An Escape from Reality
1857 Words
Aurelia’s pov
I didn’t cry immediately, which, considering the situation, felt very unlike me.
You would think finding out you’re pregnant would come with instant tears, dramatic music, and me collapsing against a wall like a woman whose favorite lipgloss just finished, but instead, I found myself sitting on the bathroom floor, staring at the test like it was a bomb.
Jolene hovered nearby like I might suddenly give birth out of shock.
“You’re being too calm,” she said carefully.
“I’m not calm,” I replied, still staring at the stick like it might explode.
“You’re not panicking.”
“I am panicking,” I said. “It’s just happening internally because I don’t have the strength to do it externally.”
She folded her arms. “That’s not enough.”
“I’ll panic later,” I muttered. “Let me process this first.”
Silence stretched.
“I’m pregnant,” I said finally.
The words felt too heavy for my mouth.
Jolene softened slightly. “Yeah.”
“This is insane,” I let out a small laugh that didn’t sound like mine.
“It is.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I whispered.
That question cracked something open inside me, and suddenly the reality of it all rushed in at once.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, my voice tightening. “I really don’t know.”
Then something shifted.
Not fear, not panic. Something deeper.
My hand moved to my stomach before I could stop it.
“They didn’t ask for this,” I murmured.
Jolene didn’t interrupt.
“And they’re mine.”
The words landed between us, quiet but final.
She squeezed my hand. “Okay. Then we keep them.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“You’re very calm about this.”
“It’s either this or i start crying like I’m the one who’s pregnant,” she said flatly. “Don’t push me.”
A weak laugh escaped me despite everything.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“We?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know,” she said. “I want to.”
And somehow… that was enough.
The weeks that followed felt like hell.
At first, it didn’t feel real, just nausea and exhaustion that came and went like they owned my body. Food became unpredictable, my favorite meals suddenly became repulsive, and the smell of things I used to love made me gag and puke at every chance.
My feet. They got swollen, those b!tches were almost thicker than my thighs. My face got puffy, I looked like a bloated whale 85% of the time.
I would like to say that was my lowest point, but it’s me. Of course it wasn’t.
I hardly slept because of how huge my tummy got, I had crazy mood swings all the time. I literally slapped a guy in a diner one day because I caught him staring at my boobs.
He was blind.
And then there was him. I tried not to think about him, but my memory said “Nuh uh”.
Sometimes I would catch myself remembering his eyes, the way he looked at me, his looks and I hated how easily that memory slipped in when I wasn’t paying attention.
I didn’t even know his name.
And somehow, that made it worse.
“I think I need to leave,” I said one evening.
Jolene looked up. “Leave where?”
“Here.”
“Why?”
I hesitated.
“This place reminds me too much of him.”
The words sounded ridiculous out loud, especially because I’ve only met him once.
And yet… I couldn’t get him out of my head.
She studied me for a moment, then nodded.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I blinked in shock
“We leave.”
We left two weeks later.
No announcement. No explanation. Just a quiet decision and a fresh start somewhere that didn’t feel like it was watching me. Somewhere 5 hours away from everything. From him.
At the hospital, everything became real.
Two heartbeats. Two.
I stared at the screen, blinking slowly. “…fvck my life.”
Jolene laughed under her breath.
The pregnancy got heavier after that. Real and unavoidable.
By the time I started showing, there was no pretending anymore, every movement slower, every decision more deliberate, every moment tied to something bigger than me.
And then they came.
Donny first, loud and dramatic like he had already decided life was inconvenient.
Lia followed, quieter, softer, like she was still thinking about whether she wanted to be here at all.
I remember holding them for the first time, exhausted and overwhelmed, staring down at two tiny humans that somehow belonged to me.
“…Okay,” I whispered. “This is happening.”
THREE YEARS LATER
Time didn’t blur. It layered.
Donny grew sharp and observant, protective in ways that didn’t quite make sense for his age, while Lia stayed soft and open, her emotions written clearly on her face.
They looked identical in a way. Donny had light brown skin, warm and rich, but his features were sharper. Lia’s cheeks stayed round no matter how much she grew, her curls always falling into her face no matter how many times I pushed them back. She had her father’s olive skin but hers was more light than tanned.
And their eyes… Silver.
Not mine. Not his.
I still didn’t know his name.
But I always thought about him.
I didn’t need a man. That’s what I told myself and for a long time, it was true.
Until it wasn’t.
Nathaniel appeared quietly, like he had always been around and I had just failed to notice. Tall, lean, middle aged , dark hair, always neat, sharp face, calm eyes. To plainly put it, he wasn’t my type.
So I ignored him at first.
He didn’t stay ignored.
“You’re hard to catch,” he said one afternoon.
“I’m not trying to be caught.”
“That hasn’t stopped me.”
“I’m not interested”
“I can change that.”
That should have been my first warning.
He became familiar too quickly.
Too easily.
“You have kids,” he said the first time he met them.
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t mention that?”
“It wasn’t your business.”
“It is now.”
Something about the way he said that should have bothered me.
It didn’t. Not enough.
He was good with them.
That was the problem.
“You have unusual eyes,” he said once, watching them carefully.
I stilled slightly.
“Their father… did they get their eyes from him?”
I forced a shrug. “Something like that.”
His gaze lingered a second too long.
“You don’t have to do everything alone,” he told me.
“I’ve been doing it alone.”
“You don’t have to anymore.”
At first, it sounded like comfort.
Then…
“You shouldn’t go out.”
“I want to.”
“I’m not asking. I’m telling you.”
Something shifted then. It was quiet and easy to ignore.
So I did.
Sometimes, I caught him watching the kids too closely.
Not casually. Carefully.
Like he was trying to understand something.
“The floor in this house is strange,” he said one evening.
“How?” I asked.
“Feels hollow in places.”
My stomach tightened slightly.
“It’s an old house.”
“You should let me see the house plans,” he said finally, glancing up at me. “I can fix it for you.”
It sounded like a good idea so I gave it to him.
Later that night, I found him standing in the hallway near the kids’ bedroom.
Listening.
That should have been my warning.But I stayed… And that was my mistake.
His entire behavior took a 360 and maybe I would’ve ended it if things hadn’t gotten so out of hand.
NOW
“Mommy, Donny took my toy!”
“I did not!”
“You did!”
“I didn’t!”
“Both of you, stop shouting,” I called from the kitchen, gripping a spoon like it was the only thing holding my sanity together.
“She started it,” Donny muttered.
“I heard that.”
“He’s lying,” Lia added.
“I’m not lying!”
I closed my eyes briefly. “…This is my life now.”
And somehow, I didn’t hate it. Jolene had moved out a year ago, married now, settled, happy, but still present in all the ways that mattered. And me? I had built something here. Something that almost felt normal.
A loud thud interrupted my thoughts, followed by a sudden silence. The kind that doesn’t belong in a house with children. I turned slightly, looking into the living room.
They were both gripping the same toy, a small wooden truck, Donny pulling one side while Lia held onto the other, their faces tight with determination and standing a few feet away… Nathaniel. He stood there watching them, a glass of beer in his hand, his expression already tight.
“You’re being too loud,” he said.
Neither of them responded.
“Stop it,” he added.
Still nothing.
“Give it to her,” he said, his tone sharpening.
Donny didn’t even look at him. He just pulled the truck closer.
“No.”
“It’s mine!” Lia snapped, tugging harder.
The wood creaked softly under the struggle.
“I said stop,” Nathaniel repeated, his voice colder now.
Donny glanced at him briefly, then ignored him again and that was when everything shifted. Nathaniel stepped forward slowly.
“Give it to her,” he said again.
“No,” Donny replied, firmer this time.
Lia pulled. Donny pulled back. And suddenly, she stumbled backwards and straight into Nathaniel. The glass slipped from his hand and shattered. Beer splashed across the floor and for a moment, everything froze.
Then Nathaniel’s expression changed. It wasn’t just anger, it was something worse.
“You did that on purpose,” he said.
Lia’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t!”
“You think this is funny?”
Her lip trembled “I didn’t mean to.”
He stepped closer, too close. And then, he raised his hand. Everything in me screamed but before I could move, Donny stepped in front of her.
“No!” he shouted.
The sound cracked through the room and then… the hit came. It was sharp, loud and so very wrong.
Donny’s head snapped to the side as he hit the floor. And for a moment, everything stopped. My heart, my breath even my thoughts. Because my son was on the ground and Nathaniel was standing over him like it meant nothing.
“…What did you just do?” I whispered.
My voice didn’t sound like mine.
Nathaniel exhaled slowly.
“He needs to learn.”
Right then and there, something inside me…
Snapped.
- Writer
