AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s perfectly fine, but for now let’s look at some of your options for fixing this situation, okay? It’s going to be okay.”
She nodded. “What were you thinking?”
“Well, first let’s think about the biggest issue, the pregnancy. You haven’t been pregnant for very long, so an abortion is still an option, and no one would blame you if that was something you wanted to do.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want to. I don’t think I could live with that, knowing I might have had a child and then giving it up in that way.”
“Okay, you probably don’t want to give it up for adoption either then.”
She shook her head. “I know it sounds crazy, especially given my situation, but I’d rather have the baby.”
“That’s fine, we can work with that. All right, next thing is your mother, and breaking the news to her.”
“She’ll kick me out,” Bernadette said with another sob. “She’ll be so disappointed in me; I can’t bear that.”
“Well, maybe if you moved out first? Or softened the blow with some things that she might be proud of? I’m sure she’ll come around, Bella. She loves you after all.”
“I know I just…” She looked down at her hands. “I don’t know if I could handle her disappointment.”
“Then maybe we redirect her anger somewhere else? I could say that the baby is mine so she’s mad at me and not at you.”
Bernadette shook her head. “No, I don’t want her to think any worse of you. She already doesn’t like you, and it may not even work. It’s not worth the risk.”
I took a deep breath, feeling my hands shake as I thought about what I was about to say. “All right then, I have one final idea for you.”
3
Bernadette
I leaned forward expectantly. “What is it?”
“If you think your mother will be most concerned that you are having a child on your own, and out of wedlock, then the two of us could get married, so that wouldn’t be an issue anymore.”
“I—” I couldn’t. Maybe if things had been different, I could have said yes, and maybe in that world, it would have helped, or at least made my mom see things a bit clearer.
But in this situation I couldn’t, for I held a secret, bigger than the one that was growing in my womb.
For a while now, I’d had a crush on Lucas, and I feared that if I entered into that kind of a situation with him knowing that he didn’t feel the same way and that he was only doing it to help me out, it would be too much for me to bear.
It would kill me inside. It would be so devastating I couldn’t even think about it without feeling like I was going to burst into tears again.
“I can’t do that,” I said, wondering if he was going to question it, if he would read into my reaction and realize the truth, the reason why that would never work for me.
“Okay,” was all he said. “You don’t have to then; it was just a suggestion.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it almost looked as if he was disappointed.
“You don’t have to go home tonight, you know,” he said. “I can make the two of us dinner, and I have a guest room where you can stay. I even have an extra toothbrush I could open for you.”
My heart twanged at the thought of who that toothbrush might be meant for. I would have to get over him eventually; of course, he would be seeing people. It wasn’t like I had ever expressed interest, and he hadn’t either. So why did it hurt so bad when I thought of him with someone else?
I didn’t want to imagine someone else in his arms, in his bed, eating the food that he prepared with his hands. It was too much.
“No, I should go,” I said. I didn’t want to use a toothbrush that was meant for someone else, and my mom would freak if I didn’t come home for the night. “You know how my mom is.”
“I mean, I do, but that doesn’t mean you have to go home right now. It’s obvious that this is hurting you, and it’s okay to put yourself first in this situation.”
“I just don’t want her to be suspicious. Not when I’m hiding something this big.”
