AFTERMATH 2
Faith waited up for Ethan but he didn't come back until she slept off. The next morning, she woke up to see him all dressed to leave. He was standing by the mirror. She couldn't even get why he was giving her the silent treatment.
"You didn't come back last night," she said.
"I did," came the indifferent reply.
"I waited up for you."
"You shouldn't have."
"Why?" Faith asked and sat up in bed. "Where did you go yesterday?"
"It's not necessary."
"Oh, isn't it? Where are you off to this morning?"
Ethan left the mirror and faced her. "You don't need to worry about me, you should worry about yourself and your condition."
"You say it as if it is a plague," Faith flared.
"I don't want to argue about this...this morning."
"No, you can't keep running away from this discussion and keep giving me the silent treatment like I committed a heinous crime! We made this baby together, why are you making it look like it is my fault alone?!"
"I told you I never wanted a kid...!"
"Why?!" Faith interjected and glared at him. He stared back at her. She climbed down from the bed. "Is there something else I need to know about this?"
"Oh, come on, don't be ridiculous..."
"No, you are being ridiculous. Babies are made by two people when they have sexual intercourse, I hope you know that, so why does it look like I brought this upon myself?"
"You wanted this baby, I don't. I got you the birth control pills myself, I told you not to get pregnant, at least not until after two years. We just met each other a month ago and we started dating just weeks ago, we have not even gotten to know a lot about ourselves. I told you that, I told you I have plans for us but because you are too stubborn, you won't listen, you just want it to end your way! Do you even love me at all?!"
"Babies happen, okay! People still get pregnant even when they are on pills! I am not the first to get pregnant and I won't be the last. I also told you that no time is enough time to know someone. And if you think I took in because of my own selfish reasons then that's your business because I was as shocked as you when I found out about it. Why don't you just say the word, just say it!"
"What word?"
"Don't play ignorant with me, come on, look me in the eyes and say the f*cking word! If you don't want the baby you can go ahead and tell me to abort it."
"What?" Ethan frowned and squinted at her.
"What is what? You don't want the baby, right?!"
"Come on, Faith, I could never ask you to do that."
"You know what? If you don't want the baby, I want it and I will raise him/her with so much love. I am done having this conversation, you can do what you want!" She wore her flip flops and started leaving the room.
"Where are you going?" Ethan asked.
"It's none of your business. Leave me alone!" She stormed out of the bedroom.
Ethan dropped the bottle of beer. "It's not like I don't want a child, but babies are handfuls. Faith works and she is pregnant, how is she ever going to cope with that?" he said a few hours after fighting with Faith.
Axel was back in town and he had come to see him at home. Axel smiled. "Mothers always have a way around these things, she would still cope."
"Aside from that. You know our story you know how long we've been together, it's not even up to a month, we need to bond for at least a year or two and get to know each other better. A baby? No, a baby won't even let us do that, a baby would come between us and this can lead to a divorce."
"Where is she now?" Axel asked.
"I don't know, she was at home when I left, she is just too stubborn."
"Are you that mad at her? I don't think you should be, she needs you now more than ever and this pregnancy thing comes with a lot of problems. Mood swings, fatigue, you know, a lot of things and she would be needing help most of the time. She is already upset as a pregnant woman, you don't need to upset her the more."
"I don't hate her and I'm not mad at her, I just want her to feel what I feel for the decision she took. She...I don't know, I just feel everything is moving so fast."
"Calm down and take it easy, don't let this ruin the beautiful thing you have going on. After all, babies happen when two people have sex and don't just blame it on her, you both are responsible for it."
Ethan gulped his drink. "Even Nora, her best friend who has dated Danny for a long time now didn't get pregnant, why Faith?"
"There are some things you don't compare two people. They are built differently. For me, I won't get mad if Camelia gets pregnant, she is the one that doesn't want to get pregnant now, because she is at the peak of her modelling career and that's why we are still dating. I don't have a problem with that anyway. Babies are adorable and you should be happy that you have one coming your way. A baby won't stop you from doing whatever you want to do, likewise Faith, you could get a nanny for the baby, then you can do whatever you want to do."
Ethan remained quiet. The news of the baby had come to him as quite a shock. He wasn't ready for it and how Faith had done everything like she had planned it all. Axel patted his shoulder.
"Just go and talk to her and know what she has to say."
He was right. Ethan had not given Faith the chance to say anything, he had just gotten mad at her.
Faith had packed a few clothes and left the house, she called up Nora and Charlie again. And they met at their favourite bar. She didn't go there with her packed bags, no one knew where she kept them. When her friends came, she was already on the second cup of ice cream.
Nora and Charlie sat down in front of her, she looked at them with sullen eyes. She had had a good cry and although she had used concealer to hide the swell under her eyes, her eyeballs were still red.
"Hey, baby, girl, are you still sulking?" Nora asked, stood and went and sat beside her.
"Sorry for calling you up on short notice. Especially you, Nora. You are planning for your wedding and here I am, putting my problems on you."
"When has that ever become a problem? He still keeps mute on you? Do you want me to talk to him?"
"Nora, please don't," Charlie said. "It's going to make it worse, you are going to make it worse."
"How would you know that?" Nora retorted and faced Faith. "He would come around though. I kind of understand him though, but he shouldn't treat you like you did this alone, you both are supposed to be celebrating a birthday, it's a bundle of joy, not of sorrow."
"I am happy to have this baby and I will keep it," Faith said and placed her hands on her stomach like mere doing that would protect the baby.
"So is he, he would come around, he is just upset, have you tried talking to him?"
"Yeah, I agree with Nora, I don't know, should I tell Douglas about this?"Charlie asked.
"No, no, no, not yet," Faith said.
"I can feel your pain, imagining crying and feeling this way for something you should be happy about," Charlie said.
Nora took the ice cream away. "Enough now, don't eat ice cream again, it would make you bloat."
"I can't drink alcohol anymore, let me eat my ice cream."
"It's not even very good for the baby," Nora said.
"I suggest you go back and try and talk to him again," Charlie said.
"Or you could put up a show," Nora said. "That's if you desperately want his attention.
"What do you mean show? What kind of show?" Faith asked.
"You could make him apologise to you."
"That manipulating him."
"Everything is fair in love and war."
"Nora, I just hope, this idea of yours won't land her in trouble," Charlie put in.
"She isn't going to wreck trouble. You could just talk with him, if it escalates to fight, you could just drop down at his feet and watch him beg you and afterwards watch him treat you like a queen."
"I can't do that. If he wants me or the baby, he should come to the decision himself, I don't want to try and instigate it. I'm just going to clear my head. I will go off somewhere and clear my head and also give him some alone time to reflect."
"Where are you going?"
"It's just a thought," Faith said and stared ahead.