Andy's Plan

Chapter 22

Being a complacent person like Callum would definitely save your life.

This was one of those moments in life were I didn’t want to be the active part much less think about what was happening to me at the time. I was always calculative about my actions, but my behaviour itself threw caution to the winds already before I even knew it.

My life was such in disarrays that if I was so much like the outside spectator, I would laugh in hysterics at the events of my life unfolding before me. Just great...really great – not!

How ironic that the Andy with a plan always failed with the executions and always saw the fruition of the opposite of those plans?

“I’ve got you,” Callum murmured on my ears as he lifted the empty glass of water away from me. I nodded my head in gratitude as my voice failed me. I so wanted to just crawl inside my shell and never resurface, like the crab I was for having Cancer as my horoscope.

“I’m sorry everyone. Andrea caught some stomach bug from earlier and she just needed some rest. Happy Thanksgiving everybody,” Callum reasoned as he excused us, lifting me up on his arms and carrying me bridal style inside the confines of my parent’s house. I never dared a look to the people around the table as I heard worried whispers. I exaggerated being sick – well I was really sick but not to the point of collapsing, although fainting from severe embarrassment wasn’t that far either – as I clasped Callum’s shirt tightly and hid my face in the cradle of his neck as he marched us inside.

“Where’s your room?” he enquired after trudging up the stairs and arrived at the hallway lined with closed doors.

“Right, last door,” I moaned against his shirt, feeling the mild shock I experienced earlier fading away.

He shifted me on his arms as he opened the right door to my old room and kicked it closed with his foot. “Do you want to use the bathroom first?”

“Yes please...” and he carried me again with the short distance to my small bathroom that came with the room. “You can put me down now. I think I can manage; thank you.” I’d tried for a sincere look but I couldn’t help grimacing at him, remembering the ruckus I just made downstairs.

“You look pale; do you want me to run you a bath?”

“Okay,” I nodded in acknowledgement as I grasped the side of the sink firmly. Callum left me on my own feet as he decided to be the most attentive fiancé by preparing a soak in the nearby small bathtub. I watched my reflection on the mirror and indeed I was pale like an empty sheet of paper and very fragile I might add. The sickness I felt plus the feeling of mortification added up to the anxiousness I suffered drained the blood from my face and I needed to lie down sooner.

Dr. Mallen warned me that my pregnancy was quite sensitive and I had no reason to doubt that whatsoever considering the happenings I experienced so far.

“Holler if you need assistance or anything. I’ll be right outside,” was Callum’s little reminder before he slipped out of the bathroom but not prior to helping me step into the bathtub.

I murmured words of appreciation and before I knew it, I was sighing in bliss as I soaked my body in the warm concoction of lavender oils mixed delicately with water. One by one my taut muscles relaxed as my senses unwind to the comforting ambience and decided that I had enough if I didn’t relish looking like a prune. Clutching a large white fluffy towel, I slid out of the tub and inadvertently caught a glimpse of my reflection in the hefty mirror by the side and noticed the small baby bump that’s getting noticeable.

I wondered for a while how much the amount of time I had before anyone could notice that I was very much pregnant without me uttering any confirmation words. Not much time – I presumed considering how things work out. I guessed, the baby didn’t want to be left behind and was taking things into his/her hands to get as much attention. What a clever one... I wondered if it’s a ‘she’ or a ‘he’. I was sure previous to that it’s a ‘she’ but that beautiful baby girl in my imaginings before, never resurfaced in my dreams these days so that put a cloud of doubt in my presumptions.