WHAT MAKES YOU DIFFERENT - Sequel to Love in An Elevator

ANGELITA’S GONE...SHE’S GONE...

Those were the words that had been running through Howie’s head for the past 8 months. But why had she run away? Was it because he yelled at her? No, he never yelled at her. Was it because he lied to her about being engaged to Stacy? No, he told her that he had a girl. Or was it simply because he tried to love her, when he didn’t have the right to do so? But how could he get her back, when he didn’t even know where she was. He knew that he had already done the steps to get her back. First, he broke, or should he say that Stacy broke off the engagement. But he didn't know why he or even she broke it off; yet, to him, it just felt so right. Second, he tried calling Angelita’s apartment, but no one answered. He had even tried going over there after they had gotten back from being on tour for so long. But every day, when he didn’t see her hanging around the stage or being on the bus, he learned that he loved her more than he could have ever imagined.

But why was he here? Why was he standing in front of Kevin’s home? What would Kevin know? And now, why was he in a car with the man driving to a destination that he didn’t even know of?

******

After Howie finally showed up at his door confessing to him everything that had happened between Angelita and himself, Kevin knew that it was time to take him to her. Yes, he had always known where she was. So did Brian, but why should he tell Howie, where she was when he knew that all he would do was break her heart. Kevin knew that he had to first let Howie think things through and then he would take him to her. But as the young “Latin Lover” showed up on his door crying harder than he had ever seen him, Kevin knew that it was time. Hoping that this was what was best for her and the baby, Kevin – without telling Angelita that he was coming or without telling Howie where they were going – takes Howie to see her.

*******

Seven hours after their journey had begun; Kevin pulled into a long driveway and stopped the SUV in front of a lonely, two-story cabin. Kevin moved his hand to awaken the man that sat next to him.

“Howie? Howie, we are here,” Kevin said.

“Huh?” Howie said opening his eyes to see that they were in the middle of the woods.

“We are here,” Kevin said as he undid his seat belt and got out of the 4-Runner. Kevin walked around the car and opened Howie’s door before saying. “Just come with me.”

“Where are we?” Howie asked as he got out of the car.

“At my cabin,” Kevin said.

“Why are we here?” Howie asked the older man.

“You will see,” Kevin said going up to the porch before using his key to open the door.

**********

That night that she had left nearly eight months ago had been her worse, but the worse pain that she would go through was yet to come. After leaving, she had gone into a deep depression that could only be solved by one thing – the love of the man that she couldn't have, but she wouldn't let that happen because she tried to block all of her memories with from her life. The strangest thing that she did after she returned home was to move into Kevin’s cabin.

And now tonight, as she lay on the bed watching TV, she heard the front door open. She knew that it was Kevin, who had probably come to check on her once again. She listened to his footsteps as he walked across the floor before coming to the bedroom door and knocking softly. She didn't say anything, but just allowed him to enter at his own will.

***********

As they entered the cabin, Kevin motioned for Howie to sit down on the couch as he went to the bedroom door. Howie, not understanding what was going on, did as he was told and sat down on the couch. As he sat on the couch, he noticed that there were a few bottles of medicine on the table. Howie picked one of the bottles up and saw that it said – PRE-NATAL VITAMINS.

Huh? Why would Kevin have pre-natal vitamins at his cabin? Howie questioned himself before hearing the voice of a female speaking to Kevin.

**********

“Hey, girl,” Kevin said after he closed the door behind him.

“Hey, Kevin, what are you doing here?” she asked him. “I thought you weren’t coming until tomorrow.”

“Well, I kind of had a change of plans,” Kevin said before sitting down on the bed.

“Change of plans? What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, I kind of brought a guest to come and see you,” Kevin told her.

“A guest?” Angelita questioned.

“Yes, a guest. Would you want to talk to him?" he asked her in a concerned voice.

"I guess I will have to. Seeing as I can’t move," she said to him, since at her last doctor's appointment, which had been the day before, the doctor had told her that she couldn't leave the bed and put her on a strict diet because in the beginning, she lost more weight than she had gained. The only way that anyone could tell that she was pregnant was the soft bulge of her stomach, which could be seen under the wool blanket. Angelita softly began to stroke her stomach as Kevin got up and opened the door to allow his ‘guest’ to enter.

*********

After a few minutes, Kevin came to the door and said to him, “You can come in.”

“Okay,” Howie said as he got up and walked over to the door. As he got to the door, Howie’s eyes almost bulge out of his head as he saw the woman that he had fallen in love with laying on the bed. “Angel?”

*********

Angel sat there watching as Kevin got up and opened the door before telling his ‘guest’. “You may come in,” Kevin told the person.

Angel watched the door and was shocked to see that the guest that Kevin had brought with him was the man that she had loved for so long.

“Angel?” the man said in shock.

“Howie,” she said to him.

“Oh my God, what are you doing here?” Howie asked before looking at Kevin. “You knew where she was and didn’t tell me. I came to you so many times asking if you had heard from her and you lied telling me that you hadn’t. And here, this whole time, you knew where she was. How could you have...”

“Lied?” Angel asked him.

“Yeah,” Howie answered.

“Because I told him not to tell you where I was. I didn’t want you to know where I was. I didn’t want you to know,” Angel said to him before pulling the blanket back. “I didn’t want you to know about this.”

“OH MY GOD,” Howie said as he saw the bulge of her stomach. “Are you...you are...”

“Yes, Howie, I’m pregnant,” Angelita told him.

“Why...why didn’t...why didn’t you tell me?” Howie asked.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know if you loved me, like I loved you,” Angel confessed before Kevin said.

“I’m going to leave you two to talk,” Kevin told them before going to the door. “I will be in the living room if you need me.”

“Okay,” she said to Kevin before turning back to Howie.

*********

After Kevin left the room, the room went to dead silence before Howie finally spoke.

“Can I feel?” he asked her.

“What?” she asked a little confused.

“Can I feel your stomach?” he asked again.

“Sure,” she said before taking his hand into hers. As she did, they could both feel an electric shock go through their hands. Howie smiled at her before she placed his hand on her stomach. He keeps his hand there for a few minutes before finally feels a kick against his hand. After feeling this, Howie begins to talk.

“I know that you probably don’t want to hear this from me, yet. But I am truly sorry, mi amor. I am sorry for breaking your heart. I am sorry for not telling you about Stacy or being engaged to her. But I will tell you that I did broke off the engagement. I could have her yelling at you like that. I am so sor...” Howie said rambling, but Angelita stopped him by putting her finger on his lips.

“Don’t be. I was the one foolish enough to fall in love with a man that I shouldn’t have fallen for,” Angelita said to him.

“No, mi amor, you weren’t a fool because I fell in love with you, too,” Howie tells her, which causes her to look him in shock before he leans forward and softly kisses her with as much passion and love as she has for him. As he breaks the kiss, he softly beings to sing to her...

********

As Howie began to sing the bridge of the song, Angelita could feel the same pain that she had been having all day move from her back to her front. As the pain did this, she knew what was happening, but let the pain deal with itself as she let Howie finish his song for her.

*******

*************

"Now, Howie, don't get alarmed but I just had a contraction," she told him after he finished singing to her.

"You what?" he said to her as suddenly stood up. "When?"

"About 2 minutes ago. During your song," she told him.

"Come on, babe. I'm taking you to the hospital to get checked out," he said to her.

"Whoa, Howie. I'm fine. See, I can stand up and walk -," she told him as she sat up in the bed before softly standing up. But as she tried to walk another contraction had hit her, this one caused her water to break. "Ahh."

"Angel," he said as he got up causing the chair to fall over and quickly came to her side. "Angel, what happened?"

"Howie, my water broke," she told him in gasps as she tried to breath through the contraction. She was also getting a little nervous because she was three weeks early.

"Shhh, Ang. It's okay. Just calm down," he said to me.

"Howie, what was that noise? Oh my gosh, Angel, what's wrong?" Kevin said as he came up through the door as he heard the noise.

"She’s in labor," Howie said as he helped her to the door as the contraction was over.

Kevin came over and took her other arm around his shoulder as they helped her through the living room to the front door.

"Hey, Kev, get the keys and get the car started," Howie said to him.

"Sure," Kevin said as he grabbed the keys as they got to the front door and ran to start the car.

As Howie was helping her through the front door, she had to grab the door as another contraction hit her. She held onto the door as she started to do her breathing that remembered from her Lamaze class.

"That's good, girl. In and out," Howie said as he was rubbing her back during the contraction, which was helping her. The contraction lasted for almost a minute before letting up as Howie looked at his watch. "Four minutes apart, last 50 seconds."

"We're cutting it short," she said to him.

"Don't worry, Ang. We're going to get you there before the baby comes," he said to her as Kevin and Howie helped her out of the house and to the car.

"Here you go," Kevin said as he handed him the key.

"No. Would you drive? I'm going to stay back here with Angel," Howie said as he got into the backseat with her.

"Sure. Just hang on," he said. He went and grabbed his jacket before getting in and driving us to the hospital. Just as they got to the Emergency room entrance, another contraction had hit her.

"Come on, Ang. Just breathe. That's right," Howie said as he rubbed her back and belly softly. When the contraction was over, the orderly and Howie helped her on lay on a stretcher that the orderly had brought out before they were on their way.

***********

"Oh my god, help me. Make it stop, it hurts too much," she cried as the contraction gripped her body in pain. She had been in labor for the last three hours.

"Okay, Angelita, you're now 10 cm. We're going to get you ready to push, now," the on-call OB said to her as she smiled.

"Oh, crap, I can't do this, it hurts too much," she moaned to Howie.

"Come on, Sierra. You're doing so well, we've gotten this far. Just a little more and it will be all over," Howie said as he lifted her up and slid into the bed behind her, rubbing her back and neck, then pulling her back against him as he massaged her stomach. When he felt it tighten again as another contraction hit, he rubbed her back again. Somehow it relaxed her, and the pain lessened.

"Okay, Angelita, on the next contraction, I want you to try and get three good pushes into it. Okay," the doctor said as she put her feet in the stirrups.

"Ohhhhh," I moaned as I felt the next contraction coming.

"Okay, Angelita. Push, girl. That's good. I can feel the baby moving down. Come on, girl, push a little harder. Just a little more. And relax," she said as she relaxed against Howie.

The next contraction took her by shock that she had to scream as she felt her baby move further and further down. "Ahhhh," she screamed as she gripped Howie's hand.

"Okay, Angelita, push. Come on, girl. The head is coming," she said as she pushed as hard as she could.

"Owwww, this hurts like crap," she screamed as the head moved further down as she pushed. "Okay, Angelita, I'm going to help the baby get its head out, so you don't tear. Just don't push for a few seconds," the OB said to her.

"Oh god, that hurts. Please just hurry. Owwww," she screamed as the forceful pain of the contraction was accompanied by a serve burning sensation.

"Okay, Angelita, I want you to give me a little push and this will be the worst part. Deep breath and push, girl. That's it," she said to her. "Just a little more."

"Ahhhh," she screamed in pain as she felt her baby's head slipped free.

"Okay, Angelita, just one more little push and you should have your baby," she said to her.

"I can't. I'm too tired," she said as she leaned back against Howie.

"Baby, listen to me. You just have to push one more time and then we will have a beautiful little baby," he said to her. Howie's soothing words and voice helped her find her strength.

"Okay, girl. This is it. Push," the doctor told her as she held onto Howie's hand and gave one good, hard push before she felt the baby slip free. The baby immediately proved that it was very upset with its new surroundings by letting out a loud, shrill scream of fury. She fell against her pillow, tired, as Howie got up to see the baby.

"Ang, it's a girl. She's a beautiful baby girl," Howie said to her. She softly started to cry as she watched as the doctor let Howie cut the baby's cord before a nurse took him over to be cleaned and weighed as the doctor got the afterbirth and cleaned her up.

"8 pounds, 2 ounces," the nurse called out as she weighed her little girl.

"Did you hear that, Angel? She's bigger than I was when I was born," Howie called to her before he took their baby into his arms. "Come on, sweetie. We're going to go and meet your mommy."

**********

After a few minutes, the two of them are just sitting there watching their little girl sleep as Howie says, “Thanks”.

“For what?” she asked him.

“For being different, for loving me, and for love in an elevator,” Howie said causing the two of them to laugh. As she laughed and cried at the same time, Angelita felt a tear on her forehead and looked up to see that Howie was crying.

As she looked up, Howie leaned down and softly kissed her before saying, “Thank you. She is beautiful.”

“No, thank you. But what should we call her?” she asked him.

“How about Sierra Caroline Dorough?” he said to her.

Angelita looked up at him and said, “Dorough?”

“Yes, baby, I was going to give you when I saw you again but tonight is as good as any other night,” he said to her before taking something out of his pocket. He opened his hand to show her a beautiful ring. Angelita began to cry as Howie spoke again, “Angelita, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

“Yes,” she said to him before Howie softly kissed her.

“I love you, mi amor,” Howie said to her.

“I love you, too, Howie,” Angel said before kissing Howie.

After Howie broke the kiss, he gently leaned down and softly kissing their daughter’s forehead as he said, “And I love you, my little Sierra. And I promise that I will always love you two and always be with you.”

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