Evan's POV

"Mom?" My voice had an edge to it, a mixture of apprehension and defense if I were to be specific. I heard footsteps which were most likely Ryan's stopping right behind me. Brae stood up, followed my Mom.

"What's happening?" I looked between them while they looked at each other's faces.

"We were just talking. Can you leave us alone?" I stared at Brae's face for too long before refusing.

"No." Mom gulped before looking away. Though I had explained everything to her at the dinner, well Ryan had done most of the talking, she hadn't said a word that day. So, the idea of her and Brae alone still didn't seem much appealing to me.

"Evan, everything's fine." Brae said in a calm voice as I stared at her skeptically.

"Come on, let's go." Ryan put his hand on my shoulder.

"Just go." She mouthed.

…………………………

Braelyn's POV

I watched as Ryan somewhat dragged Evan out and the door closed behind them.

"Victoria, he's just—" Before I could justify Evan's partially harsh tone, she cut me off.

"He's acting like anyone in his place would." I broke eye contact and looked down, not knowing what to say in response.

"Braelyn, I really mean it. I'm sorry for everything. I treated you so badly, humiliated you and you didn't deserve any of it."

"It's stupid how I didn't even let you explain all this time. When I learnt everything from Evan and Ryan, I didn't even know what I was supposed to feel or say." Evan told me that Victoria had become silent after everything was set in front of her eyes, so silent that she had walked away to her room. While Evan was confused whether he could make her see the truth, I could guess that it was probably a lot for her to take in at once.

"You were trying to protect Evan. You saw him pass through a painful phase of his life when you saw the source of his hurt creep back into his life. Your instinct was to uproot it and I get it." She raised her head and stared at my face like she didn't believe me, at all.

"Trust me I do. I am only in my first trimester and I already feel so protective of this little life inside me. I can only guess what you must have felt after seeing Evan in that state after our breakup." I had a lot of time to think about everything over and over again. I didn't know what I would have done had I been in her place but I knew that I couldn't fully blame her for what all she had said.

"Your baby—I am still facing you after—I–I am ashamed of what I had said earlier." She stammered as her eyes moistened. I sighed before taking a step forward. I wasn't sure what the parameter was but I took the risk and placed a gentle hand on her arm.

"Victoria." She lightly bit her lip and looked up at me. At that moment I saw the glimpse of that woman who once used to love me. She didn't have a hard gaze on me and I could relate to the kind eyes that had always looked at me with affection.

"What's done is done. Let's put it behind us and start over." By the way she was trying to measure my expression, I knew that she was finding it hard to believe my words but the truth was I really wanted to start afresh. I could feel the guilt in her voice, her face and she came here to apologize. Wasn't that enough?

"I want my child to have her family, not just her parents. For that to happen, we have to move past the bitter memories." She teared up at my words and I felt like she was contemplating a hug but then settled on squeezing my hands gently.

"Thank you."

………………….

When I walked into Evan's cabin, he was pacing to and fro. On hearing the door open, he stopped and took a tentative step towards me.

"What did she say?" By the way he blurted it out, it seemed like he had been waiting to ask that. I walked over to the couch and plopped myself down.

"Well?" He asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

"She came to apologize." He stared at my face for a few long seconds. My eyes followed the movement of his hand and landed on his jaw as he rubbed the skin there.

"Apologize?" He sounded half convinced, though there was a hint of hope in his tone like he wanted it to be true.

"Yes." I answered before beckoning him to come over. He came and sat himself down beside me while I wrapped my arms around his waist, putting my head on his chest. These days, even the littlest things really wearied me off. He threaded his hand through my hair and I leaned more into him, basking in the comfort.

"What did you say to her?"

"I suggested we should forget everything and start over." I waited for him to say something but he didn't. So, I looked up to see him in deep thought.

"What?" He looked at me with a strange look before voicing what he had on his mind.

"Have you really forgiven her?" He looked between my eyes, trying to figure out my actual thoughts while I nodded to his question.

"You have to as well." At this a soft smile fell on his lips. He entwined our hands before kissing the back of my palm.

"I always knew you were special." He smiled tenderly at me and it really did something to my heart but before I could get all mushy my stomach let out a small growl.

"And right now, I'm extremely hungry too." He chuckled and kissed my pout before standing up.

"Where do you wanna go?" He offered me a hand to get up.