into the apartment ready to embrace my own obstacles.