"Do not walk out that door, Onika!"
"Or what, Drake? You'll leave me?" She let go of the handle and moved back towards him. "We have no other choice! Why can't you see that?!" Shaking her head she shut here eyes and sighed.
"There is always another choice, Nicki. Don't start bullshittin' me with all that!"
"My family need me more than anything right now. My brother, Drake. This is his life we're talking about here!"
"I'll find the money, I swear. But I'm not gon' stand here and let'chu go through with this."
"Well, you're gonna have to 'cause I'm really doin' this to save Cai's life, Aubrey." She kept her eyes locked on to his. He could see the tears welling up. "And there's nothin' you can say or do that'll change my mind." Hitching her purse back over her shoulder she inhaled shakily and went for the door, only to stop when she felt his warm hand around her arm.
"Nicki, please? I'm beggin' you. Don't do this."
"I have to, for him." She sniffled and pulled her arm away from him. "I'll see you later."
"If you walk out now, I'm not gon' be here when you get back."
"What?" Her face wrinkled with upset and confusion.
"I mean it, Nic. If you go to that appointment, I'm walkin' out. I can't deal with this." He stepped back and ran his hand over his head. He looked as though he was really struggling to control his emotions. He never expected her to walk out of the door, but the sound of it slamming followed by her feet hitting the snowy stone steps gave him his answer.
Her tedious journey to this planned appointment was long and solitary. The winter weather bringing her mood down even more. At least she had a little time on her subway ride to gather herself and appear as a solid and stable individual for this meeting. Lord knows, it was their last option. Securing her wooly hat back on her long-haired head she hitched her purse over her shoulder when she reached her stop. Thankfully she only had a relatively short walk to this building, holding her breath anxiously as she entered. The room was pretty easy to find and she let herself in noting that she was almost ten minutes late.
"Oh, Nicki you made it!" Olivia embraced her in an instant as she shrugged out of her winter coat and scarf. "We were worried, we thought you weren't going to show up." Shyly looking back at her husband Mark, he grasped her hand reassuringly.
"I kept tellin' her you'd be here, but did she listen?" He laughed heartily and smiled at his wife as she shook her head.
"I would never leave you hangin'. You know I wouldn't." She gave them a tired and unconvincing smile.
"I know, I'm sorry I don't mean to doubt you it's just this is a huge thing for us and we're eternally grateful."
"I know you are." She grasped Olivia's other hand sweetly. "You have nothing to worry about, I'm positive about this." The happy couple exchanged a relief-filled glance before a woman entered the office.
"Oh, we're all here? Perfect." Sitting down at her desk she waited for the three of them to take a seat. "Okay, so I gather you all know the ins and outs of what'll happen here today?" She watched them all nod and smiled. "Great, let's get this show on the road then."
***
"Drake?" She called out as she entered their apartment. Walking through the building entrance downstairs brought back bitter memories of their argument that morning. Everything he said had hit her hard but she didn't actually believe he'd walk out on her. "Aubrey?" There was no response again as she placed her keys on the kitchen counter. She couldn't see any of his things around and began to believe he really had left her.
"So, you really went through with it?"
"Holy shit, Aubrey!" Jumping suddenly at his voice she turned to stare at him. "You scared me."
"I know I said I wasn't gonna be around, I'm just waitin' for someone to come pick me up. I'm leavin' soon as they get here."
"What? Brey no." She tried to walk over to him but he held his hand up.
"I meant what I said, Nicki. If you really went through with it today then I'm leavin'." There was silence for a few seconds. "Did you do it?"
"I did it for my brother, Aubrey! We need that money!"
"There are other ways of gettin' money, Onika! Carryin' someone else's child is a huge deal! I can't believe you actually carried through with this! After everythin' I said to you!" He shook his head as she rolled her eyes angrily, trying to ignore her own tears. "So, I guess it's in there right now is it?" His eyes trailed down to her small midsection hidden by her overly baggy pink kitted sweatshirt.
"We don't know yet, we have to wait and see." Her voice was quiet and timid. How did things come to this? Part of her wanted to believe the fact that there were other ways of finding the money but when this opportunity was basically served up to her on a silver platter she couldn't refuse. Without this money, they sacrificed losing Micaiah.
"Y'know you're gonna gave to carry that thing for nine months?" He stepped closer to her. "Feel it kick for the first time?" Another step closer. "Give birth to him or her?"
"Aubrey, stop."
"No, Nicki. This is all stuff you shoulda been prepared to hear before you went through with this! You're gonna be givin' birth to a baby that isn't even ours, but that doesn't matter because you'll have grown with it, loved it and prepared for it." He stopped talking so loudly when he saw her eyes filling with tears as she avoided his gaze. "And for what? For a few thousand dollars? You're prepared to hand over a newborn baby for that?"
"It's not like that, Brey. You're makin' it sound so sick and twisted when it's not!" She pushed past him to grab some kitchen roll to wipe her tear-filled face. "I'm giving this couple the most precious thing a person could ask for. Something they can't do on their own. They need me, Aubrey just like Cai needs me too. This is his only chance."
