“You know pregnancy is not what I thought it would be, little thing. I don’t know if you’re a boy or a girl, or maybe both. You could be a boy and girl twins, or boy twins, or girl twins, and even though I’m all alone I’m now rambling at my stomach. You’re going to get bored of me.” She sighed, and poured her tea before lightly buttering her toast. “I always wanted to have kids. Growing up I wanted a big family. I don’t have any brothers or sisters, and I’ve not been close to my family. This is the first time I’ve been back home, and no one is here, and I am talking to myself. I don’t even think you’ve grown out of being a little ball of cells. I wasn’t great at biology, and I didn’t really tune in. As your father said, I guess I’m stupid. Wow, Rex is your dad. That is … surreal.” She drank her lemon tea, and ate her toast before cleaning away the dishes. “I’m pregnant, and I’m all alone.” She burst out laughing. “I got knocked up by a guy I hate, and yet I fell in love with him. What the hell does that say about me?”
She walked through the house, talking to her stomach, trying to reason in her own head that she was going to have a baby. It was really happening. She was pregnant, and there was going to be a baby.
After an hour of walking around, she sat down in her father’s favorite rocking chair, her hands on her stomach. Her thoughts drifted toward Rex.
He would have a part in their baby’s upbringing. There was no doubt about it. She wouldn’t be able to do this all alone. She wondered what it would be like to have to share a child with him, if he even let her raise him. Rex had the money, the power, and the resources to take her child away from her.
You’re thinking the worst.
She had seen him in action. Rex was lethal.
You still fell for him.
She didn’t fall in love with the bully. She’d fallen in love with the man. The man that had rocked her world, and left her pregnant.
Her cell phone rang, and she picked it up when she saw it was Frank.
“Hey,” she said.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. I’m tired. I’m really sorry to have been a disappointment to you. I know you wanted me to stop Rex for making mistakes. I can’t believe I became one of them.” Tears started to fall, but she didn’t let him hear her sobs. She did her best to hide them.
“I’m not disappointed, Nora. I’m worried. You ran out of here so fast. You’re pregnant, and no matter what, you have a job here. I know you’re probably thinking that you can go to any of those other companies, and you can. They’d snatch you up in a heartbeat, but you’ve got to think long term. They may not want a woman who is pregnant. Your job, if you still want it, will be here.”
“I can’t work for him.”
“Have you talked to him?” he asked.
She shook her head, covering her eyes. “No.”
“He’s beside himself. He can’t find you. Where are you?”
“Promise not to tell him?”
“I promise.”
“I’m at my parents’ house.”
“You’re all alone?” he asked.
“It’s what I want. I need time to think.”
“You’ll always be accepted here, Nora. You’re an asset to the company, and everyone likes you. You can have proper maternity leave, and we’ll help find a daycare for your child. We will take care of you.”
She knew it was true. Other companies would still employ her, but she would be in that early stage, which meant they could fire her. She didn’t know how her pregnancy was going to go. She could end up being ill with it. Some women ended up bed bound during their pregnancy, and she couldn’t do that. She’d have to come home, and she didn’t want that.
“Please know that it is an option for you.”
“Thank you, Frank, you’ve always been so good to me.”
“I’ll continue to be so. Call me if you need anything.” He ended the call, and she dropped her cell phone as tears began to fall.
Stupid hormones.
Stupid pregnancy.
Stupid men.
Stupid fucking asshole bosses.
****
“How is she? Is she okay?” Rex tried not to sound impatient as he listened to Frank talk to Nora. She wasn’t answering any of his calls or texts. He didn’t even know if she was listening to his messages. He had poured his heart out in those calls, and it hurt to know that she may not care at all.