Tiffany picked her up from the hospital. Raelynn was quiet, feeling ashamed that she would have to depend on Tiffany for some more weeks.
Tiffany's questions went into one ear and out the other, but not before clashing with the thousand questions in Raelynn's mind. A headache was crackling like thunder.
With a thousand-mile stale, she clutched the paperwork in her hands. In a few months, her mountain of problems would manifest itself in her abdomen.
A pregnancy.
Somewhere, a clump of cells was working like a city– multiplying, surviving, weaving together the strength for their first scream. They were right there, inside her, while the other mayor of the city was who-knows-where.
Maksim.
She had no idea how he would react. They never discussed kids, because they weren't in the budget. Would he want it?
Yes, he would.
Maksim was protective by nature. He didn't have many possessions, so he took care of what little he had. He was organized at home, and worshiped his female in the sheets. This child– although he would probably not touch it with a ten-foot pole out of fear that his huge hands would hurt it, wouldn't lack his love.
Her fingers twitched with the urge to touch her stomach, but she didn't let herself. She had to buy pregnancy tests just to be sure that this wasn't a huge misunderstanding. Maybe there was still a chance that her womb was as dry as her chest.
And if that wasn't the case... her shoulders sank. She had to talk to Maksim, because abortion wasn't an option.
Only a month passed since she left. Was he still in Arizona?
Tiffany helped her up the stairs. Their Brooklynn apartment had fair rent, but it was at the four-floor building with no elevator. Climbing those while she was in her last trimester would be a bitch.
If you're even pregnant, she reminded herself.
When Tiffany left to the supermarket to get her a few things, Raelynn slipped out. She went to the corner bodega and bought two home test kits. Sitting on the cold toilet and waiting worst the worst part.
She wished she passed out a third time so she could be spared this torture.
Grabbing the tests with a paper towel, she went into her bedroom and sank onto the carpet.
Please, please don't do this. I can't go back to Maksim. I love him. If he asks me to stay, I would. I can't do that to my father.
Maybe he wouldn't ask her to forgive him and stay with him. Maybe he would leave the mafia for them.
She shuddered. She didn't want to face the options. That's why she left in the first place.
Five minutes massed, and she raised her head to peek at cute, pink, little pregnancy sticks that were more like pink daggers.
Four lines stared back.
She counted them like they were chicken Mcnuggets and she wanted to make sure she got what she paid for. Surely, there were four. Not three or two, but four. Those four lines re-built the bridge she burned with Maksim.
She cried, feeling alone, although there was a developing being right there to keep her company.
Tiffany arrived an hour later and was greeted by ugly crying. She entered Rae's room, saw the tests, and hugged her tight. She promised anything that came to mind– I'll be here for you, it will be alright, we'll work through this.
When Rae was done singing the anthem of newborns, she sagged on the bed, feeling boneless.
"So... your ex?"
She nodded numbly. "My ex."
"The one from Arizona?"
"The one from Arizona."
"You never told me why you two broke up. Was he... abusive?"
"No! He was just... into illegal gambling."
"Oh," Tiffany said as if it wasn't a big deal.
If only she knew that the gambling was accompanied by drug and gun trafficking, murder, kidnapping, and probably human trafficking.
"I'll make you some soup, yeah? Just relax a bit." Tiffany pet her back and covered her with a blanket.
Raelynn curled into a fetus position– a complete ying and yang, and stared at a wall. She tried to relax like Tiffany suggested, but how could she?
She tossed and turned, eventually turning back to the pregnancy tests. Even after three positive tests, she couldn't believe it.
(prologue - you can skip to the end if you've read it already)
She reached for the nightstand, gave a pregnancy test a shake. "No. Please." She shook the thing vigorously, trying to flick one of those pink lines off the screen.
Please tell me the soft swelling of my stomach is from too much fast-food and depression.
Reaching down, she picked up a slipper and whacked the diabolical thing that told her that her newfound weight wasn't a result of the consumption of too many calories, but too much semen.
"What are you doing?" Tiffany plucked the test from her hand. "You can't brutalize it until it turns negative."
Raelynn's hands trembled.
Of course, Maksim didn't exit her life silently. He left her something to remember him by, because men like him weren't made to be forgotten. Why did this feel like one of his punishments? Like he was yanking at her hair, reminding her who she belonged to.
Her fingers subconsciously rubbed her scalp when she felt a phantom tug.
"He... he knocked me up."
"Sorry to break it to you, girl, but it takes two to make a baby."
"I know how biology works, but..."
She ran a hand through her hair, and then another. "This can't be right."
Hadn't it been enough to ruin her mind and body for other men? She couldn't help but compare every man she crossed to him, and her pussy was so enslaved by his cock that it wouldn't throb for another. He took her mind and vagina, but the greedy Russian didn't stop there. He took her womb, too.
"Oh Tiff, this is so bad," she moaned, melting onto the bed.
"Look, the soup is cooking. Let's plan the next steps in the meantime. Sulking won't get you anywhere. Do you still have his number?"
No, because they couldn't afford cellphones.
"No? An email, then?"
Raelynn shook her head. That was a dead end, too.
"Okay... social media?"
That one made her chuckle. Maksim was a mind-your-fucking-business, mysterious grouch. He had the body of an Instagram model, but not the personality.
"He doesn't have that either."
"Jesus, did you date and get knocked up by a dinosaur? Are you going to pop out a damn pterodactyl?"
Raelynn ran her hands through her hair, which already looked liked a perfect nest for a pterodactyl. "No. Knowing Maksim's genes, it would be more like a baby T-Rex."
"What's his last name?" Tiff pushed, opening up her laptop.
"Kuznetsov."
"How the fuck do I spell that?"
Raelynn spelled it out for her. She knew that name well, because many nights she imagined owning it as Maksim's wife.
A list of results appeared with Google images on the top.
Raelynn's eyes skimmed over them. There were a bunch of guys in suits shaking hands in some red-carpet event, and standing in front of a building. Maksim wasn't in there. Of course he wasn't. The guy's arms would never fit in a suit. He...
Raelynn snatched the laptop from Tiffany. There, in the last picture on the row, was Maksim. His wonderful body was covered by a suit. It looked wrong. The dark cloth looked like a leech on him. Maksim belonged in a torn, sweaty T-shirt with her snuggled up against it. Just like the good old days when he got home from work.
Tiffany connected the dots. "Of course you break up with him before he becomes rich."
Raelynn's eyes flickered wildly as she skimmed the article.
A young CEO rises to overtake the empire of...
This changed things. They were no longer on the same playing field. Maksim was in the big leagues now.
If he found out that his heir was baking inside her... if that tattooed, dangerous brute found out that she went rogue with his kid...
Before the breakup, they were living in a rat-infested apartment. Now, he had all the lawyers of the world in his back pocket. Meanwhile, Raelynn had a criminal record, a stack of bills on the table, and a minimum-wage job. He could take her to court and win full custody. He'd probably slip in a lawsuit while he was at it.
What better way to get your revenge than to take what little she had?
"He might..." Raelynn whispered, as if the walls were listening. "He might take the baby."
"Hey, you don't know that," Tiffany assured. "You heard nothing from him after the breakup, right? What if he, like, shrugged the thing off? He might take you back with open arms."
It sounded like bullshit wishful thinking, but at that point, it was all she could afford.
Raelynn licked her lips. "I don't know. The way I broke up with him was very ugly. This is a huge risk."
"You can't hide this from him," Tiffany insisted. "He deserves to know."
"And what if he decides that he wants payback for getting dumped? I can't fight him for custody. He'll win. Think about it, Tiff. Disney lied. Love doesn't make the world go round. Money does."
She groaned and shoved her face into the nearest pillow. Why couldn't Maksim remain poor? The guy was already built like a skyscraper. He didn't need to own one, too.
"How do I tell him?"
She had no answer, only a bucket-full of tears.
"Maybe you could ask him if he wants to date again? You could win him over and then tell him. Maybe he'll forgive the breakup."
"How would I reach him?" She sniffled. "Do I just knock on his skyscraper and nicely request to speak to its owner? Or do I tell the receptionist that I'm pregnant by their boss and need his calendar to be cleared for the day?"
Pathetic tears consumed her face.
She could point out exactly when the fetus took seed. It probably happened when she changed birth controls. Or maybe when she got a stomach bug and kept throwing up. Did she vomit her pill? She must have messed something up, and Maksim's obnoxious cum must have declared her womb his. They never used condoms, since Maksim wanted nothing to get in the way of his conquering.
She punched a pillow once, twice, and sobbed harder when the impact reminded her of Maksim kneeling behind her and plowing into her.
Damn her, but that was probably the position the fetus was procreated in– with its mothers on hands and knees as she moaned for more and struggled to stay upright.
"That well-hung jerk should be hung from a tree," she sniffled.
"How about we string him up to the flagpole of his stupid sky scraper?" Tiffany suggested.
Raelynn offered an ugly combination of a laugh and a cry.
"You have to face him and feel his anger out, Raelynn. Do it before your belly becomes too big to hide. The clock is ticking."