WHY MARRY?

FIFTEEN

Aiden and Jade were sleeping in bed when she felt the sudden urge to throw up. She tried to get out of bed but Aiden's arm were tightly secured around her waist.

"Aiden, I need to use the bathroom" Jade whispered in his ear.

"Okay, hurry back" he groaned.

He let go of her and she rushed to the toilet and hurled all of last night's dinner into the toilet. Aiden heard all the commotion from the bed and followed her to the bathroom.

"What's going on, I could hear you from the bedroom" his voice laced with concern, as he used one hand to hold her hair back and rubbed her back with the other.

He supported her up and helped her brush and wash her face; before carrying her back to the bedroom and placing her on his lap.

"Are you ill?" He asked her, placing her head on his chest.

"I think it might be food poisoning" she told him.

"Don't worry too much" she coughed.

"Of course I'm gonna worry,you need a doctor" he told her.

"I promise I'm fine" she assured him as she went back into bed. "C'mon let's go back to bed" she stretched her arms out to him. He climbed back in bed next to her; and she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm really fine"

                                                                   ~

"You think I should?" Jade asked nervously.

She had been throwing up all morning even after Aiden left. She invited Laurie over and was still throwing up then. No medicine she took, stopped her from Throwing up the content of her stomach. Laurie then suggest that she went to the doctor's.

"Totally, get ready" Laurie said to her.

"I really don't think it's anything serious" Jade replied.

"We'll find out about that when we get there; besides have you thought about the possibility of you being pregnant?" Laurie asked, alarming her almost immediately. It suddenly dawned on her, she could be pregnant.

"Oh my God, what if I am?" she looked up at Laurie.

"So what if you are; you have a supportive husband who is eager to have you bear his children" Laurie pointed out. She couldn't understand Jade’s worry, when there was nothing to really worry about.

~

"So Mrs Ross" the doctor was holding her results a few days later. She hadn't told Aiden of her suspicions; he was only going to make a fuss. "The results confirm that you are a soon to be mother" the doctor announced.

Jade was dumbfounded; she turned to Laurie who had a massive grin on her face, as she bounced up and down excitedly.

"How far along is she?" Laurie asked, seeing that Jade still hadn't recovered from shock.

"Four weeks" the doctor stated.

"Jade!" She shouted, hugging her.

"It seems your more happy than I am" Jade whispered, as they walked out of the hospital with the test results.

"I don't understand why your not happy, you have a life growing inside of you that's the best news ever" Laurie said. She was more than excited to hear that her best friend was going to make her an auntie. The proudest one at that.

"I am happy Laurie ,I'm just worried about how Aiden and I. Are we even ready?" she sighed.

"Is anyone ever?" Laurie asked. "Just take it, day by day" she concluded.

“You're right” she responded. If this was how it was supposed to be, she was going to accept it for what it is. She was sure Aiden would be just as accepting, even if having a baby happened earlier than expected.

                                                                                   ~

Jade had come home to tell Aiden the news when she heard his voice and an unfamiliar one talking in the living room. She listened carefully to the conversation, even though she knew it wasn't right.

"I'm happily married Alexis, what do you want me to do?" Aiden said to his ex-girlfriend.

She accidentally dropped her phone and he turned around and saw her standing in the doorway. He looked at her pleadingly as the person he was talking to came into view. It was the woman from the picture under his pillow. She never imagined the day where she would come across her in person. It was shocking enough seeing her sitting in her house; but more surprising than that was the fact that she was pregnant. She looked at least three to four months. Jade turned to Aiden.

"What is the meaning of this?" Jade whispered.

"I can explain" he begged. There was no need for his explanation from him, the reality was laid out before her, to see.

"How dare you cheat on me Aiden” she said to him.

“I didn't mean for all of this to happen” he mentioned.

“ Even if our relationship was on paper alone, you should never be cheating on me!" She shouted. “And to think that, I questioned you about this”

"I'm really sorry about all of this so please-"

"I can accept that you cheated on me because we weren't in love when you did, but the fact that she's pregnant changes EVERYTHING!" she shouted before storming out the house. He followed after her but she was already out the gates.

She ran out to a nearby park as she tried to collect her thoughts. She wished everything was a nightmare that she would wake up from the next day, but alas it wasn't.. She needed some time to herself to process everything that just happened. She also had to think about what she was going to do about Aiden and his pregnant ex-girlfriend. She spent some time at the park clearing her head before heading back home. She still had some more thinking to do.

                                                                    ~

"Jade listen; I'm sorry I didn't think this would happen-"

"You didn't think she was going to get pregnant when you've been sleeping with her?" she spat out, sarcastically.

"but all of this happened before we fell in love" he tried to explain.

"Like I said; you still should've honored me ; even if I was only your wife on paper!" she retorted. "Now that she's pregnant, what are you going to do?" There was a long pause.

"I don't know" he finally spoke.

"Wrong answer Aiden! Wrong answer!" she told him and stormed into their bedroom.

She didn't even know why she was yelling at him; she wasn't sure herself, what she was going to do about the situation. She took a shower and went straight into bed; as she thought about all the events of the day. One minute, she was finding out she's pregnant; the next minute, her husband's mistress is having his baby.

A few minutes after she had settled in bed, Aiden walked in. She didn't acknowledge his presence in the room. She heard him go to the bathroom, she heard some shuffling; and then she soon felt the bed dip. He lay behind her, his face buried in her hair. He sighed heavily.

She knew he felt guilty but she was hurting too. What was she supposed to do with the good news she was supposed to share with him..As much as she knew deep in her heart that he would forever remain the only love of her life for as long as she lived; was that enough to endure all the heartache she was about to face, in this situation, she thought.