two
Tom was at the cafe much too early. But he couldn’t help it; he was nervous. He’d only seen Amber for five minutes in his doorway, and she’d already managed to turn his entire world upside down. That was her specialty, it seemed. She had a habit of making his life significantly harder, and it’d taken him much too long to realize that. He could never truly regret having Amber in his life, though, because she had given him Maggie, and Maggie was something that Tom could never regret. Maggie was easily the best thing in his life, and he’d be forever grateful for his daughter. Still, though, having Amber show up again was not something he ever wanted to happen.
Fingers drumming against the table, Tom stared absentmindedly at his tea in front of him. His mind was all over the place, but mostly, he just wanted to get this over with. It wouldn’t take long — he had no desire to hear her side of the story, or whatever excuse she would come up with. There was no excuse for abandoning your daughter of less than a year. No excuse whatsoever. And whatever reasoning she had for coming back now was pointless. Tom simply wasn’t going to let it happen.
You’d offered to come with Tom to meet with Amber, even if it was just to sit in silence in support of your best friend. You knew that this was hard on him, and you just wanted to do everything you could for him, even if that meant having to face the witch who had broken your best friend’s heart four years earlier. There was no doubt in your mind that she had some kind of ulterior motive; why else would she show up suddenly after four years of radio silence? It wasn’t like her to not have an evil plan brewing. But, anyway, Tom had declined your offer. This was something he felt like he needed to do by himself, and anyhow, someone needed to be with Maggie.
Lost in his own world, Tom didn’t notice when Amber finally walked in. She waited for barely a second for him to notice before placing her bag on the table, “Tom?”
“Amber,” he replied coolly as he looked up, not wanting to show her any emotion.
He watched as she took a seat across from him, and looked almost nervous, which wasn’t a look he’d seen many times from Amber. The only other time he could recall her looking even the tiniest bit nervous was when she told him that she was pregnant, and both of their lives had changed forever in that moment.
“Tommy?” Amber called out his name as soon as she heard the front door close, “Can you come here?”
“Are you alright?” he asked as he quickly made his way to their bedroom, where her voice was coming from. As hard as things had been between them lately, he still cared about her and wanted her to be okay. In the bedroom, Tom found Amber sitting on the bed, staring at something she was clutching in her hand, “Love, what is it?”
“Tom, I’m… I’m pregnant,” she blurted out, looking up to meet Tom’s eyes. She was nervous, he could tell, from the way her eyes darted to his and away again and how she fiddled with her fingers, but there was something else lacing her voice that he couldn’t quite make out.
Eyes widening, Tom froze in place, as his entire world turned upside down in less than a minute. This wasn’t the plan. He wasn’t ready for a child, not only emotionally, but he knew he didn’t quite yet have the money to take care of a baby in the way one would deserve. Not to mention, things with Amber had been rough, and he had no idea how it would affect their relationship. Still, though, something immediately sparked inside of him, and he knew that he would do whatever he could to make it okay.
After a moment, Tom sank onto the bed next to Amber. He had barely even processed anything at all, but he knew that they’d figure it out, “Oh… oh wow. Okay. I— we’ll figure this out. I promise. I’ll start working more, and my parents will help out, and—”
Looking back up to Tom again, Amber’s eyebrows furrowed together slightly as she cut him off, “You want to keep it?”
“Of course,” he replied, nodding adamantly, “of course I want to keep our baby.”
That day… that was a reasonable excuse to be nervous. But now? No, she didn’t get to be nervous now. She had to face up to what she had done. Tom wasn’t going to let her waltz back into his life — into his daughter’s life — as if nothing had happened. She lost that right the moment she decided to leave.
“Please, don’t look at me like that.” Amber leaned forward, brows furrowing as she took in the expression he held. Tom had his arms crossed over his chest, furious that she expected his reaction to be anything else.
“Like what, Amber? Like I haven’t seen you or heard from you in four years after you left me and your daughter? How else am I supposed to look at you?”
Her mouth dropped open, taking a moment to compose herself as she looked down at the table, “Okay, I deserve that…”
Tom couldn’t help but scoff incredulously as he leaned back in his chair, arms still crossed as he stared her down from across the table. Knowing that he likely wouldn’t be able to stay even the slightest bit civil if he tried talking at that moment, he stared at Amber, waiting for her to say something.
“I can tell you don’t want to be here, so I’ll just get to the point,” she stated, fiddling with her fingers as she paused for a moment. “I want to be in Margaret’s life.”
“You had your chance, Amber, and you lost it.”
“Please. Just hear me out,” Amber sighed as she met Tom’s eyes again. “I was young, Tommy. We were young.”
Her hands reached out across the table when he made a move to grab his tea, but he quickly jerked away the moment their hands touched. “You’re right,” Tom agreed, crossing his arms over his chest again, “we were young. But that’s no excuse, because I stepped up and took care of our daughter while you just ran off. The pregnancy was an accident, and we both know that. You, however, never saw past that, you only ever saw her as an accident. I’m not sure you ever really loved Maggie.” Tom knew he was being cold and quite harsh, but he didn’t care anymore.
A hurt look crossed Amber’s face, twisting up her features, as she sat back into her chair, “Of course I loved her. I do love her. I was just… I was scared. And I want a chance with her. She deserves a mom.”
Maggie already had a mom — you were the mom that Maggie deserved — but Tom wasn’t about to tell Amber that. Tom shook his head, “You think I wasn’t scared? I was fucking terrified. But I have to do what’s right for Maggie, and I’m not sure that you coming back into her life will be good for her.”
“Tommy, I’m sorry. I really am. I’ve grown up a lot, and I realize that I made a mistake. I just want to try to make it right. Please.”
Tom sighed softly, pursing his lips slightly; he didn’t want to give in to her, “Amber, I don’t know. Maggie needs stability, and you don’t have a good track record with that. Anyway, what am I supposed to tell her? ‘Hey, Mags, remember how it’s been just you and Daddy your entire life? Well, guess what, here’s your mum who abandoned you and decided she wants to know you now.’ That’s not how it works.”
Amber ignored the dig he made at her, shaking her head, “We can do it on your terms, okay? We don’t have to tell her right away. Just let her get to know me, please, Tommy. I know… I know you’re big on promises, Tommy, and I promise that I just want to be Margaret’s in life. That’s all. And I won’t go anywhere this time.”
“Stop calling me that,” he muttered, hating the way the nickname sounded coming from her instead of you. Still, though, he could feel the way her words tugged at his heart. Tom was a firm believer in second chances, and maybe Amber had changed. Maybe all she truly wanted was to make up for lost time and get to know her daughter. Was Tom allowed to refuse her that right? Maybe she could really make this up, not only to Maggie, but to him, too. Letting out another heavy sigh, he rubbed his hands over his face, “One visit. That’s all I’m promising for right now. But if you really want this, I need you to be serious about your promise. You can’t just up and leave, and you’re only here for Maggie — no other reason.”
Eyes widening, Amber nodded vigorously, “I promise. Thank you, Tom. I mean it. When can I— when can I meet her?”
“I’m not sure,” Tom shrugged, “Y/N and I will have to talk about it. And I have to figure out what to say to Maggie.”
At the mention of your name, Tom saw the way Amber’s face twisted up slightly, clearly not pleased, “So you two are… you’re together now?” Tom just nodded. “I always knew it would happen,” she muttered bitterly as if she didn’t want Tom to hear it.
Having had enough, Tom stood up from the table, grabbing his cup of tea and pulling his jacket on, “I’ll text you, or something. Please don’t show up or call or anything until I message you. If you do, I’m calling it off. And I’m serious about this.”
Amber nodded again, as she stood up, too, pulling Tom in unexpectedly for a hug, “Thank you so much, Tommy. You won’t regret this, I promise.”
Tom stood still, frozen until she let go of him. Before she could say or do anything else, he nodded to her and quickly left the coffee shop, not wanting to spend another second alone with the woman that he once loved. But he made a promise to himself the day that she left, that he would never let her hurt Maggie again and he couldn’t decide whether he’d made the right choice, if letting Amber back in was really for the best or if she would keep her promise but he was willing to give her a chance. Now all he wanted to do was go home to his favorite girls and he knew he had to talk to you about everything.