Isabella's POV

Before I can let out the tears threatening to fall down my eyes, the doorbell rings and my eyes fly to the door which Jayden took out a few minutes ago.

I can't believe I actually stood up to him that way. I said I wasn't going to ever cry because of him but here I am on the verge of crying again.

Why does it feel like everyone is up against me and in support of him? Is it because he was traumatized by the experience of the accident?

I was traumatized too and I got out of it alone, without anyone's help. Why should it be so difficult for him?

The doorbell rings again and I stalk towards the door, throw it open, about to shout at him in anger not to ever come here again when I see a familiar face I haven't seen in months.

Jude.

"Jude?" I can't hide my surprise. When his gaze falls on my belly, he smiles.

"Good day, ma'am", he bows slightly in greeting, stretching some things to me.

I take them without hesitation. It's a white box, a bonquest, and a package.

I don't need a soothsayer to tell me who this is for and from who. It must be Jayden's handwork.

"Is everything ok?" He asks me, pulling me out of my thought. I force out a smile and nod. "Are you sure? The boss won't let me drive him home. He wants to walk home."

If it was the former Isabella, I would have exclaimed at such a ridiculous idea. I am tempted to exclaim but I shouldn't care, right?

Ignoring his comment, I smile at him again. "Thank you for the gift."

Before I can close the door, I hear him say in a loud voice. "It's not from me, it is from the boss."

The closing of the door drowns the rest of his statement. Curiosity takes over the tears in my eyes as I settle back on the sofa to check out what he got for me.

In Paris, he got similar flowers and wine which I haven't taken and I wonder what it is this time.

I drop the box and the flowers on the other couch to check out the package first. I open it to see a bag filled with romance novels.

I bring them out one after the other and they are the newly published New York times best sellers' books.

I arrange the books one after the other so I can count them and I counted up to 10.

Ten romance books should last me for the rest of the month. I haven't had time to get new books since I arrived in America and I am still making do with the ones I purchased in Paris.

Before I can take a hold of the box so I can peel off the string around it, my phone rings, and I grab it from the sofa handle.

It is a strange number and I hesitate for a while, thinking of who it could be before picking it up.

"Hello", a voice says, sounding familiar but I can't place where I know the voice from. "Hello, Isabella, are you there?"

Then it clicks. In my head.

Mrs. Russell.

"I know you are there. I stole your number from Jayden's phone. He wouldn't give it to me willingly and he still won't give me your Grandma's home address", she falls silent, probably expecting me to say something. "I heard about everything that happened and also about our grandchild who is on his way. I'm happy, Isabella. I'm excited about it and I wish I can see you so we can go shopping for the baby's things together and…"

"Mrs. Russell…" I trail off, cutting her off.

I want to be rude to her for what she did to me but I find it very difficult to do that. She told me to my face that I can never carry Jayden's babies and he would never want to have babies with me and now she is telling me about how excited she is about the baby.

That's absurd and selfish.

"I know I offended you, Isabella but please find a place in your heart to forgive me. I'm so sorry for all I did. I was just trying to make sure that my son is in safe hands and he won't go back to that man I could barely recognize two years ago. I didn't want him to be heartbroken which was why I was on the lookout for him. I'm truly sorry, Isabella. Please find a place in your heart to forgive me."

Silence falls again as I suck in my breath, making an effort to control my nerves and maintain my cool and not shout at her to f**k off.

"I asked Jayden to invite you over for a family dinner months back but he said you were busy but I knew he was lying. I found out about everything from Gabriel and I'm truly sorry for all of it…"

I can no longer take it so I disconnect the call, put off my phone, and throw the phone across the room.

I am tired.

Can they just leave me alone?

I facepalm myself, my emotions uprising again and my chest heaving up and down in anger and frustration.

This was why I left. This was the reason why I ran away. I want to be alone. I want no one's pity. I don't want anyone to convince me to do what I don't want to do.

I sincerely want to be left alone till the baby is here. I just want to see my baby and hold him in my arms to be rest assured that I didn't lose him.

Giving up on going out for a walk, I lean backward with a sigh. Then my mind goes back to the gifts.

The books, flowers and the box. Instantly, I grab the box and begin to open it up, peeling off the rope around it slowly.

When it is off, I open the cover and it reveals something strange. There is a small piece of paper on the clothes. They actually look like clothes.

Whose clothes?

I hang up my curiosity and pick up the note instead.

It reads. "I was an asshole. I still am."

Jayden.

I drop the note and pick up the first clothes, raising them to realize it is for the baby. It is a little black jacket which looks just like Jayden's but the only difference is the size.

I gasp.

How did he know the baby is going to be a boy? I haven't even told Grandma yet.

Except for Sabrina. Did Sabrina tell him I'm expecting a boy and I also plan to name him Aidan?

Slowly, getting overwhelmed, I drop the jacket and pick up the next thing. It is a baby's pajama. A little cute one that has a smiley baby face on it. A sob with a mixture of gasp leaves my mouth again.

I clamp my right hand over my mouth for a second to suck everything in.

I shouldn't cry.

This is what I am saying to myself but my emotions are not around to listen to what my head is saying.

A tear rolls down my eyes unconsciously and then another and another.

I wipe them off as they keep rolling, determined not to cry. I drop the jacket too and pick up the next thing in the box. It is a toy.

A toy car.

Then the last thing is another note.

"I kept all of these for my baby. It takes a whole lot of courage to go back to that room that I have locked up for years to bring this out."

"I used to think I have lost my first fruit or probably the only fruit I am meant to have since I wanted to be celibate for life but I am wrong."

"This baby inside of you, Isabella is my first fruit and there will be more to come. I never thought I would get over Helena completely until today. I went into that room where Jason's crib was kept because I destroyed it. I touched it. The last time I touched it, I did that with anger but today, I did that with tears and smiles."

"What does that mean? It means I am healed. That emptiness has been filled. That joy has been replaced with the bundle inside of you."

"Believe it or not, I love you and I love our baby already. Let's name him Jason, my first fruit."

My hands squeeze the note into a crumble as my chest tightens and I let out a piercing scream before bursting into tears.

Tears of mixed feeling.

****

I guess we will stop here for today.

💓