PROLOGUE
Abigail grabbed on the door knob and pulled on it as it creaked open. Her eyes widened as she noticed who was behind the door, Angie's eyes lased with disgust as she took one long, hard look at the girl who stole her son from her.
"Abigail", Angie strode into the tiny, cramped flat Abigail and Austin were temporary living in and studied her surroundings. "I can't believe he left all that luxury to settle in this dump with you", she turned to face her as Abigail pushed the door behind her and clutched nervously at Austin's sweater she wore when she missed him terribly. It smelt of him and made her feel he was still with her whenever he was at work.
"How did you find us?", she stuttered nervously as Angie walked towards her
"A pregnant girl and a boy willing to throw away his life stupidly because of her. It wasn't hard for the PI to locate the both of you", her eyes dropped to Abigail's baby bump and rose her eyes to look at her again.
"I'm sure you're happy now? Aren't you? ", she rose her eyebrow and Abigail blinked in confusion. "That you made Austin turn his back on his family to pursue a life with you?"
"Austin and I love each other", Abigail retorted with her eyes dropped to the floor. She couldn't stand the way Angie was looking at her, like she was a worthless, piece of pregnant trash.
"You seduced him, and you knew that he would do anything for you. So you trapped him with a baby"
"I didn't mean for any of this to happen", she felt tears building up in her eyes
"But it did and now my poor son is working his fingers to the bone so that he can take care of you and your—", she pointed at her baby bump in disgust, struggling to say the next word
"Austin cares about me and this baby", her voice rose as anger was building up inside her, tears already streaming down her face. "He wants us to be a family", her voice broke as she couldn't help herself anymore. Angie scoffed mockingly.
"Family?", she let a bitter laugh. "What do you know about family while your own kicked you out to the curb as soon as they could because you were behaving like a flozzie?", Abigail's glowing eyes shot up to Angie's as she continued to hurl insults at her.
"Why are you being so mean?", Abigail questioned as she found her way to a seat and rubbed her belly as she looked down on it
"You'll are nothing but a useless whore Abigail", Angie continued with the insults, finding it to her satisfaction by seeing Abigail cry. "The last thing I want is for Austin to wake up one day and regret ever running away from home with you because his life will be meaningless at that time"
"He won't"
"Only if you let him go he won't", Angie stood above her and searched inside her bag and threw an envelope on the table. "A hundred thousand", she pointed at the envelope. "Take it and disappear"
"What?"
"Take the money and walk out of my sons life Abigail. Give him a chance to live his own life without worrying about having responsibilities weighting him down", she said and Abigail rose her eyes at her, wiping her tears off.
"If you really love him like you claim you do, let him go"
********
Abigail placed Emily on the bed and tucked her in, careful not to wake her up. It was already a struggle to get her to sleep because Stephanie secretly gave her a chocolate bar before dinner. When she finally felt asleep on her lap because she grew tired to talking to herself, both her and Stephanie were relived.
After kissing her goodnight, the everyday guilt washed over her as she looked at her daughter's face, she was the splitting image of Austin, especially when she was asleep. She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she chose to stay? Would they have been the family they've always wanted to be? Would he still love her and their daughter the same way he vowed to when he found out she was pregnant? Would things still be the same?
Those questions haunted her each and every day, but she consoled herself every day that she took the best decision for the both of them. He had big dreams he needed to fulfil. He had been accepted at an accountancy school before they chose to run away. He was aspiring to be a chartered accountant for one of the biggest banks or firms in the city. Furthermore, he was very intelligent and brave. He wasn't afraid of a challenge. One of the things she loved about him. He meant everything to her, he was the light of her life, her courage, the reason she kept holding on.
But the day Angie knocked on the door, she was willing to sacrifice all of that so that he could have a brighter future. She didn't want him to have any regrets, she'll rather be the one to carry regrets herself.
Abigail caressed Emily's cheek as she thought of this. She wished her baby girl could stay young and innocent forever, and never be absorbed by the cruelty of this world. She wanted her to always remain her happy little girl.
"I'm sorry, sweetie", one of her tears fell onto Emily's cheek. "I hope one day you'll understand why I did why I did", she sniffed as she tried to compose herself quietly. "I never wanted to separate you and your father"
"Abbie?", Stephanie peeked inside as her shoulder slumped down in disappointment. "You're crying again?", she sat beside her friend as she side hugged her and rubbed her arm gently.
She watched her friend wipe off her tears and shrugged. "I don't want her to hate me Steph. She's my everything"
"She won't", she gave her a gentle squeeze. "She knows how much you love her"
"Steph—"
"No Abbie, don't let your past haunt you like this. You did what you needed to do", she said, and she pulled them up to their feet and kissed Emily's forehead before reaching to switch her side lamp off and dragged Abigail out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Abigail stood firmly of her with her arms crossed across her chest. Stephanie could see the hurt in her eyes. She tried to help Abbie forget about the pain and suffering from her past but some time alone with Emily bought it back all over again.
"Would you like some ice cream?", she suggested and the other woman nodded her head before they walked hand in hand to the kitchen
As Stephanie scooped ice cream for the both of them into a bowl, it reminded her of the day they met. It all seemed like yesterday when their paths crossed. She just knocked late that night, with the rain pouring hard outside. Her car was at a repair shop, and she was taking a taxi to and from work those couple of days. She stood at the side of the road, trying to hail some taxis to stop but none of them did. The strong wind was blowing hard on her umbrella and she had to hold on tight so that it doesn't fly off. She decided to walk a few miles to the spot where taxis dropped off people, she was sure she would catch one there.
