My mother didn’t say much as she drove me home after dinner. I was terrified to speak. When we pulled into the driveway she broke the silence.
“So, I know Mother’s day is Sunday. Was this supposed to be my present? Too bad he ruined the surprise.”
“Mom, this is not how I wanted you to find out. I know you are disappointed that I’m not married and having a baby. I just wanted you to meet him and get to know him before you passed too much judgement. I wanted him to have a real shot at gaining your approval.”
“I see. How long have you known?”
“I’m almost 12 weeks.”
“You know Jasmine. No matter what you do even if you think that I won’t approve you can always come to me.”
“I know ma. I just didn’t know how to tell you. I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry? For what? Jasmine you are an adult. I raised you to be a strong, independent woman, and to love God. We all make mistakes but everything God does is good. Even this is good. Children are a blessing.”
“Oh mama,” I said as I reached across the console to hug her. “Thank you!” I pulled out the ultrasound from my last appointment to show her.
“So this is my grand baby huh? What am I looking at? Do you know the sex?”
“No, we find out in a couple of weeks.”
“Great, you will move in with me. I can help you pack your things.”
“What? No, that isn’t necessary. I’m fine. I’m not having morning sickness anymore. I’m eating.” She just stared at me and I knew I wouldn’t win.
“Yes, ma’am”
***
Greg drove 20 minutes to the hospital. He was called by a friend of Natalia who told him that she had been in a terrible accident. He pulled into the physicians parking and was almost to the ER door when he heard his name.
“Greg!” He turned around to see Natalia walking towards him.
“Natalia? Natalia what is going on? Erica called me and said that you were in an accident and were hurt”
“Well, technically I’m hurt but not physically. I met your girlfriend today. We ran into each other at the mall. She told me that she was pregnant and that it’s yours. All this time while I was grieving over the loss of OUR child you were cheating and got her pregnant. Why? What did I do to deserve this?”
“Natalia, slow down. You saw Jasmine in the mall?”
“Yes, Greg I saw Jasmine in the mall and she told me everything so again I will ask you why?”
“Natalia, I never meant to hurt you. I never meant for any of this to happen. In fact, I didn’t tell you because I was trying to protect you. Things haven’t been the same between us for a while now at least for me. Sometime ago I stopped loving you like a boyfriend loves his girlfriend and only saw you as a friend. You are my best friend Nat. You have done so much for me and I felt like I owed it to you to try but then I met Jasmine and I knew that I couldn’t go back. When you got pregnant I wanted to do the right thing and give our child a family like I had growing up. Then you lost the bab….”
“OUR baby, I lost OUR baby.”
“I’m sorry. You are right. Then when we lost the baby I didn’t think it was the right time to leave you knowing everything that you were going through. I hoped that after some time had passed that I could talk to you about ending things. I did not handle things well and I should have told you sooner.”
“But you did cheat?”
“Technically, yes I did. I convinced Jasmine to give me some time to let things settle down before I broke up with you.”
“And you slept with her?”
“……..yes. I slept with her.”
“So the baby really is yours?”
“Yes.”
Tears began to stream down her face as the love of her life ripped her heart apart with the truth of his betrayal and the end of their love.
“How far along is she?”
“I really don’t think knowing all of this is going to help anything Nat.”
“How….far….along? You cheated and I think I deserve to know the truth.”
“I don’t know Natalia 11 maybe 12 weeks.” She was silent for a very long time before she spoke again.
“So you have been sleeping with her ever since I lost our child.”
“We only slept together once. It was that night that you came over when you were upset about the baby.”
“She was there? Now it all makes sense. No wonder you were acting so weird. I knew it was something but you just looked me in my face and lied. I don’t even know who you are anymore. If you only slept with her once how do you know it’s yours?”
“It’s mine Nat.”
“Why? Because desperate house hoe says it’s yours? You are a good looking wealthy doctor. Women have tricked men for a lot less.”
“Why would she do that? After what I did having you at the house and essentially kicking her out, she didn’t even want to talk to me. I had to beg her to give me another chance. I don’t think she is trying to trick me.”
“Of course you wouldn’t. You are so naïve when it comes to stuff like this. You don’t know women. I know how women are and I would get a DNA test before I invested any more time in this. If she wasn’t pregnant would you have tried to work things out between us?”
“I don’t know Natalia but I don’t think so. I mean, I will always love you but the feelings I once had just aren’t there anymore.”
“Are you going to marry her?”
“I don’t know Natalia. My only focus right now is on my child. I want to be a good father and be there for Jasmine.”
“So this is really it? Just leave me after all this time like I didn’t matter and move on and have a family with that slut?”
“She isn’t a slut.”
“She knew we were together and she was screwing you anyway she is whatever I call her so don’t you dare defend her to me.”
“Ok, Nat. Listen I know you are upset do you want me to give you a ride home?”
“No, I will find my own way. Don’t do me any favors,” she said as she walked away.
Greg walked back into his car drained from his conversation with Natalia. He hated hurting her that way but he had to end it once and for all so that he could move forward with Jasmine. As he drove towards his home the conversation replayed in his head and he began to get angry. Why would Jasmine tell her about the baby? He didn’t peg her as the messy type. She is barely showing so it’s not like there was anything to explain. Obviously she would have found out about it sooner or later but using it to hurt Natalia is what pushed her to concoct this whole mess.
He didn’t want to stress her out but she didn’t have to go throwing in her face knowing what she had just been through. By the time he got home he was fuming. What if Natalia was right? What if the baby wasn’t his and it was all some big elaborate scheme to get Natalia out of the picture. She knew that he was staying so close to her because she had recently lost his child. Maybe she said it was his to get her out of the picture for good because she knew that he wanted his child to have two parents ,and I would leave Natalia for good like I did her when Natalia was pregnant. He didn’t think that Jasmine would do that but he also didn’t think she was the type to be malicious either. Greg text Jasmine telling he had run into Natalia and she had told him about their altercation in the mall. He left out the part about her being the reason he had left dinner early. Before he knew it emotion had gotten the best of him and he asked her for a DNA test to make sure he was really the father before he got involved any further.
Jasmine was busy packing things as her mother gave her instructions on what she would need to bring to her house. Her phone was beeping constantly for minutes. She stopped and saw she had 7 text messages from Greg. She opened the messages and saw Natalia’s name and knew what had happened. She must have gotten to him and told him about their “talk” in the mall. She grabbed her phone and took it to the restroom. As she read the messages she became infuriated at the allegations he made against her calling her messy and claiming that the child may not be his and demanding a DNA test. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart or let her emotions get the best of her. Especially with her mother around. That wench. She knew she would spin things around to make her seem like the bad guy. That didn’t excuse him of all the horrible things he insinuated about her. She wouldn’t respond. She would move her things, sleep, and respond in the morning when her head was clear. She took a few minutes to gather her emotions before she went back outside. As she was about to leave the bathroom she had a sharp pain in her abdomen. She grabbed her belly and let out a slight yelp that brought her mother to the bathroom.
“Jas, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing, mom I just had a pa…aaaaaaah.” There the pain was again.
“That’s it we are going to the hospital.”
“No, mom I’m fine. I have just been on my feet too long. I just need to sit down.”
“No Jas, you are bleeding.”
As the words came from her mother’s mouth she looked down to see the slight trickle of blood running down her leg.
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