ACCEPTING FATE. 

I had been lost just some moment ago in the arms of the one whose kiss sent my gaze spiraling and vision blur until he paused, breaking his thought that sent everything I held strong shatter. My pride — self worth. 

“Your body seems too hold… quite some secret.“

I froze, pulling the sheet tighter around me like some shield from danger, I shut my eyes tight, instinctively too. 

“Don't make this anymore complicated please.“ I stated with clarity or so I thought until my brain shut as my voice played in my head — broken, pleading. 

“But it already is. Isn't it?“ His voice sharper than expected. Why was he mad?

I pulled the sheet tighter than earlier around myself, feeling exposed. The coldness from him contrasting sharply with the fear settling in my stomach. 

His gaze, piercing — what does he know, anyway? Why was his reaction this cold? My heart raced, 

Who was he anywhere that his reaction was already a judgement. Those stares, they made me curl up to the end of the bed like I had just betrayed him. 

My mind drifted slowly to that night — the thrill and now the consequences. I recalled during the moment, I first felt every flash and rush of passion, but now, I was juxtaposed with the stark reality now looming over me. 

“You’re not just running from your past, Sienna. You’re running from your future,” finally he spoke, but now — softly as though he was my father and that pushed me to an undefined rage.

 “You can’t hide from whatever happens with you.” he pressed on, I couldn't have it any longer — I flared up! 

“You don't know any damn thing about me!“ I snapped, frustration bubbles over me like steam on the surfaces. I was angry at myself already, the situation and then him — he was from the same night and now he acted all saint and away from sin? I scoffed. 

Just when he tried to cut me off, my phone rings jolting me out of this moment of silent and dreadful interrogation. I checked the caller's ID, it was Harper. At first I hesitated, but with his gaze clouded on my body, I shifted uncomfortably picking up the phone in a haste. 

 “Sienna! Where the hell are you? Are you okay?” Harper’s voice came off frantic, I'm sure sweats broke on her forehead from the other end. 

“I’m… I’m fine. Just—give me a minute,” I stuttered, my heart pounding against my ribs..i couldn't let Harper know how complicated things have become, especially not in the presence of… I hesitated as I matched his stares — this stranger. 

I felt him watching me intently as I spoke, his expression once unreadable now shifting from curiosity to concern? Or so I thought. He leans in closer — causing an electric tension in my body that I took the phone off my face for a second, mouth twitching while Harper kept on speaking from the other end non-stop (I cared to know whatever she was saying) but with his gaze, the world stopped ticking, the air hung still and my breath hitching that I didn't realize how much air I had on hold until he takes off a strand of cotton from my hair. 

I shifted. How could he do that in this situation? With my eyes not moving away from his, I continued speaking with Harper. With every passing minute, the weight of my whole situation pressed its weight tighter on me. 

I hung up, heart racing. 

“I need to go,” I forced out with a shaky breath, trying to regain control of the whole situation.

I stood away hurriedly from the bed as I adjusted my dress, scampering off and just while my hand reached the door's knob and I had thought getting out was an escape, his voice — he called me back. I turned my head not taking my hands off the knob. 

“Wait,” he called, reaching towards me and once he did, he held my face to his palm as if threatening — “You can’t run away from this, not me, or even from what’s happening inside you.”

I hesitated, torn between fear and desire. I wouldn't deny I felt a pull towards him but the reality of my pregnancy loomed over me — heavy in the air. 

“What if I'm not ready for… for this? For this whole thing?“ My fear grew, I admitted, voice trembling. “Just what if I am not ready to be a mother?“ I let out a bitter laugh as I hung on to the door's knob tighter than I did just a second ago..

 “You don’t have to be ready right now. Just be honest with yourself. You want me to help you?” His words sounded gentle, yet they spoke the truth I have been avoiding. And maybe I would do so once more. I hissed — “I can't trust you.“ Now, I didn't care if he saw me as vulnerable as I let my words seep weakness through my defenses.

As the tension hung in the air, I felt a flicker of hope I wouldn't deny or even ignore. This stranger, despite the chaos felt like a captain sailing me through the storm. 

I rolled my eyes at the thought, pressed the knob downwards and opened it wide — to my escape. 

Maybe from now — I needed to just grapple the situation, take a hold of myself and just accept this — the pregnancy. My hands brushed over my stomach with instinct while I didn't let my eyes off it as I walked out of Mr Strangers place. I held a life. Right here, I rubbed my tummy, just around my bowel — letting out a sad chuckle and somehow, I felt — new?

A new life was in me, and I had to start caring for it. 

Harpers words replayed in my head — “

“It's yours. That's all that matters.“ and now, what needed to be done was accept this only fate that could man or break me. 

And now, I swear — all that mattered is accepting the life that grew from within me.