Her Happily Ever After Was Closer Than She Thought
“I’m sorry ma’am but we don’t have any choice, you don’t pay your rent and you don’t get to live here it’s simple as that. You have the day to pack your belongings and be out of the premises, “He told her.
Macie Johnson just sat there in disbelief, the building manager had a sad look on his face, but there was nothing he could do, his hands were tied, he had corporate breathing down his neck to either collect rent or put the suite up on the listings again.
Everything was fine yesterday, life was great. But ever since she woke up this morning, it had been nightmare after nightmare. She finally stood up, wiped the tears from her face and said, “I understand your hands are tied. He was supposed to pay the rent. He left in the middle of the night, I didn’t know.”
The manager nodded and left. Macie looked around her small apartment; she didn’t even know where to start. She didn’t know what she was going to do, what they were going to do. Looking down at her big belly, she rubbed it lightly. She was only a month away from having this baby and now she has been abandoned by the man she thought she loved and loved her and now homeless. She pulled out her cellphone, she didn’t know how much longer she would have this around considering he paid the bill or she thought he did. But while it was in use she better use it while she can. Looking down at the contacts she scrolled through until she found his name. Henry, Henry was her best friend, they had been attached at the hips as children, he had gotten her out of situations just as bad as a teenager but this time was different. She clicked his name and let it ring.
“Hey Mace,” He answered.
“Hey Henry, I need your help,” She told him. She tried to keep it together to get through the conversation but as soon as he answered the phone the sobs started to take over her body.
“No need to explain, I’m on my way right now. You can tell me when I get there, hold tight,” Henry said.
The phone clicked, ending the call. She could feel a little bit of relief wash over her, but she was nowhere near being in the clear. While she waited for him to get there, she started to pack her clothes, which were something that wasn’t heavy that she could start on. As she folded the delicate articles, she thought of her mother. Usually that would be the first person she would run to, but ever since she found out she was pregnant that option became exhausted. Macie’s mother wouldn’t even answer her phone calls. She was a disgrace to them, and now it seemed apparent that she was to Jason also.
Once she was done with her own clothes, she started on the baby’s. She picked up a white little sleeper with the words “Daddy’s Little Miracle” tears started to slide down her face. She heard Henry come in, he never knocked he was like family. He found her in the bedroom holding the article of clothing, face red and blotched with tears. Without hesitation he picked her up and held her close. She unloaded all the emotions into his embrace, life was just a huge weight on her shoulders and Henry helped take some of that burden off of her.
When the crying ceased, she explained everything, from waking up alone, Jason’s phone being turned off, then the visit from the building manager and being told that she had to get out.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do Henry. I have no family, no money, no job and this baby that will be here any day. I am the worst mother in history,” She said.
“Don’t say that, you will be an amazing mother. As for the rest come and stay with me until you can get on your feet,” He told her.
Henry had always been a shoulder to lean on. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. They spent the rest of the day packing and moving her stuff, they sold the big furniture and left any of Jason’s belongings to be trashed. The ride back to Henry’s house was quiet, so much to think about. Over the past 5 years they had grown apart. Henry went off to university to be a teacher and Macie just partied. Their lives had gone in opposite directions, but that didn’t change their friendship. Macie always knew she could count on Henry he was always the one to call when she needed saving from a house party or when she got too many tickets and her car was impounded. To Macie, Henry was reliable and mature, and to Henry, Macie was wild, irresponsible but he still couldn’t help but come to her beck and call.
They pulled up to his house; he purchased it shortly after graduating from university. It was a generous 3 bedrooms and 2 bathroom bungalow. More than enough room for Macie and the baby Henry thought. He helped bring her bags into the house, and set her up in the guest room.
“Thank you so much Henry, I don’t know what I would of done without you,” Macie said giving him a light hug.
“It’s no problem; I’m always here for you. No matter what,” Henry replied.
There was a double meaning behind his voice, but he could only manage to get a smile to replace what he felt in his heart. That night he lay in his room quietly, he could hear her tossing and turning in her sleep. He was doing the same, but it was hard to fall asleep when he knew that he wasn’t alone in the house.
I don’t know why I do this to myself, she’s right there only five feet away from me and I still can’t get the words to come out of my mouth. Stupid, stupid, why am I so stupid. I will never be more than a friend to her, yet I still convince myself that someday it might change.
Henry put in his headphones to drown out his thoughts and quickly fell asleep. Meanwhile in the other room Macie was doing the same thing, thinking about everything that has happened and what she was going to do.
You’d really think that after all this time I would learn from my mistakes, it’s like I’m a naïve teenager again having to call Henry to rescue me from myself. I knew better, I had to know better I was going to be a mother for Christ’s sake. This is why my mother doesn’t want to talk to me anymore, I can’t get my ****ing life together and now I am dragging Henry into my problems…again. Why can’t I find a good guy and not all these losers?
Macie rolled over and hid her face under her pillow, cursing to herself she let sleep overcome her. Tomorrow was another day. The morning came fast, when Henry woke up he almost forgot of what had happened the previous day until he heard the shower running. This snapped him back into reality; luckily it was the weekend so there was no work. He walked towards the kitchen and started making quick work of some breakfast; he knew that pregnant women needed lots of nourishment to feed the baby growing inside of them. When Macie emerged from the bathroom she was greeted with the pleasant smell of eggs, bacon and toast. She started down the hall and found the kitchen with ease. Plopping down at the table she said, “Thank you so much Henry, and after all you have done you didn’t need to cook for me.”
“Nonsense, I wanted to do,” He replied.
They made small talk over breakfast and started to make a game plan. Henry offered the two spare rooms for her and the baby, Macie tried to refuse saying that she didn’t want to be a burden. After a quick back and forth she finally agreed. With that settled and breakfast finished, Henry started to move his stuff out of the extra rooms into his basement so she could have use of them. While Henry was doing that Macie started to explore the house, checking drawers, doors and cupboards to familiarize herself with everything. When henry came upstairs after unloading the last load, they sat together in the empty room that would become the nursery and started to reminisce about the past.
“Remember in high school when I went to Becky Larson’s Halloween party and that creeper in the vampire costume just wouldn’t leave me alone?” She asked him.
“Yes of course, you called me to come save you,” He recalled.
“Yes you were my knight in shining armour always saving me from stupid situations,” Macie said.
“Well every princess needs a knight,” Henry replied quietly.
The remark made Henry blush a deep shade of red. Macie laughed at his response, feeling very flattered by it. He helped her up off the floor and they got back to work. Within no time everything was set up. Macie couldn’t believe it, it was even better than what she had gotten finished back at the apartment before Jason left.
The weeks started to fly by, life was getting comfortable for Henry and Macie, they fell into a routine and got used to each other’s personal routines. The weeks consisted of doctor’s appointments for Macie, work for Henry and a lot of late night movie marathons. There wasn’t much time left before the baby would arrive and Macie was starting to get worried, she didn’t nearly have enough and she refused to take any money from Henry, it was enough that he was letting her stay with him and was feeding her. Later in the week she made an appointment with a family aid worker.
Henry drove her to the family services building and helped her get out of the car. Macie could barely walk by now, but stubborn as a mule she refused the help to walk into the office. She waddled into the office and checked in with the secretary and sat down.
“Macie Johnson,” They called.
Macie rose from her chair and followed the woman down a series of hallways and into an office. When she entered she was greeted by and aid worker named Janine.
“Miss Johnson, please sit down.” She said pointing at the chair in front of her desk.
“Thank you,” Macie replied.
“So I have read over your case file and have a couple questions for you. I am needing to know about your living situation, it is very important for us here to know that you are somewhere safe and appropriate for you and your soon to be new baby.” She asked.
“I am currently living with my friend Henry, he took me in after my boyfriend at the time bailed on me, I couldn’t keep the apartment we were living in,” Macie replied.
“And what is the situation with money? I can imagine with you being as far along as you are that you are not currently working?” Janine asked writing on her pages.
“Well that is one reason why I am here to see you. While Henry is supplying me with free accommodations, I don’t want to burden him with all the extra costs that come with a baby,” Macie replied, she looked down at her hands. While she may be a mess at the moment her pride was something that she held high on her priorities and asking for money was hard for her.
“I see, well considering your situation I believe we can help you out until your baby turns one then you are required to find work, “ Janine stated handing her some pamphlets.
“Yes of course, thank you so much,” Macie beamed.
The rest of the meeting went well, there was a lot of paperwork to fill out, though one thing that made her feel uneasy was because she was single she was told that there would be surprise visits from members of child services to make sure that her conditions were still being met to allow the best environment for her child. Macie pushed that thought to the back of her mind for now, baby wasn’t even here yet she didn’t need to worry about it. She thanked Janine and started to make her way back out to Henry’s car.
He was sleeping in his seat when she reached the door, he awoke when she pulled on the handle, and he stretched and asked, “How did it go?”
“Very well, I have been given an allowance of 880 every month, which I am going to give you some money for letting me stay and please don’t say no, I really want to.” She told him.
“Okay,” He said. Henry didn’t even try and fight her on the matter; he knew how stubborn she could be. He still didn’t feel comfortable about taking the money but he decided just to put it away.
With the allowance Macie finished shopping for the baby, she hadn’t found out the sex earlier in the pregnancy, Jason had wanted to keep it a secret. Now she wished she had, it was hard shopping on a budget for neutral stuff. With the nursery finally finished and all stocked, Macie started to pack her hospital bag, she didn’t even know what to expect when the time came, she couldn’t expect Henry to stay with her, that was a part of their friendship that just didn’t need to be explored. But she didn’t have long to wait to find out. Late that night Henry awoke to sounds like Macie was hurt. He jumped out of bed and ran across the hall. He knocked on the door, “Macie are you okay?”
He faintly heard a no…baby…coming… he quickly opened the door to find her hunched over on the floor of the bedroom, his face went white. Adrenaline pumped he carefully lifted her onto the bed, her breathing was fast and intense, her face scrunched in pain. He could see the outline of a puddle of liquid on the floor, he didn’t know all about pregnancy but knew enough that there wasn’t much time. He debated calling an ambulance but he knew that Macie would freak when we received that bill in the mail. He reacted fast grabbing all her bags and throwing them into the backseat of his car. As fast as he could he loaded Macie into the passenger seat and raced off towards the nearest hospital. Traffic at 2am was minimal so they made it there fast. He ran panicked into the emergency ward, sending out many nurses and a wheelchair out to the loading entrance.
After parking the car he ran back inside searching franticly for a sign of which way they took her. Panic started to set in; he sat down and put his head between his legs. Meanwhile Macie was in and out of consciousness, the pain was so intense she could barely think, halls were zooming past her the voices of nurses and doctors rang all around her but she couldn’t understand a word they were saying. They loaded onto a bed and started strapping every machine you could think of on her, taking blood pressure, IV’s, checking the baby’s heartbeat. Something felt wrong to her, where was Henry he was probably worried sick, the room started spinning, everything was fading in and out. Alarms started beeping, nurses shining lights into her eyes. The next thing anyone knew, Macie passed out and baby’s heartbeat started to plummet.
Over in the waiting room Henry heard the code being called, he caught a glimpse of a heard of staff pushing a bed down a hall towards the surgery theater. Through the crowds of nurses he caught sight of her, it made his heart jump. Instantly he was out of his seat running after them down the hallway. He was stopped at the door, “Were sorry sir, you can’t go in there.”
“But where are you taking her, what’s wrong?” Henry asked the nurse.
“Please Sir we will let you know the status of your wife when we are able,” The Nurse told him.
“She’s not my wife…”He mumbled to himself. The Nurse had already left through the heavy double doors, leaving him standing alone and worried.
An hour passed and there was still no word, the worst kept flashing before his eyes. Why hadn’t I told her how I felt when I had the chance…Now she will never know that I love her? I’m such a coward, god Henry you’re so stupid. He sat there with his head in his hands when he finally heard his name. He looked up to see a nurse looking through the crowd of people for a Henry.
“That’s me, I’m Henry.” He said standing up.
“Please follow me Henry, Macie is awake.” The nurse told him.
A wave of relief washed over him hearing that she was awake and okay. They walked down a maze worth of hallways before stopping at a room. They entered and laying in the bed with a big groggy smile on her face was Macie and a beautiful little baby. He moved closer to the bed and sat in the chair next to it.
“Oh my goodness, Macie! I thought you were…I didn’t know…I’m so glad you are okay.” He stammered.
“Well at the time I wasn’t okay but I am now, I am more than okay I am perfect,” She told me, smiling down at the little being in her arms. “It’s a girl, I named her Victoria. Would you like to hold her?
He didn’t have time to respond, she put this tiny little baby in his arms. Henry felt like a giant compared to her. She wriggled and gurgled stretching out her little hands for something to grasp. He stuck a finger out and let her hold onto it. He had heard stories from friends at school what it was like to hold a baby for the first time and it was just as they had described it. He looked up briefly up at Macie, she was absolutely glowing, he couldn’t help but to crack a smile.
Handing Macie back the baby, he took a deep breath and said, “Macie, we have been friends for as long as I can remember and almost loosing you back there made me realize that I don’t want live the rest of my life with regrets for not telling you how I feel. I love you Macie…I have since we were teenagers but I just couldn’t gather the courage to tell you. When we were talking about old times and you called me your knight in shining armour, I want to be that man for you, I will always be here for you and now for Victoria I swear on my life.”
Tears started to well in Macie’s eyes, part of her knew that he had feelings for her all this time but she had acted selfishly and blindly. Here standing in front of her and who had been there no matter what was the man she had been trying to find, she just didn’t look close enough. She managed to get the words “I do too” to escape her lips as she pulled him in for a kiss.
Four days later Macie was finally well enough to go home, Henry picked them up, loading them both carefully into the car. As they pulled up to their house Macie couldn't wipe the smile off her face
God doesn’t give you the people you want, he gives you the people you need. To help you, to hurt you, to leave you, to love you, and to make you the person you were meant to be.
The End
