by S. G. Sonysa
“You were talking to yourself, and I heard it,” I told her the truth.
Her face instantly turned red like a tomato. I was mesmerized for a second, staring at her cute face. Then I mustered a little courage to ask her about the baby.
“How’s the baby doing?” I asked her.
She smiled from ear to ear at my question.
I had never seen such an honest smile on anyone’s face before.
“He’s doing very well. Sometimes, he would upset his mommy by making her throw up and not letting her sleep. But other than that he is a good baby,” Hailey said, looking at her stomach.
The love in her eyes for that unborn child made my heart ache in pain for hurting her in the past.
“Huh. How do you know it’s a he? It can be a she, you know,” I said.
“It’s a boy. I’m sure. You can say it’s a mother’s intuition.” She smiled. “Do you want to look at his picture?” she asked me with a hopeful face
I was confused by her question but nodded my head.
She got up from the bed and walked to her nightstand then pulled out something from a file. She came back to me and handed me a piece of paper. When I looked at the paper, I realized it wasn’t some random piece of paper. It was a sonogram that clearly showed a baby.
I looked at the sonogram in amazement. I couldn’t believe that Hailey and I created a baby. Suddenly, my heart felt the need to protect this little thing from all the bad things in the world. It was a completely new feeling for me.
Finally, I peeled my eyes off of the sonogram and looked at her. There was a full smile on her face. She seemed to be in love with the sonogram as she was staring at it with her brown eyes. She placed her hand on mine and sat down beside me.
“Look, baby, your dad is staring at your picture in amazement,” she said, looking at the baby bump.
“Do you think he hears you?” I tried to hide my smile at her innocent action.
“Yes, he hears me. He hears everything. He is even listening to us talk to each other at the moment, but my voice is clear to him than yours,” she said with a sweet smile.
“And how do you suddenly know so much about babies?” I was suddenly curious.
She bit her lower lip then looked around.
“I have a laptop. It helps me learn new things and keeps me entertained in this room,” she said with an enthusiastic smile.
“When did you get the laptop?” I was bewildered.
“Cameron gave me this laptop before leaving for the boarding school,” she said, looking hesitant.
I didn’t know if I should feel jealous of my brother for getting her a laptop, which she finds so useful and makes her happy, or if I should beat myself for not thinking about getting her one before him.
“Are you angry?” she asked me.
I was about to answer her when she interrupted me.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t ask Cameron to buy me a laptop. He gave me this as a gift. And I’m glad I have something to spend my day with or else I would have become insane by staying locked up all day in this room alone. The doctor told me during my last visit that walking and fresh air is good for the baby, but your mom won’t let me go out,” she said, looking sad.
I couldn’t believe my ears at her statement.
Why would mom stop her from walking and going out?
“Hailey, I am not angry at you or Cameron. I’m glad he bought a laptop for you,” I said, and she looked up at me.
“You are not angry at me?”
“No, I am not. Tell me, why wouldn’t Mom let you go out?” I asked her.
“She told me that she doesn’t want neighbors to find out that I am pregnant. If they found out about this, she wouldn’t get selected for the head of society next month,” Hailey mumbled.
I felt a pang in my heart at her words. I didn’t realize my mom could be this selfish and cruel.
Hailey loved my mom from the day she came to live here. She was always there for my mom, helping her and working beside her. Now Hailey needed her, and she was not there for her.
I looked at her and found her staring at the floor deep in thoughts.
“Do you want to take a stroll in the garden?” I asked her to bring a smile back to her face.
“You want me to take a stroll in the garden at 1 am?”
“Yes, and you just said it is good for a baby,” I said, leaving no space for argument.
She got up and put her slippers on.
“It’s cold outside. You should wear something warm,” I said.
She froze then turned to me and stared at me like she couldn’t believe her ears.
I coughed to pull her out from the shock.
She made her way to the closet and pulled out a knee-length black jacket and put it on. Then we made our way downstairs and went to the garden, which was located at the back of our house.
She closed her eyes then took a deep breath. It gave me the chance to stare at her without getting caught. I felt my heart skipped a beat at the flutter of her eyelashes.
“It feels amazing,” she mumbled, opening her eyes.
“What?” I was confused.
“It feels amazing to breathe in the open air and to stare at the full moon,” she said and pointed the finger at the moon.
I looked up, and my eyes landed on the bright full moon surrounded by small stars.
“Yes, it is beautiful,” I said, looking up.
“Do you know I love stars and the moon?” She was smiling.
“I can guess by the way you talk about them.”
“Well, they shine and brighten up the path in the night for people to find their way back home.”
“Like you.” I found myself saying.
She looked at me baffled.
“Yeah, like you. When you smile, everything brightens up.” I elaborated.
She suddenly went silent, and I cursed myself for being stupid and upsetting her.
“I don’t think my smiles brighten up anything for anyone,” she mumbled lightly.
“Hailey, you shouldn’t think like this about yourself. Your smile is beautiful. You are beautiful,” I said to her.
She stayed silent, and we continue walking. Then, after two rounds, she stopped and turned to me.
“I want to go back to my room. I’m tired,” she said.
I wanted to spend more time with her, but I understood that it was too early to ask so much of her.
“Okay, let’s go inside,” I said following, her.
When we reached her room, she went inside and took off her jacket. She took a step towards the closet and stumbled, but I caught her by the arm.
“Are you alright?” I asked her concerned.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She sounded sleepy.
I looked at her, and she didn’t seem like she could walk to her bed, so I picked her up bridal style.
“Chase, what are you doing?” she asked in a panic, clutching my neck like she did that night.
“I am taking you to bed.”
“I can walk, you know.”
“I know you can walk, but not at the moment,” I said, making my way towards her bed.
She gazed at me with confusion.
I laid her on the bed and pulled off her slippers. I was about to leave when her words stopped me.
“Don’t you want to say goodnight to our son?” she asked.
I turned back to her and sat down on the bed.
She understood my confusion because next thing I knew my hand was placed on her baby bump.
“It’s your dad, and he wants to say good night to you,” Hailey said.
I felt my hand shaking with the anxiety.
“Talk to him.” She mouthed.
“Your dad loves you. Good night, buddy,” I said.
Hailey smiled warmly at me, and my heart swelled.
“Hailey, I am sorry. I am sorry for being an assh*le. I am ashamed of the way I acted all these months. I know I wasn’t there to protect you that day when my mom hit you,
and I am sorry for that. It wasn’t your fault. You shouldn’t be the one to receive her anger because I deserve it. You are the kindest person in this world, so if you can find it in your beautiful heart to forgive me, I will not disappoint you again. Can you forgive me, Hailey? Can you give me another chance?” I asked her
I was waiting for her reply, but when I didn’t get one, I looked up to find her asleep.
I smiled and kissed her head then got up. She snuggled deeper into her pillows, making me chuckle. I put the quilt on her then switched off the lights leaving her night lamp on.
“Goodnight, love,” I mumbled, closing her bedroom door.
I went to my room and lay down on my bed.
“Will she forgive me?” I asked myself aloud.
Hailey was the sweetest girl I ever met and had a beautiful heart. She would forgive me.
Thinking about her I fell asleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
Best Birthday Ever
Chase
My dad asked me to join him at the office today as he wanted me to do my internship in his company so he could prepare me in replacing him as CEO after his retirement.
I was getting ready for office when I heard a knock at the door.
I opened the door, and my breath was knocked out of my lungs.
Hailey was standing outside in a red dress. Her brown hair was open resting on one shoulder. There was a light tint of pink on her plump lips, and my eyes got stuck on them.
She shrugged then flipped her hair. For a minute I thought I was dreaming.
“Hailey, is everything fine?” I asked her in a trance.
She took a step closer to me then another. She didn’t stop until she was standing a breath away from me.
Suddenly, my heart started to hammer inside my chest.
“Amy told me that you are going to the office today,” she said.
My eyes went to her moving lips again, and I felt the urge to kiss them.
“Yes,” I said.
“I came here to say best of luck.” She bit her lower lip while staring at me.
“Thanks.”
“I forgive you.”
“What?” I thought I heard her say that she forgave me.
“I forgive you, Chase. I will forget everything that happened in the last few months, and we can start anew if you promise me that you will be a good dad to our baby,” she said.
Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I promise to be a good dad for our baby. I promise, Hailey,” I said and cupped her face in my hands.
She was leaning towards me, and I felt her lips touching mine. I closed my eyes, and my hand went to her waist then I pulled her closer.
She gasped, and I smiled.
Our lips didn’t move, but I felt contentment in my heart at the touch of her heavenly lips on mine.
I traced her lower lip with my tongue, and she closed her eyes.
Before we could properly kiss, we heard the shattering of plates and pulled away from each other.
Amy was standing there with her mouth agape. She had happy tears in her eyes while she was staring at us in awe. I knew the moment she met Hailey that she had developed a motherly feeling for her.
“I’m sorry. I brought breakfast for you, but I am leaving,” she said, picking the shattered pieces of plate from the floor.
Hailey was blushing so hard while my heart was still beating wildly in my chest.
“I should leave. You must be running late for the office,” Hailey said, tugging her fallen lock behind her ear.
“No, I mean I am not running late.”
“Chase, we are running late, son,” my dad yelled at that moment, embarrassing me for life.
“I think I should go.”
Hailey nodded.
When I left the room, I heard her giggling, and it put a smile on my face.
The rest of the day in the office went well. My dad didn’t put much workload on me as it was my first day as an intern. My office colleagues were too hesitant to talk to me. They were already seeing me as their future boss.
I didn’t want to appear too eager to go home in front of my dad, but I was internally begging him to give me permission to leave. It was already eight in the evening. All the workers had already left the office. But dad was still going through some files, and I was checking the time every five minutes.
“Son, let’s go,” Dad said, and I jumped up.
“You look too excited to go home. Did you not enjoy your first day here Chase?”
I cursed myself for appearing too happy to leave the office.
“Dad, I really enjoyed my day here even though you didn’t let me do much. You know, I have been coming here for the last twenty years, just not as an intern but as your son,” I said.
Dad smiled at me warmly. Dad’s driver, Clark, was waiting outside. He opened the car door for us, and we got inside the car. The ride home felt so long.
When we arrived home, I got out of the car without wasting an extra second.
Dad gave me a weird look, and I smiled at him. We went inside the house, and I found Mom sitting on the couch in the lounge watching TV.
“Hi, Mom,” I mumbled.
Then I went upstairs and knocked at Hailey’s door. I waited for her to open the door and greet me with her beautiful smile, but she didn’t come out.
I went to my room with a sulk.
I got showered and changed into my sweatpants and white V-neck t-shirt. I heard a knock at my door and went to open it with a smile to find Amy standing there.
“Madam is calling you for dinner,” Amy said.
“Amy, you have been with us for last five years, so please calling my mom ‘madam,’ at least in front of me.”
“She will kill me if she heard me calling her anything else,” Amy said sarcastically.
“I bet she will.” I made my way downstairs.
Kate, Mom, and Dad were sitting at the table waiting for me. I sat beside Dad deliberately skipping a seat next to my mom, which Kate and Dad noticed.
“Did you call Hailey down for dinner?” my dad asked Mom.
“Yes, I called her down, but she didn’t feel well, so she asked me to send her food to her room.”
My mom had been lying to my dad, and she did it again today. I hated it. I didn’t know what my mother’s problem was. Why was she treating her like a stranger?
I got up, and my parents looked at me.
“Where are you going, Chase? You haven’t eaten anything yet,” my mom said.
“I’m going to my room. I am not hungry.”
“Are you fine, son?”
“I’m fine Mom. I ate in the office, so I am not hungry,” I said, leaving the table.
Instead of going to my room I went to Hailey’s room. I knocked on her door, and she told me to come in.
I entered, and she looked up at me in shock. A strand of spaghetti was hanging out of her mouth.
“I can come later if you want.” I stopped myself from laughing at her cute face.
“No, you can stay if you want,” she said and swallowed the spaghetti.
I walked to her bed and sat down in front of her.
The spaghetti was looking delicious, and I was hungry as I hadn’t eaten anything for hours.
“Do you want to eat some?” Hailey asked me innocently.
The offer was too tempting, but it wouldn’t be nice to eat from her share.
“It is too much for me to eat alone and I have another clean fork,” she said, showing me a clean fork.
I grabbed the fork, and she moved closer to me. I twirled some of the spaghetti and took my first bite. She smiled and started eating again.
“How was your day at the office?” she asked.
“It was good. I learned how to work with a workaholic boss.”
She giggled.
“Your dad doesn’t seem like a workaholic. He comes home for dinner.”
“He used to be a workaholic, but he has changed.”
Sh
e nodded.
“I will not become a workaholic for my child. I will come home on time and take him or her to the park to play,” I said to her.
“You will play with her or him?” I could hear the astonishment in her voice.
“Yes, I will play with our child. I will teach him or her how to play soccer,” I told her. “Do you like any sports?” I asked her.
A sad smile appeared on her face.
“I like sports, but I never learned how to play any of them,” she said.
“Then you can read bedtime stories to him or her because I know you like reading.”
She smiled brightly and said, “That I can do well.”
We talked then talked some more and didn’t realize it was already midnight.
“Good night baby,” I whispered in her ear and placed an innocent kiss near her lips
She gasped, and I smiled at her innocent action.
I pulled away from her and found her eyes were shut tightly. I coughed. She opened her beautiful eyes and looked at me.
“Good night,” she mumbled shyly.
I left her room with a wide smile playing on my lips. It was one of the best nights of my life.
***
[Four months later]
My days had changed and my nights as well. I was spending my nights talking to Hailey about our baby and getting to know her.
We would talk, read, and watch movies together every night. Sometimes she would fall asleep on my shoulder, and I would stay awake memorizing every one of her features.
With each passing day, she was becoming prettier, and I found myself falling for her. Her innocent actions, her sweet blush, and her eyes were making me crazy for her.
Nothing happened after that mere kiss four months ago, but it didn’t mean I didn’t dream about feeling those lips on mine again every night. But I was giving her a chance to move this relationship at her pace. I didn’t want her to feel like I loved her only for one thing because that was not true. I loved everything about her.
I was going to enter the kitchen to tell Mom that I was going out with Nick, but stopped dead when I heard Mom and Kate talking about Hailey. It wasn’t my intention to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“Mom, I’m telling you Hailey is a tramp. She trapped Chase by getting pregnant like her mom did. We all know Chase wasn’t giving her any attention, so she seduced him and got pregnant,” Kate said.
