Katherine's POV
I headed out of the hospital like a living corpse. I didn't know how the walk home was but since I hadn't gotten hit by a car yet, I was convinced I was making my way home the right way. If only a car could hit me and end this misery.
No. I shouldn't think like that.
I shook my head as if that would help the thoughts to stop swirling in my head. I had a baby growing in my belly and shouldn't think of death. I didn't know how I knew that but I knew that bad thoughts are not healthy for the formation of a baby.
A baby!
My mind kept echoing the words and it felt like that was the wake up call I needed. I stopped in my tracks, held my head and screamed as loud as I could.
"Oh no!" I groaned. "A baby."
It felt unreal but I knew the doctor couldn't have lied to me.
Some of the pedestrians ran away from me, scooting over to the next lane as if I was crazy and didn't want to get infected by the bug that made me go gaga.
I sighed as I watched their reactions. I didn't blame them. I might have reacted the same way if I had seen a lady screaming like a banshee on the road.
I felt like telling them that I wasn't crazy but decided against it. I was perfectly normal in the head but wasn't sure I wasn't crazy either. This was driving me crazy.
The other pedestrians didn't react to my tantrums and walked right past me as if I hadn't behaved like an odd human. I guessed they had a lot to deal with it in their lives than worry about a stranger.
Someone walked up to me. "Are you fine?"
I was shocked by the unexpected kindness that I felt tears in my eyes. I reminded myself that I was crying because he worried about me, and not because I was being unnecessarily sensitive.
I nodded. "I'm fine. I just found out that I'm pregnant." I couldn't help the tears from falling down my face.
His expression changed from worry to happiness and I wondered what it was that I said. "I can understand how happy you are. My wife screamed more than you did when she found out that she was pregnant. We waited ten years before having a child."
I realized what caused his mood change and sighed. I couldn't believe he thought I had screamed out of joy.
"I'm sure my situation is different from that of your wife." I protested.
Maybe I should have waited for ten years more. If I had, I wouldn't have gotten knocked by Mr. Gorgeous. I wondered how I was going to find him because as crazy as it sounded, I already felt an attachment to the baby and didn't want to abort it.
I wondered the gender it was. Was it a boy or a girl?
I convinced myself that the man had a right to know that we made a baby together. I winced at how it was going to be when I tell him.
It wasn't going to be bad, right?
He had a right to know. I sighed, wondering how my life changed suddenly. If only I had listened to the girls. I mustn't let them know yet that I was about to be a mother.
"I doubt that." The man replied, reminding me that he was still with me. "Everyone loves the idea of being a parent. You can't deny how happy you are."
I sighed again. I didn't like the idea of being a parent because this was bad timing for me. My world just shifted and probably got ruined. I couldn't deny though that I was happy, maybe by a little bit.
I hoped the father would also be happy at the idea of having his own baby. I hoped so.
I thanked the man for his concerns and moved on. "Thank you."
He smiled at me, patted me gently on the shoulder and walked away.
I slumped into the couch when I got to my apartment, throwing my bag somewhere on the floor. I felt drained, like someone had put me through a wringer and squeezed the hell out of me.
I wanted to cry, but reminded myself that it was bad for the baby.
I wanted to sleep off and forget that today ever happened. I wanted to blot out the event of that night from my past. I wanted to drone off into unconsciousness. I reminded myself that sleeping without dinner was bad for the growth of the baby. It wasn't like I had anything grand to eat during the day either.
"Ah!" I screamed out loud, loving that I could do this in the comfort of my apartment without attracting stares.
I hated that my life was no longer mine to live as I pleased.
I heard a knock on the door and went still, wondering if I had gotten my neighbors angry. I guessed I was never going to have the chance to scream as I wanted.
I plastered an expression that looked apologetic on my face and moved to door. Hopefully, I wouldn't get rebuked much if I act like I was sorry.
"When did you become a banshee?"
I blinked in surprise at the sight of my friends at the door. Just the two humans I didn't want to see. How was I going to avoid them when they came here without informing me?
"Girls," I breathed. "I wasn't expecting you." I looked down instinctively at my belly as if they could see that I was pregnant.
"Are you going to send us out?" Lisa asked.
"No,"
"As if you dare to." Angela said and sashayed into the room, with Lisa right on her tail.
"Did you just get home?" Lisa said, looking around the room and noting my bag and shoes lying around.
"Yes,"
Angela smiled at me. "You are already working overtime in preparation for your promotion. Go, girl. I'm proud of you."
I blinked back tears, knowing that I might not get any promotion.
"Why are you here?" I asked, picking up my bag and shoes from the floor and headed to my bedroom.
"To bond as much as we can before someone gets too busy for that." Lisa said with a pointed look at me.
I pretended not to understand what she meant by that. "I want to have a shower. Please order something for us before I get back." I said and turned.
I heard their audible gasps and turned back to them. "What happened?"
"You happened. What is wrong with you?" Angela asked, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
I was confused. "What do you mean?"
"You want us to order something? Like you want to eat food? You don't want cereals for dinner?"
I sighed. My usual bad eating habits were going to make it hard to hide my pregnancy from the girls.
"I had a rough day at work," I waved off their suspicion.
Lisa snorted. "Wasn't that your excuse whenever you eat cereal for dinner?"
I sighed. It seemed like the Katherine I used to be would land in trouble the Katherine I now was.
"Just order something, girls. Enough of the quiz. I'm starving." I rolled my eyes and walked to my bedroom.
The girls decided to sleep for the night. I knew it was going to be a long night but didn't complain.
They were going to suspect that something was up with me if I act like they weren't welcome.
I waited till they were both asleep and snuck out of the bedroom. I racked my brain on my conversation at the club the other day with the girls. I searched on the internet till I found him. I grinned as I jotted down his office address.
I snuck back to bed after slipping the note in bed. I smiled as I drifted to sleep, glad that I finally found the father of my unborn baby.
Maybe I didn't have to be afraid. Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as I thought it would be.
Maybe.