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“Babe, are you alright?” asked Jane.
Initially, Belinda did not respond. She continued to stare straight down at the ground until, eventually, one, gigantic tear dropped from her eye.
Gina and Jane could see the tear plop to the ground as the two of them turned to look at each other with deep concern. Jane handed Lorna over to Gina, then immediately scooted over on the couch to comfort her cherished friend.
“Honey, what’s the matter?” Jane asked.
Belinda attempted to sniff in some of the snot that was instantly building up in her nose. She tried one more time before she spoke.
“Why doesn’t he want to be with me?” asked Belinda, rhetorically. As she loosely posed the question to her two houseguests, Belinda leaned over and buried her face onto Jane’s shoulder. Jane obliged the gesture by putting her arm around Belinda’s neck and hugging her with the other. Both she and Gina knew instinctively that Belinda was referring to Myles.
“Oh, honey,” uttered Jane, comforting Belinda by pulling her in tighter.
“I don’t understand it,” said Belinda. “Things were going so well. We were getting along just fine… We have this beautiful daughter together… Why? Why doesn’t he want to be with me?” she asked again.
“I don’t know, sweetie,” Jane answered. “I’m afraid I can’t answer that.”
“Did I do something wrong?” Belinda wondered aloud.
Both Gina and Jane responded by assuring Belinda that she did nothing wrong.
“You did nothing wrong,” insisted Jane. “You hear me? You did nothing wrong… It’s him.. It’s Myles.. He’s the one who has to come to his senses. He has to realize how much he loves you and come back to you.”
“I don’t get it,” said Belinda. “He was with me during my pregnancy.. It seemed like everything was fine. Then, towards the end, it seemed like he was preoccupied with something.. He started to lose some of his affection… I started worrying that there was someone else.”
“Oh, Belinda, don’t be ridiculous,” said Jane. “There’s no one else in his life… No man could do something like that— Just leave his wife right when they’re expecting a baby.”
“We’re not married,” Belinda reminded them.
“You know what I mean,” Jane responded.
“I don’t know.. Men do crazy things when they’re faced with the truth.. That’s what my mom told me,” said Belinda.
“Well, he’s just gonna have to face the truth and realize that he’s the father of your baby.. and face up to his responsibility and come back to you, that’s all,” informed Jane. “He needs to stop runnin’ away and act like a man.”
“Maybe he doesn’t believe it,” said Gina.
“Doesn’t believe what?” asked Jane.
“Maybe he doesn’t believe that he’s the father.. Remember when the National Enquirer said the father was Tim Conway?” joked Gina.
Gina’s sense of humor was exactly what Belinda needed. She let out a laugh that burst through her tears and phlegm bubbles.
“Gina, as usual, you’re sense of timing is impeccable,” reminded Jane.
“How come you never say that about my drumming?” asked Gina.
“Right now, I’d like to do some drumming on your head,” retorted Jane. “Can’t you see she’s hurting?”
“No, no, it’s okay,” assured Belinda. “Thank you, Gina, I needed that.”
Lorna could sense that her mommy was feeling genuinely distressed and started to respond accordingly. She started to fuss a little bit and act like she was going to start crying herself. Belinda reached over and took her out of Gina’s arms.
“Oh, come here, baby,” soothed Belinda. “Mommy’s alright.. She’s just a little sad, that’s all.”
Lorna immediately felt better being in her mother’s arms.
“Actually, he was here today,” informed Belinda.
“Who? Myles?” asked Jane. “He was here today?”
“Yup,” said Belinda.
“When?” asked Gina.
“This afternoon… He stopped by to see Lorna and we talked for a while… It was nice. We had a nice conversation. I asked him if he wanted to stay for dinner, but he said he had to go somewhere… And then.. when I asked him where.. he said he had to meet a business client from the studio… What does that even mean?” questioned Belinda.
“It sounds phony to me,” said Gina, suspiciously.
Jane looked over and gave Gina a dubious look. The last thing she wanted was for Gina to add coals to the fire.
“Right.. that’s what I thought,” Belinda agreed. “I don’t know.. It feels like he really does love me, but there’s something holding him back… He seems conflicted about something.. It’s like he’s scared or worried about something… I can’t quite put my finger on it.”