Ashley's POV

"What's going on with you..." Hearing a familiar voice I turned to the source only to see Kelly standing by my room's door with a confused look.

"What's wrong? You don't look in a good shape" She added walking towards me.

"No. Nothing is wrong. Everything's fine..." I trailed off not believing my own words that everything was alright.

"Oh so is that why you look like you have been crying for like an eternity" She said sarcastically.

"Kelly I don't wanna talk about it" I replied.

"Anyways, what are you doing here" I asked wiping my tears away with the back of my hand as I smiled at her...trying to make her believe that everything was really fine.

"Oh Kevin called me yesterday asking me if I had Melina's cell number, which I did have since we went to the same college and she was my friend's, friend's, friend...but that still doesn't explains why I kept her number in my phone..." She paused making a face which made her look kinda funny and if the situation wasn't so serious right now I would have laughed at her.

"But after sending it to Kevin, I finally deleted it" She continued with a grin.

"Oh my god! What a terrible sister and friend I am, you seem to be so upset and here I'm blabbering nonsense" She added sitting beside me as I just shook my head at her indicating that it's totally okay.

"I don't understand why Kevin would ask for her number and I wanted to call you yesterday itself to tell you about all this but then I thought that it might upset you so I dropped the idea but now I just couldn't wait so that is why I came here to see if you are okay" She said.

"So are you okay" She asked taking my hand in hers.

"Kelly I..." I trailed off knowing that I would break down again if I talked about whatever happened today.

"Actually no I'm not okay" I added a moment later feeling hot tears pooling my eyes.

"What's wrong Ashley. Tell me" She asked concerned as I told her everything that happened between me and Kevin since the night we had a fight and what I found out today.

"Oh Ashley so this was the reason why you left all of us...why you left Kevin" She said as I nodded with tears slipping down my eyes.

"And today you found out that Kevin never did anything that you believed he did to you" She added and the look on her face told me that she wanted to say something but was holding back.

"I know you must be thinking that what a terrible wife I am...and to be honest that's right. I couldn't be a good wife and neither a good friend. It's all my fault Kelly" I replied looking down at my fingers with a blurred vision.

"No Ashley that's not what I was thinking, in fact I believe that whatever happened between both of you was really unfair because it's not only Kevin who suffered, you went through a lot too...Kevin at least had all of us but you, you were all alone...away from family thinking that the person you love the most, betrayed you and I can't even image how that thought alone might have hurt you but in spite of all this you had to stay strong for your baby and you did that just perfectly" She said.

"And you never stopped loving Kevin even when you believed that he was a cheat and how he played with your feelings...so no I don't think that all this makes you a terrible or selfish wife or friend, rather I think it makes you strong...you are a really strong woman Ashley" She added giving me a genuine smile.

"And what can I say about Kevin that you don't already know...he's simply...a great guy and an amazing lover. Trust me he loves you like a crazy person and you are just so lucky to have him...and he is lucky too because he has found an amazing friend, lover, wife all in one person...you" She said as her words about Kevin brought a genuine smile on my lips.

I know...he's just amazing and I'm lucky to have him.

...Or at least I was. 

"Kelly..." I said a moment later.

"Yes" She replied.

"I think I...no I know I made a big mistake and when I asked him to promise me...at that exact moment also I knew that what I was doing was a big mistake but I had to do that for him..." I trailed off sobbing.

"I'm sure whatever I did today is best for him but I'm so selfish that ever since the moment I saw him walking away from me I have been wanting to call him and request him to come back...because I-I can't live without him...I love him so much Kelly...I love him" I continued.

"B-But I couldn't think of anything better than this...he is better off without me I mean think about it ever since we both got married I have brought nothing but pain in his life and what Melina said was right too...this pain will be with him forever and the reason behind all this is me" I added.

"He doesn't deserves a person like me...he deserves someone who can make him happy and not someone like me who has done nothing but brought him pain and accused him of something he never did. Walking out of his life is the right decision" I said or more like I was just blabbering to myself trying to convince myself that I shouldn't call him and ask him to come back.

"Wait wait what are you talking about? I don't understand. What did you do exactly?" Kelly asked cautiously as I recalled what happened a few hours ago.

"Leave me and never look back again" I managed to say the words that seemed too hard for me to utter...my voice was so low that I doubt if he even heard it or not.

And for a moment I almost found myself wishing that he didn't...because I-I don't want him to leave.

But it doesn't matters if I want this or not, what matters to me is Kevin's happiness and nothing else. I have to do this...for the happy smile that he had on his lips a moment ago when he promised me...this has to be done...it's best for him.

"What..." He spoke as I interrupted him.

"Kevin please..." I whispered looking down to avoid looking into his eyes...to avoid seeing his face...because I know I would break down if I looked at him right now.

And I can't afford to break down in front of him because I know if he sees me like this...he'll never leave.

There was a moment of silence between us as none of us spoke a word but yet I wished that this silence would last a bit longer because I prefer this silence over him walking away from me.

"Fine Ashley...whatever you want" He said breaking the silence as I still didn't look up at him.

"But just look at me once..." He paused as I just shook my head.

I can't Kevin...because I can't see you leave.

"Because maybe this is the last time" He continued as his words hit me hard.

No...please don't say that.

A moment later I felt the warmness of his palm on my baby bump as he gently caressed it before placing a soft kiss on it. His hands moved to my cheeks as I closed my eyes feeling his lingering lips on my forehead...I took a deep breath hoping that this moment would somehow last forever but reality set in when the next minute I heard him walking away and that's when I finally looked up and that is also when I broke down as I watched his retreating figure walking away from me...for good this time.

"Oh Ashley. What have you done" Kelly said and I can tell that obviously she doesn't likes what she just heard.

"It's for the best" I replied.

"What best? You think that he'll be happy without you but you are so wrong...you didn't see him when you left him but I did and I'm sure that, that wasn't his happy look" She said almost harshly.

"Don't you think I know that. I know everything Kelly...I know that he loves me and whatever I did today hurt him a lot but he'll be fine in sometime...I know it'll be hard for him for a few weeks or maybe even months but one day he'll move on...he'll forget me like I never existed" I replied and the thought alone that he'll forget me someday hurts more than I thought it would.

"I know what you are going to say now but I know what I did is right...he's better off without me..." I said cutting her off as she was about to say something.

"I didn't trust him enough back then and tried to separate him from his own child...what kind of person does that makes me Kelly? Now when I think of it that if he never came looking for me...then I would probably be living my life happily with our child thinking that his or her father was a cheat and he deserved what I did to him, when in reality he is the innocent one and I'm the bad guy in all this. My child would have grown up without knowing what it feels like to have a father and to think that I almost snatched my baby's right to have a father hurts me even more. All these thoughts have been hunting me...the decisions I made don't just make me a bad mother and wife but also a bad person altogether" I continued.

"Okay I understand you are feeling guilty for what you did but Ashley anyone in your place would have done the same thing because as you told me you took that decision only after seeing that video clip, so whatever happened is not your fault and neither is Kevin's" She replied.

"And now you are doing the same thing again...you asked him to leave you and in all this you are separating him from his child again" She added.

"I just said that I'm walking out of his life...I never said that I'm taking this baby with me" I replied in low voice.

"What does that even mean" She said in disbelief though she understood what I meant.

"Once this baby is born, I'll leave him or her with Kevin. You were saying that he won't be happy without me right but he will be happy with this baby...now he'll always have someone who won't ever leave him...he'll always have a part of me with him" I replied smiling.

"Do you even hear yourself? And what about you?" She asked.

"This is my punishment" I said shortly almost to myself.

"Look I won't tell you that you should do this you should do that...because you can't always listen to what other people tell you...just listen to your heart and then decide what you need to do further..." She paused.

"But I just wanna say that none of this is your fault so don't punish yourself for it" She continued.

"I'll get you some water" She said before walking downstairs as I glanced at my phone.

Deep down in your heart you want him to come back too then why not just call him and ask him to come back, my subconscious spoke.

What should I do?

Yes I want him back but...

Don't let your guilt ruin the love you both have, just talk to him once and then leave the decision to him that if he still wants to be with you or not, my subconscious said.

I can't...

Okay fuck all this I need to call him right now...I want him back...I know I said that this is the right decision but I cannot go through with this plan. I just can't live without him.

Thinking so I quickly called him without wasting another second and just when the call was answered on the fourth ring, I was distracted by some other thing.

"No...this can't be happening right now" I said to myself as I felt a sharp pain in my lower abdomen.

"No baby please this is not the right time" I said looking down at my baby bump while pulling the phone away from my ear.

Yeah as if it's in the baby's hands or even in yours, I said to myself in my head while slapping my forehead lightly.

"Ash..." I heard Kevin's faded voice and realized that he has already answered the call.

"Oh hey Kevin...how are you" I said nervously and instantly slapped my forehead again for asking such a stupid and lame thing.

"Um..." He said.

"I'm sorry" I blurted out cutting him off.

"I'm so sorry Kevin for whatever I said earlier...I thought that it was the right decision but now I realized that how wrong I was..." I paused.

"I always do this, don't I? I always take wrong decisions and then I regret them. But I'm gonna make everything right now...I just wanna say that please come home, I promise I will never ask you to make stupid promises to me ever again...just come back, we need to talk. It was so hard for me to see you walk away and each time when I imagined my life without you today I felt so empty...like a part of me is missing and I don't wanna feel that way ever again. I admit that I have made not just one but many mistakes and I apologize for each one of them...just don't leave me. I don't wanna live without you" I continued.

"You know this will get really awkward if you don't say anything even after my long 'I can't live without you' speech" I said after a moment of silence.

"I don't know what to say...I mean yeah I expected this kinda of call or even a visit from you but..." He trailed off.

"What do you mean by that" I asked as I saw Kelly walking into my room with a bottle of water, giving me a questioning look.

"Ash I think that you still need some time and..." He said.

"Kevin no I don't need any more fucking time...I just need you" I almost snapped cutting him off.

"I'm coming home..." He said after what seemed like ages of silence.

"And then we can talk" He continued and I can tell that he's probably grinning right now.

"Yeah you do that soon because I think that your baby has decided that this is the perfect time to come into this world and I don't think I have any say in this matter so come soon" I replied.

"Wait. Does that means...are you in pain I mean is this that final kinda pain oh wait you are going into labour you need to get to the hospital quickly but wait you are alone right, then who's going to drive you to the hospital and don't even think of driving because I know your driving skills..." He said as if he was talking to himself.

"Shut up Kevin I just felt a kind of sharp pain but it's not that bad yet, maybe it's not labour pain so I think I can wait till you reach here and more over my water hasn't even broken yet and my doctor said that I might feel a little pain sometimes but it can be a false alarm too and also my due date isn't until three more days" I interrupted him.

"And what did you say about my driving skills..." I added recalling his words.

"But we cannot take that risk what if it's not a false alarm" He said cutting me off.

"I know we can't take any risk and we shouldn't and that's why we'll go to the hospital once you come here" I replied.

God! I should have known he'll panic like this, I thought as I felt the same kind of pain again only this time it didn't go away like the first time.

Well now I think it might be labour pain but I also think that I can wait until he comes here.

"Are your parents home" He asked.

"No. Not yet" I replied.

"But Kelly is here with me" I added knowing that he wanted to know if I have someone with me or not.

"Okay then ask her to drive you to the hospital" He said.

"But I can wait for you Kevin" I replied rolling my eyes.

"No you can't. It'll take me about thirty minutes to reach your place...so just ask Kelly to drive you to the hospital. I'll be there soon okay" He said.

"And this time you will listen to me Ash" He added leaving no place for any further argument.

I closed my eyes as suddenly my attention got diverted from his words to the pain I was feeling, I placed my hand on my baby bump taking deep breaths waiting and hoping for the pain to go away but it only seemed to get even more bad making me realize that it will get more painful with each passing minute.

"Okay fine I think you are right...I just don't want to bring this baby into this world without you by my side" I replied taking a deep breath again to somehow sooth the pain even for a minute if possible.

"Trust me you won't" He said softly as I just nodded as if he could see me because I was just too distracted by the pain which just seemed to get even worst now, to say anything.

•••

Hey,

Huff...this is probably the longest chapter I have ever written for this book.

So I guess there's just one more or maybe two chapters left now.

And that's making me kind of emotional.

Lol.

Anyways,

Please vote, comment and share.

Until next time.

Love,

Crystal ❤️