Pregnant
Seven words were all it took for Lola’s perfectly
planned life to change.
"Congratulations, Miss Henry . You’re three weeks
pregnant."
"Huh?" Sandra's mind went blank.
Pregnant?
She hadn’t even processed this as the doctor
continued. "I’ve written you a prescription for your
vitamins..."
His voice felt distant as her entire world spun around.
What... what’s going on? She wondered.
"Here." The doctor casually peeled the page from his
prescription pad, producing a scratchy paper noise
that snapped her out of her daze. "Come back next
month for your monthly check-up."
Sandra opened and closed her mouth, gazing at the
prescription for first-time mothers atop a small
pregnancy manual. When she looked up, a tiny smile
appeared on her face as she let out a short, dry
laugh.
"Doctor, are you sure... I’m pregnant?" She asked,
visibly causing the doctor to frown. "I think there’s a
mix-up here. Because that’s — that’s impossible! I’ve
never been with a man."
She didn’t even have a lover; she never had one in
her life. Not even flings. Well, if having a fiancé who
had only looked at her in disgust could count as
getting impregnated, then she’d had a dozen children
by now!
So, how could she get pregnant?
"Besides, I’m only here because of some stomach
problems... no?" Her voice slowly sounded tinier and
more nervous. "Doctor, I really didn’t — I’m telling the
truth."
The doctor frowned. "Miss Young, did you undergo
medical procedures like in vitro fertilization or donor
insemination?"
"What? No."
"Then there’s only one way you could be pregnant!"
The doctor’s tone continued to dip.
"But—"
"Miss Young, if you’re embarrassed that you got
pregnant out of wedlock, please stop wasting our
time!" This time, the doctor couldn’t help but scold
her. His voice was loud enough to reach the people
waiting outside for their turn. "We still have plenty of
other patients waiting to be examined. I’ve finished
my diagnosis."
Sandra frowned and dejectedly left the office.
As she stepped out, she could hear the hushed, nasty
comments and see the scornful looks of the other
pregnant women outside the office.
"I can’t believe she’s been keeping this line waiting
so long just because she’s embarrassed."
"Youngsters these days. They selfishly don’t listen to
their parents and end up getting knocked up."
"Young guys don’t have taste or standards anymore.
How could they stomach knocking up such a fat girl?
I fear for this new generation."
"She’s still so young... another young mother who will
have to burden her elders with such a responsibility."
"I pity her child. The child wasn’t born yet, but his
mother already denies his existence!"
Sandra hung her head low as she dragged her feet
outside the clinic and jumped back on her scooter.
When she reached home, she barely closed the
entrance before slumping to the floor as if her entire
world were crumbling.
"I’m pregnant..." she whispered to herself, utterly
confused. "How?"
But more than the confusion of just being pregnant,
Sandra was more perplexed because...
"This didn’t happen in my first life, though?"
Sandra had a secret she hadn’t told anyone.
This wasn’t her first life.
And in her first life, around this time of year, she...
was pushed into an accident that left her crippled for
life.
Placing a hand on her stomach, her eyes fell on it.
Her lips quivered, still confused how, out of nowhere,
she was blessed with a life within her.
"A life..." she whispered to the life within her. "How
do I—"
The rest of her words choked in her throat as she
remembered one of the mean comments she heard
at the clinic.
"I pity her child. The child wasn’t born yet, but his
mother already denies his existence!"
Sandra pressed her lips together and bit them. Her
hand pressed against her stomach, eyes softening
with guilt and bitter warmth.
"What now?"
Sandra's s life had always been a tough daily battle ever
since she moved out of the Young family. She
worked multiple part-time jobs just to make ends
meet. Her life was barely starting to look brighter
after years of effort and planning, but then this
happened.
Even so, with a life growing inside her, she knew she
had to make it somehow. Not just for herself, but for
this little life that came out of nowhere.
****
Seven months later, Sandra’s stomach was bigger than
that of a typical eight-month-pregnant woman.
Somehow, she had managed to survive the past eight
months by selling things online and doing some
online art commissions. After all, the company she
had started was barely staying afloat.
As she walked out of the clinic after her regular
monthly check-up, her hands were on her hips for
support. Her belly was huge and heavy; she struggled
with each step, her back aching.
Suddenly, a flashy neon orange sports car sped past
her at high speed.
Lola couldn’t help but jolt back, subsequently falling
on her bottom. Thankfully, she was able to reach out
and land on her palms first. She winced in pain, then
worried if her fall might have harmed her baby.
"Sandra!"
While she worried about the baby, she abruptly heard
a familiar voice. When she turned, she saw Daniel
storming towards her. The beautiful woman clinging
to his arm was Mabel Henry, Sandra’s half-sister.
"How dare you get pregnant while we’re engaged,
huh?!" Derek pointed a finger at her angrily. "Sandra , you
always said you’d dedicate your life to me! How
could you get pregnant by a hoodlum just because I
rejected you?!"
Sandra frowned as she darted her eyes between Daniel
and Mabel . He was saying all this nonsense while
her half-sister clung to him like a koala.
"Sandra, I couldn’t believe it when I heard you’re
pregnant. You and Daniel are still engaged. Are you
trying to trap him into raising your bastard?" Mabel
mocked disdainfully. "Is this your way of repaying
our family’s kindness for raising you, an
embarrassment?"
Daniel fumed even more upon hearing this. He felt
Sandra was too shameless and ungrateful. The Henry
family sent her to school, but she got herself
pregnant by a hoodlum!
"I’m canceling our engagement! There’s no way I’d
father a bastard!" Daniel’s words were like daggers
aiming straight at her heart.
It was true that Sandra had been engaged to Daniel
since they were teens. However, she thought the
engagement had already been canceled when she
moved out. After all, she and Daniel were engaged,
but he treated Mabel more like his lover than her.
They never even hid it, just like right now.
Mabel smirked cunningly, pleased to see the good-
for-nothing half-sister miserable. She squeezed her
body closer to Daniel’s side, deliberately pressing her
chest against him and smiling beautifully.
"Daniel, there’s no point in wasting our breath on a
woman like her," she cooed. "We already confirmed
she’s pregnant, and you already canceled your
engagement. I’m sure this is enough evidence to
cancel the engagement."
Looking at Mabel, Derek’s frozen heart melted. The
difference between Sandra and Mabel was far too
great. It was hard to ignore. Mabel was smart,
beautiful, and gentle. , on the other hand, was
only smart.
"You’re right," he agreed. "She’s a waste of breath."
Mabel smiled beautifully, and the two lovingly
strode off to that horribly blinding neon sports car.
Sandra was still left on the ground, watching the flashy
neon sports car speed away.
"For someone who doesn’t want to waste their
breath, they sure know how to run their mouths," she
murmured, still holding her stomach. "Who said I’d
devote my life to him? He’s not even my type. The
nerve—oh, no, happy thoughts."
She rid herself of any thought of those evil entities
and worriedly gazed down at her tummy. "My baby,
are you okay? I’m sorry, Mommy is being reckless.
No, I’m not thinking of bad things."
When she was sure she was no longer in pain, Lola
helped herself to stand up. With such a big belly, she
struggled a little, but she managed. She dusted off
her dress and gazed up at the pedestrian light.
Seeing it turn green, she carefully crossed the road.
But before Lola could reach the other side of the
road, she heard a loud honking noise. A light beamed
into her peripheral vision, and when she turned her
head, all she saw was a speeding black sedan. No
license plate. Just the scent of rubber, and a scream
she never finished.
****
Five years later, Sandra was seated on a first-class
flight back to the country where she had lost her
children to fix one problem. Her red lips were drawn
in a thin line, and her alluring eyes swirled with
curiosity and displeasure at the engagement
invitation of her half-sister, Mabel, and her former
fiance, Daniel .
No, she wasn’t coming to celebrate this auspicious
occasion with those two. She was flying in to cancel
a previous engagement she never wanted, with a
family she never asked for.
Mabel could take the man, but Lola was here for
something more important.
Five years ago, she lost everything she worked hard
for and the little life that made her heart beat
because of them.
Now, five years and one first-class seat later, she
was finally ready to end it with them once and for all.
And while at it, she might as well make them
remember never to send her another damn invite
about them.
Little did she know, as she was reading this lovely
invitation, two small heads just popped up over the
seats a few rows from where Lola was. Only the tops
of their round faces peeked over the seats—the
highest they could reach. But their wide, round eyes
gleamed clearly as they eyed the beautiful lady in the
last row.
"Ma... mommy," the little girl whispered in awe.
Her twin brother beside her blinked and whispered
back, "We found her."