The Choices We Make

Chapter 1

So far, so far, she had not experienced any false contractions that had her rushing to the ER. No water breaking in the shower. No spotting, too. She had taken tremendous effort to eat healthy and stay healthy. Heck, before she would put food or drink in her mouth, she'd first research if it was safe for the baby. Rhea would come along during her regular checkups with her OB-GYNE. But most times, she'd go to appointments by herself. Yanna had been able to manage everything on her own. And she hoped it would stay that way. 

“Parker isn’t as organized as you, but he gets the job done,” Olive told her as soon as Yanna was done pretending to check her stuff in her locker, breaking her train of thought. “Don’t worry so much about the project. I’ll make sure to oversee the progress.”

"Thanks, Olive. I'm just in my unit if something comes up."

"Jeeze, Yanna, think about your baby more, will you?" Olive almost begged. "Go home and rest, you don't need the stress from the working environment."

"For the record, the walking is actually good for me and the baby," she defended. “I’m just really passing time before I head to my check-up.”

Olive shook her head in resignation. "Call me or anyone in the team if you need anything. It might be you who'll need our help if something comes up. Remember: it takes a village to raise a child."

A village that was readily available had she agreed with DJ’s plans, a small part of herself pointed out. 

"We're your village." Olive reached out to press Yanna's arm, reassuring her that she made the right decision. Because she was once in Yanna's shoes — a pregnant woman about to take care of her baby alone. The difference between them was that Yanna ghosted on the baby daddy, not the other way around.

Yanna blinked fast to stop her eyes from watering. It was one of the side effects of pregnancy hormones. Her emotions were all over the place. "Thanks, Olive. I really appreciate it."

When she finally left the office, she debated whether to go to the nearest mall to resume her walking exercises or to go to a salad store for a healthy drink. That had always been her strategy: to narrow down her options to two and choose the better one. Black or white, milk tea or yogurt, drama or comedy, sleep or eat, to stay or to leave. Yanna had always picked one side and stuck to it no matter the consequences. To her, there were no gray areas.

She was halfway through her strawberry smoothie when Rhea and her boyfriend, Kyle, picked her up in time for her OB appointment. Yanna had initially refused the help as Kyle used to be DJ’s officemate. But he reassured that hers wasn’t a story for him to tell. Besides, they lived in the same condominium and avoiding him was near impossible. So far, Kyle had kept his words.

“Girl, does the internal exam hurt? I noticed you keep wincing.” Rhea sounded curious when they left the clinic with the doctor’s recommendation for her to keep walking as the baby was still in breech position. 

“Just...uncomfortable,” Yanna muttered. It was one of the things she didn’t look forward to as the pregnancy progressed. If only she could tell her OB to drop the IE and just base everything on the baby’s heartbeat instead.

“Really? I thought you’d become used to it since you’d had sex and all.”

Yanna’s face warmed. “Oh my god, Rhea.” She surreptitiously looked around them to make sure nobody heard their conversation.

“What? It’s an innocent question. Is it different when you’re being prodded by the OB-GYN versus having sex?”

“Yes,” she quickly answered in a hushed voice.