Fall had come and gone, and winter was in the air. The night was long and cold, and the morning was the same, except that the streets were filled with snow.Thanksgiving dinner has been a success, and by the time they left the house, they were each holding a bag of takeout that Amy's mother had packed for them.Christmas was approaching, and all the cities had been decorated with Christmas lights and decor.Stores were not left out either; everyone had a lot of Christmas decorations and a Christmas tree in front. Wherever you go, Christmas jingles fill the air.Neither was Jack’s restaurant left out. They had ditched their regular uniform for one that had all the Christmas colors. But not Mary; Jack had been considerate enough to give her maternity leave.So while the others slaved away in the restaurant, working their asses off, Mary would be in her room munching on some fruits, watching videos on parenting, or just generally watching movies.Her stomach had grown so big as she neare
"I think my water just broke." Mary said in a calm voice, apparently so calm that Amy had trouble believing it. But everyone heard it, and the restaurant suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Mary."What did you say?""I said my water just broke!" Mary yelled, pointing to the floor where there was water that had formed a puddle.That word was enough to trigger everyone, and the once-calm hall became pure chaos."Oh my gosh! What do we do? What do we do? It is not yet the due date!" Amy all but yelled in her ears. She wasn’t good with surprises, especially ones that involved births; hence, she was disorganized.Everyone gathered at Mary's side as they heard her word, looking at the mess she had made."Hospital, I need to go to the hospital." Mary said, her voice coming out calm. She was surprised she could maintain that level of calmness because inside she was a panicking mess. The baby was coming earlier than she planned, and she was afraid it would lead to complica
Mary was in pain. So horrible was the pain that it made her blank out and robbed her of any rational thought. It was such a blinding pain that it left you speechless, and she gritted her teeth against the pain."Mary." A voice called to her, and even in her pain-induced voice, she knew it belonged to her gynecologist."Racheal." Mary cried out, the tears coming out more. "He is coming out too early; he isn’t supposed to be born till the 18th. Will it be a problem?" Despite the pain Mary was feeling, all she could think of was her baby.She was afraid that there would be complications since he was coming out before the due date.Racheal came to stand beside her, stroking her hair gently. "It is alright, love; he is ready to be born, and there will be no complications.""Are you sure? I want him to be fine." Mary sobbed, clutching Racheal’s hand like she depended on it."He will be fine. I will just have to check on him." Racheal left her hands to go between her legs, while the other nur
Nicholas has been off living life like the bachelor that he was; he is currently heading the new branch, which means he is rarely at home except on weekends. Whenever he wasn’t at home, he was with Cameron or trying to patch up his relationship with his dad.Sebastian had been beyond angry when Nicholas told him he had sent out Mary. In fact, Nicholas could remember that day clearly. He could see the scene clearly as it played out in his head. He had never seen his dad so angry."Are you joking? I am too old to be playing such games," His father had said, his forehead creased in a frown. His lip was turned in a scowl, quite similar to Nicholas’s."No, I am not. Mary is gone.""What happened to her? Did she go missing? I could go to the police department to help track her." Sebastian had said, and he was already bringing out his phone to start making the calls."No need to, dad." Nicholas had interrupted. "I sent her away." Even now, he was ashamed to hear those words. His father had l
"Please make yourself comfortable." Anna gestured to one of the sofas, and Nicholas picked the one opposite the television and sat down. "If you will excuse me for a moment, let me check on the lasagna. You can turn on the TV if you want." "I brought champagne," Nicholas said, passing the bottle to her. It was only right that he brought something in exchange since he was going to be eating her food. "Oh, thank you." Anna took it and looked at the label. "It is even one of my favorites. I will keep it in the refrigerator to get a bit cold." Nicholas watched her go, his gaze lingering a little too long on her backside watching as her ass swayed to the rhythm of an imaginary beat. She was doing it deliberately, but he wasn’t going to fall for it. The confusing spectacle was out of sight, and Nicholas could focus. He cast a fleeting glance through the room, noting how similar it was to his own. Save for a few things. Nicholas had left his room bare since it was a temporary stay, but s
"Wah wah." The voice of a wailing child disrupted the sleeping girl. His mother groaned on her bed before she turned to her side and tried to continue her sleep. "Wah wah." The baby continued his wailing, his cries increasing to another crescendo.Mary sighed as she tried to sit up on the bed, but the will wasn’t there. She closed her eyes and counted to three, standing up after the count and going towards her son. Blue eyes connected with her, and she melted."Why are you crying? Are you hungry?""Wah wah." Cole continued screaming his little throat out. His tiny hands were bunched into a fist, and his face was all red.Mary had been trying to take a quick nap before he woke up, but now it was fruitless. She carried him out of his cot and cuddled him to her chest, patting his back.His cries decreased to a hiccup, and Mary sighed. She sat down back and brought out a boob and directed the nipple to his mouth, and he latched on to it.Cole quieted down as he fed from his mother, his e
Amy was trying her best to console her friend, but Mary couldn’t be consoled. The tears just kept pouring like a leaking faucet."Mary. Please don’t cry; everything will be okay." Amy said, trying to wipe her eyes."I don’t know what I am going to do, Amy. I am really confused; I can’t continue raising Cole in this environment. It isn’t exactly conducive to his growth.""I know, we could look for another apartment in town that is close to the restaurant.""With what money?" Mary looked at her friend, her eyes wet with tears and bloodshot. "I have already spent all the money I have, and the one that Lincoln gave me is almost gone. I am not even working, so I don’t have any means of future income.""I can always lend you money if you need it, Mary; you know you can always count on me. I am here for you." Amy said, but Mary shook her head, the tears flying off her face."You have already done a lot for me, Amy. I don’t want to be indebted to you; you also have your own issues.""You coul
"Grrr." The alarm rang out at the appropriate time it had been set. The occupant of the bed groaned, turned to the other side of the bed, and continued her sleep. "Grrr…" The alarm blared again, and Mary stirred in her sleep, not ready to wake up."Mary.." Amy groaned with a sleep-laden voice, "Turn off the damn alarm." She still had 30 minutes of sleep, and she wanted to enjoy it till the end."Hmm." Mary murmured, her eyes still heavy with sleep. She had gone to bed late last night because Cole had chosen to be active at midnight, and no matter what she did, he wouldn’t sleep.Her fingers reached under her pillow in search of the annoying device, but it came out empty. She reached under her pillow again, this time in a sweeping motion, and that was a big mistake.Her hands swept the phone off the bed, and it landed on the floor with a thud. "Shit!" Mary cursed; the sound from the fall woke her up. She jumped out of bed to pick up her phone.She was fully alert now, and her eyes ran
Mary didn’t end up getting a divorce.No matter how she tried, Nicholas refused to sign the papers. But they got separated.She had moved out of the mansion to get her own accommodations in a bid to find herself. She had gotten a new apartment away from the hustle and bustle of New York City.She was willing to start afresh, and she hoped that the new environment would help.His friends have been against it, especially Helena, seeing she had moved there in search of her and was given a job by Nicholas.But Mary had reassured her that there was no need for all that. Helena had no issue with Nicholas, so there was no need to try to quit her job.But Mary had refused Nicholas help; I mean, there was no need to when she had his credit card and did whatever she wanted with it.But she had chosen to spend it wisely.She had gotten a job as a model for a small clothing line that deals with curvy ladies, and Mary liked every bit of it. She got free clothes every now and then, so it was an adde
The next day, Mary was no better; no matter how much Nicholas had tried to seek an audience with her, she always found a way to escape. Gone are the days when she was the one begging for his attention.She didn’t have such time; instead, she had taken to exploring—a harmless one, though.It began when Nicholas had come back from work rather early, unlike his usual self, and he found a strange lady sitting in his living room and his son playing around the house.Nicholas was alarmed, and he entered quietly in order not to startle the lady while his hands reached for his phone to call 911."Oh, you are back. Good evening, Mr. Harrington. I will be taking my leave now." The lady stood up to go, but Nicholas prevented her."Who are you, and why are you in my house?" Nicholas asked; he still had the police on speed dial and was ready to call them if necessary."I am the babysitter your wife hired. Here." She stood up and handed him something that seemed to be a card. Nicholas eyed the card
"Oh fuck." Mary cursed as she saw the doctor approaching her. The only time she decided to unwind and let loose was when he decided to be here.She sighed, lifting her eyes to the sky; only there was a ceiling preventing her. Why was the universe out to get her?"Well hello? Mary, is it?""Oh hi. Lewis." Mary greeted him cheerfully, still slightly tipsy from all the drinks. "Fancy seeing you here?"Lewis chuckled, finding her assuming. "I should be asking you that. I live here, and I am familiar with some people here. You are the one that is sort of a stranger here.""Yea. I live.." She gestured outside the door and frowned. Where exactly did she live again?"Let me pour you a drink." The bartender said to Lewis, already reaching for a bottle of wine on the shelf."There is no need for that. I am not staying long." He refused the drink."Oh, that is alright. You can pour me his share; I would take it." Mary offered and swerved to grab the glass. But a firm hand stopped her."I don’t t
Mary stormed to her room, bolting the door as she got in and headed straight for the sofa. She dumped herself on it and continued eating from her bowl of fruit, but she was seething inside.The audacity he had. How dare he come back home after so long? The only thing he could say was, "Hey, I got your message."Mary was seething in her seat. Has he always been this nonchalant and uncaring, or has she just been ignoring it all this time? She couldn’t help but wonder.Well, it didn’t matter what the answer was because it ends today. She was done being the doormat he could just toss aside. Starting today, it was a new Mary.She stilled as she heard footsteps coming close to her door, and her ears perked as they listened for movements. But the footsteps stopped just in front of her door, and there was silence.The footsteps resumed, but this time away from her, and Mary sighed in frustration.He was such a coward.If she could have her way, she would have spent the rest of her day in her
The surgery was successful, and they removed her appendix, but Mary was required to stay in the hospital for monitoring for another day. It was to be for two days, but she had refused, threatening to leave on the same day, so they came to a compromise, and it was for an extra day.She had been away from her son for so long—the first of a kind—and she was starting to get worried. She could imagine he would be crying his tiny lungs out, and she couldn't bear to think of that.She had woken up from the surgery with a foggy head and tenderness in her abdomen, and as usual, she was alone. She didn’t bother checking up on her phone for any messages from Nicholas because it was already obvious he didn’t care.He had yet to reply to her message from two days ago, so there was no way he would be here.With nothing to do, her mind began to wander to different places, but most especially to Nicholas, or rather, her unfortunate relationship with Nicholas.After minutes of deliberating about the a
The kind doctor, whose name Mary hadn’t bothered to learn, had taken an interest in her, and he had been helping her run the hospital stuff.He was lucky enough to be able to fix an operation for her with the surgeon the next day, so she had to be hospitalized.Mary spent most of the day sleeping in; the drug they had given her was making her feel drowsy, so she didn’t know when time passed by.But the young doctor had taken it upon himself to look into her case, especially when he found out she had no one with her.He had taken it upon himself to always check in on her when he wasn’t so busy, making sure she was well covered and the pillow was comfortable for her, and Mary appreciated the gestures.Her head had been fuzzy from all the drugs they had been pumping into her, and she was slippy in and out of consciousness.She had woken up later in the evening to see her phone swimming in a sea of messages and calls. All from Amy. Mary didn’t hesitate to call her, and she waited as the c
The mini-get-together ended on a high note, and it was safe to say that the three had become best friends, and Mary couldn’t be happier.It was easy since Helena and Amy had similar characteristics and were able to get along easily. She was happy that she had two females she could rely on, and Cole had two aunties who loved him dearly and would spoil him rotten.Everything was slowly looking up for her; even her academics have been going well. It wasn't as easy as it felt, but with time it had gotten easier for her, and she dare say she was enjoying the classes.But one thing was still stagnant. She and Nicholas were yet to make any headway.In fact, it had become so bad that she couldn’t remember the last time she and her husband saw eye-to-eye. It was Cole who had been keeping her company; otherwise, the house would become too suffocating for her.At least she had Netflix, and there was always food around, so she used that to comfort herself.Mary has been feeling some pain in her s
While Helena may not be living with them, the girls were still communicating as Helena was able to get a new phone and they had gotten really close.Mary had been the happiest since Amy came back, and she was happy to have her friend close by. Everything seems to be looking up for her.It was just to introduce her friends to each other that was left. Amy had no idea how Helena looked, and neither did Helena. Although Mary has mentioned them to each other, she has been planning how to bring them closer so it would be a sisterhood.It was the weekend, and that means Nicholas was out of town for a meeting. I mean, when is he never out? Mary barely sees him nowadays, so she arranged the meeting at her house.She was preparing the meal that they were going to have, all while praying that they liked each other. It would make her life easier if it were so. At least Cole would have two aunts, and he could be taking turns passing the night at their house.She had put the last batch of muffins
Helena is here.The words were something Mary thought she would never hear, and it was as if they weren’t true, but her childhood friend turned sister was in the living room, sitting and waiting for her, and Mary didn’t know how to act."Get your act together, Mary; it is just Helena." She said to herself as she stood in front of the mirror.It had all begun when Cameron called her that one Helena was in his home and wanted to see her. She hadn’t believed it at first and thought he was playing a fast one on her, so she had asked him to bring her over.And it turned out he wasn’t lying. Helena was actually heard.But she saw them as they were getting out of the car, and she panicked and ran to her bedroom."It will be fine. It is just Helena." She said to the reflection of the mirror, and she heard Cole huff as if in agreement with her.She went towards her son, who was attempting to stand on his own, and she picked him up. He let out a cry, angry that he was disturbed. But Mary ruffl