The Weekend Pt. 04

With that, she shoved him as hard as she could. He barely moved a couple of steps, but the force made her fall to her knees. A wail of despair came from where she was on the ground, followed by the sounds of a woman sobbing into her hands. "I miss him so much." She said between sobs. "He's gone, and I don't know how to live without him."

Standing there, watching Regina broken down to her knees with such agony over the loss of her husband was daunting. It was at that heart shattering moment that Brian realized something monumental; something so profound that it overwhelmed his normally selfish brain.

Regina would never be his.

He wasn't sure if she belonged to Lee, but she definitely didn't belong to him. His love for her was an aberration, a blight, a virus to her happiness. It was not her savior; it was her captor. As long as he continued to pressure and pursue her, she would be trapped in a hell of loneliness. Even if she left Lee for him and they ran off into the sunset, happiness was not their future.

Brian squatted down to put himself on the same level as her. His arms wrapped around her shaking shoulders as she wept into his chest. "I'm sorry, Gina. I'm sorry I messed things up for you." He said as he kissed her forehead.

_________________

Lee laid back on the arm of Daryl's couch. One hand was behind his head to create a sort of makeshift pillow, the other was holding up the sonogram of his son.

He'd been looking at it for hours. It was funny how the change in perception can show the same thing in a different light and create an entire new reality.

He saw his son through the distorted image of random shadows. He saw his foot, his head, his little penis; everything. This was his son.

This situation was fucked up for myriad of reasons. Four people made fateful, selfish, impulsive mistakes that led to an implosion of consequences. Of those four lives, three of them were forever altered (that douche bag didn't count).

But out of all that ugliness, there was this beautiful life that was created. Malcolm was a single rose poking out of the ground after a hurricane devastated the land around it. No matter how shitty this situation was, he wouldn't be here if anything had played out differently. Lee wouldn't have a son.

But now, he did.

He always thought of himself as a man of honor, but his actions of late had been less than honorable. He was going to change that. This baby boy was all that mattered to him now. Everything else was secondary. His drama with Regina, Jennifer's general distain for him, his indecision on what to do about his marriage; all of it dwindled in importance next to the life of Malcolm.

"You're gonna be here soon. You didn't ask to be born, but you're on the way regardless. I promise that I will do everything in my power to give you a full life. I will not let my selfishness cost you anymore. I wasn't there for your mother, but I will be there for you. You have my word."

With that, his hushed vow was sealed with a kiss as his lips lovingly touched the picture.

_______________

Author's notes:

Reading through comments, I found several interesting. One of which I even borrowed a line from. The person was anonymous, so I don't even know who to credit. I liked the line enough to add it.

"They say that adversity is the illumination of character."

Brilliant line. Thank you.

And thank you all for reading. Once again, I apologize for the long waits between chapters.