YVONNE smiled and greeted her boss when she arrived at the office that morning. However, her smile died immediately when she suddenly felt she was about to vomit. She retched and ran inside the restroom in a hurry. Yvonne threw up, and to make things even worse, she didn’t eat breakfast, so there was nothing to throw out of her stomach. She wondered what had made her stomach upset since last night.
“Is everything okay, Yvonne?” asked Rosa, her boss, after several knocks at the door.
She raised her head and strode to the sink.
“I’m fine…” she responded, washing her face with water.
Yvonne dried her face with her handkerchief and got out of the restroom.
“Are you feeling under the weather?” her boss asked as she sat down on the chair. “You can go home and rest, Yvonne.”
“N-no… I’m fine—” She retched once again. Yvonne covered her mouth immediately, ashamed that she’d throw up in front of her boss.
“See? You’re not fine. Go home and rest, Yvonne.”
“I’m sorry, Ma’am.”
“You don’t have to. It’s not your fault you’re not feeling well anyway.” Rosa smiled at her. “There’s a pharmacy down the street. It’d help if you ask for a prescription.”
“Hm… I will.” Yvonne grabbed her back and car key. “May I work from home in the meantime?”
“Oh, sure you may. And please, take some time to rest. Don’t force yourself if you can’t. I bet it’d be hard to work at this rate.”
Yvonne heaved a sigh and finally went out of the office. She’d just started working for Rosa last week, and now she was feeling sick. Good thing her boss understood the situation and immediately sent her home. She even allowed her to work offsite.
She dropped by the pharmacy down the street just like Rosa told her.
“Buongiorno!” the pharmacist greeted her with a smile when she came in.
She prowled to the counter.
“Can you prescribe me something for my upset stomach?” Yvonne told the pharmacist as she fished her wallet from the bag.
“May I know what’s wrong with your stomach?”
“I… uhm… threw up just a while ago.”
“By any chance, are you pregnant?”
Yvonne froze for a moment. Her mind couldn’t process the pharmacist’s question that instant.
“I-I…” She reached for the calendar from the other side of the counter and counted the days. “Damn it…”
“Miss?”
“Please give me three sets of any pregnancy test kit you have here instead.” With shaky hands, she handed the pharmacist her card.
Yvonne clasped her hands and paced back and forth in front of the counter as she waited for the pharmacist to return. Her period has been delayed for almost two months now. She usually wouldn’t mind the delay, but something happened between her and Rohan.
She stopped pacing when she saw the pharmacist heading to the counter.
“Here.”
She snatched her card and the plastic bag the moment they landed on the counter and rushed out of the pharmacy.
Yvonne could feel her heart thumping hard inside her chest as she drove the car. She was silently praying for a negative result. Darn, she was about to start a new life. Her plans would be messed up if she were to get pregnant.
She took her phone from the bag and called Carmina when she pulled over in front of her house.
“Oh, Yvonne… How are you?” her best friend asked when she picked up.
“I think I’m in big trouble.” She got out of the car and went inside the house.
“What do you mean—oh, gosh…” It seemed that Carmina understood what she meant. “Are there signs?”
“I threw up this morning before leaving the house, and at work, so my boss sent me home. I was getting a prescription from the pharmacy when I realized my period had been delayed for almost two months now.” She bit her nail anxiously.
“You should check, Yvonne. It’s better to be sure,” Carmina told her.
“Y-yeah. I’m going to check it now. I’ll call you again.”
She ended the call and headed to the bathroom.
“Oh, Lord, please… let this be negative….”
Yvonne kept uttering those words as she waited for the result.
 
Months later…
“WHY didn’t you tell us about this?” Her father’s voice roared inside the house. “This isn’t a nice surprise—”
“I have no intentions to make this a surprise.” Her voice was hoarse. “The truth is… I want to keep this pregnancy a secret.”
“What?!” Her dad’s face was flooded with disappointment. “And why are you hiding this pregnancy? Did you have a one-night stand with a stranger?”
Yvonne could only cry in response. Her mother rushed to her side immediately and caressed her back, calming her.
“Hush, dear… stress is bad for the baby.”
“Tell me, who’s that motherfucker who got you pregnant?!” Her dad looked pissed.
But she knew her father was only concerned about her. He was mad because he couldn’t believe she’d done something like that and hid it from them.
“You don’t have to know, Dad…” Yvonne’s voice trailed off.
“What? No! I have to know! I’ll beat the shit out of him—”
“I’ve decided that I’ll raise this child alone… I won’t let him know about this.”
Her father crossed their distance and grasped her arms tightly.
“Are you nuts? You should tell him that you’re pregnant!”
“Dad, please… if you really love me… let me do this alone.” She turned to her mother. “Mom…”
“Why are you afraid to tell the father that you’re pregnant? Did you have an affair with a married man?” her father asked in a low tone. “Did you come here to hide?”
“I came here to start a new life… to move on. Hiding isn’t part of my plans, Dad. But what can I do when this happens? I can’t give up my child….”
Her dad breathed exasperatedly.
“We won’t let you give up your child either. What I want to know is the reason why you won’t tell its father about it! He has to know because he has a responsibility—”
“Rohan doesn’t love me! What’s the sense of telling him I’m pregnant? I bet everyone would force us to get married. And then what, hmm?”
“Oh, dear…” Her mother pulled her for a hug.
“That’s the right thing to do after what happened!” her dad said firmly.
“No.” Yvonne shook her head hard. “If I’m going to marry, I’m doing it for love.”
Her dad pinched the bridge of his nose and turned in her mother’s direction afterward.
“I don’t know what to do with your daughter. Talk to her, Esmeralda,” her father said before leaving the house.
Yvonne slowly sat down on the sofa when she was left alone with her mom.
“Darling…” Her mother sat beside her and cupped her hand. “Why won’t you tell Rohan about the baby?”
“I told you, Mom… Rohan doesn’t love me.”
She was afraid of the outcome if Rohan were to know the truth. He wanted that from the start, and she was sure he wouldn’t let that opportunity pass. If Rohan didn’t have even a bit of feeling for her, there was no way she’d let him use her and the innocent baby inside her womb. That was cruel. And, of course, she couldn’t tell her parents about it because that’d definitely make her dad even mad.
“But… Yvonne, if you don’t tell him about this, you’d be alone—”
“You’re here with me, Mom… You and Dad are with me, right?” She bit her lower lip to suppress her cries. “I’ll raise my child without him, and we’ll shower it with all the love we can give.”
Her mother pressed her hands tightly. “Of course.”
“I beg you, Mom… don’t tell Rohan once you get home. I swear I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this… It’s just that I didn’t know what to do.” Her tears rolled down her cheeks like a waterfall.
“Oh, darling… please stop crying.” Her mother hugged her again. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to your father later when he returns home.”
“Thanks, Mom…” Yvonne sniffed. “Can you stay here until the baby’s due?”
“Of course.” Her mom patted her back. “I’ll stay here and care for you two until you recover.”
“Thanks, Mom… I don’t know what I’ll do without you.”