"Violet." Jack-Jack called out in the sweetest baby voice he has. "Is it twu you have a bwaby in dare." He asked pointing to my tummy.
This hits a new spot right here. Nobody really told my brother about it but how the hell does he know?
"Why'd you ask?" I asked.
He smiled, cheekily. "Because when the bwayby grows up, I will have someone to pway wiff." He said. "If it's a bwoy like me, we'll play a lot of games like race cars and toy soldiers and stuff." He added.
"Why? If it's a girl, can't she play with race cars and soldiers too?" I asked, wondering what he would say.
He looked away for a bit, clearly thinking. "Well, if it's a girl..." He started, still unsure what to say. "If it's girl then we can play whatever she wikes." He proclaimed. "I would not wike it but atleast she's happy."
I took a sigh.
Oh, Jack. You poor, innocent soul. If only you knew the situation, then you'd understand. But you don't.
I smiled, brushing his hair. "Go get your towel, I'll let you swim today." I said, dismissing him.
He had been asking me to allow him to swim but the weather has been cold the past few days that I felt like it wasn't good for him. But today is just the perfect weather. I'm not going to swim though so I have a brilliant idea to keep my brother from drowning.
I took his little life jacket and a long rope and tied the rope securely to it. I mean, call me insane but I think this is genius. Of course, I'm not letting him swim too far, plus it's low tide so the water is just good for my brother.
After he got back, we went out to the beach and I let him do his thing whilst holding the other end of the rope.
A few minutes later, Aunt Mary came out and as she was approaching, she laughed. "So you decided to turn your brother into a dog?" She asked. "Are you out of your mind?"
"What?" I asked as if this was normal. "I didn't want to get wet."
She laughed, sitting down on the sand beside me.
"Oh, yeah. I'm going out today." I said.
"Hmm. Where?" She asked.
I scratched my head, not really wanting to tell her. "Well..." I said. "Just, somewhere."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you keeping secrets from me?" She asked.
I shook my head. "Come on, Aunt Mary. I'm not." I defended. "The other day, I helped this pregnant lady. Long story short, she knew I was pregnant and invited me to this club thingy she's in. I know, it's such a hassle." I explained.
"I don't think it is!" She exclaimed.
"Look, I saw a tiny shell and a purple shell!" Jack-Jack said, running towards us.
Aunt Mary smiled at him and looked at the shells. She then looks back at me after Jack-Jack went back to his world.
"I mean, you're not going to push through the journey, right? Atleast you were able to have a glimpse of what it would be like." She said, looking at Jack-Jack. "Atleast you'll gain a new perspective, maybe not for now but for the future."
I looked down. "Well, yeah. I just couldn't say no to her as well." I said. I breathed out after a few seconds. "Anyway, I better get going."
"What will I do with the dress once it arrives?" Aunt Mary asked, referring to the dress, Tyler told me.
"Just toss it on my bed." I said, standing up.
○○○
It took me a couple of asking arounds to finally locate where the meeting was going to be held. Apparently, theu had to move the venue 'cause the house they used to hold meetings in got infested my termites. I know.
"You made it!" The tiny lady from the carpark greeted me as I entered the room.
"Yeah, how could I forget? You texted me at 4 am just to remind me." I replied, not veing sarcastic or anything.
She laughs. "Oh, I'm sorry! I hope I did not wake you up. Ever since I entered my third trimester, the baby has been kicking like crazy and it happens in the early morning."
"No, it's okay. I was already awake at that time too." I said.
"Is it because of the munchies?" She asked.
I wanted to say no but I couldn't. "Yyyyeah." I said, with a slight regret...
She laughed once more. "No worries. It's normal." She said, grabbing my arm gently. "Come." She guided me through some women who looked pregnant as well. "Everybody, this is Violet! Let us all welcome her to our club!" She exclaimed.
Everyone cheered.
This was awful for the fact that all the attention was on me. It's not that good of a feeling but yeah. Breathe.
Honestly, I forgot this lady's name. I have it on my nose but I just can't seem to point it out. I'm pretty sure it starts with O. Or I could be wrong.
"Okay guys! Gather up! We've got some things to discuss!" This other lady who doesn't seem to be pregnant called out everyone. "Alissa, please come here."
Alissa turned to me and smiled. "Oh, just take a seat and be comfortable, okay?" She said, before making her way to the other lady.
I sat down on one of the chairs that was laid out around. We actually did a lot of stuff and talked about different things about motherhood.
It was quite nice talking to other pregnant women. They were fun to talk to as well which made it less boring. Then, we ate food that they brought and even exchanged gifts. I was exempted this time because I did not know. But yeah, probably next time I'll bring one.
If... there is a next time.
The meeting ended after a few hours. I couldn't keep track of the time since I was occupied with all the activities we did. I helped clean, of course. I mean, they've been nothing but kind to me and I didn't feel like the new person the whole while. After it was done, Alissa invited me to have dinner at her house but I refused since I had to go home early.
Aunt Mary had to work overtime today to finish some school work so nobody's going to watch my brother.
I went out of the house and was heading towards the car when I heard a familiar voice. "Well, well..." It almost certainly sounded like Maleficent.
I turned to my side and saw Kristine walking slowly towards me.
"When I thought my day couldn't get any better, you show up." She said, putting her arms in a cross. "What brought you here?" She asked in a passively sarcastic tone.
"It's none of your business." I replied, getting the car key in the key hole which took a bit longer than usual.
She laughed. "Why are you so nervous Violet? I'm just here to talk." She said, sarcastically... again.
"Kristine, stop it. Okay? I don't have time to be in a petty argument with you again." I said, calmly.
She scoffed. "Oh no. I'm not. I'm just wondering why of all places, you would be here. Why you would come out of a house known to be where pregnant women would gather. I'm just curious, Violet. That's all." She said, interrogatively.
Shit.
My heart started to beat instantly. Of all places, why'd I have to see her here? Why'd she have to see me here? Fuck. Does she know? I'm pretty sure she knows. I mean, she's not stupid. If she just puts the puzzle together, she'd figure it out.
Her eyebrows crossed slowly as she started to realize. "A-are you... pregnant?" She asked.
My eyes opened in surprise and shock and nervousness. Clearly, panic starts to settle in. "W-what?! No! I'm not."
"You are!"
"Violet! You forgot the muffins!" I was about to leave but Alissa comes out of the house with a bag on her hand. "Oh, who's this girl over here?" She asked.
I instantly tried to act normal. "Oh-uhm-this is Kristine." I said.
"Did you know that Violet is still in high school and she's pregnant!" Kristine exclaimed. "Disgusting!"
Alissa looked at me, shocked.
I looked back at her with tears forming in my eyes. In my mind I was screaming for help. I was hoping she'd not feel the same way as Kristine.
Alissa brought her hand to my shoulder, passively comforting me and then she turned her attention towards Kristine. "Violet only came here to help me with my stuff." She started while moving towards Kristine who was about a couple of inches taller than her. "Her life does not concern you, missy. If you can't be happy with yours, don't bring your misery to others'." She leveled with Kristine and honestly I don't know how. I think it took her a lot of strength to tiptoe her way to Kristine's height.
I pulled Alissa gently away from Kristine before she tries to do anything bad towards her. I mean, Kristine was my friend before she mysteriously turned against me.
"We should go back inside Alissa." I suggested. "Bye Kristine." I said to Kristine who was clearly furious.
Alissa followed my suggestion and made her way back to the house.
"You're pregnant and I'll prove it!" Kristine exclaimed with determination in her voice.
I just brushed it off but the fear inside me is building up. It was as if I was poured with a ton of weight down my body.
If anyone in this town finds out...
●●●
HI GUYS!
WE'RE ALMOST TO 180K READS OH MY GOSH!!!
Ya'll making this quarantine bearable for me. I'm thankful for your support and your willingness to read the book despite being lazy in updating.
Also, I have a new book called EUPHORIA. Please check it out. It only has one chapter for now but I'll be updating it soon. I'm planning on putting illustrations on every chapter. It's something that I've been wanting to do for this book but couldn't 'cause It's too late.
If you think an illustration for every chapter is a good idea, please comment "🔥🔥🔥" down below. If you guys will agree with me then I would love to do it. 😊😊😊
Anyways, have a good day! (Or night!)