The next morning I woke up tired. This was going to be a long 40 weeks. I picked up the phone and was pleased to find a text from Greg.
"Good morning beautiful. I am so sorry about the other day. I spoke to Natalia and made it 100 percent clear that I didn't want anything more than friendship and that we were definitely not together anymore. I told you that I would take care of this and you. Text me when you wake up-Greg"
I couldn't help it but waking up to that text gave me new hope of what life could be like. My child was going to have his mother and father in his or her life. I felt like the stress was finally easing up and I could enjoy being pregnant and maybe even manage to muster up the courage to tell my mother. I figured I would start by letting her meet my baby daddy before I dropped the baby bomb on her. I knew she was going to be disappointed but maybe it would lighten the blow once she met Greg and saw how sweet and handsome he was. I text Greg back asking him to meet me and my mom for dinner on Friday and I got up for my daily run.
It felt so good to get back to running. The cool salty breeze caressed my face as my curly ponytail swished from side to side behind me the sound lulling me into a trance. If only I wasn't so caught up in my own thoughts I might have noticed Natalia running in pace behind me. She followed me home and watched as I went inside. As I got ready to shower I opened my computer and decided to check my social media. New friend request from Destiny Woodward. Hmmm.... I didn't know a Destiny Woodward. I clicked on the profile. No mutual friends, and from Santa Monica. It didn't look like a legitimate account. Probably just some spammer or troll. I deleted the request and got in the shower.
***
Around the corner Natalia sat in a coffee shop scrolling through Greg's profile. Not one single picture of us. It was like I never existed. After seeing the huge effort Greg made to deter women with his profile no wonder this chick thought he was single. Even still Greg was a good guy and she could trust him. She clicked back to Jasmine's profile. Her friend request was still pending. Most of her profile was private and was she could see was not that interesting. She was wearing scrubs in her profile picture so obviously worked in healthcare. I had contacts at the hospital from knowing Greg. Perhaps I could press them to see what they knew about her. She was very beautiful and was his "type". Greg did have a type. He liked short girls with long curly hair that looked "exotic". I don't know how we ever made it this long. I was clearly black. I had done my best to keep myself up and did have an amazing body thanks to yoga but my facial features and hair although nice still had the characteristics of a black girl. I was confident in my own traits and abilities but there is something about knowing you don't quite align with the preferences of someone you love that can make you insecure.
Greg and I were friends long before we were ever anything else and he wouldn't risk that for something superficial. I had to know what was going on. Until I had concrete evidence, she was just a friend like he said. I wanted to believe that but something just didn't sit right with me. It was in that moment that I had a idea.
One thing I love about Greg is how predictable he was. That is why none of this made sense. Poor guy didn't take change very well and a lot had changed between them these last couple of months, but luckily his password had NOT! Ah ha, now I can see exactly who miss Jasmine Mariano is. I clicked through his friends and found Jasmine. She did work at the hospital. It looks like she is a nurse. No pictures or daunting evidence of them being together so that was reassuring. A glance through her pictures and it became very clear that she was a mamas girl. No daddy pics though. Clearly she must have daddy issues. She did like to show off her body. I guess all that running isn't just for show. It was clear what Greg saw in her but she wasn't all beauty. She was also smart. She was funny. She had friends. You could tell that from the comments on her post that people liked her. One comment stood out and put a lump in my throat. It was from Greg on a photo from 6 weeks ago.
Greg wasn't flashy. He didn't do romance unless it was for a clear reason. Valentine's day or a birthday, but not hey it's Tuesday emoji heart eyes.
I clicked through his messages and found the heartbreak I was looking for. I read messages between them. He had been talking to her for months. There is something especially devastating about reading how someone feels about you when they think you don't know. He told her things about me, private things. He told her about our baby. I couldn't believe what I was reading. The man I thought I knew for 6 years was chatting casually with another woman about how he didn't want me. He only stayed with me for the baby. He was relieved. That is what he told me from his own mouth. He was relieved when I lost our baby. He didn't really want it. He didn't really want me. He wanted her. Oh my God all this time he wanted her.
All of a sudden I was sweaty and nauseated. Maybe it was the coffee or my heart breaking into a thousand pieces. I tossed money for my coffee on the table and ran to my car. I turned the a/c on full blast and placed my head on the steering wheel. When I could no longer contain myself I let out a cry that came from deep in my soul. I felt my heart quivering inside my body as the tears burned my face. When the tears stopped I sat in the car weak. I used the last bit of my energy to force myself to make the 37 minute drive back to my house. I stood listless in the shower and let the hot water beat on my body and wash the sadness of the days news away. As I dried my hair and wrapped my body I remembered something that I wished I hadn't. When I ran into them the other day they were at the obstetrician. She was pregnant.
That bitch was pregnant. It all made sense. She was pregnant and that is why he is cutting me off. Just like he did her when I was pregnant. That would mean that he cheated on me and they were sleeping together all along. She knew about me. She knew about me and she slept with my man. Now, she was pregnant. She probably set this whole thing up. She saw we were having problems and swooped in. She played coy like she wasn't a homewrecker and didn't want to interfere but the whole time she was plotting.
Only her plan got messed up when I got pregnant. He left her and came back to me his real family. Then when I lost the baby she made sure that she would get to keep him and she trapped him. She got pregnant on purpose and with me not being pregnant anymore he had no reason to stay with me and went to her because he wanted to do the right thing. It wasn't love. Greg was just being a good guy and he got caught up. I bet if she hadn't gotten pregnant that we could have worked things out. Nobody just leaves after 6 years of being in love. He made a mistake and now he was trying to fix it by being there for his child. He was so sweet and naive. He fell right into her trap but no worries. I will free you.