Home

"ALLIE! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! LET ME SEE MY SON, NOW!"

I was jolted awake by the yelling downstairs. Bleary-eyed, I looked at my phone. It was 11pm, and I had 20 unread messages from Ryan. Oh god… I took a quick peek in the nursery to make sure that Jax was asleep, then I flew down the stairs to the foyer, where Dad had the front door thrown open. I heard him saying, "Leave her be, Ryan. She doesn't want to see you."

Mom threw her arm out to prevent me from stepping forward, but still I caught sight of Ryan standing outside our gate. With his disheveled hair and slurred words, it was obvious that he had continued drinking after he left our apartment.

Ryan saw me, too. He yelled, "Allie! Get Jax and let's go home, now!"

Dad made sure to block Ryan's view of me. "Go away, Ryan."

"Fuck you, Richard! I want my family out of there!"

I pushed Mom's arm aside and dodged Dad. I stood in the middle of the door, slightly shivering in the cold night's breeze. "Ryan. You're drunk, and you're disturbing the neighbors." The neighbors' lights were coming on. I saw their faces peering out the windows, wondering what the ruckus was all about.

"Well Allie, what was I supposed to do when I get home and find that my girlfriend and my baby are missing?"

"Maybe you should have thought of that before you downed all that whiskey and left us!"

"Just… just get out here and we'll talk at home!" Ryan said, his hands gripping the iron bars on the gate.

I jumped and turned at the touch of Mom's hand on my back. She gripped my hand tightly. I blinked back tears and saw that she, too, was on the verge of crying. We both gazed outside at the same moment, in time to see Ryan shaking the iron gates.

"Allie? Allie!"

Ryan's eyes were red, brimming with tears of his own. His gaze was full of emotion: confusion, sorrow, anger. When was the last time since I stared into those eyes and saw happiness?

For a moment, I made a movement as though I was stepping forward.

Instead, I averted my gaze, sobbing into Mom's outstretched arms as Dad shut the door.