Ephemeral Echoes

Chapter 4: The Truth

Lily stopped from cheering and looked at her with a confusion sculpted on her face. She saw Emily looking shocked and was teary eyed while staring at the paper result of her laboratory. "You.... doesn't seem happy, Emily. Are you?" Lily probably sensed her true emotions. Emily was torn between saying Lily about it or just hid it and keep her pregnancy from everyone, including her real friends Bessie and Leo. But she did not want to create any conflict between them or think that Emily does not include them on her life decisions.

And besides, her tummy will get bigger and bigger sooner or later, so what was the point of hiding?

Emily gulped and folded the paper. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand that fell on her cheek because of her sudden move. She sighed and tried her best to say something without making her voice c***k.

"Lily... Uhh... I don't know how to say this," She started with her both hands on her waist, she sometimes wiping her tears and her nose while pulling back her confidence to say it. "What?" Lily was so impatient, she was really curious as to why Emily was not happy about her pregnancy. "I got into a one night stand with a random stranger...." She paused. Lily widened her eyes and her jaw dropped, Emily looked at her while biting her lips. She did not know what Lily would think of her, she was her friends but her relationship with Lily was not the same with Bessie and Leo, however they were still close.

They eat together and hangout together in or outside their workplace, hence it she thought that saying her secret early would be okay. But of course, emotions like that of them was inevitable but what more if Leo and Bessie would know. What would be their reaction?

Lily blinked her eyes repeatedly. She was speechless, words could not come out in her mouth. Emily expected that and that was her reaction as well.

"Wh....what would you do about it? Would you abort it?" Lily asked, she could sensed that her friend was silently praying her to not to do it. Emily scratched her head and sat on her swivel chair, her both elbows were on the table and covering her face. She would sometimes scratch her face with it, she was in a deep dilemma.

"I don't know, Lily. I don't know... what should I do? This was all my fault... If I did not try it again or just ask him to use any... any protection, then I it would not ended it like this," Emily seemed disappointed to herself. Her friend, Lily, went close to her slowly and caressed her back softly. "It's okay, Emily. I will support whatever your decision is," For Emily, that was the kindest word she had heard that day and probably the words she needed the most.

She left the hospital after her and Lily talk, the latter did make sure first that she was fine since she had been feeling sick before she let her ho home. But Emily did not go straight home, she went a bakery first and bought Bessie a box of Blue Berry donut and a Spanish Latte. They were always here studying and chitchatting with lots of gossips they have heard everywhere and talk about alot of things while they were in college. Sometimes they are visiting here for a Blue Berry Donut because this bakery was making the best Blue Berry donut in their city, they can't replace it. However, due to their busy schedule and they are always crashing with each other, they could not hangout anymore in a group and eat here.

Emily decides to buy her friend a Blue Berry Donut because she wanted to visit Bessie. She had been planning of keeping about the baby for a week or two until she is ready to tell it to her friends. But her conscience did not want to, it kept on pushing and pushing her to tell Bessie. She messaged Leo earlier if she could come to Bessie's house because she was free the whole night and wanted to visit her, but Lel refused because of his busy schedule in the lab.

"Thanks for the Blue Berry! You know...

" Bessie paused and chew on her donut, she also wiped the syrup at the side of her lips and nodded as she savored the sweetness and softness of it. "I have been craving this for a month now, but I can't go there because it was opposite to my work's place. They does not have a delivery too. Hays, we are already in 21st century but they does not want to acknowledge technology!" Bessie complained while she was finishing to eat her first donut and grabbed another one. She even gestured Emily to get one and eat but tha latter refused, it was all for Bessie.

"How are you by the way? Are you feeling good already?" She asked and wiped her hands with a wet wipes and grabbed her phone to type and text someone. "Ah.. yes," She said calmly. Her words were short because she was thinking of how would she tell Bessie, should she tell it directly or ask her if what would be her reaction if by any chance she will get pregnant?

They were silent for a moment because Bessie was talking to someone on her phone while she was still chewing her donut in her mouth. Emily tried to wait ber but she could not stop from texting someone.

"I am pregnant, Bessie," She said directly in the middle of an ear-defeaning silence. Bessie nodded which made Emily raised her brow, confused. "Okay, that's good," Bessie replied immediately. Emily on the other hand sensed that probably her friend did not realise yet what she had just said to her so she was silent and let Bessie absorb it. Later on, Bessie stopped from typing and slowly transferred her eyes from hee phone to Emily's face.

Emily was afraid at that moment because of her sudden pause of action. Bessie was staring at her while Emily was bitting ber lip. "What the heck.... did you just say, Emily?" Bessie got serious, it seemed like she was a bit mad at her. Emily got suddenly emotional and became teary eyed probably because she already has a child slowly forming in her tummy, she knew ever since being emotional or having mood swings all the time was normal and common for a pregnant women.

"Who's the father? The guy you slept with the last time?" Bessie questioned again, this time she put her phone on her bed and sat closer to Emily, the latter was sobbing already she could not stop it. Emily nodded her head slightly, "Yes. He was the only guy I've slept with," Bessie combed her hair upwards and scratched her head, she does not know what to do.

They went silence, only Emily's sob could hear at the for corners of the living room. Bessie just let her friend cry she even offered her shoulder for her to lean on and caressed her back softly. Emily's cry were composed of sadness, stress, and disappointments. She has no problems in terms of financial because she was doing great in her work and getting paid right, she has savings and into investing hence she was financially stable to begin with.

She also came from a wealthy family. Her parents has businesses in and outside of their city, they were giving her money every month even though she kept on refusing. They do not ask for her consent anymore or orient her that whenever they will send her a money, they will just transfer it to her bank account. Everytime her parents gave her money, she do not use it and directly put it on her savings bank account.

Ever since she was a kid, she promised to herself that she will build a bery healthy and family because she came from it. Emily wanted to continue that cycle, and that was where her disappointments came from, she failed to do that. She was pregnant and the father of her child was a stranger, she just knew her name.

"What do you want to do, Emily? Do you want to find the guy, we will going to help," Bessie spoke, Emily stopped from crying and looked at her. Bessie wiped Emily's tears with her thumb because she probably could not see her due to her eyes filled with tears.

Emily shook her head as a sign of diapproval. Bessie looked at her confused she also furrowed her forehead, "Why? Girl, you have to find the father and tell him you have his child!" Emily held Bessie's hand and sobbed because she thought she did not have the right decision in her mind.

"Hello—" a voice of a man suddenly appeared and a figure of a guy appeared as the door opened. Leo stopped at the door when she saw Bessie and there was Emily beside her crying. Leo furrowed his forehead due to the confusion he felt and immediately ran towards them, he sat beside Emily and looked at her.

"What happened? Why are you crying?" He asked and wiped her tears with the back of his hand. He looked worried at her. "I thought you can't come," Bessie asked her. Leo glanced at Bessie and shrugged. "I got stressed so I decided to go here. I texted you! You did not reply to me," Leo pointed Bessie blaming her that he went there straight without their knowledge.

Bessie opened her phone and saw Leo's message. "Ahh.... sorry, I got busy to have a conversation with her," she apologized and pointed Emily with her lips, the latter was still crying, does not know what to say to Leo. Bessie sensed that Emily did not know how to start and how to construct her words.

"She's pregnant," Bessie immediately spoke that made Emily and Leo got shocked. Emily stopped crying when Leo forced her to looked at him by pulling her shoulders a bit. "What? Who is the father?" He asked and she did not answer. Emily shook her head while she shed tears again, Bessie just stared at her, her heart could not take the fact that her bestfriend was crying because she was pregnant. She was not crying because she was pregnant, she was crying because she was pregnant and her child won't have a child.

"So..... you don't know his father?" He asked again while he was caressing her tummy. "Someone...someone I met at the bar," Emily confessed. Basically, the father was a stranger even though she knew his name and where he lived.

"Well.... I can be the father," Leo said directly that made Bessie and Emily threw her an eye.