One More Time

CHAPTER 2

Alina looks around and sees one of the maids, "Thank you. How is the house?"

"Greatly under our care." Her smile can be heard from her words.

"And Grandpa?" She stops to ask.

"He's well. He just had herbal tea."

She hurries to the other end. "Okay, let me stop to see him then."

The maid nods and walks towards the kitchen, her blue and white patterned gown giving a British air.

"Grandpa." Alina called, opening the door to his room.

"Alina, my girl. Come here." His voice is quite gruff.

She goes to his bed and sinks into the space beside him. "Hey, Grandpa. Hope you are well."

"Of course, I am. And I can see you are taking good care of Sanders. You are quite early."

"Ah, yes. My tummy chose to be quite a tornado today."

Fred stares at her and patting her back gently, "Take some medications after finding out what the problem is. Take good care of yourself, my dear."

Fred Sanders was a tall man, when he was younger. The pictures on his bedside shows how handsome and tall he was once. He is still handsome, although old age makes his look fade with wrinkles here and there and the worn out bones.

"I will, Grandpa. Thank you. See you later." She lifts her weight off the springy bed.

The stairs seem ever long as she hits her feet on each marble stair. She bends to take off her stiletto and swing them as she walks in between her fingers. How long will it take before she gets to her room? She wants the quick softness of her bed and to rest in the relaxing bathtub at the same time.

"Welcome, ma. Let me help a little." Another maid hurries to meet her.

She sighs gratefully, letting go of the bag and her heels. "Thank you, thank you."

In a few seconds, she twists the door knob. The maid follows her in.

Alina lets her body sink into the blue sheets as she lets out a tired sigh.

The maid gathers the curtains in a holder, letting the room air.

"Let me run the bath. Warm, hot or cold?"

She puts in her bag and shoes appropriately at the walk-in closet while admiring Alina's room.

Alina had put in all her effort to make the room look exquisite and quite modern from the other rooms which had an air of 'old ways'.

Her room is quite a crib, widely spread yet, maturely fancy and minimal, from the organized make-up stand, to the mini library, the walk-in closet, the neatly spread springy bed even to the scent of lavender and roses.

For a few seconds, she goes blank. That's so many options and how did she become indecisive at this point?

Mia walks into the bathroom, "Warm would be nice if you are short of words, ma. It was quite a short day you had and you must be tired."

"Ah. Thank you." Alina's cheeks grow pink from a flicker of embarrassment.

Mia is one of the sweetest maids in the house. Grandpa assigned Mia to Alina because they seem to get along so well that Alina forgets she is a maid except for the dress.

She looks like a typical confidant; quiet, plump, averagely beautiful, warm, welcoming and motherly although she is just in her late twenties and may soon look into getting a husband in a few years.

Almost immediately Alina drifts to sleep, Mia taps her mildly, "Time to bathe. Let me know what you would like to eat."

Mia always uses "Let me…" and when Alina asks why on a fateful day, Mia says "Let me…" leaves the person with no option than to allow her to do her duties and Alina has admired her ever since.

Alina rubs the sleep off her eyes, "A mixture of fruits and pastries and chicken sauce and…" She bites her lips seeing Mia's expression.

"Is it too much, Mia?" She asks, her left eyebrow making the question mark a thick one.

"Not at all." She waves her hands, "You are only listing out your cravings."

Taking off her jewelry, "Uh, okay. What's available?"

"Drumsticks, pastries, fruits and nuts." Mia rolls her eyes in calculation.

"I'll have them all in the usual quantity then." Alina tends to eat in bits but would rather have a taste of each food.

"Alright." Mia excuses herself as Alina pulls off her clothes.

As soon as the door closes, she takes out the pregnancy kit, walking bare naked into the bathroom.

The bathroom is fairly spacious, the water cistern separately in a corner, the bathtub covering quite a space.

She walks to the drawer underneath the wide-span mirror and opens it.

"Alina. How did you forget?" Amongst the soaps, face sheets and masks, she sees an unused strip. She got it as part of her 'married lady toiletries'.

"How on earth did I forget?!" She almost screams again, slipping into the bathtub.

After a few minutes of scrubbing and relaxing, she drains the tub and lays in it while the drain makes fart sounds, wishing she stayed at the office to finish up the day's work. She was pretty close to the end of making a report and financial adjustments.

"I would do that tomorrow." She says aloud. "I'll make sure to finish it up before the week ends."

In a jiffy, she realizes that she was talking out loud.

She steps out of the bath and instead of drying her body with the towel, she snatches the pregnancy strip from the drawer top.

Staring at the mirror, she mutters. "Face your fears, Alina. It should never be a big deal."

Minutes of motivation yet, she still stands as the beaded water dries up on her skin.

Finally, she goes to the cistern, her supple fair breasts hitting each other. She sits on it and places her left hands with the strip underneath.

"Ow." She whimpers as her urine touches her hand.

Her urine feels so hot as it gushes out. She waits till the very last drop, her tummy shrinking in expectation that she would be pregnant but she prays in her mind that she is not.

She takes it out, gasping in expectation, her eyes shut tightly. And when she opens her eyes, her tummy rumbles and she screams in what could be expressed as joy and shock. Bringing it closer to her eyes, she screams again until her throat has no audible sound to produce.

"I heard you scream on my way here. Is there a problem, ma'am?" Mia hurriedly opens the door and closes it when a tray full of food in both hands.

"Did you slip off? Did you fall? Let me… Can I come in?" Mia asks a thousand questions at the same time. It is her duty to care for the mistress, after all.

Alina keeps still for a moment.

"Are you there, ma'am?" Mia stands confused, still with the tray in her hands.

Alina slides shut the bathroom door, grabs a towel and drops the strip on the drawer top.

"I'm okay."

"Are you hurt, ma'am?"

"No." She forces a short laugh, sweat forming under her arms. "No. Not at all."

"Are you sure, ma'am?" She asks again, setting the tray on the table.

"Yes. Yes." The whole of her body shaking as she repeatedly says yes. Not that she owes Mia any explanation for using a pregnancy strip. She is married. But, Mia had never seen Tim and her in the same room, even an enclosed space. So, how would she explain if she has to.

"Alright. Your food is ready." She places the napkins gently.

"Thank you, Mia."

"Anything else, ma'am?"

"No, no. Thank you." Fear, excitement and even anger makes up Alina's repetition of words and Mia knows this but as a maid, she decides not to bug her mistress.