Chapter
11
Minutes
later, Tara sat sobbing in the rocking chair, cradling her precious baby
daughter, the daughter who she had given a fatal disease to.
“Oh,
AJ, what are we gonna do?” she sobbed.
“Our entire freaking family is HIV positive!”
AJ
came up behind her and rubbed her neck, trying to soothe her. “It’s ok, Tar, we’re going to get through
this, okay? Maddie’s young. Maybe by the time she gets older, there’ll be
a cure, and she’ll be fine.”
“AJ,
I’m so sorry,” Tara sobbed.
“What? What are you sorry for?” AJ asked.
“I’m
the one who gave both you and our daughter HIV!” Tara cried. “I’m a horrible person!”
AJ
felt terrible for Tara. He didn’t blame
her for giving him HIV. He knew she
didn’t know she had the disease when they had had sex that night. He shouldn’t have been at that club that
night anyway. “Tara, it’s my fault
too. I’m the one who brought you home
from that club that night. We both had
sex with each other. It’s not anymore
your fault than it is mine,” AJ reasoned.
Tara
shook her head. “But still, AJ, my
irresponsibility has ruined your life and Maddie’s!”
AJ
shook his head fiercely. “Tara, no! It’s just as much my fault as yours. And our lives aren’t ruined! I still plan on touring and doing everything
I used to do. And Maddie’s going to have
a normal life too. She’ll be just like
any other child.” Tara shook her head
and cried harder. AJ rubbed her back
soothingly. “Tar, listen to me, Madison
is going to be fine. We’re all going to
be fine. There will be a cure soon, and
then we’ll all be okay.” Tara rolled her
eyes.
“You’re
too optimistic, Aje,” she said.
“We
have to be optimistic, Tara,” he replied firmly. “You can’t live the rest of your life feeling
like all of this is your fault and that we are all going to die. You have to think positively. It helps.”
Tara stopped crying and smiled up at him.
“AJ?”
she asked.
“What?”
“I
just remembered something,” Tara started.
“At the hospital, when you brought me in, did you mean what you said to
those doctors?”
“Huh?”
AJ asked, confused.
“You
said, ‘My girlfriend’s in labor’,” Tara said, smiling. AJ blushed.
“Oh,
you mean that,” he said casually.
“Yeah,
that,” Tara replied. “Did you mean it?”
“Well,
I… uh… I guess so, I mean…. do you want to… uh…” AJ stammered, his face
red. He usually was not so tongue tied
around girls, but maybe Tara was different.
“Aje,
are you asking me to be your girlfriend?” Tara asked, raising an eyebrow at
him.
“Well,
I… uh… I think it would be better for Maddie if you were,” he said finally.
“Oh,
well in that case, I guess I better be your girlfriend then. If that’s what’s best for Maddie,” Tara said,
grinning at AJ. He grinned sheepishly
back and kissed her on the cheek.
“Well,
if you’re my girlfriend, I say we go on a date,” AJ said.
“A
date? What about Madison?” Tara asked.
“I
can get one of the guys to watch her,” AJ said.
“Not
Nick,” Tara said immediately. AJ
chuckled.
“Why
not, Nick has four younger siblings. I’m
sure he knows how to take care of a baby,” he chuckled. Tara rolled her eyes.
“I
don’t think I trust Nick to take care of our
baby,” she said.
“Fine,
then who should we ask?” AJ asked.
“I
wish Brian still lived in Florida instead of Georgia. I think he’d be great with Maddie,” Tara
said.
“What
about Kevin?” AJ suggested. “I’m sure he
would be too.”
“Ok,
sounds good,” Tara said. “I’m taking her
upstairs. She’s sound asleep.”
AJ
looked down at his daughter, sleeping peacefully in her mother’s arms. “Ok,” he said. “I’ll go call Kev now then. What time will you be ready to go out?”
Tara
glanced at the clock. It was almost
4:30. “How about 5:30?” she asked.
“Ok. I’ll tell Kev to come over about 5:15 so we
can show him everything,” AJ said.
“Ok,
sounds good,” Tara replied and carried Madison upstairs to the nursery.
***
