It was nearly four AM, and Joey still hadn’t slept a wink. He lay on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He had heard Marcus crying about every two hours, but he quickly hushed. Joey knew Gina was feeding and changing him, and he also knew that he should be up there, but he just couldn’t go back in that room.
There was a shuffling sound at the foot of the stairs. His head swiveled round and he found himself meeting his mother-in-law’s eyes. "Why are you on the couch?" she asked, looking tired and confused.
"Um, well, I wasn’t sleeping well and I was afraid I’d keep her up. She needs what little sleep she can get."
"Uh huh. So why aren’t you helping her take care of that baby?" He couldn’t think of an answer and her green eyes seemed to cut through and see into his very soul. It occurred to him that Gina had gotten her mother’s eyes, except for the color. "Cut the crap, Joey. What is going on between you and my daughter?" She didn’t get loud at all. In fact, she was almost whispering, but her tone brooked no argument - yet another trait she had passed on to her daughter.
"Come on. I have a feeling I’m going to need some coffee," she said, heading for the kitchen.
He was asleep when the doorbell rang. Twice. By the third clang of the chimes, he managed to roll out of bed and stumble through room after room until he reached the door. He made a mental note to have the chimes on the bell changed. Amanda had picked these when they first got together and while they sounded beautiful, he hated waking up to them. He was ready to disconnect the doorbell altogether by the time he reached the doorknob. He jerked it open and blinked. "Why are you here?"
"Well, hello to you too."
"You’ll get over it. I was sleeping."
"Whatever. I’m coming in." With that, she shouldered past him and walked into the living room. He slammed the door shut and followed. "Well, someone’s in a nasty mood," she said as he half-stumbled, half-stomped into the room behind her.
"Look, I’m tired and as you have so delicately pointed out I am also in a very bad mood. Now what do you want?"
"Well, I have a proposition . . ."
Joey looked at his mother-in-law and cringed at her statement. He hadn’t thought he could possibly feel any worse. He had been very, very wrong.
"Joseph," she said, taking a deep breath. He forced himself to meet her eyes. "You know how I felt about you from day one. I didn’t trust you. But my daughter did. She trusted you enough to give you everything. She trusted, Joey, that you would NEVER hurt her like this. I wasn’t sure, but you treated her the way I always felt she should be treated, even though you did get her pregnant before you married her. I haven’t quite forgiven you for that yet, but I could. At least, I could have. But now . . ."
"I understand," he said, looking at the table.
"No," she said firmly. "You don’t. Gina has always been sheltered, and that is mostly my fault. She’s one of those rare people who sees the best in people and tries to ignore the parts that everyone else is in doubt over." He nodded, knowing first-hand how true that was. He had often wondered why she bothered to stick around. "You married my daughter, you have a child together, and I wonder if you really even know her. She loves you Joey, but if I know her even half as well as I believe I do, this has destroyed her. For that, I may never forgive you, and I seriously doubt that my husband will ever be able to forget this."
She yawned and rose from the table. "After I got to know you and got used to the idea, I thought I had been wrong to mistrust you. Now, after hearing what you’ve put my baby girl through, I know better. You don’t deserve her, and I’m not sure you ever did. This was the vilest way you could have broken her trust. Her faith in other people. She’s been through a milder form of that before, and it set off a panic disorder. You better pray that this doesn’t kill her."
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