chapter five
1064 Words
Anna's Pov
Trevor didn't let go of me for a long time. He held me so tight I could barely breathe.
"A baby," he kept saying. "We're having a baby."
I stood there in his arms feeling like the walls were closing in. I thought telling him about the pregnancy would make things better somehow. That maybe it would change him. Make him want to be a better person.
But the look in his eyes when he said I could never leave scared me more than anything he'd ever done before.
"How far along are you?" he asked when he finally let me go.
"About six weeks I think."
"Six weeks and you're just now telling me?" His smile disappeared. "Were you planning to hide this from me?"
"No. I just wanted to be sure before I said anything."
"Sure of what? That it's mine?"
The accusation hit me like a slap. "Of course it's yours Trevor. Who else would it be?"
"I don't know Anna, you tell me." He crossed his arms. "You've been acting strange lately. How do I know you haven't been talking to someone else?"
"I haven't been talking to anyone. I barely leave the apartment."
"That's what you say." He walked to the window. "But I've seen your phone. All those calls to Samantha. What are you two talking about?"
"Nothing. Just normal friend stuff."
"Is she telling you to leave me? Is that what this is about?" He turned around fast. "Did you get pregnant on purpose so you could trap me?"
"What? No." My voice got high. "I didn't plan this Trevor."
"Then how did it happen? We've been careful."
"Birth control isn't perfect. You know that."
He stared at me for a long minute. I couldn't tell what he was thinking and that scared me more than anything.
"Fine," he finally said. "If it's mine then we need to move the wedding up. I want us married before you start showing."
"Move it up? Trevor the wedding is in four weeks."
"So we'll do it in two weeks instead. Cameron can handle the arrangements."
"But everything is already planned for next month."
"Then we'll change the plans." He came back over to me. "I want my child born legitimate Anna, that means we get married now."
I wanted to argue. I wanted to say we should wait. But the look on his face told me there was no point.
"Okay," I said quietly.
"Good." He kissed my forehead. "I'll call Cameron today. We'll have a small ceremony. Just close friends and family."
After he left for work I sat on the couch and put my hand on my stomach. There was a baby growing inside me. A tiny person who would be born into this mess I thought.
My phone rang. It was Samantha.
"Hey," I answered.
"I've been thinking," she said. "About what we talked about."
"Samantha, I can't think about that right now."
"Why not?"
I took a deep breath. "Because I'm pregnant."
The line went silent.
"Oh Anna." Her voice cracked. "Please tell me you're not going through with the wedding now."
"Trevor wants to move it up. He wants us married in two weeks."
"That doesn't mean you have to stay. You can leave and raise the baby yourself. I'll help you." She said.
"I need to go," I said.
"Anna wait."
"I said I need to go Samantha."
I hung up before she could say anything else.
That night Trevor came home with baby books and magazines.
"Look what I got," he said, spreading them on the table. "We need to start planning. The nursery needs to be painted. We need to buy furniture and clothes."
He looked happy like the baby was the best thing that ever happened to him.
"Trevor, can we talk about something?" I asked.
"What?"
"About how things are going to be different. Once the baby comes."
"What do you mean different?"
"I mean you can't act the way you've been acting. You can't yell and get angry. Babies need stability."
His face got hard. "Are you saying I'm not stable?"
"I'm saying we both need to work on things. For the baby."
"I work on things every day, Anna. I provide for you, I take care of you. What more do you want?"
"I want you to stop hurting me."
"Trevor, you know when, the hitting, the yelling. The way you mess with my head."
"I don't mess with your head. You're the one who forgets things and makes up stories." He stood up. "I think pregnancy hormones are making you confused."
"I'm not confused. I know what you do."
"What I do is love you. What I do is try to make you happy even though nothing is ever good enough for you." His voice got louder. "I gave up everything for you. I changed my whole life. And this is how you repay me? By accusing me of abuse?"
"I'm not accusing. I'm just saying.”
"You're being dramatic, hormonal and Irrational." He grabbed his car keys. "I'm going out. When I come back I expect an apology."
The door slammed behind him.
I sat there alone in the quiet apartment. My hand went to my stomach again.
"I'm sorry," I whispered to the baby. "I'm so sorry."
Two weeks later we got married at city hall. Cameron was there as a witness. Trevor's business partner was the other witness. That was it. No big ceremony. No white dress. No family or friends.
Just me signing my name on a paper that legally tied me to Trevor forever.
"You're officially Mrs Green," Trevor said after. He kissed me in front of Cameron and his partner. "Finally."
I smiled because I was supposed to, but linside I felt like I was drowning.
That night in bed Trevor put his hand on my stomach.
"Our baby," he said. "Our perfect little family."
I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.
But I wasn't sleeping. I was planning, thinking and trying to figure out how to escape.
Because Samantha was right. I couldn't raise a baby in this house. I couldn't let Trevor be a father. I couldn't keep living like this.
I just needed to figure out how to leave without him finding me.
And I needed to do it before the baby came.
- Writer
