Love from the Past

This is not how they met

“I am pregnant”, Pricilla said.

“What?” Blaise asked, confused about it. “We used condoms and you said you were taking your pills. How did that happen?”

“I don’t know. It just happened”, Pricilla said, shrugging her shoulders.

“What do you want to do?” Blaise asked, looking at the fragile 18-year-old girl on the hospital bed.

They’ve known each other since they were kids. Blaise was Pricilla’s eldest brother’s best friend. He never minded having her around, but when she was 14, she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen and, after too much talking, especially with her parents, they decided to date.

Blaise was always a gentleman towards Pricilla. She was the one who wanted them to have s*x when she was 16. She was the one who made sure they were always protected. Pricilla knew Blaise was leaving Portland to become a firefighter, his dream job. He couldn’t believe she was doing that to keep him there.

Pricilla had no idea what she would do. She loved Blaise, but since he told her he would become a firefighter, she lost her mind. She didn’t want him to die and never supported his dream, even though he always cheered her on with her dreams, which changed every six months.

“Pricilla, what do you want to do?” Blaise asked again, holding his girlfriend’s hand, reassuring her that this would be up to her and he would follow.

“I can’t keep it. I’m going to college next year and I can’t have a baby now”, Pricilla said, between sobs.

“Okay. If that’s what you want, then I’ll support you. I’ll call your father”, Blaise told her, taking his phone out of his pocket.

“NO!” Pricilla yelled, terrified of her father. “Dad cannot know! He’ll kill both of us.”

“I know he’ll be furious, but he won’t kill us. We are being responsible, Pricilla. We can’t go through this by ourselves”, Blaise told her.

He was really worried because she seemed to be thinner every time they met. Blaise had been away the past couple of months in California, training to become a firefighter. She kept reassuring him that everything was fine. But, when he came back and discovered she was in the hospital, Blaise was devastated. What had happened to that lively girl he loved so much?

“Then, let me call your mother. You know I can’t count on my family for this kind of thing”, Blaise told her, gently to make her understand that they needed an adult.

Pricilla sobbed and turned her back to Blaise. She was devastated and it killed him that it happened to them. He was ready to take on the responsibility of being a father and providing for their family, if she wanted to. However, Pricilla was five years younger than him and she had her whole life planned. Being the only girl after three boys, she ended up being their spoiled princess, and she knew it.

Blaise left the room and called Andy, Pricilla’s mother. He knew that she would help them, especially Pricilla. He was actually glad she didn’t want the baby. He didn’t believe in families being happy nor that he would be able to have one given his background and the influences in his life.

“Blaise, what’s wrong? I left half an hour ago and Pricilla was fine. Did something happen to her?” Andy answered the phone.

“Hi Andy. No, I was just calling to let you guys know that I’m already here. Are you coming back any time today?” Blaise asked, really not sure how to tell her the news over the phone.

It wasn’t as simple as “Hey, you’re about to be a grandmother! Congrats! But, your daughter won’t have it. Can you help out?” Blaise needed Andy to be around Pricilla because he would be leaving again in a couple of weeks. He thought about breaking up with her, but every time, Pricilla would do something to make him feel guilty for breaking up with her. Now, this.

“I already know, Blaise. I’m waiting for Walter to come home and talk to him. We’ll talk to Pricilla later tonight”, Andy said, with a calmness in her voice that made a huge guy like Blaise start sobbing.

“It’s okay, Blaise. It happens. We’ll work it out together”, Andy reassured him.

“She doesn’t want to keep it”, Blaise said, still crying.

“What do you mean she doesn’t want to keep it?” Andy asked. “I talked to her before leaving and we agreed she was going to keep it. What’s wrong with this girl?” Andy said, really angry at how Pricilla was behaving.

“Look, let me call Walter and then we’ll head there. Don’t let her sign anything nor leave, okay?” Andy told Blaise.

He had no idea of the problems Andy had faced with Pricilla over the past six months. Confused by Andy’s behavior, Blaise agreed to go back to Pricilla’s room and keep an eye on her.

To his surprise, Pricilla was gone. He looked inside the bathroom and the corridors, but Pricilla was nowhere to be seen. Worried about her wellbeing, Blaise asked the nurses for help and the whole hospital was in a frenzy looking for Pricilla. But she was long gone.

When Andy and Walter arrived, the police was already involved and Blaise had already let them know that Pricilla was gone. He apologized every time they spoke for not being able to take care of her and not being able to be responsible like they expected him to be.

Seeing how desperate and unconsolable Blaise was, Andy and Walter decided to tell him everything they’ve endured for the past two years.

“Blaise, dear, it’s not your fault”, Andy said, hugging him. “We actually kept a few things from you. But we thought she’d get better once you returned from the army.”

“What do you mean?” Blaise asked.

With so much regret, Andy and Walter told Blaise that after he and Johnny enlisted in the Army, Pricilla felt alone and abandoned. She had lost her big brother and her boyfriend on the same day and she couldn’t find solace in her family. She had started drinking and when they realized something was off, Pricilla was deep in drugs.

They sent her to rehab, hired doctors and invested in therapy, but nothing worked. Pricilla was angry at the world and couldn’t shake the feeling of abandonment. When she heard Blaise was coming back, she decided to get clean and asked to go to rehab. It had finally worked and she was clean. Blaise arrived a couple of weeks later and they were together.

But, after a couple of weeks together, he told her he had been accepted in the California Firefighter’s training and that he’d be gone for 2 months. He thought she’d be happy, but they ended up arguing and Pricilla said she didn’t want to see him anymore. Blaise was really upset, he really loved Pricilla, but he would respect whatever her decision was.

After Blaise left for California, he didn’t hear from her until one week before going back to Portland. She had been arrested for shoplifting and dealing drugs. They were really lost until Johnny said Blaise would be back in a couple of weeks to visit.

When Pricilla had called him to confirm the information, he thought she was really thin, but thought that it was because she was stressed with school and college applications. Andy and Walter were happy he’d be home for a couple of weeks and maybe he’d be able to help out. But the news of the baby caught them off-guard and they were afraid of what she might do.

Now, Blaise knew that Pricilla was an addict and she was carrying his baby - hopefully. After everything he heard, he had no idea if the baby was his anymore. At the moment, his only concern was getting Pricilla back and into a treatment. The firefighting training would have to wait.