A Melwood Story

/chapter ten/

A Melwood Story
Chapter 10

Melissa

Chris is coming over to my apartment today and I swear if today is the day Blake randomly decides to show up, I'm going to just...explode.

The one thing that I don't have in my apartment that I probably should, is stuff for the babies. I just haven't gotten around to either going out or looking online. I don't have to do it immediately though.

To keep myself busy for a couple hours while I wait for Chris to come, I fold blankets, wash dishes and sweep all of the rooms.

It's 10:30 a.m. by the time I finish. I get dressed in something that still fits me, then relax.

Chris arrives a few minutes after eleven.
"Hey," he says when I open the door.
"Hi," I say, my voice sounding small.
"How are you?" he asks as he walks through the door.
"A little tired," I admit as I close the door behind him. "How about you?"
"Good, good," he says.

I walk down the hallway to the living room, Chris following right behind me.

"This is a nice place you have," he comments.
"Thanks," I say. "I don't know how much longer it will be mine though."
"Why's that?"
"Well, my husband is gone, for now. He could show up any day with divorce papers that say he gets the apartment, so..."
"I see,:" he says, almost as a way to stall for his next question. "Where did he go?"
"Los Angeles."
"Does he know about the babies?"
"He knows there's at least one."
"Ah, okay and he didn't say when he'll be back?" Chris asks.
"No. He just said, 'don't try to contact me,' and where he went in his note."
"Huh."

"What?" I ask as I sit down on the couch.
"Was he okay about the baby news?"
"I don't know actually. All I know is that he was mad at me for not being happy about having a baby."
"You weren't happy about it?" he asks.
"No, not then. I had just found out earlier that day. It hadn't sank in yet."

Chris doesn't say anything. He just looks around carefully.

"I don't see any preparations for your arrivals yet either," he observes.
"I rarely leave the apartment unless I have to," I tell him.
"Well, I have a few old things of Nya's I can bring over for the girl twin. Also I could go out and get a couple things for you if you want," he offers.
"If you alright with bringing some of Nya's stuff I would appreciate it. I was also planning on ordering some things online."
"Oh, alright. Well, i'll look for Nya's old stuff and if I find anything, i'll bring it over for you."
"That would be great, thank you."
"No problem."

"Also, I was wondering how you chose Nya's name. I've been looking around at names and none are all that great."
"Well for one, I had never met a Nya before, so it sounded unique and different to me and it was short. I couldn't think of any bad nicknames she could get when she started grade school. As for her middle name, Anne, it's after her biological mother's first name. AnnaSophia."
"Okay," I say, looking out the window in-front of me. "Well I couldn't name either of them after Blake. Not after what he did. To me and to them."

"Melissa," Chris says, but it's almost a whisper.
I look back at him. His mouth is in a straight line. Expressionless.
"Yeah?" I say.
"Everything will be fine, okay. I'll be here if you need me. Whenever."

I smile. "Thank you."
He smiles back. "Not a problem."

There's a silence for a minute before he asks, "when are you coming back to set?"
"On Monday."

It's Wednesday now. I guarantee it'll be a long five days here by myself. And Farley.

"I have work tomorrow then I'm off until Monday as well," Chris tells me.
"And when is your mom leaving?" I ask.
"Friday."
I nod. "Okay."

We talk for another hour or so before Chris says he should go home before his mom gets mad at him. Which I don't think is an excuse.

Chris

When I get back home from being at Melissa's place, Nya is colouring at the dinner table while my mom is cooking noodles at the stove.

"Chris! Just in time for dinner!" my mom says.
"Good." I walk over and kiss Nya on the top of her head. "How was my girl today?"

"Okay," she says, without looking up at me.
"Just okay?"
"Just okay," she repeats.

I walk back over to my mom. "What's up with Nya?"
"She missed her dad, Chris. She likes spending time with me, but she loves spending time with you more."
"I'm sorry. I-I just had this one thing I wanted to do."
"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to her."

I go over and kneel down next to Nya. "I'm sorry daddy was gone for so long today. I promise it won't happen again for awhile. Alright?"
She looks up and smiles at me slightly. "Okay."

"I love you, Ny."
"I love you too, dadda."

A couple minutes later, dinner is on the table and we eat our last meal with the three of us together.