Chapter 2

The next day I got up early, although Axel woke up several times, I felt rested enough to finish the boxes. The day before my parents had helped me enough and most of the work was over, I just had to fix a few dishes and the clothes I kept keeping closed.

That day I was supposed to go looking for a closet but first, I had to go shopping first, I had my fridge completely empty and I had to buy some supplies for Axel, otherwise, my mother would panic.

Speaking of the devil. The silence was broken by the ringing of the doorbell. Right on time to wake up Axel immediately began to cry in despair. I opened the door and ran into his room, finding him in his cradle completely red and his face streaked with tears. I immediately picked him up and went to the kitchen with him. My mother was already trying to turn on the coffee machine while Axel was reclaiming his food again. I sat down on a stool and immediately settled down before I attached it.

\"You have nothing.\" said my mother, opening all the doors.

\"I was going to go to the supermarket to buy some food, I didn’t have much time.\" I told her as I began to cradle Axel gently.

\"Your father says that for the first few months you will have few shifts from a few hours so that you can get used to and even spend time with Axel, after all he is still too small to stay so long away from his mother.\"

\"I know, Mom, but it’s just me and I can’t afford it without work.\"

\"You have us too.\" my mother almost insulted.

\"I can’t put the weight of my decisions on you, I’m not a child anymore.\"

\"I know very well, but you could still stay with us the first few months and then look for a home, you know you will never be a burden to us.\"

\"I need to manage on my own, I can’t always rely on others.\"

After I finished feeding Axel, I passed him on to my mother, and rearrange my shirt.

My mother began to cuddle him again by filling him with kisses all over his belly while he laughed ecstatic.

Scoundrel.

\"I’ll stay here with him if you want to go shopping.\" my mother said without looking at me.

Axel took a few strands of her blond hair in his little hands while my mother kept pounding him with kisses and making him rejoice.

\"Are you kicking me out?\" I asked, pretending to be shocked.

\"Go, go, my prince and I must spend some time together.\" she said to me with a gesture of her hand.

I snorted and walked to the bathroom.

I was grateful that my parents had accepted with good heart my decision to keep that child, although it meant raising it alone. My parents had never judged me, no matter what I decided in my life, I always had them to stand behind me and support me in every circumstance, and I was very grateful to live for that.

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

I pushed the cart along the lane while I was looking for the pasta department, I already had the cart half full of food, then I had to stop to buy some diapers for Axel since the supply I had was about to end. Luckily my mother kindly lent me her car while she stayed home with the baby, she didn’t even look at me when I left.

That woman now had eyes only for Axel, there was no one else for her, not even my father received all the attention that she gave to that child.

I looked around and finally spotted the department with the pasta, taking a good supply.

I continued my journey and found myself in the wine department, God, I would have liked a nice glass of wine, but no alcohol when breastfeeding. By now, my runaway days of spending a drunken weekend twisting in a stranger’s bed before I met Brad, then my boyfriend’s bed, were over.

The Maya bad girl was now dead and buried to leave room for the single Maya mother.

I looked bitterly at a few bottles of wine, of course, I could have taken one and opened it when I finished breastfeeding, but I knew that if my mother had seen me bring home a bottle of wine at home, she would scold me until the end of my days.

I kept walking without looking in front of me until I hit someone with the cart.

\"Fuck!\" I said, looking in front of me, \"Excuse me, sir, I was distracted, I hope I didn’t hurt you.\" I said, looking at the gentleman in front of me.

More than a gentleman, he was a young man.

Perhaps of my age, or perhaps older. The blond hair was arranged on the side, the gray eyes looked at me. I thought it looked familiar, but I wasn’t 100% sure.

\"Don’t worry, miss, I was in the middle too.\" he looked at me as he passed a bottle of wine in his hands, then squinted his eyes, almost as if they wanted to come out of his head \"Maya?!\"

I blinked several times without saying a word.

\"Maya Sheppar?\" he asked again, shaking his head in disbelief.

\"Yes?\" I answered uncertain looking at him and remaining gripped to the cart.

\"Damn it, Maya! It’s me!\" he said, beating on his chest, \"Andrew! Andrew Spring!\" he said, cheerful.

I looked at him.

Andrew.

It occurred to me that the guy who was always following us, who was always making hearts eyes to Jess, how was always courting her with no shame.

\"Andrew?\" I asked in amazement.

\"For God’s sake!\" he said, holding me in a warm embrace, \"How many years have passed?\" he said, cheerfully looking me in the face.

\"Five.\" I said with a little voice.

\"Five years!\" he was amazed, \"Damn it, Sheppar, you’ve become a bomb!\" he kept checking me out and making me blush from head to toe.

\"And you’re cooler! With age, you’ve improved Spring.\" I said more restrained and keeping a friendly tone.

\"What are you doing here, Sheppar?\" he asked curiously.

\"I shop?\" I said insecurely.

Andrew looked at me startled and then shook his head \"I see this. But here in the city, I meant.\"

\"Oh, what a fool.\" I said, \"I moved here from New York.\" I said, putting my elbows on the cart.

\"New York? Fucking Sheppar, you’ve come a long way, I thought you went to Boston.\"

\"I studied first in Boston then I got a scholarship to the University of Nursing in New York so I moved.\" I said by moving my hair behind my head.

\"Nurse? Are you a nurse?\" asked Andrew surprised.

\"For the time being. Last year I applied to medical school, but then I had to quit for some reason.\" I said without saying anything else, I didn’t want to talk about Brad.

\"That’s so cool.\" said Andrew.

\"What about you?\" I asked curiously.

\"Me? I stayed here in town with Jess! I got my medical degree in record time and am now in my second year of specialization.\" he said proudly.

\"Wow, well-done Spring!\" I said happy for him.

Together with Jess, Andrew had always been the best of our year, I knew he would come a long way.

\"So you’re back here for good?\" he asked me.

\"Yep. Or at least I hope. I accepted a job offer in a city hospital, so I thought it was time to go home.\" I said quietly.

\"Cool!\" At that moment his phone rang and he looked at the display, immediately his eyes shone \"It’s Jess!\" he said cheerfully.

I looked at the phone and saw that I had a message from my mother telling me that I had to go home \"Sorry Andrew but I really have to go\" I said without looking at him \"See you!\"

I took the cart and headed for the nearest box.

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

I spent the rest of the weekend sorting out the last of the boxes after my dad dropped me off at Ikea to pick up some things I missed.

Finally, I had a new closet for me and Axel, a chest of drawers for him, and a new bed, all as a generous concession from my father who had insisted on buying me the new furniture, although it was not necessary but when dad ordered something, better to keep quiet.

All weekend I hadn’t thought about meeting Andrew, but I had a strange feeling