You Make Me Whole

“Ray?” he spat at her, as if demanding that she rush to his defense. He was shaking, reminding Ray of a lot of horrible arguments they had when they were together.

“Please leave, Doug. You and I are done. I appreciate you coming over here, but nothing’s going to happen between us.”

Doug stood for a few more moments, opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, trying to form the words that would fix the situation. Eventually, he gave up, and shuffled out the door like a schoolchild that had been sent to the principal’s office. He hovered by Carter on his way out. He was a few inches taller than Carter, and a lot leaner. He was younger than Ray, only by a couple of years, but his immaturity was painfully obvious in front of the two of them. It was strange how Ray had never noticed it before, or perhaps it just showed how much she had matured in the past few weeks.

“You better realize how lucky you are man,” he said quietly to Carter. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Carter said with artificial friendliness. “I wouldn’t dream of letting someone like Ray go. I love her.” He then gestured towards the empty door, which thankfully Doug led himself out of, and Carter closed the door behind him.

“You okay?” he asked Ray, wrapping his arms around her.

“Yeah, fine,” Ray sank into his embrace, reeling from the words that had just come out of his mouth. “I’ve never heard you say that before. I thought that…”

“I do love you, Ray,” he said, kissing up the side of her face.

“You don’t have to say that if you’re just here for the baby. It doesn’t make you a bad guy. I just don’t want to live a lie, I want us to be on the same page.”

He sighed heavily. “At first, I just wanted to be here for the baby. But things have changed, Ray. I know it’s only been a few weeks, but I’ve always felt this pull towards you. At first, I thought I was just jealous of your freedom, and then when we found out you were pregnant; I thought I just felt bound to you because of the baby. But that guy showing up here, and the idea of you and him…it drives me crazy. I always figured we would drift apart after the baby was born and be two single parents while we went off to live our own lives. But I know what I want. I want you.”

Ray stayed clutched in his arms, struggling to take the news in. “I don’t know what to say…”

“Well, do you love me?”

“I didn’t want to, not when I thought you didn’t feel the same, but yes, I do.”