by Mya Wood
“Sure,” Robyn agreed. “Just let me go take quick a shower and get ready.”
“You need a hand?” Noah asked as she started for the door.
Robyn looked back at him and laughed. “Then it won't be a quick shower, now will it?”
“You're right.” Noah nodded in agreement. “But I suggest you lock the bathroom door,” he warned. “I'm not sure I trust myself to stay out.”
Robyn rolled her eyes at him, smirking as she made her way down the hall and up the stairwell to his bedroom. After closing the door, she leaned against it and surveyed the room. He had three large suitcases off to the side of his dresser, only one of which was packed.
Though Robyn had only known Noah for a short time, she was having difficulties imagining what her life would be like without him these next few weeks. The only thing keeping her spirits up was the fact that she would be visiting him. Finally, she pulled herself from her trance and made her way into the master bathroom.
Removing her clothing, Robyn stood in front of the mirror for a few minutes and stared at herself. She had a fairly good body, but she knew it would only be a matter of time before that changed. Shaking the thought from her head, she quickly jumped into the shower and allowed a stream of warm water to engulf her.
Fifteen-minutes later, Noah wandered upstairs and began getting ready himself. After changing his clothes, he stood in front of the large window in his bedroom and waited for Robyn to emerge from the bathroom. Seconds later, he heard the door open and there she was – wrapped in a large navy blue towel with her wet curls hanging freely around her shoulders. It was obvious that she didn't see him by the window, so he cleared his throat to make his presence known.
Robyn jumped, turning to look at him. “What are you doing?” she questioned, sauntering over to him. “Waiting for me to finish so that you can jump my bones?”
Noah chuckled. “Now there's an idea,” he joked, watching as she dropped her towel and pulled on a dainty lingerie set. Once she straightened back up again, he pulled her half-naked form against his and let his fingers drop down to trace her bra strap. “You better finish getting ready or we’re never going to make the movie,” he whispered.
Robyn nodded, and Noah watched as she moved away from him and quickly clothed herself in a pair of tight black jeans and a body-hugging tank top. An hour later, after grabbing a quick bite to eat, they were seated in the back corner of their favorite movie theater. The chances of Noah getting recognized there were very slim, so Robyn rested her head on his shoulder and tried her best to memorize his scent while she still had him.
After the movie ended, Noah and Robyn remained seated until after the theater had emptied out. Then Noah stood and took her hand, leading her out through the back exit. Fortunately, they were able to make it out to his truck without anyone hounding him for an autograph or picture.
A short while later, they pulled into Noah’s garage and walked into his house. They both went straight up to his bedroom and Robyn sat on the edge of the bed while Noah used the bathroom. She was on the verge of tears when he came back out, but she was able to hide it as she walked past him to get ready for bed herself.
After washing her face and stripping down to her underwear, Robyn took a few deep breaths and opened the bathroom door. Noah was already in bed lying on his back. She quickly turned off the light on the nightstand and crawled into bed beside him. He took her in his arms almost immediately, and she remained still as a lone tear slowly slid down her face.
“It’s going to be okay,” Noah whispered, sensing the change in energy. “I promise.” He stroked her stomach as if to hone in how serious he was, but she quickly removed herself from his grip and rolled onto her side. Seconds later, she could feel him moving beside her and felt him prop himself up on his elbow. He lightly dragged his fingertips up and down her arm, then he turned her towards him and wiped the stream of tears from her cheek with the back of his hand. “I know this isn’t going to be easy,” he said, hoping to get a response from her this time. “But we have a baby on the way. We need the money.”
“I know,” Robyn whispered into the darkness. “I don’t even know why I'm acting like this. It must be the hormones.”
Noah nodded, giving her an understanding smile. “We’ll still talk on a regular basis,” he said. “And you can FaceTime me during all your doctor appointments. That way it’ll be like I'm there.”
Robyn seemed to like the sound of that and lightened up a bit. “Thanks,” she said as she moved closer to him, allowing him to once again take her in his arms. “I guess that makes me feel a little better.”
“I just hope you know you can talk to me about anything,” Noah told her, suddenly serious. “Really, Robyn – if something is bothering you, I want you to talk to me about it. I don’t want you bottling anything up.”
Robyn nodded and promised him that she wouldn't. The prospect of facing her second trimester alone still terrified her, but she wasn’t going to let Noah know it. Instead she simply rested her head on his chest and allowed herself drift to sleep.
Chapter 19
Robyn awoke early the next morning and couldn’t get back to sleep, so she quietly got up and got dressed. She thought about waking Noah to say goodbye, but she ultimately decided against it. As hard as he had tried to make her feel better about him leaving, she was still having a pretty hard time wrapping her mind around it.
Robyn pressed a kiss against Noah’s forehead before leaving. She stopped off at a donut shop to get some breakfast, and she was able to spend an hour at the office before she had to be out at the project site.
Just as Robyn pulled into the driveway of the location, her phone vibrated. She put the car into park and looked at the screen, nearly breaking down into tears when she saw Noah’s home number flash across it. Clenching her jaw, she forwarded the call over to voicemail and proceeded into the house.
Just before lunch, Robyn was going over some measurements with one of the contractors when her phone went off again. She reluctantly looked down at it and was relieved to see Joanne’s number. She excused herself and went to answer it, forcing herself to sound more cheerful than she felt.
“Hey Joanne.”
“Hey yourself,” Joanne greeted. “How are things going out there today?”
“No problems so far,” Robyn responded. “Why? Is there a problem back at the office?”
“Oh no, I just thought you would like to know that Noah came by looking for you a little earlier,” Joanne informed her.
“Really?” Robyn perked up upon hearing that. “Well um… did he say why?”
“No, but he seemed a bit… out of sorts. What do you say you take the rest of the afternoon off if everything is going smoothly there? Spend the day with him before he leaves.”
“But… I can’t just leave the site unsupervised,” Robyn said, beginning to panic a little. If she went to see Noah now, there was no way they'd have a smooth goodbye.
“Nonsense. I think they can live without you for one afternoon,” Joanne said, her tone stern. “You obviously mean the world to him, Robyn. Don't let him leave without saying goodbye. You'll only regret it.”
Robyn sighed and closed her eyes. “I just… I can’t,” she choked out, leaning against the nearest wall for support.
What Robyn didn’t know was that Joanne had relayed the address to her project site to Noah, and that he had just let himself in through the side door.
“You can,” Joanne assured her. “Talk to him, Robyn. Don’t just push him away.”
“Alright,” Robyn said, rubbing the tension from her temples. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Robyn ended the call and took a moment to regain her composure. What happened next came as a total shock to her. Just as she turned to head back upstairs, she ran headfirst into Noah.
“Noah?” Robyn’s brows furrowed as she sized him up, and she looked visibly confused. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough,” Noah said, not making any attempt to move away from her.
“Well I can’t talk right now,” Robyn said as she tried to get past him. “I need to get back to work.”
Noah shook his head and grabbed for her wrist before she could turn the corner. “Please don’t lie to me, Robyn,” he said, his tone full of yearning. “I know Joanne gave you the afternoon off.”
Now Robyn was livid.
“You had no right to go to her,” she snapped, yanking herself from his grasp. “No right at all!”
“See, that's where you're wrong,” Noah said, struggling to remain calm. “You're carrying my child, Robyn. I think that gives me every right to try and fight for you.”
Before Noah could process what was happening, Robyn stormed out of the room. He heard the front door slam shut shortly after and quickly went after her, stopping her before she could get in her car and drive off.
“Please don’t do this,” he pleaded, holding out an arm to stop her from closing her door. “Please.”
“Let me go, Noah,” Robyn said as she slid past him and started the engine.
“No,” Noah retorted. “Not until you talk to me.”
“Well maybe I don't want to talk to you,” Robyn said, remaining seated in her car. “Did that ever occur you?”
“What happened to our talk last night?” Noah asked, totally mystified by her behavior. “I thought we worked all of this out…”
“That ‘talk’, may have made you feel better, but it didn't do shit for me,” Robyn shot back at him.
“Then tell me what's on your mind,” Noah demanded, trying his best to ignore how callous she was being. “You should know by now that you can be honest with me.”
“I am being honest, Noah!” Robyn shouted. “I just... I can't deal with this!”
Noah fell silent then. He had fallen hard for Robyn in a short amount of time, and up until now he had been under the impression that she was someone he could depend on. He didn't want to believe what she was saying, but he didn't exactly have a lot of time left to change her mind. He had to have this resolved before he left the next morning.
“Robyn, if I wasn't leaving tomorrow, I would walk away right now and give us both some time to think. But I don't have that kind of time. I need us to talk about this now,” Noah said, sounding adamant.
Robyn remained silent for several minutes while he stood there looking down at her.
“What can I say to make this better?” he finally asked her, breaking the silence that had formed between the two of them.
Robyn finally looked up at him and saw the hurt in his eyes. What was she doing to him? What was she doing to them? Did she really want to lose him because of her insecurities? She finally realized how childish she was being and turned off the ignition, getting out of her car. She closed the door and leaned against it, looking in the opposite direction from where Noah was standing. Finally, she said, “just tell me you love me.”
Noah exhaled a ragged breath. “Of course I love you,” he told her, watching as her brown eyes fill with tears. “Do you love me?”
Robyn nodded. There was no doubt in her mind that she loved Noah. It was the entire reason why his leaving like this was so hard for her. “Of course,” she whispered. “More than I ever thought possible.”
Noah stepped forward then and took Robyn in his arms. “Then please don't ever scare me like that again,” he said as he held her tightly to his chest. “We can make it through this, Robyn. I know we can.”
“I'm sorry,” Robyn whispered into his shirt, taking a moment to soak up the scent of his cologne. “I’m just so scared of doing this without you.”
Noah knew exactly what she was referring to. “You don't need to apologize,” he said, lifting her chin so that she was looking him in the eye. “Just promise me that whenever you’re feeling scared, or anxious, or whatever… that you’ll call me. I don't care what time it is. I'll always pick up. You have my word on that.
Robyn nodded, managing a small smile through her tears. Wiping them away, Noah took a step back from her and said, “now what do you say we get out of here?”
"Sure," Robyn agreed. “Why don't I meet you back at your place? I just want to check in with a few people and then I’ll head over.”
“Okay. I'll see you there,” Noah said, lightly kissing the top of her head.
Robyn watched as he walked to his truck, got in, and backed out of the driveway. She remained still until he drove away, then she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Joanne’s number, feeling the need to thank her for being so supportive.
“Jo, hey, it's me again,” Robyn greeted once her call was answered. “Look, I think I owe you an apology...”
“Don't even worry about it,” Joanne said. “I'm guessing this means you two worked everything out?”
“Yes, but not before I said some things that I regretted,” Robyn responded.
“Well at least you're levelheaded enough to realize it. Is he there with you now?” Joanne asked.
“No, he’s on his way back to his place,” Robyn informed her. “I told him I would meet him there in a little while. I want to leave a few instructions for some people here before I take off.”
“Good, good. Tie up any loose ends and go spend the rest of the day with your guy,” Joanne said. “You deserve it.”
“Thanks,” Robyn responded. “I really appreciate how lax you're being about this.”
“Hey, don't thank me. You’ve been working hard these past few months. Ken and I have no problem giving you some much-needed time off. Now, go finish off what you need to and enjoy the rest of your day.”
“Yes ma’am,” Robyn said, ending the call with a smile.
A half hour later, Robyn pulled into Noah's driveway and let herself in through the still-open garage. She found Noah up in his bedroom and stood in the doorway watching him as he packed a few final things away in his suitcases. She felt the need to run and hide again, but she reminded herself that she had to face this.
So are you almost packed?” Robyn asked, making her presence known.
Noah turned to look at her. He was so relieved that she had come. He was a little worried that she would change her mind and run off again. “Yeah,” he told her. “I just have a few final things to pack and then I think I’m all set.”
“Well you've certainly packed a lot already,” Robyn commented as she surveyed all of Noah’s suitcases. “It almost looks like you're planning on being gone forever.”
Noah laughed. “Not forever, no, but I am gonna be living out of these for the next two months. I just figured it would be better to be over packed rather than under packed”
Robyn shook off his words. “Let's not talk about that tonight,” she requested.
“You got it,” Noah said, granting her wish. “How about we head down into the basement? We can go through my Blu-ray collection and find something to watch.”
“Sounds good to me,” Robyn said as she stood up and turned to head downstairs.
Noah followed closely behind her. He knew that today was not going to be an easy day for them. He feared that Robyn was still battling with herself over him going away. His only hope was that he would be able to prove that their relationship could survive the miles.
Noah watched as Robyn went straight for the shelf that held his vast collection of movies. She finally picked one out, and he let her turn on the TV and put it in as he took a seat on the couch and rested his back against the arm, placing a pillow on his lap so that she could sit comfortably between his legs.
There was no exchange of words between them throughout the movie. In fact, Noah had to check on Robyn a few times just to make sure she hadn't fallen asleep on him. She was indeed awake, but she seemed to be in a world all of her own making. He respected that she was dealing with a lot that afternoon, and he gave her time to sort through her thoughts.
Once the movie was over, Noah excu
sed himself and ran upstairs for a moment. He had stopped off at a jewelry store to pick up something he had seen a few days prior. He wanted to leave Robyn with a small token of his affection before he left. He wanted her to have something that would remind her of their relationship and just how much he loved her.
Making his way downstairs, Noah sat down beside Robyn on the couch and held out his hand to her. In the center of it was a blue velvet box that made her gasp. “I picked it up for you earlier today,” he revealed.
Robyn looked up at Noah and then back down at the box. “W–what is it?” she stammered out.
Noah grinned. “Why don't you open it up and find out?”
Robyn slowly reached out and took the blue velvet box out of Noah's hand. She was sure that he could see her shaking. She slowly opened the box and jumped as the spring-loaded bottom popped out at her. Looking down at the heart-shaped diamond necklace, her eyes instantly filled with tears. She had always dreamed of having one just like it.
