Chasing The Runaway Bride

Chapter 3: A Fresh Start.

AMANDA.

The car came to a halt just before the Newton train station and I alighted in haste, holding firm to the bags I’d packed.

Ethan had driven both Juliet and me but as I scurried into the station, she was the only one who followed before. My face flustered as I ran and the harsh morning winds swept through my hair.

"Amanda," I had reached the final point of departure when Jules suddenly called my name and I came to a halt. She did too. When I looked back at her, I noticed tears forming in her eyes.

"I still can't believe you're leaving" There was a crack in her voice.

"Me neither" I pressed my lips together and at that moment, we inched closer to each other for a tight hug. "How long?" She then muttered and briskly, I pulled away to look into her eyes.

"How long will you be gone for?" She asked.

I shrugged my shoulders with no idea of a response.

All I had was an aunt back in New York whom I was supposed to stay with, at least until I got up on my feet and there was the new job that I was supposed to start.

And if everything went exactly the way I planned, I don't think I ever will return to Newton. It wasn't just for me anymore but then I couldn't tell Juliet that. She and Ethan had decided to stay here, even though they traveled quite a lot, Newton would somehow always be their home.

It wasn't mine.

She got an answer from my silence and all she did next was rope me in for another hug. "I'll miss you" She whispered softly. "And I love you, Amanda...so so much" My hands held around her and the honk of a train blared suddenly. I sniffled through my nose, pulling away from her arms.

"I love you too, Juliet. But I have to go now."

"I'll call you when I get there, and every day I promise" As I sauntered away, tears stung the back of my eyes and I bid her goodbye. I made my way to the center of the station and handed over my ticket. Soon after, I was headed to the train when my phone suddenly rang.

I pulled it out, thinking it was Juliet at least. But the name I saw across the screen made a lump fill my throat. A very sore one.

It was Jaxon, he'd been calling all morning. Even left a text.

Jax: I can explain, please Amanda. Pick up.

I swallowed the lump and clenched my phone with anger. He had so much audacity trying to call me. And so before I stepped onto the train, I did the only thing that came to my mind and I dropped my phone into the trash. The only thing I needed anyway was Juliet's number.

And that I already had that.

I wanted to be unreachable from Jaxon and my father even. And New York was going to give me exactly that. I sat inside the subway and gazed out of the window, heaving a deep breath full of new possibilities and eager to start my life anew.

I could use a fresh start. A new beginning. Just to leave everything behind but somehow, the memories of last night flashed through my mind. My eyes fell to my fingers and it was then I realized. I dipped my hands into my empty pocket and a gasp of horror fled my lips.

The train jerked forward in motion.

"Shit." I cussed, realizing I had left my ring behind. It must have accidentally fallen in the room. I just hoped that man would never see it. Just like I thought I would never see him again.

Good riddance to the ring, it belonged to Jaxon anyway.

A few minutes into the journey, I already grew tired and so I closed my eyes. The next time they opened, alas, I was already in New York. Of course, I knew. From the crisp air to the soft sounds of city life.

I grasped my luggage and alighted the train.

"Amanda!" Almost immediately, I heard my name and I lifted my gaze with a smile. "Aunt Lucy!" I screamed, running into her arms. She wrapped them around me softly and I heaved out an exhale.

"You made it!" She exclaimed with excitement and when I pulled away, a smile crawled onto my lips. "I made it" I echoed. Aunt Lucy struck her hands through my hair.

“You look even more beautiful” She whispered but my heart stomped at that moment. Jaxon always said that. “Are you okay?” Aunt Lucy noticed the slight change in my mood before a sigh escaped her lips.

"I heard what happened." She said. I nodded frankly. “I’ll tell you all you about it when we get home” Pulling her arms, we walked out of the station. "Right now, all I just need is a very hot shower.”

Lucy chuckled and so did I.

New York was beautiful with the skyline lights and dreamy ambiance. It was exactly the fresh start I needed, I thought. But little did I know that life had other plans.

Because it wasn't even up to three weeks here before I first fell sick. What started out as nausea slowly progressed into throwing up each time I ate with little to no appetite. It was Lucy who convinced me to finally go to the hospital and there, they ran some tests.

And looking back, that was the exact day my life changed.

It was a humid Tuesday morning and I sat in that chair as the doctor walked in with a piece of paper in his hands. As soon as his eyes fell on me, I stood up.

"Anything?” I blurted out.

“She recently just moved here so maybe it could be the change of environment. Or maybe it’s the flu” Lucy was right next to me and she slipped her hands into mine. The doctor smiled before cupping his chin.

"Actually, Ms Amanda" He heaved and whilst I locked my eyes into his, the silence was deafening. But that was before he broke the news.

"You're pregnant."

My heart immediately sank into my chest. I sat back in the chair with a confusing arch between my brows. “You’re three weeks pregnant” He added and my life stopped at that moment.

-

My ears didn’t stop ringing even until we got into the car.

Lucy had paused, almost as shocked as I was. There were tears in my eyes but they couldn’t even fall. I didn’t know what to feel. I didn’t know what to think. I just gazed out of the window in the silence.

“Amanda” But the silence didn’t last long.

I looked back at my aunt once she called my name.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked. A tear dropped at that moment. “How could I be?” There was a crack in my voice. “Three weeks…I’m not even sure it’s Jaxon’s” I exhaled, sniffling through my nose.

“What?” My aunt asked softly. My heart was still throbbing in my chest as I remembered the intense night I spent with that stranger. Hot, guilty flashes flooded back to my memory before I zoned back into my reality.

“We didn’t have s*x for months until the wedding and then everything happened and that night, I was just so angry and my head was in such a bad place. I ended up having a one-night stand with a stranger. And I don’t even know his name, I don’t know his face and I—“

“Amanda, breathe” As soon as I started to panic, she reached for my

hands. I looked at her and tears streamed down my cheeks. “I’m pregnant for a stranger.” It hit me then.

“What are you going to do?” She asked the inevitable and I sucked in air through my lips. “I don’t know, ma” I whimpered. “I’m not sure I can keep it. I had this whole plan for when I got to New York and having a baby was never part of it. I don’t think I have it in me to be a good mother. Not when I’m so broken” I muttered.

And it was confusing to see a faint smile across Aunt Lucy’s lips.

“You’re just like your mother, you know” Aunt Lucy was the only relative I had who knew my mother so well. They were sisters and the best of friends, that was until she died in an accident a few days after my birth.

Some days, it’s hard when I remember not ever knowing her. Some days, I think it would have been easier if she had been present. If she was around while I was growing up. Maybe Dad wouldn’t have turned out the way he was. Angry and frustrated all the time.

Maybe he wouldn’t have remarried Lydia who was hell-bent on making my

life miserable growing up. I grieve the life I could’ve had with her.

“I’m sorry” I whispered and Lucy squeezed my hands. “I don’t think I can do this” I continued. “She was afraid too” Aunt Lucy started and I lifted my gaze to her. “She was scared for your father because they hadn’t been married at that time. But they loved each other so much.”

“It didn’t make it any less easy. I remember when she found out and she was so distraught that she thought she wouldn’t keep it—“ I arched my brows. Of all the stories I’d heard about her, this one was the first.

“What…what happened to the child?” I stuttered and Aunt Lucy smiled.

“She’s sitting right in front of me” She whispered. “You see from the moment you were born, all the doubts your mother had suddenly vanished. You were everything she wanted and she didn’t even know” I started to tear up and even Lucy too.

“You can plan the rest of your life all you want but destiny would always surprise you. And I know that child that you’re carrying has one. Children can be blessings, ones we don’t know we even need. You’re living proof, Amanda” Aunt Lucy’s hand crept to my cheek and I sniffled.

“Your mother loved you very much, for the short she knew you, she made you know it. She made sure everyone knew it and she made me promise to take care of you, to love you twice as much and to always be there for you even when she’s not” Aunt Lucy said and I nodded.

“I wish she was still here” I whispered. “Oh she is” Lucy replied. “I see her each time I look in your eyes” And a smile crawled to my lips. I didn’t even know what to say at that moment.

“Please have this baby and we will raise it together. I promise you just like I promised your mother that you won’t ever be alone, not for a single moment” She locked her eyes firmly into mine and I nodded after a hesitant pause. I took her advice and after nine months, I was back in that hospital, screaming at the top of my lungs as they brought out the baby from my stomach.

The shrill cries pierced through my ears as I looked at Lucy who kept to her word. She was right there and for the last nine months, she never left my side.

“Push!” The doctor muttered and I arched my brows. “Push?” I echoed.

Lucy fastened her grip as she looked at me. “There’s another one” She whispered and I screamed yet again until another cry filled the room. And then I fell limply to the bed.

“You did it” Lucy whispered. “Two! She would be so proud” Tears welled in both our eyes as the babies were wrapped in blankets and handed over to me, one on each arm. I gazed down at their tiny, fragile faces and my heart swelled with love in my chest.

Aunt Lucy was right.

Because the moment I laid eyes on them—Elizabeth and Evans, I knew my life was about to change forever.