Triad Love

Will you?

Novah wakes to feeling sick to her stomach. Covering her mouth, she rolls out of bed and runs to the bathroom. Just as she reaches the toilet, she begins to throw up. In between throwing up she manages to slam the door shut. She didn't want Max to see or hear her getting sick, but it was too late. Max looks over his shoulder to see her shut the door. He immediately gets out of bed and runs to the bathroom. Listening quietly, Max puts a hand on the door. "Novah? Honey are you okay?" Then he hears her throw up again. He's heard about this stage, morning sickness. It sounded like she was going to be in there for a while, so Max goes to the kitchen to get her some water and crackers. On the way back he grabs the trash can from the kitchen and puts it on her side of his bed.

As he sets everything up for her, she opens the door and comes out. Her eyes are red from crying and she looks so pale. Novah smiles, weakly at him as she walks towards him. He puts an arm around her and kisses the top of her head. "I brought you some water, crackers and a trash can." Novah  looks at him again, smiling softly. "Thank you, Max." she says as she hugs him, smiling. He knows she just threw up, but she still smelled good to him. As he wraps his arms around her, he hears a knock coming from the front door. Max turns and runs to the door, hoping it doesn't wake Melissa.

As he cracks open the door, Max comes face to face with the detective. Max open the door further and smiles at him. "Good morning detective. What can I do for you?" The detective smiles back. "Good morning, Max. Can I come in, please?" Max nods, as he steps aside to let him in. The detective looks around while walking towards the kitchen. As he pulls a stool out, Novah walks in munching on crackers. She frowns and looks towards Max, who shrugs. 

The detective turns to see Novah and smiles bigger. "Just the person I was wanting to talk to. Can we talk, ma'am?" Novah nods and takes the stool next to him. The detective takes a deep breath before he begins. "Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Sam says that there was an incident between you and Max a couple nights before the shooting. Can you explain what he's talking about, please?" 

Novah shakes her head as she takes a deep breath. "I've always had feelings for Max.' she says as she smiles at Max. "So when I told him how I felt and he shot me down, I was hurt. So when I ran into Sam at work the next day, he asked if my friend Melissa and I would go out for drinks with him. Of course I agreed to get Max off my mind, but once we got there we ran into Max." Novah turns to look at Max with a look of sadness. "When Sam seen Max he got mad. Almost like he was jealous of him. They shook hands and you could feel they didn't like each other." She runs a hand through her hair, remembering that night. "As Sam and I go to leave, Max grabs my arm begging me not to leave with Sam. I was still mad at Max so I pulled away and left anyway. Max hand warned me that he didn't have a good feeling about him but I ignored him." 

Novah begins to cry and takes a deep breath. Max walks over and puts his arms around her. "Sam took me to his place where we had sex." Novah let's out a sigh as she continues. "The next day, Max called my phone while I was still with Sam and he got mad." The detective looks at Max. "Who got mad? Max did?" Novah shakes her head. "No, Sam did. He took my phone from me and began to yell at Max. When I stepped forward to take my phone back, Sam spun around and hit me. I was sure it was an accident at the time but now I'm not so sure." The detective is still taking notes, when he looks up and asks, "What happened next?" Novah wipes away more tears. "When I got hit, I must have blacked out because the next thing I know Max is at his house pounding on the door. Sam went to answer it and I could hear how pissed Max was before he came upstairs to check on me. When he seen my black eye, he helped me up and brought me to his place."

The detective nods and puts a hand up. "Okay, Novah you can stop." he says as he turns to Max. "Okay, so you was on the phone with Sam as Novah was hit? Is that correct?" Max nods. "yes, sir that's correct. I could hear the slap over the phone and I got mad. So I hung up and drove to his place. Once I got there and seen the condition Novah was in, I just wanted to get her out of there. I knew she'd be safe at my place with me. So that's what I did, I brought her back here." The detective nods, making another note. "Okay, that seems like all I need. Sam is making it sound like you was the person that shot Novah." he says as he looks at Max, who looked like he was going to be sick. "I'd never hurt Novah! Not in a million years!" Max yells, his blood boiling at the thought someone would believe Sam and his lies.

Melissa wakes to hear Max yelling at someone. She sits up and can see the detective holding his hands up in defense. "Max, I know that you wouldn't hurt her. That was very clear on your face at the hospital." Melissa sits up and clears her throat. Everyone turns to look at her now. "Sorry we woke you, Mel." Max says. She waves him off and smiles. "It's ok, I needed to get up I guess." she says as she looks towards the detective. "Now, detective, surely you've done your research on Sam, Like I have." The detective raised and eyebrow at her. "What do you mean, ma'am?" Melissa gets up and walks to her purse, pulling out a folder. She hands it to him. "Sam has a criminal background, sir. He has multiple domestic charges and assault charges." Melissa puts her hands on her hips. "His most dangerous charge was assault with a deadly weapon." The detective quickly scans over the folder, then looks at her. "How did you get all of this?" Melissa laughs. "I use to be a cop back in my early 20s. I still have friends on the force." The detective nods and laughs. "I'm going to have to step up my game with you around, ma'am." Everyone laughs then. 

After discussing Sam's past more with Melissa, the detective walks towards the door. As he opens the door to leave he turns to look at Novah. "If I was you, I'd get a restraining order on him. Just in case he makes bail." Novah nods and wraps her arms around herself. He waves as he leaves and shuts the door behind himself. Max turns to Novah and can see the fear creep back into her eyes. He walks over and pulls her into his arms. "Don't be scared, No. I won't let anything happen to you." Novah breaths in his scent as she smiles. He always makes her feel better. As she hugs him he's reaching into his pocket. She pulls back to look at him and he has a huge smile on his face. 

Still hold one of her hands, Max gets down on one knee. Melissa gasps, knowing what he's doing. Tears form in Novah's eyes in shock. "Novah, you know I love you." Max says, as he open a ring box. "I know this is sucky timing but I can't think of a better time." He takes a deep breath to steady his nerves. Looking back up at her, tears begin to fall down his cheeks. "Will you do me the honor of being my wife?" Novah's hand flies to cover her mouth. She is in shock but she's crying tears of joy. Melissa clears her throat, as if to tell her to hurry up and answer. 

Novah pulls Max to his feet, which puts a look of concern on his face. She wipes his tears away as she takes a deep breath. "Max, I've known for a while now that I loved you more than a friend. So when we found out we were having a baby together, it felt so right." Novah places a hand on her stomach as she continues with a sob. "I'd love nothing more than to marry you, Max" Melissa squeals with excitement, Max places a huge diamond ring on Novah's finger and kisses her. Novah let's out a sigh as she thinks to herself, this really is the beginning of a very good day.