Pregnancy

Clara's face exhibiting shock lifted her head and stared at Marcellus. "Pregnant?" she uttered in astonishment, completely taken aback by his unexpected question.

Marcellus gazed intently at Clara and said, "Yes, are you pregnant? The way you ran out of the dining room made me think so."

Chuckling, Clara wiped the water off her lips and shook her head. "No, Marcellus," she answered, sighing deeply. "I just finished my monthly flow days ago. How could I possibly be pregnant if I've seen my period for this month?" Clara asked, shrugging her shoulders.

Marcellus's heart sank as he stared at Clara. "Why has the word 'pregnancy' been so disappointing for me lately?" he asked himself, taking a deep breath. "I thought you were pregnant," he said.

Shaking her head, Clara replied, "No, Marcellus, I'm not - I've just been feeling a bit under the weather these days, that's all." She ran her hand through her hair as she spoke.

Marcellus nodded, putting on a fake smile like he always did. "Will you be able to eat now?" He questioned, pushing Clara's hair away from her face. "Or should we just close up the food?" he asked as they both headed to the dining table.

Grinning, Clara said, "I can eat now - thankfully, it only made me feel better," touching her stomach as she spoke.

Arriving at the dining table, they began to eat, occasionally glancing at each other.

****

Rising from the king-sized bed as the morning sun shone in, Larisa felt weary and nauseated. She stayed in bed until she had enough strength to stand up again. "I'm pregnant," Larisa thought to herself, placing her hands on her stomach. "These are the symptoms I heard early pregnancy brings. I need to get a checkup to be sure," she said, standing up from the bed.

After eating her breakfast, Larisa took a warm shower, then got dressed.

Mrs. Mary smiled as she saw Larisa walking down the stairs to the courtyard. "Will you be back soon?" she asked. "Should I prepare lunch?" she added, glancing at Larisa.

Larisa turned and smiled, revealing her white teeth. "I won't be coming back for lunch, Mrs. Mary, so don't worry yourself. Have some rest," she said as she started to leave. When She arrived at the courtyard, her driver opened the car door for her.

Turning to her driver, James, Larisa said, "I'll be taking a taxi. You're free for the day." With that, she headed towards the gate.

James nervously dropped his head for a moment but quickly hurried to catch up with Larisa as she walked towards the gate. "But, ma'am," he said, stopping Larisa as she turned to listen to him. "Mr. Huxley warned me before he left, that if I shouldn't let you take a taxi or leave the house alone, I might get fired," he said nervously.

Larisa pointed her finger at James and said sternly, "He won't know if you don't tell him. I said you're free for the day, so don't you dare stop me again."

James nodded, remaining stationary as he watched Larisa leave through the gate.

Knowing her driver would tell Marcellus where she was going, Larisa refused to let him take her to the hospital. Her unborn baby's life, if she was indeed pregnant as she suspected, was more important than Marcellus and the divorce.

Upon arriving at the hospital, a pregnancy test was run on Larisa. "Congratulations, Mrs. Huxley," the female doctor said with a smile, handing Larisa the test results in her office. "You are seven weeks pregnant."

Taking the test results paper from the doctor, Larisa read it carefully. "I knew it," she said, her eyes welling up with tears. "My gut told me. I still can't believe there's a life inside of me," she said, patting her stomach gently - in tears of joy.

After speaking with the doctor, Larisa walked to the lobby of the hospital and called her best friend, Ashley. She and Ashley had met in college and had been best friends ever since - both of them studied Business Administration.

A cheerful "Hello, bitch" was Ashley's answer to the call.

Larisa chuckled and responded, "Not today, Ashley. I'm tired of you calling me 'bitch.' I really can't get used to that name, so please stop using it." She smiled as she said it.

At the other end of the phone, Ashley replied, "I can't, 'bitch,' get used to it!"

Sighing deeply and rolling her eyes, Larisa knew she did not have the energy to argue with Ashley over the phone. "I'm on my way to your apartment now," she asked, biting her lower lip. "I hope you're home?."

Ashley answered, "Yes, baby 'bitch,' I'm home, so hurry up and get here!"

Shaking her head and smiling, Larisa responded, "I'll be there soon, you big 'bitch,' so get ready." She pushed back her neck and let out a giggle before ending the call.

Arriving at Ashley's apartment, Larisa rang the doorbell. Ashley answered, welcoming her in.

Walking into the apartment, Larisa sat on the couch and took a deep breath, gazing up at Ashley.

Lowering her head and looking down at Larisa, Ashley asked, "What's wrong? Why did you take such a deep breath?"

Thinking for a moment, Larisa finally responded, "Marcellus wants a divorce?"

Half-yelling, Ashley asked, "What? Why? He hasn't been giving you any attention since you two got married, and now he wants a divorce?"

Larisa said softly, "He said he would the day we got married. I've been expecting this for a while, but not so soon. It's only been two years, Ashley - two years!" She sighed. "He wants to start a new life with Clara now; he's the CEO now, so he can do whatever he wants. His dad can't stop him."

Ashley exclaimed loudly, "What?!"

Larisa sobbed, "Marcellus has given me the divorce papers and told me to sign them in three days! Ashley, I love Marcellus - I don't want to sign those divorce papers."

Ashley placed a comforting hand on Larisa's back and inquired, "What do you plan to do now?"

Larisa exclaimed, "I don't know what to do now, as Clara is the one he loves."

"The last time I saw her at the Shopping mall she….."

Larisa was still in the middle of conversing when her phone started ringing, prompting her to retrieve it from her handbag and inspect the Caller ID, only to find that the number on display was not one she had saved in her contacts.

Larisa turned her attention to Ashley as she placed her phone on her ear and inquired, "Hello, who is this?".

The caller responded, "It's me, Clara."

Larisa was taken aback and exclaimed, 

"Clara?!"