A Necessary Struggle: Fall Semester

Part 16

"What do you mean...you're pregnant?" Carter quickly pulled his dewy body off her. "How do you know?" He wrapped the white sheet around his waist, his chest racing up and down.

"I went to the doctor." The cold air chilled Safiya's naked body. She reached for her bra at the end of the bed. "For acid reflux." She watched him as she clasped the pink lace bra and rearranged her tender breast delicately. Confusion painted his face as he glared at the wall behind her. She couldn't tell if he was going to swallow or vomit. "I'm as surprised as you." She stepped into her black cotton panties and pulled them over her apple bottom, thanks to that squat challenge Samuel signed them up for at the University Gym.

"I thought you were on the pill." His glare moved from the beige wall to Safiya's bronze frame.

"I am," Safiya spoke through her teeth.

"Then how could this happen." He pointed his vein-riddled hand at her stomach while his other hand clenched the sheet.

Safiya's caramel eyes started to mist, "Why are you yelling at me like I did this on purpose!"

He cocked up his head displaying his angular chin as his eyes narrowed, "Did you?"

Safiya tsked rolling her eyes, "Really!"

"Are you really pregnant?" He glanced at her stomach. She didn't look pregnant. Her abdomen was slightly protruding but she could've eaten too much chicken last night. "Is this some kind of ploy to get me back?"

"Fuck you! You're not that fucking special." She looked away from the cocky grin on his perfect face. He knew she was lying. She loved everything about him from his beautiful body to his captivating mind. He was the only one that knew all the names of the anchors on CNN, MSNBC, and MGN. Yeah, they had sex like porn stars but they talked, too. They talked about everything; Boko Haram, President Johnston's War on Terrorism, Steph Curry's jump shot.

Safiya scowled at him with her hands resting on her bare waist, "I don't need to have a ploy to get you back, Carter Russell! I called you once!" She held up her finger. "Once after two months of silence and you booked our room in ten minutes."

The sheet swept the floor as Carter moved around the bed, "Don't you have a boyfriend?" He stopped in front of her stroking his eyebrow. "Garner? Is it?"

"How do you–" Safiya knew how. Harmony was his teaching assistant (TA) he probably overheard. "I do...I did."

"How do you know its not his?"

"I dated him for a month."

"How do you know its mine?"

"I'm not the cheater here, Carter." Safiya punched his bare chest; he flinched for posterity. "You are!" She yanked her blue jeans off the floor and put them on. "When did you give me time to find another guy?" She wiggled the jeans up to her thighs. "You had me under you seven days a week for two months like I was your wife. When you have one." She tried to pull up the zipper but it wouldn't budge.

Carter pushed her frantic hands out the way.

"I guess I'm not a size two, anymore." She looked up trying to suck her stomach in as much as she could.

Carter drug up the zipper and fastened the brass button, "I'm sorry." He lightly smiled caressing her soft cheek. He bent down and kissed her forehead, "I already have a family."

"Okay." Safiya shrugged. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He kissed her again, this time on the neck, "You have to fix this."

Safiya looked into his dazzling eyes. "I know you're not saying what I think you're saying."

"I'll...pay...for it," Carter uttered between kisses.

Safiya ripped his hands off her, "I'm not getting an abortion!"

"I don't want it!" He threw his hands up.

"I do."

"I'm not helping you."

"I didn't ask for your help." Safiya exhaled. A faint smile etched its way across her face. "It's gone." She smiled at him a little brighter.

Carter stared at her, "What?" He huffed.

Safiya grabbed her tank top off the armchair, "My need for you." She pulled on her shirt and fanned her straight auburn hair over her shoulder. She slipped on her flip-flops and headed towards the door.

"You're leaving?" Carter breathed like every breath was his last.

"You have a family." She gripped the doorknob. "I'm having your baby." She twisted the doorknob. "And you don't want it." She opened the door, and the ambient noise from the hallway leaked into the room. "Bye, Carter." The door slammed behind her.

Do you think Carter was out of line?