Men In My Bed

Chapter 7

A week after her last meeting with Dale, Keila flew back to the countryside where she grew up. Different from the noisy capital city where she decided to work and live a life away from gossiping old ladies, the countryside is silent on the outside but full of noisy rumors inside, shared by those who frequents the public places like small canteens, plaza and government offices.

"This...Oh my! Keila!" Her mother immediately hugged her when she saw her in front of their house after three years of not going back home. "How are you?," she asked. It seems like, this month, she's been asked how she is by many people.

But truthfully... How is she? She can't even say she's fine because she's not but she's not totally unwell either. She's in between being fine getting pregnant but anxious for her future as a mother.

"Mama..."

Noticing that her child does not want to exchange words at the entrance, Keila's mother took the luggage she's carrying and pulled it inside their house while holding Keila with her other hand. From time to time, she will look back to Keila and smile.

"It's okay, okay?," she comforted her.

It may be her mother's instinct as the person who gave birth to Keila but Karina Forger felt that there's something wrong when she saw her only child in front of their house after she stopped contacting them for three years.

"So, you're saying that you're pregnant? Who's the bastard who got you pregnant?"

Unlike her mother who acted calmly when she broke the news, her father was furious. "Keila, what have you done?," he asked, completely disappointed at her.

"I'm sorry," Keila apologized. Although it won't suffice to calm him down, there's no more word that is much more appropriate than sorry.

Wilhelm Forger massaged the bridge of his nose as the shock, the news given, gave him a headache. He can't take that someone defiled her beloved princess and threw all of the responsibilities afterwards.

"Is it Dale?"

Wilhelm knows about Dale. That bastard kid has been hanging with his princess ever since they were in highschool and he's the main reason why Keila flew to the capital and decided to not contact them. When the kid graduated and their family moved to the capital, that's when Keila started to act rebellious towards them.

He clenched his hand and slammed the table again. "If it is that bastard, tell him to eat his semen next time and not to show his face in front of me. My princess doesn't deserve any of this."

Keila blushed when her father referred to her as his princess just like when she was a child.

"Pa..."

"What?," he growled at her, which did not surprise Keila anymore.

"I...I'll give birth to this child."

"Why...of course— that's common sense. Why are you stating the obvious?" Wilhelm frowned at Keila before speaking again. "Seems like you're misinterpreting something but I am not against you getting pregnant. I just don't want to see you suffer all alone because some dirty bastard dumped all of the responsibilities to you. Although you're still young, it is not that uncommon anymore to get pregnant at your age. Hmp! You're already 24 anyway."

Keila laughed at her father's last form of defiance.

"This is not a laughing matter, Keila!," he scolded her while crossing her eyebrows which made Keila laugh more. Truly, nothing has changed in those three years she's absent in that house. The walls are still painted white and her mother is still growing orchids in their garden while her father acts like a spoiled rich brat who secretly loves his family and has a soft spot for his wife. It is the best.

After talking with her parents, Keila's day was wasted inside her own bedroom. Too tired to make another step, she slept the remaining hours of the day and that resulted in a midnight craving.

It's one o'clock in the morning when she felt her stomach grumble. She hasn't eaten any dinner yet and she doesn't remember if she ate lunch either. Five minutes after her waking up, she rose from the bed and walked to the kitchen to grab some food to eat. Distracted by which food she'll prepare or get, she did not notice her mother standing by the kitchen's door.

"Can we have a little talk, sweetie?"

Keila looked at the woman who spoke from her back. Although she is already aged and wrinkles are already visible on her seemingly perfect face, she's still glowing like a radiant beauty in the middle of a flower garden. Even the orchids she's taking care of are incomparable to her innocence.

"Mama?"

Karina smiled at her and pulled her to one of the chairs that are part of the kitchen set.

"There's something that I want to hear from you. Keila, tell me, honestly, is Dale the father of your child?"

Keila shook her head and averted her mother's gaze. She can't look at her straight to the eye that made her mother more curious.

"Keila, you're lying. I know you since you are a small fetus, kicking the life out of me inside my womb so there's no point in lying to your mother. Just tell me, is it Dale?"

"I...I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Karina's voice became louder after hearing that.

"It's..."

"Keila?," she called to her again with a hint of warning in her voice. "Look me straight in the eye and tell me what's going on."

"I'm sorry..." Keila's tears started to flow, dampening her mother's hands that are holding hers. "Truth is..." And she relayed the whole story to her without hiding any information starting from her break up to Dale to the night she spent with males she didn't know. "And then Dale...he went to the house and asked me again if we could go back together. Ma, even if I do...I-I can't let him because I am pregnant. And there's—"

"You don't need to get back to a man who can change his mind in a few breaths. That kind of man is a trash who would make your life miserable because of his indecisiveness." Wilhelm sighed. He can hear clearly from the stairs what they were talking about even though he doesn't want to eavesdrop. "And that thing you're talking about with your mother, don't let anyone know about it. Just say that the kid's father went abroad, that's why you're staying with us. You know the neighborhood, they're noisier than squawking goose."