CHAPTER 2: Pregnancy

SOPHIA'S POV 

The buzzing of my phone woke me up. My head ached so much that I felt like it was splitting in two. I blinked, trying to make sense of my surroundings. My eyes suddenly dilated when I realized that I wasn't in my bedroom.

‘Oh my God!’

“Where am I? This isn’t my bed!” I began to panic as I reached for my phone which was lying on the floor. It stopped ringing as I made to pick the call.

“15 missed calls?”

“Holy Molly!”

I looked at my side, only to see the sleeping figure of a man, half-covered by the sheets, his back to me. He had a beautiful tattoo on the upper part of his left arm. I couldn't see his face. 

I tried to recollect what transpired between us, and the memories of last night came rushing back. The club, my friends, the drinks, the bar, the kiss, the hotel. Then the….

“Oh, shit!” I freaked out as I realized what I had done. I slept with a stranger, thinking it was Fred? 

‘Oh jeez! Sophia, what have you done?’

I felt a sharp pain in between my thighs as I dressed up quickly. I fled the room before the man woke up from his sleep. 

***************

“Where the hell have you been? We were worried sick!” Sam yelled, their eyes widened as they saw me.

“You said you wanted to be left alone, Sophy. How could you disappear without informing us?” Kelly added.

“I think I slept with a stranger.” I confessed, scratching the back of my neck as I collapsed on the couch.

“What!”

“I thought it was Fred… and I...” I explained the little I could remember to them.

“Oh my God! You actually had a one-night stand?” Miya gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

“Wait, are you serious? You had sex with some random guy?” Sam couldn't believe her ears.

I touched my temples, trying to block out the guilt. I couldn't even remember his face. 

“You’ve finally done it! Welcome to the club!” Kelly grinned. 

It was hard to believe that my first time would be with a stranger. 

Just immediately, my phone rang, displaying ‘Mother Rose’, the head matron at God's will orphanage, where I grew up.

“Hey, Mom!” 

“Sophia! Finally! Happy belated birthday, my love! I’ve been trying to reach you all day. Are you okay?”

I forced a smile, even though I felt anything but okay. “Yeah, Mom, I’m fine. Just… a little tired.”

She was all I needed at that moment as she wouldn't stop making me smile.

We talked for a while that I forgot the pains of being heartbroken and the shame of sleeping with a stranger.

TWO MONTHS LATER

I stared at the pregnancy test strip in my hand, my stomach dropping as the second line appeared.

‘You're pregnant, Sophy!’ My inner voice said.

A flood of emotions crashed over me. That of fear, confusion, disbelief. 

I slowly fell to the floor, cradling my head in my hands. 

‘What should I do?’ 

Abortion was out of the question; because my upbringing and the values instilled in me at the orphanage wouldn’t allow it. 

“I need to find the man!” I stood up vigorously.

“But, what if this is wrong?” I doubted the pregnancy strip. I quickly dressed up, ready to visit the hospital for confirmation.

********

I was sitting on a long chair in the waiting room at the hospital, when the doctor who conducted pregnancy test on me came in front of me.

“Congratulations Miss Clark, you're two months pregnant”

‘It is actually positive?’ I cried silently.

Will I single handedly care for my unborn child? How do I tell it that I know nothing about it father?

Out of desperation, I searched the city for weeks, retracing my steps by visiting the club again and asking around in search of my one night stand. But it was like he had vanished into thin air. No one knew anything about him. 

I even went as far as pleading with the club and hotel staff to check their CCTV footage of two months ago, but it proved futile as the footage had been erased.

“You need not brood over it, Sophy. All we need now is a solution.” My friends had consoled me when I wouldn't stop crying. It was my cross to bear. I couldn't burden them with it. 

Defeated, I made my way back to God’s Will Orphanage, the place that had been my home for so many years. 

In tears, I explained my dilemma of how Fred cheated on me and how I found out I was pregnant with his child after the breakup. 

The last part was a lie I had no choice but to tell.

I excluded my night stand with the stranger and him being the real father of my unborn child. 

Mother Rose and the other matrons comforted me and vowed to take care of me till delivery.

SIX YEARS LATER

As I prepared to start my new job as a secretary today, I checked out myself in the small mirror in the little bedroom I share with my boys at the orphanage. The room was one of the greatest favors Mother Rose showered on me.

She and the other matrons immensely helped raise my twins and I couldn't thank them less. I engaged in menial jobs to fend for us, I couldn't just rely on the orphanage. 

And today, I was selected after passing an interview to work at a large corporation that would pay better. I dressed up to go to work.

“Seven, eight, nine, ten! Ready or not, here I come!” Kayden beamed as they both ran around, laughing and playing hide and seek.

“Kayden, Hayden, no running around, remember?” I scolded, with a mix of amusement and concern.

Kayden froze, looking guilty. Hayden poked out his head from behind the wardrobe he ran to hide, looking at me with his cute big blue eyes.

“But Mom, we’re playing hide and seek! I was winning!” Hayden said, almost breathless.

“I know, sweetheart. But remember what the doctor said. You need to be careful, Hayden. No rough games, okay?” I warned.

“But I feel fine, Mommy. I’m not tired.”

I knelt down to his level, buttoning up my well-ironed shirt. I brushed a strand of hair from his forehead and gave him a tender smile.

“I know you feel fine now, but we have to be extra careful because of your heart, remember? We don’t want you to get too tired or hurt. We need you to stay strong and healthy, okay?”

Kayden joined us, looking between me and his brother. “Can we play something else, then? Something that’s not rough?” 

I smiled, relieved at the same time. “That’s a great idea, Kayden. Why don’t you play a game where you both sit down? Like a puzzle or drawing?”

“Can we draw dinosaurs?” Hayden brightened up.

“Of course! Dinosaurs it is.” I grinned.

“Or we rather go play outside with Ben and the others?” I would have objected to that because they were always playing rough with the other kids their age. But luck was on me when Mother Rose called out to us to have breakfast.

She beseeched me to consume a loaf of bread and sip some hot coffee before leaving, but I declined. I wasn't going to be late to work on my first day.