Telling The Truth

Chapter 115

Caelia

I stepped back, a chuckle escaping my lips. Unbelievable. Why would my mom even think of anything like this? This baby was mine, and the decision should be made by me, not by her or anyone else. She had no right over this baby, and even if she did, why would she want to kill my baby?

“Please, do that for me, doctor,” Mom’s voice sent a cold shiver through me again.

I took more steps backward, shaking my head. “No!” I yelled. “I won’t let that happen. You can’t hurt my baby. No!”

“Get back to your senses, Caelia!” she yelled and rushed to me, seizing my hand. “This baby has no father, you don’t even know who got you pregnant. Why would you keep such a baby?”

“It doesn’t matter, Mom. It is my baby. Mine.” I threw her hand off, my eyes prickling with tears. “Whether this baby has a father or not, I will keep it. I won’t let you kill my baby. Why would you even think of such a thing, Mom? Hurt a baby? What has my baby done?”

“Your baby! Your baby! Your baby!” she shouted. “This thing inside of you is a fucking bastard, don’t you get it? I thought you were smart enough to realize the kind of mess you are in.” She leaned closer. “You either take this baby out right here or you go away!”

“No, I won’t let you hurt my baby!” I shouted. Maybe going away would be the best; I already told Aric that before. “I will gladly go away if that’s what you want. I am sick and tired of all this, Mom. I want my life, I want to be able to make decisions about my life without your help. I am grown enough to know what I want and what’s best for me. I…”

“And you think the best thing is to keep a baby that has no father?” she snickered. “You can’t even take up your responsibilities yet, but you want to take care of a baby?”

“I don’t care, Mom.” I shrugged, my words breaking as I tried to fight back my tears. “I will take up a job, I will do anything to take care of my baby, but what I won’t do is not give it a chance to live.” My hand dropped down to my stomach. “My baby did nothing wrong. My… my baby.” The rest of my words got stuck in my throat as I broke down in tears.

Why would my mom even think of such a thing? Does she even care about me? About what I’m going through? Does she even realize the toll her actions would take on me? She doesn’t even care about how I feel, she just does whatever she wants to do. Why? Just why? Why wouldn’t she think about me? Why wouldn’t she care about my feelings, my concerns, my wants? What exactly have I done so wrong to be treated this way?

She turned to the doctor. “Doctor, please don’t waste time, just go ahead with what I asked. I will take full responsibility for this.”

“We can’t just go ahead like that. We have to run some tests to be sure that there won’t be any complications when we take the baby out,” the doctor explained.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Please go ahead with the test.”

“Mom!” I screamed. “I do not want this test.” I faced the doctor. “This baby is mine, and I should be the one to decide if I want the baby or not. Not her!” I pointed to my mom, forcing back the tears that continued to roll down my cheeks. I wanted to be strong this once, I wanted to fight her back head-on without crying and looking weak in front of her. I wanted her to know that I had the only right over my baby, not her. “I am twenty-one, doctor. I am old enough to have a baby, my mom has no right to decide for me.”

“I pay your bills, young lady!” she seized my hand, yanking me to face her. “I am responsible for you in everything you do, but when it comes to this, you think you can just make that decision on your own?” She shook her head. “You’re very wrong. I’ll tie you down, or chain you, I will do whatever it takes to get this thing out of you!”

“Then be ready to face the consequences, Mom!” I screamed. “Be ready to…” my head flung to the side as a hard slap landed on my face.

“Quiet!” she barked. “I don’t want to hear another word from you, or I will beat you up right now and take the baby out without any medical procedure!” She growled, and every word I wanted to say back to her dried up. “The consent form, doctor.”

I watched as the doctor handed the form over to her, and she signed it. I couldn’t say a word, I just stood there watching her and the doctor. But how could any doctor be so cruel? He could see that I was unwilling to give up my baby, but all he did was listen to my mom? Why would any doctor act this way?

And I just stood there, unable to say a word, paralyzed by fear, anger, and pain.

The doctor rang a bell, and Mom pushed me to the side as a nurse came in with the ultrasound machine. My heart skipped a beat. What exactly were they doing to me? What was my mom doing to me? I was going to see my baby, she was going to let me see my baby, hear the heartbeat, and remove it later on? What have I done so wrong to deserve this torture?

Mom gripped my hand and dragged me to the bed in there. “Lie down!” she glared at me. “Don’t make me repeat myself.”

With reluctance, I laid on the bed, my heart thumping hard against my chest, as though it would explode anytime soon. I laid there as the sonographer placed the probe on my stomach, moving it around as she searched for my baby. I saw her eyes go wide in surprise, and my heart skipped again. What was wrong? Was something wrong with my baby?

Before I could speak, she faced the doctor and said, “Come and see this.”

The doctor joined her, staring at the screen. “Wow! Multiple gestation,” he said under his breath.

“What does that mean?” Mom chimed in.

“She’s not carrying just one baby. It’s triplets,” he announced, and I broke down in tears again.

I wasn’t sure if it was from happiness or sadness. I wasn’t sure if it was from joy or pain. I just couldn’t hold back the tears. Not just one baby, but I’m expecting three?

“That can’t be possible,” Mom shook her head. “It must have been a mistake. Maybe check for the heartbeat. Let’s see if…” before she could finish her words, the calm and steady rhythm of my babies’ heartbeats echoed in my ears, and it instantly calmed my racing mind.

“My babies…” I murmured, my lips shaking from crying. “Please… don’t do anything to my babies.”

“In your dreams, young lady!” she shouted. “This is another reason to take them out. How do you expect to live with three babies? You don’t even have a job!” She turned to the doctor. “Please, take them out!”

“No!” I shouted, jumping off the bed with a force that made my legs shake. “You can’t do this! You can’t take my babies away from me.” My body shook. “You can’t do this, Mom.”

“Doctor. Please, do the needful.”

“It might be dangerous, Mrs. Phoenixbourne,” the doctor stated. “It’s always hard to abort multiple gestations, and it could even put the mother’s life at risk.”

“I can trust you to do a good job. I know you will save her, but do whatever it takes to take the babies out.”

How? How can she be so cruel? I rushed to her and grabbed her hand. “You can’t do this to me, Mom. You just can’t put me in…”

“Don’t touch me!” she shouted and threw my hands off her.

The force sent me off balance, and I came tumbling down with a great force. My eyes flickered closed, my body shaking from what I knew would be a terrible collision. But before I could fall, a strong hand caught me, and I froze for a moment until that gentle familiar voice came at me.

“What is going on here, Mari?”

I opened my eyes to see Aric. He helped me back to my feet, and I saw him gnash his teeth at the sight of the tears in my eyes. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” His eyes scanned my body, and when he was sure I wasn’t hurt, he looked back into my eyes, cupping my cheeks gently to wipe my tears. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Can you stop coddling your niece, Aric?” Mom shouted in frustration. “She can’t keep these babies. We need to take them out right now!”

Aric held my hands. “Mari, I think you need to know something. I am…”

I pulled his hand and shook my head, my eyes filled with tears again. Was this really the only way out? Telling her the truth? She would blow up if she heard what he had to say.

“I have to do this, Caelia. For us.”

“Us?” Mom furrowed her brow.

“Mari,” Aric began, looking into my eyes, squeezing my hand for reassurance. “I’m not doing this just because she’s my niece. It’s because I love her.”

“That’s fine. You can love your niece, she’s like a daughter to you, she’s…”

“No, Mari.” He stepped closer, pulling me along with him. “I love Caelia, just like a man would love a woman. I love her so much that I can’t imagine living my life without her. Mari, my life without Caelia would be void of happiness and warmth. She’s my life, she’s everything I need to stay alive, she’s…” He stopped and looked into my eyes before turning back to my mom, whose mouth was wide open. “I love her more than you can ever imagine.” He stopped again, staring down at my stomach for a few seconds before looking back up. “And…”

“And…” I could sense the fear in Mom’s voice. For the very first time.

“I am the father of the baby she has inside her. I am responsible for her pregnancy.” He stated. “And I will…” He couldn’t finish his words before Mom slapped him hard across the face.

“How… how could…” She staggered and almost fell, but the doctor caught her. “How… how…” Her eyes flickered shut as she passed out.

“Mom!” I screamed.