PREGNANT AFTER ONE NIGHT STAND

I don’t know how long I’ve been in this place. What I do know is that my eyes are treated to an incredibly beautiful sight. A garden surrounded by fragrant flowers. I remember that the scent of flowers used to make me feel nauseous. Not this time. Everything makes me feel comfortable, including the atmosphere.

There, I sit on one of the wooden benches. Next to me, a chubby-cheeked little boy sits while munching on popcorn. He says it’s made by his dad and that I can have as much as I want. I chuckle at his innocence. The girl next to him is so pretty. I fell in love with her the moment she looked at me. In the depth of her eyes, I felt neither strange nor lonely, unlike how I’ve been feeling lately.

She said seriously, “Mama, I’m going to be your number one best friend.”

When she said that, I blinked. She called me Mama. What does that mean? Is she my child? I reach out my hand, wanting to touch her cheek. But she refuses, saying, “Wait, not yet.” She only allows me to touch the tip of her fingers. Her smile has captured my heart. I’m convinced, she’s my child.

But wait, why is Baby all grown up now? When did I raise her? All I remember…

I open my eyes wide. If it weren’t for the sudden dizziness, I might have stood up.

“Joice? Are you awake?”

Cedric is there, looking at me with concern and worry. He repeatedly kisses the back of my hand. “I’ll call the doctor, just wait.”

Before Cedric can stand up completely, I stop him. “My Baby, Cedric?”

He gives me a small smile. “It’s okay. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“It’s not okay. Tell me!” I know that this ‘it’s okay’ probably means something good. Right? Cedric is too mysterious with his smile. If it weren’t for the IV line that is now reversing the blood flow, I would have scratched him. Just so he knows what I’m going through! I don’t care about any other pain that suddenly strikes me. The only thing I care about is the existence of my child.

“Cedric?”

“It’s okay, Joice. I’m serious.” His large fingers guide mine towards my pregnant belly.

“The nickname is Baby,” I say hurriedly. As usual, this man just smiles.

“Okay.” Then he proceeds to place my hand on my protruding belly. “Inside there, Baby is growing well. Everything is developing perfectly, Joice.”

It’s like being splashed with cool, refreshing water. I feel relieved to hear that.

“I’ll call the doctor right away, okay?”

All I could do was nod. Once again, I found myself lying in the hospital bed feeling so weak.

It didn’t take long for the doctor who usually examines my pregnancy to come into the room. He told us this and that, also about the condition of the baby in my belly. He suggested that I take complete rest. A week should be enough, but Cedric disagreed and didn’t want to rush to go home.

I didn’t argue much in the end. Even though I wanted to be cared for at home, the doctor said that routine check-ups were still needed, just to make sure I was really resting. So, there was nothing I could do but comply.

The doctor reassured me with full confidence that the fetus I was carrying was perfectly fine. He answered all my worries with a smile that brought great relief to me. He said I was tired again, as if he didn’t realize that I was pregnant. I wanted to argue, but well… I must admit, I have been careless.

After the doctor’s visit, Cedric spoon-fed me with a little force, urging me to eat the available food. Well, I didn’t really have to. I just pretended so that Cedric wouldn’t ignore me like he did yesterday, the day before yesterday, the day before that, basically, for the past few days! I won’t stand for it!

***

“What are you feeling now?”

I stopped chewing slowly. Cedric was peeling an apple for me as an afternoon snack. Since a while ago, he hasn’t been talking much, but his attention to me clearly hasn’t decreased even a bit. I noticed that Cedric looked more tired; his eye bags were darker than usual, the corners of his eyes were slightly reddish, and his appearance was more unkempt than I’ve known him, who is usually neat.

What’s going on?

“Nothing,” I answered softly.

“Why do you get so tired?”

I don’t know why, but because of the regretful tone in his voice, I suddenly felt sad. My heart, which has been quite sentimental during this pregnancy, became even more so. I couldn’t answer anything, just sobbed softly.

“Why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Cedric asked, while gently stroking my disheveled hair.

Instead of calming down, my sobs just grew louder. I covered my face with both hands, but Cedric held them back. He cupped my tear-streaked face, staring at me so intensely, even though my vision was slightly blurred, I could still meet his gaze.

His dark eyes didn’t show disappointment like I saw earlier. Instead, a sense of regret was clearly imprinted in Cedric’s gaze, for some reason.

“I’m sorry. Today…” I couldn’t even sniff away my runny nose. So, I was like a child trying to pull the mucus away with great effort, making an ugly sound in front of Cedric. I lost track of where my embarrassment had gone. “Today has just been so busy. It’s usually not like this, you know.”

And thus unfolded the story of the entire Friday. Including me, who was slightly pushed due to the heavy files I brought from the finance division. I myself was puzzled, why did I have to tell Cedric such a detailed account like a report? It all seemed to flow out on its own.This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

“If it’s really heavy, why didn’t you ask for Jack’s help?”

“I did ask for help, but he’s currently delivering files for Mrs. Krystal. He said it’s urgent.”

Cedric still kept his gaze on me. “Next time, don’t do something like that again, okay? You’re already tired from work, and then you had to lift something quite heavy. That’s why it happened like this.”

I felt so regretful for doing that! Really, Cedric’s words struck a nerve. Once again, tears welled up in my eyes.

“I should be the one to blame, Anya.”

I furrowed my brow.

“If I had been by your side, I’m sure this incident could have been minimized.”

“Yes! Exactly!” I removed Cedric’s hand from my face. “Where were you? Don’t you care about me anymore? What should I believe from you when suddenly I’m ignored? You’re the one who said you loved me, but where is it now? Lies!” I quickly wiped away the remaining tears.

I was reminded of all the things that drove me half-crazy this past week.

What I couldn’t understand was that Cedric actually chuckled. “Oh, you weren’t busy spending time with your boyfriend?”

Since I didn’t have my full strength, I slapped him with about 50% of my normal strength. “Don’t make baseless accusations! If you don’t know the whole story, don’t speak without thinking! I tried to explain everything to you. You ignored all my calls, texts, and messages, everything! I know I made a mistake going out with Henry, but that doesn’t mean you should assume I was having a great time with him! I’m not-”

I didn’t finish my sentence, Cedric!!!

He was busy kissing me without pause. I didn’t even get a chance to catch my breath! But truly, that’s all I felt when his lips touched my pale and dry ones. Everything stirred up perfectly, as if it was asking for an opportunity to be expressed.

Through this kiss, I realized one thing. I missed Cedric terribly.

“Oh my goodness!!! This is a hospital room!!! Why did it turn into a kissing session like this!!!”

***