Translation of Love - By Alice Montalvo-Tribue Page 0,92

to continue. “Brian never knew about the baby. A few days later, I found out about the other girl and like I told you before, we confronted him. The truth is, after I found out that he’d cheated, I was kind of happy. It gave me the push that I needed. When I got home, I decided that I was gonna leave and go to Dad and tell him everything that was going on. I knew that he would protect me and the baby.”

“That makes sense,” he says, giving me a sympathetic smile.

I nod in agreement. “But I didn’t get that far. I remember coming home and running upstairs, I got out my luggage and started throwing my clothes in, trying to move as fast as I could in case he came back. Well, of course, once the other girl found out about me, she wanted nothing to do with Brian either. She broke up with him and he was furious. He came back to me, and when he did, he found me packing up my shit. He went crazy, said that I didn’t get to walk away from him now that I ruined what he had going on. He picked up my suitcase and threw it across the room.”

He sighs, I can see the realization in his eyes. “Fuck, Baby,” he says softly, his eyes getting wet.

“No, it’s not the same thing. When you did that, deep down I knew you wouldn’t hurt me. I ran out of habit not out of fear.”

“It’s no excuse.”

“Stop, you’re nothing like him, you’re everything that he’s not.” He closes his eyes, letting the information sink in, trying to calm himself down. When he finally opens them, I know he’s ready to hear the rest. “I tried to run away from him, but he caught me and he hit me, just like this last time. He got me on the ground and kicked me a bunch of times. I tried to shield my stomach with my hands. I remember lying there praying that the baby would be okay. Eventually, I passed out. When I finally woke up, I was on the floor, alone.” I swallow and try to fight back the new stream of tears. “I was sore everywhere and when I was finally able to stand, I saw that I was bleeding and I knew. I knew the baby was gone. I tried to clean myself up the best I could. I took a shower and finally I called Jordan. I was terrified that she wouldn’t pick up, because I hadn’t talked to her in so long. I’d cut everyone off, but she didn’t let me down, she answered the phone and when I told her I needed her she came right away.”

“She loves you.”

“And I love her. When she saw me, she lost it, said that she knew something was off. She got me out of there and took me home with her. She took care of me. I made her promise not to call my family but she didn’t give a shit what I wanted at that point. She called Dad. He went to her house and when he saw me, I thought he was gonna have a heart attack. We fought and fought, he tried to get me to press charges on Brian but I just wanted it to be over. I think a part of me was scared of what he would do to me. Eventually, Dad gave up trying to convince me to press charges but Brian never bothered me again until now. I know Dad had something to do with that, although I’m not sure what he did. I went home with Dad, moved in with him, and once I got better, I changed everything about myself. I changed my wardrobe, made myself more conservative, dyed my blonde hair back to its original color and I put up the wall. I didn’t let myself get close to anyone. I cleared all the debt left behind from abandoning my apartment with Brian and my credit cards. I started saving up money and eventually I bought my little house. I started over.”

“I’m so sorry you went through that. If I could take it all away, I would. Make it so that it never happened.”

“Then I never would have met you, and you’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Ditto.”

“You and Jordan are the only ones that know about the baby. I don’t know if I’ll ever be