Chains

Chapter 29

" Ok, Louisa. Just go in there and tell her what you have to say".

I took in deep breaths as I prepared myself to face Shakira. I delayed telling her about my pregnancy due to the fact that she just gave birth to Sasha and her hormones could only permit her to handle so much and no more. I decided to wait until she somewhat recovered from the aftermath of childbirth which was surprisingly quick, but then again this was her second child so she would be use to it by now.

I tried to calm myself before I entered the house, hence my verbal self pep talks and the constant breathing exercises. I tried to convince myself that I had nothing to worry about but deep down I knew that she was bound to go off on me. The problem wasn't the fact that I was pregnant; it was the fact that I was telling her two months after I found out about it. What made me feel even worse was that Maluma had told his family about it already which earned me a visit from his aunt, sister and mother, but Shakira and Gerard were still unaware of the situation. Not to mention my mom and dad who were now here visiting the newest addition to the family.

I was about to open the door when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Maluma staring down at me, his eyes filled with amusement.

"You've been in the same position for the last 15 minutes.I thought you said you had this under control?" he questioned, holding back one of his infamous smiles. I glanced at the door before me then back at him.

"I do" I retorted, but I still didn't reach out to open the door. Maluma noticed and let out a short laugh. My eyes averted to the bouquet of silver balloons in his hand.I gave him a questioning look which made him crack a small.

"For when you chicken out" he said tapping my nose with his free hand. His lack of confidence in me was appalling but I was secretly happy that he had a backup plan for when my nervousness got the better of me.I watched in horror as he then reached out and rang the doorbell. I flashed my head towards him as I sent a cold glare his way.

"What? You should have no problem with this since you have this under control."

Before I could reply, the door opened revealing Gerard. He sent a warm smile our way as he reached out to give me a hug.

"Lou!" he greeted, ruffling my hair a bit. I pulled away while scrunching my nose up at him.

"Was that necessary" I sad, patting down the hair he had messed up. He chuckled as he did his usual handshake with Maluma. I entered the house slowly as my nervousness started to take over again. To my dismay, it took us less than a second to reach the living room which filled with familiar faces.

I groaned internally as a realized that my family wasn't the only one there. Neymar and Rafaela had unfortunately joined the mix. I could feel my anxiety take over once more.

"Louisa" Shakira sang, lengthening the last syllable in my name. Her outburst brought everyone's attention on me, making me even more nervous. I greeted everyone in the room but gave special attention to my parents who I haven't seen in so long. After we were all settled Shakira gave me an expecting look as if she was waiting on me to say something. When I gave her a questioning look, she sighed then revealed her warm smile.

"What's the big news that you have to tell us?" she asked as Gerard sat beside her.I watched as they all looked at me intently, waiting for me to speak. I stood up from my seat but I couldn't seem to utter a word. My mind kept bringing up Neymar and how awkward it would be after the news was announced. But then again why should I care? We both clearly moved on from each other so there shouldn't be any feelings to hurt in the first place, right? I soon became lost in the clutter that was my mind about the possible reactions my family was going to have. The negative reactions infiltrated my mind until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Once again Maluma stood behind me with the balloons in his hand. He gave me a reassuring smile and a kiss on the cheek before turning his attention to my family.

"So instead of telling you guys what we have to say, we thought it would be fun if you guys put in a little work first". I watched as he let go of the balloons, making everyone curious about what was about to happen, even me.

"Hidden inside the balloons are pieces to a puzzle that you have to figure out. The finished piece will reveal what we have to tell you. Have fun"

My attention immediately turned to Maluma, a large smile now plastered on my face. His idea was perfect. He noticed my stare and turned towards me. I watched as he gave a wink followed by a large smile as he took out his phone to video the situation.

We watched intently as they caught the balloons and popped them, releasing pieces to the puzzle. Shakira let out a squeal every time a balloon was popped as she wasn't too fond of balloons but her curiosity enabled her to endure her pet peeve.

It didn't take long for all the balloons to be popped however, joining the pieces together took a little more time. As the puzzle became clearer, my mom and Shakira both shot me a look, revealing that they had an idea of what it was about. With only 4 more pieces to go until it was complete, the picture of my ultra-sound was more visible now. Shakira shot up from her seat and ran over to me with my mom following her actions. They screamed with joy as they embraced me.

Congratulations filled the air which made me smile even wider as I realized that I had nothing to worry about in the first place. Everyone was happy or at least almost everyone.

Amidst the hugs and happy squeals, Neymar stayed seated as he stared my way. The look on his face was one filled with conflict. He looked as though he was trying to figure out whether or not he was to come over to where we were. To my surprise he got up but he had no intention congratulating me. Instead he made his way out of the living room and out of the house, taking his leave. His actions didn't go unnoticed by everyone else which brought on a period of silence between us all. Rafaela sighed then smiled at me.

"Don't mind him ok" she said giving me one more hug. I nodded my head at her statement then forced a small smile. A small part of me felt bad for doing this while he was here but he was bound to find out sooner or later. 

The awkwardness soon subsided and everyone was back to celebrating the new addition to the family but a feeling of guiltiness still hung over me. We both moved on,right? So why did he make me feel like I did something wrong?