The Georgia Series Collection

Chapter 6

Twenty-seven Hours Earlier

Twenty-seven Hours EarlierFive months pregnant. How could I have missed the signs? The doctor told me that under normal circumstances I"d have known. My thoughts turned to Colin. I played the scene over in my mind. A definite mindblower. I imagined his anger and could hear him say, “Georgia, how could you let this happen?” Hmm … self-inflicted, like he didn"t play a part in it.

Five months pregnant. How could I have missed the signs?A definite mindblowerHmm … self-inflicted, like he didn"t play a part in it.“To hell with him,” I muttered, hurrying along the busy street. Ten years of supporting him through law school, waiting for him to feel secure enough to start a family, and, then, five months ago the bastard left me for Julie Newman, his pregnant assistant. I bet she planned it, the husband-stealing b***h. He said it was the right thing to do—to leave me for his lover, I mean. I wondered if things might be different if he"d known about my pregnancy first.

I bet she planned it, the husband-stealing bitchmyWell, she could have him. I didn"t want a man to stay with me out of obligation because I carried his baby. A marriage needs more than that. I laughed out loud at the thought of the look on Julie"s face when she learns about my imminent childbirth. People on the street stared as I snorted with glee. Let her put up with his selfish ways and wash his dirty socks and underwear. She took him away from me, but now, he"d have to support two babies. Nothing could change that. The more people stared, the more I laughed self-consciously, practically crossing my legs to keep from peeing.

Well, she could have him.This baby could be my greatest revenge. I cringed. Was I really that bitter? Who am I? The revelation of my pregnancy still confused me, since I had only found out about it yesterday. However, the baby growing inside of me deserved more than being considered an act of revenge. Tomorrow I was flying home to Vancouver. What a shocker this baby will be for my family and friends. I smiled. As confusing and overwhelming this new revelation was to me, my mother would be happy—her first grandchild.

This baby could be my greatest revenge.Was I really that bitter? Who am I?The past month had been spent in Whitehorse, visiting my childhood friend. Her husband was away on business, leaving us to reconnect and reminisce. We travelled the Yukon Territory with ease. The roads were quiet. Most of the tourist places were closed for the season. But we"d shopped, dined, and hiked all over this vast area. Marion was the perfect host. Her outgoing personality had pulled me out of my shell. My knowledge of the Yukon had been limited a month ago. Travels with Marion, and nights of reading about the history of the area increased my knowledge base. Adding that to the down-to-earth warmth of the northern people, I felt at home here and began to understand the ways of the land.

I entered the restaurant where Marion sat waiting for me. She waved from the back of the restaurant and I gestured towards the washroom, heading straight there. Relief! After washing my hands, I held them under the hot water, feeling the heat surge up my arms and through my chilled body. I turned to a full- length mirror and the reflection staring back at me was very serious. My large dark eyes revealed the insecurity I felt about this new direction in my life. I removed my jacket and examined the petite, slim image before me. My hands ran down the sides of my abdomen. A slight bump was the only indication of the new life developing within. My breasts were definitely larger. I stared into my face again and noted for the first time, the glow of a healthy, rosy complexion. My long brunette hair fell past my shoulders in a bounce of curls and waves, framing my cheeks. I ran my fingers through my hair to fluff it up around my face.

Relief!A woman appeared behind me waiting to use the sink. I gave her a smile, grabbed my jacket and left the room.

“There you are,” Marion chirped. “I ordered the lunch special for both of us. Hope that"s okay? We loved it the last time we were here.”

I settled in a chair opposite her. “That"s fine. We"re running a bit late because of me.”

“How did it go?”

“No problem, they confirmed my flight home to Vancouver tomorrow. I didn"t expect the long line- up.”

Marion studied my face intensely. “So … how do feel about going home with the news of your pregnancy.”

I let out a long sigh. “It"s a little daunting. You know I wanted to have a baby for the longest time, but not alone. Life can really be unfair. My husband impregnated me a mere five weeks after his lover became pregnant. And the whole time he planned to leave me.”

“Sounds more like a horny bastard than a husband,” Marion said.

As crude as it sounded, it was the right comment I needed at that moment. We burst out in laughter. The waitress delivered our lunch. “Enjoy,” she said, with a smirk. We laughed again, knowing she"d overheard Marion"s remark. We spent the next twenty minutes Colin bashing.

“Mom will be ecstatic—her first grandchild. It"s so hard to fathom I reached five months without suspecting my pregnancy.”

“Not really. The doctor covered that. You lost weight grieving over "numb-nuts" and you"re carrying the baby to the back, so you hardly even show at this point. Besides, the baby hasn"t moved yet.”

“That"s all true. I"d attributed the nausea and lack of monthly cycles to emotional stress. There was some spotting in the initial months. I guess I just wasn"t paying attention to my body.

“Understandably,” Marion said.

“My suspicions were certainly there since I"ve been in Whitehorse, but I tried to ignore them. Once the tenderness and swelling of my breasts increased, deep down I knew it was time to deal face it. The doctor said the baby should move anytime now.”

The waitress cleared away our dishes. “Dessert, ladies?”

Marion spoke for both of us. “No thanks. Just coffee, please. We have a mother-to-be here.” She nodded at me with a giggle. “We need to watch what we feed her.”

“Congratulations, how far along are you?” the waitress asked me.

“Five months.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Really? You don"t look that far along.”

Marion threw up her hands. “See? You don"t even look pregnant.”

“I can"t believe a whole month has passed. I hoped the unfamiliarity and anonymity here would help me make some sense of my life and maybe help me find my passion.”

Marion looked perplexed. “Your passion?”

“Ya … something to bring the joy and the laughter back.” I rubbed my stomach to ease the tension. “Perhaps, it"s this baby. One thing I did find out is there"s life after Colin.”

“Hallelujah! You"ve done a lot of healing this month and I"m so glad I could be a part of it.” Marion reached across the table and squeezed my hand.

“I don"t have the answers yet about who I am, or the what, where, and when of it all, but I know who I don"t want to be.”

“Who"s that?”

The waitress came back with the coffee pot. I waited for her to leave before replying.

“A woman who doesn"t think for herself, who wears what she"s told to wear, and gets coached what not to say at business dinners … can you believe I let Colin run my life that way?”

Marion put her coffee down. “Yes. You know even as a child, you were always the complacent one who never made waves.”

“Wasn"t I though? I lost myself to Colin because I went along with everything he said. One day, I overheard him joking with a colleague. He told him that the secret to a good marriage was control. He said that everything in my head, everything that I thought, he"d put there. “

“What an arrogant prick.”

“Hearing that really hurt me. It was the beginning of my awareness about who I"d become.”

My best friend stared at me and then squinted. “You need to become empowered.”

“Empowered—what a great sounding word that is,” I mused.

We sat in silence, sipping our coffee, lost in our own thoughts. I tried to recall the last time I experienced a sense of power.

“Do you remember the summer we were five and I broke my arm?” I asked.

“Are you kidding? How could I ever forget? I was the kid right behind you, chasing you back to home base. I heard the bone c***k when you hit that cement sidewalk. I carried the guilt of it for years.”

My eyebrows shot up. “But it wasn"t your fault I decided to take a shortcut and jump over that low wire fence.”

“Tell that to a five-year-old who could always beat you home,” Marion said. “I was about to pass you when you took that jump. I believed I pushed you too hard.”

“You should"ve told me, silly.” I reached over and squeezed Marion"s hand. “My arm broke in two places.” I pointed to a spot above my wrist and another below the elbow. “They gave me anesthesia at the hospital to reset it. Mom took me to bed with her that night and when I woke up the next morning, I felt nauseous. My brother and my two male cousins peered at me through the metal bars of the bed frame at the bottom of the bed.”

“Ah yes … your brother Kris and cousins Jimmy and Kevin. Whenever those three were together, that meant trouble for us,” Marion snickered.

I giggled. “They teased us mercilessly, didn"t they? Anyway, they stared at me with great anticipation, begging to see my cast. I sat up far too quickly, letting the covers fall to expose my arm. With unprecedented accuracy, I projectile vomited in their direction.”

Marion squealed with laughter. “How come I don"t remember this? What did they do?”

“They ran out of the bedroom screaming. I felt much better and relished the thought that I, five- year-old Georgia, grossed out three older boys.”

We shared another laugh. “Empowerment!” I said.

“Ah…” Marion said, softly.

“Pathetic, isn"t it?”

“What is?” she asked.

“That I"ve been sitting here trying to recall when I felt empowered in my life, and the only thing that comes to mind is an incident at five years of age.”

“Hmm—if you can be empowered at five; you can be empowered at thirty.”

“Oh Marion, you always find the right words to say. You really are a great friend and I love you dearly.”

“And I you. Talking about being empowered, think about this. Perhaps you weren"t meant to find out about the baby until you were ready to handle it. These past months would have been a lot harder to bear if you"d known.”

I gave her a pensive look. “You have a point there.”

We left the restaurant and started towards the costume shop. Today was Halloween. We headed to our appointment to pick up costumes for a party at the community hall tonight. My friend lived outside the city and no one made the long trek up the driveways of their rural neighbors" houses. The small community held a party for parents and kids every year.

Marion turned at the corner, expecting me to follow.

“Hey, I"m going to run to the drugstore down the next block and buy those vitamins the doctor told me to take.”

Marion stopped and looked back. “Okay. I"ll meet you at the costume store, one block over behind the d**g store.” She turned away and threw over her shoulder with a giggle, “But don"t run, mama.”

“Yes, boss. Shouldn"t be more than ten minutes.”

In the pharmacy section, I found the vitamins that the doctor had recommended for pregnant women, and a pocket book called What to Expect When You"re Expecting.

What to Expect When You"re Expecting“Are these for you, dear?” the salesclerk asked.

I nodded and she added, “Congratulations.”

I smiled proudly. “Thank you.”

Wow, in one spontaneous moment, I owned my pregnancy. It actually felt good. I pushed my way through the rear door into the back lane—a shortcut to the costume shop.

Wow, in one spontaneous moment, I owned my pregnancy.A cold, brisk wind whipped my long hair across my face. A good indication that winter was on its way to the north. The dirty, narrow laneway served as a wind tunnel, and a sudden gust funneled a swirling cloud of grit and papers against my body. I braced myself against its powerful surge and started down the alley. Stuffing my purchases into my oversized jacket pocket, my wallet slipped to the ground and I stooped down to pick it up.

I heard the sound of running feet and glanced up from where I was crouched. Two men with backpacks wearing ski masks came charging around the street corner at the far end of the alley. I gasped. The taller one held a revolver and I froze. The shorter man pulled off his mask and threw his pack into a parked car. His brown, stringy hair hung to his shoulders and his dark eyes were full of surprise as he noticed me crouched down ahead of them. The two men exchanged looks and nodded.

“You drive.” The masked man threw his bag to his partner and headed towards me.

I screamed and pushed myself up to my feet. With little time to run, he caught me by my hood and jerked me to an abrupt stop.

“Oh no you don"t … you"re coming with us.” He grasped my hood tighter, pulling my hair as he dragged me backwards.

“Ow … let me go!” I cried. We struggled and I stomped on his foot. He punched me in the stomach, knocking the air out of me. I fell to my knees clutching my abdomen in pain. Oh no, my baby. Please don"t hurt my baby. The man pulled me to my feet as the unmasked driver stopped the car beside us.

Oh no, my baby. Please don"t hurt my babyA group of people entered the lane. I screamed. “Help me, please!”

They began to yell and one of them ran towards us. My abductor pointed his g*n at him and the man stopped. They stared as my captor slammed me into the back seat. The masked man jumped in beside me and placed the g*n against my head. “And shut the hell up.” His snakelike hiss, made my skin crawl. I curled up as far back into the seat as possible and wrapped my arms around me to protect my aching stomach. I bit my lips to keep from crying out.

The engine accelerated and the vehicle sped off down the lane. The car turned one corner and then another, until heading south of town. I bounced sideways across the seat into my abductor. Disgust filled me to the core. I pushed myself back with a shudder and snapped on the seat belt.