Runaway

The talk

Charlotte was stunned. She stood there and didn't say anything. She figured Tommy would move on, but she never thought he would be with the woman he cheated on her with. It was dark outside so Tommy couldn't see the bruising on her face.
          "Charlotte." Tommy said getting her attention.
          "Why are you here?" Grace spit.
Charlotte gave a small laugh and looked at Grace and then back to Tommy.
          "I need to talk to you, but it looks like you're going somewhere so it can wait until tomorrow." She said.
          "Yeah, we are and we're late. Let's go Tommy." Grace said as she pulled his arm.
Tommy looked at Charlotte who was rubbing the back of her neck.
          "It's okay, Tommy. Enjoy your night. It can wait." She said.
He stared at her and Grace forcefully pulled him away. He kept looking back at Charlotte until Grace scolded him. The two arrived at the Garrison and Polly could tell something was off with Tommy. Grace was in the bathroom as he sat at the table with his family.
          "What is it, Thomas?" She asked.
          "Charlotte. She's back in town."
Everyone's face lit up.
          "Oh my God! I've missed her so much!" Ada smiled.
          "Is she at Alfie's?" Michael asked.
          "Can we see her?" Finn asked as he stood up, but John and Arthur pushed him back down in the booth as they laughed.
          "Where did you see her?" Polly asked.
          "She was about to knock on my door, but I was walking out at the same time."
          "With Grace." Ada spit.
          "Yes, with Grace." Tommy said.
Ada crossed her arms and looked away.
          "Hey, she could still be in the family. Tommy isn't with her, so I'm going for it." John smirked.
          "No you're not." Tommy scolded.
          "What? You fucked it up with her...she's single now so because you can't have her no one else can?"
          "Yeah, John...that's exactly what I mean. You will not try anything with her."
John mumbled in Romany as he crossed his arms and sat back. Polly snapped her fingers at the two.
          "Enough. You two can fight this out tomorrow. Did she say anything to you?" Polly asked.
          "She said she had to talk to me."
          "And you just walked away? It's obviously important, Tommy. She came all this way." Ada said.
          "We heard Alfie on the phone...she's here because she's in some type of trouble." He said.
          "Remember what happened the first time she tried to tell you something and you wouldn't make the time." Polly said putting Tommy in his place.
Tommy made a face because she was right and he did have a feeling about it.
          "Go. We'll tell Grace you had to go to the office with Alfie or something." Polly said.
Tommy nodded and then quickly left. He got to Charlotte's door and knocked. She opened the door with a gun in her hand. She was in a silk slip dress with an oversized, soft black sweater.

          "Tommy?"
She let him in and he saw her bruised face. He walked over and lightly held her face.
          "Charlotte...your face." He said quietly.
          "It's okay."
He gave her a sad look and ran his thumb over her cheek.
          "It's not." He said.
It really ate at him to see the bruises on her face knowing he couldn't help her. She put her hands on his wrists and then stepped back.
          "There's something I need to tell you and you might want to sit down."
Tommy made a face and then sat on the couch. Charlotte sat beside him and her sweater fell off her shoulder to reveal the bruises on her arms. He put his hand to his mouth and ran his other hand down her arm. Charlotte pulled her sweater back on.
          "I'm okay." She said softly.
          "What did you need to tell me?"
She took a deep breath because all of a sudden she got nervous. She thought the next time she was having a baby it would be with the man she loved and they would be married and have a house. It was with the man she loved and she was happy about it, but Grace was now in the picture. He put his hand over hers because he could tell she was nervous.
          "Charlotte, you can tell me anything. What is it?"
She cleared her throat.
          "I'm pregnant."
His eyes widened.
          "And it's yours. Noah and I never..." She trailed off.
Tommy was very surprised. He never thought that was going to come out of her mouth. He sat there as silent as could be, while he stared at the couch.
          "I know this is a lot and very surprising, but I'm keeping the baby and you can be as involved as you want or not at all if that's what you want. That's your choice." She said and then stood up.
          "Take all the time you need to process this, Tommy."
She started to walk to the kitchen, but he grabbed her hand. He stood up and looked at her.
          "So we're really having a baby?" He asked.
          "Yes."
He nodded and looked at her, but she thought he wasn't happy about it because he wasn't saying anything.
          "Look I'm sorry about all of this. I know you probably didn't want this...especially with me. I'm sorry if this is a burden on you." She said as she looked away from him.
Little did she know this was everything he wanted and he wanted it with her. When he told her he wanted to live in a big house one day, he wanted to live in it with her. Tommy grabbed her chin and turned her head so they could make eye contact.
          "A baby." He smiled as he put his hand on her stomach.
          "You can't really tell yet. The bump is small, but it should be getting bigger soon. I'm almost four months along."
Tommy pulled her in for a hug. She hesitated at first, but this was what kept her going for the past four months, so she enjoyed the moment. He pulled away and looked at her and then went in for a kiss, but she stopped him.
          "Tommy, you're with Grace. It's not right."
He stepped back and realized how good of a person Charlotte was and then he realized how lucky he was that she was going to be the mother of his child.
          "I...I'm sorry." He said.
          "It's okay. A lot of different emotions were flooding....it's not your fault."
He just admired her.
          "Speaking of Grace...weren't you out with her?" She asked.
          "Yeah, Polly is covering for me, but I should probably go back." He said as he turned away.
He turned back to her.
          "No...I shouldn't...how could I go back after finding this out. There's a lot we still have to talk about." He said.
          "Tommy, go. It's okay. We can talk about it tomorrow." She smiled.
          "Are you sure?"
          "Yes...go and enjoy your night." She laughed as she pushed him towards the door.
          "Come to the office tomorrow. Everyone will want to see you and we can tell them if you want." He quickly said.
          "Okay. I will."
Tommy just stood at the door and looked at her.
          "Tommy, go before you get in trouble." She said with a small laugh.
He opened the door.
          "Drink a whiskey for me." She said.
          "Oh I'll drink several."
Tommy winked and then left. Charlotte shut and locked her door and then leaned against it as she took a deep breath. She was so relieved that he was happy and she was enjoying this moment, but she wasn't sure how everything was going to work with Grace. That's just a bridge she will have to cross when they get there.