The Richman (Book 2 ) - George's Birthday Part I

The seasons change, George Bloom is now turn five years old. He already so active and grows as a smart handsome boy. Today Adrianna and Aldric's house is bustling with family and relatives as well as neighbors who come with their children too to celebrate George's birthday.

In the corner of the garden Leah stood while Ben was busy taking photos of the children busy playing. At first, Leah seemed to be looking at the children who were playing near the game area, but then she looked lost in thought, like she was thinking about something. Adrianna, who originally greeted the guests along with her husband Aldric, chose to approach Leah. "Hi, . . ." said Adrianna to her sister-in-law.

"Hi." Leah's smile returned her sisterr-in-law's greeting.

"Why are you standing alone here, come join my friends." Adrianna invited Leah to join because she had been looking aloof. Not without reason, before leaving for Adrianna and Aldric's house, Ben and Leah had a disagreement about having children.

Leah smiled at Adrianna's invitation, but to be honest she preferred to enjoy solitude when her mind was confused like this. Watching the children play at least comforted Leah a little. "It's ok to stand here, I just enjoy watching them playing." Leah refused softly.

"Come join us, I will introduce you to my friends. " Adrianna gently pulled Leah's hand, and she can't refused anymore. She follow Adrianna's step and join to her friend.

"Hi girls." Adrianna approached the women who are standing around the table while enjoying snacking and chatting. "This is my sister-in-law, Leah." Adrianna introduced her sister-in-law to her friends.

"Hi . . . Leah." A woman with blonde hair cut right below her ear with a bob model greeted her. "I'm Margaret." She introduced herself and was greeted by Leah, as well as some of Adrianna's other friends.

"She is Charlotte, Megan and Curtney." Margareth introduce three other women beside her.

"Hi." Leah smiled to them all.

"So you're Ben's wife?" Charlotte asked her.

"Yes. She nodded with smile.

Ben is seen playing with a boy about three years old. "Ben looks fatter now," said Courtney.

Margaret smiled. "My husband also got fatter after we had children." The joke.

Courtney laughed, "Too bad my husband is too busy looking after his body, but I got fat." said Courtney.

"You still look very good Leah." Praise Margaret. "You're stuning in your gown." She added.

"Oh." Leah just smiled, she couldn't come up with an answer.

"I've always admired women who have had children but still look so good." Praise Margaret.

Courtney turned once more to Ben, while Ben still seemed to be enjoying playing with the boy. "By the way how old is your son?" She asked curiously.

Hearing that question, Leah's expression immediately changed. She couldn't seem to control herself not to be offended by such a question, but she seemed to have failed. "I don't have children yet." the answer is short.

Seeing this, Adrianna immediately intervened. "They're still very young, so having kids isn't a priority yet." Adrianna said.

"Oh yeah, that's right. Look at me with four kids and a very busy husband. I find my world so exhausting." Curtney chimed in. "You should enjoy your time with your husband dear." Churtney rubbed Leah's arm which happened to be close to her and Leah smiled.

"Yes." Nodded Leah.

But after that Leah was not as cheerful as before when she first joined Adrianna's friends. "Excuse me for a moment." Leah pulled away and Adrianna followed her sister-in-law's footsteps. It looks like she entered the house. Aldric's eyes met Adrianna's and they coded to each other to give Leah some time to herself.

The reality she had just accepted was bitter enough and shook her. Two years after their marriage, Leah and Ben are still very relaxed about planning to have children. They prefer to come to Adrianna's house to play with George and spend time with Richard, George, and the rest of the family. They even often spend time to have dinner together.

Until then Leah and Ben agreed to have children in their fourth year of marriage. However, until the fifth year they were also not blessed with children. Leah and Ben took the initiative to have their condition checked by an obstetrician and the results were surprising. Ben is healthy at all his potential because he is very fertile and the sperm he has is healthy enough and ready to fertilize.

Doctors said that Leah had a congenital abnormality where the condition of her uterus did not allow for a fetus to grow. This has also been proven because several times Leah miscarried at a very early gestational age.

In the first month of pregnancy Leah experienced bleeding before she even knew whether she was pregnant or not by consulting a specialist, but through a quick test that could be done independently the results showed that she was positive for pregnancy, but two weeks or three weeks later Leah experienced great menstruation.

The specialist Adrianna consulted during George's troubled pregnancy, Doctor Nichole Craig, said that Leah's heavy period was called Abortus Imminens. Ben broke the bad news to Adrianna, Aldric and Richard in Leah's absence two days ago. Ben said Leah was still devastated by the news and had chosen to lock herself in her room for two days.

Even today Leah was forced to leave the room to honor the invitation from her sister considering that George is her favorite nephew. Even though Leah knew she was going to run into a lot of kids which would make her even sadder.

***

Leah pulled over to the kitchen, she took a glass of mineral water and sat in the kitchen alone. Her fight with Ben this morning flashed through her mind again.

"Today we're going to George's house. I've got the presents." Ben said, while Leah was still curled up under the covers, reluctant to move anywhere.

"Sorry, I can't go with you." She said softly.

Ben rolls his hips hearing the answer from his wife's mouth. "George is my nephew, he's my Sister's son, and this is a special moment for him. Can't you lower your ego just a bit and go with me!" Ben's tone rose, he could no longer control his emotions because the last two days Leah had been like a living corpse.

Leah turned to look at her husband, "You said this was Ego?" Her eyes glazed over at her husband. "Is it wrong if I want to have children from my own womb? Is my wish selfish?" Leah's voice trembled.

"If we don't have kids, that's fine with me. We can adopt, or raise a puppy, or whatever makes you feel better." Ben argued, he looked fired up and Leah shook her head in disbelief. Her expression changed, she reluctantly looked at her husband.

"So it's not important for you to have a child, you didn't want it from the begining." Leah lay back down and tears started to fall.

"I want children, but if you can't give them what can I do!" Ben snapped angrily, indeed a little different from Richard Anthony's father, Ben was more temperamental than his father. Ben exits his room and leaves Leah sobbing.

In her mind she thought why was she born into this world as a woman if she couldn't even bear children when she wanted so badly. Unlike some other women who refuse to have children because they don't want to be bothered, but Leah really wants to have at least one child to care for and raise. Redeem all childhood wounds because of lack of love from his mother.

When she married Ben, Leah even felt that her life was perfect. He even felt like a Cinderella in the real world. An ordinary woman who is married to a wealthy prince. It was almost certain that he would not lack anything for the rest of his life, neither would his descendants. But who would have thought that Leah would not be able to reproduce.

Tears suddenly dripped from her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away because they heard someone's footsteps entering Adrianna's kitchen.

"Hey ..." Charlotte, the shoulder-length brown haired woman approached her.

"Hi." Leah tried to make small talk and look neutral.

"I've been through the same thing as you." She said and it made Leah raise her eyebrows at the woman who was now nearby.

"My husband Sam is the guy in the plaid shirt." Charlotte pointed to the man in the boxy shirt who still looked young, maybe only two or three years older than her brother-in-law Aldric.

"He really wanted children because he was the only child in his family and his parents wanted to have grandchildren." Charlotte said.

"Oh, ..." Leah seemed sympathetic because Charlotte's story appealed to her, not judgmental, Charlotte only shared her story and Leah liked that kind of approach.

"Like you, I was nothing when I married one of the men whose parents turned out to be quite wealthy." Honestly Charlotte as she turned to Leah, made the young woman smile ironically.

"We consulted here and there and no doctor could help me because I was born without a uterus." said Charlotte.

"What?" Leah's brows furrowed.

"I have a uterus, but I can't use it to carry my own child. So I assume I don't have a uterus, which makes more sense to me." She said.

"Then what happen?" Leah asked.

"You see that little girl playing there, she's wearing a yellow dress." said Charlotte.

"Yes." Nod Leah.

"I call her a little enemy." Charlotte smiled at the girl.

"Why?" Adrianna's brows furrowed.

"She was born to a surrogate mother who is now desperately trying to use her as a tool to take my husband from me." said Charlotte.

Leah's eyes widened, "If there's a surrogate mother option, even if it's legal in some cases, it's better never to choose that option." said Charlotte.

"I'm sorry." Leah look empathize with Charlotte.

"It's ok dear. But I want to let you know, after having kids, I've never been as happy as I thought I would be." Charlotte smiled bitterly. "But my husband loves her very much, her name is Amy. She grabs the attention of the whole family from my husband as well as my husband's attention. Like I'm living hell you know?" Charlotte joked.

"If Ben doesn't mind a childless household, why are you trying to come up with something that will backfire on you?" The woman patted Leah's shoulder and smiled at her as Leah turned to her.

"You have everything you need." Charlotte took mineral water and then left the room. It was as if she had just been slapped hard because Leah had thought about a plan to find a surrogate for her baby and Ben's baby. But Charlotte's story became a separate consideration for Leah. Maybe she would never take the option of choosing a surroggate mother to carry their baby. After all, Richard Anthony is not a pushy parent, neither is Adrianna, nor is he a demanding brother-in-law.

"Why force something that can backfire on yourself Leah?" The voice echoed in Leah's heart, making it seem like Leah had found the strength to get back into the crowd and enjoy George's birthday like everyone else out there.