CHAPTER 19

Slowly opening the door and closing it after herself, Helen was oblivious of her old man sitting on the couch as she treaded past him on her way to her room. Richard knowing her fully well chose to give her some space to cool down before talking to her, not knowing the dilemma she had placed herself into. He then turned his attention back to the soccer match while Helen dragged herself into her room which she locked before treading into the bathroom for a quick shower all sorts of thoughts running in and out of her head. Never in her life did she ever think she will find herself in such an unforgiving situation.

"How could i have been so stupid!" she cursed as the cold water flowed from head to toe. It was a soothing feeling considering the blazing sun outside but not soothing enough to save her from herself. She was not willing to risk losing her womb and neither was she willing to have Timothy father the child. It was Joshua she wanted and if she was ever going to have him? that was her chance because all she had to do was link the man to that very pregnancy.

*****

After helping set up a private room as per Julia's request the two walked into the lounge for a quick rest. As per his promise Joshua had decided to stay home and spend the day with his "wife" but unknown to poor Julia, Raymond had made a humble request to Joshua which was revealed by a knock at the door

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked asked getting off his chest before receiving no as an answer. Joshua immediately walked into the kitchen and grabbed his car keys before heading to the door to answer to the call. Julia struggled to hear what was being spoken about but just a few minutes later the door was shut and Raymond took a seat next to her allowing her to rest her head onto his chest.

"You smell different." she said making Raymond swallow hard

" That was the delivery guy, i had ordered a set of colognes so i applied it to see your reaction. Do you like it?"

"For a moment i assumed you to be someone else you scared me. I like the cologne it smells really nice."

"And you smell good too...i missed you." he said making her sit up straight and face him

"Raymond, you are behaving really strangely and i sometimes mistake you for someone else the slight voice changes and all."

"Well i uhm...i'm really sorry Julie its just that my voice differs when i'm sober and when i'm tipsy. But i will never come home drunk i promise." he said pacing a slight kiss to her forehead, if only Joshua knew about the promise his friend had just made on his behalf

"You look beautiful." he whispered causing her to blush and look away. Using his fingers to tilt her head his way, he landed his lips on hers in a tender and soft kiss before upgrading it to a hungry and passionate one. That is exactly what he had missed, being in his woman's arms and doing what he had waited for ages to do. His hands roamed all over her body building up the tension which had Julia immediately pulling out

"Whats wrong?" he asked a perplexed Julia.

"I uhm...Ray you know i am still in my period so we can't."

"Oh...oh yeah i had totally forgotten about that i'm sorry."

"Its okay. It will be over soon. Can i lie into your arms now?" she asked a sweet smile creeping up and Raymond was only glad to let her though it wasn't his goal that day.

"I am going to kill you Joshua!" he whispered to himself knowing fully well that Joshua had not given him a heads up on purpose. Someone had to make a move on her else her building up suspicions would have hiked even further, and that definitely had to be Raymond.

*****

Richard walked into Helen's now unlocked room to find her lying on her stomach numerous tissues lying around indicating that she had been crying. He walked over to sit next to her before shaking her awake. Groaning in frustration she turned to look his way attempting to continue her sleep but as Richard tried to shake her up again, he could not help notice the glow in his daughter's face. Helen was a complete replica of her late mother Richard's wife and she had looked exactly the way Helen was looking when she was pregnant with Raymond. The thought of Helen being pregnant considering how moody she had been for the past days crossed his mind but he shook it off, he trusted his baby girl a whole lot.

"Helen...Helen wake up." he shook her softly managing to have her open her eyes. Her father's face scared her making her quickly jump up and stare at the man staring back at her

"Father...father what are you doing here?" she was quick to say panic clearly evident on her face

"What is wrong with you why are you panicking?" he asked earning a slight smile before she held his hand

"I'm sorry father. I am just jittery and all over the place these days forgive me."

"You were crying as well. What is wrong tell daddy." he said caressing her right cheek making her tense up. All sorts of thoughts ran in and out of her head as she tried to find the perfect answer. If her father ever found out about her affairs with Timothy he would definitely murder her. He expected better from her as the daughter of a business guru and she herself had not meant to fall pregnant for the guy. She was just having fun

"These days i miss mother a lot. I wish i had a mother daddy." she sobbed before throwing herself into his arms the sobs becoming even louder. The lady had died few days after giving birth to Helen...or so he had told them and they had endured their childhood without her. If only they knew what had truly happened to that poor lady Richard once had as a wife.

"Shhhh...i am sure she misses you too and is looking after you from above. Trust me i miss her too." Helen sobbed even louder and this time she was now crying her frustrations out. She may had lied about missing her mother at that particular moment but as she cried in her father's arms she realized she truly missed the woman. If she had been around...maybe just maybe she would not have found herself in such a gruesome dilemma or rather, she would have had someone to run to without the fear of being screamed at.