Chapter 80: Chapter 80

KRISTIN

The night of the pregnancy announcement went in a blur.

The minute the statement rolled out of June's lips, my heart flipped. A vibrating cold rocketed through my body, almost making me crash to the floor.

Fear followed shortly after.

I wasn't scared of the pregnancy, 'cause I would gladly accept it. The fear came from my thoughts which centered solely on seeing June freak out or rejecting the baby.

From the sadness seeping out of her soul and the tears on her face, it wasn't hard to gather such thoughts.

I was speechless from shock. After wiping her face and comforting her, I had my dinner and went upstairs to sleep.

What happened during the entire night was in no way related to sleep or rest. I tossed and turned throughout, my mind flying in all directions, conjuring images of the worst thing that could happen.

June's mood already showed that she didn't want anything to do with the baby. Hell, she looked scared! I can swear I saw regrets in those beautiful orbs of hers.

What if she wanted an abortion?

I sat up with wide eyes as the thought hit.

June could choose to flush the baby out, and there wouldn't be anything I would do at that point.

My heart started beating fast. The moon didn't come out at all as if sensing the mood the entire house was thrown into. I don't know what it is with those chirping insects, but they didn't make their usual sounds. That came as a great relief because all I wanted was quiet.

At first, I thought of drinking myself to sleep. Then the memory of my sister's death came and I had to push the thought far away.

I had overcome my loss at that time through drinking. Finding solace at the bottom of a bottle was the last thing I wanted, but there wasn't an option. What made it worse was the fact that I had no friends to gather around and console me. The consolation I got was orgasms from whores and street workers.

Well, that was in the past now...

The matter at hand is way worse than that.

How could I have been so stupid in the first place? I should have known that June isn't like all the other women I sleep with that employs preventive measures to prevent getting pregnant even if I cum inside them.

June is a newbie at this stuff, and I should have been the one to guide her.

Scrap that, I should have used a fucking rubber!

Now, I have probably scarred her in ways unimaginable... She doesn't look like someone ready for a baby. And if she has no other option but to get rid of the baby, she will eventually be worse than she is now.

And it will be my fault.

With a sigh, I lay on my back and forced my eyes closed.

The picture of June hugging her knees and sobbing made me sit up and jump out of bed.

I tiptoed out of my room and approached June's room. If she was sobbing, I was supposed to have heard by now, right?

I got to her door and plastered my ear to it.

It was very difficult to hear anything going on within. I wanted to knock, I even raised my hand, but it didn't move towards the door. It stayed frozen in the air, following the command of my brain.

I crept back to my room after realizing that sleep had been programmed by the universe to elude me, maybe as a punishment for bringing pain to someone else.

*. *. *. *.*

I don't know at what point I dozed off. It must have been around five in the morning, I can't tell.

When my eyes opened and I remembered the events of the previous evening, a headache started.

"Fucking hell," I grunted and palmed my face. How the hell does someone get up from bed with a headache? My day has already taken a path of misfortune.

I crept downstairs—I don't know why I've been tiptoeing around the house since last night—and quietly prepared a cup of coffee to avoid waking June up.

She didn't come downstairs like I expected her to. She didn't even step out of her room during my entire preparation for work.

Maybe she also found it difficult to sleep at night and had only dozed off this morning like I did.

During my bath, which initially made me scared because of the thought of what I'd see in the mirror, I thought of a plan.

Nothing came.

The happiness I felt after looking in the mirror and seeing that my lack of sleep did nothing to mar my handsome face, lifted my mood. At least, I won't have to bother about answering annoying questions throughout the day.

My green eyes had no circles beneath like I thought they would, and apart from the numbness in my muscles, I felt okay—if okay was the word.

I rushed through preparing breakfast. It has become a habit. I don't care how important of an event I am attending, whenever I wake up, the first thing that crosses my mind is the easiest breakfast I can prepare so June doesn't starve when she finally decides to leave her haven (her bed.)

I wrote a message for her on a sticky note, so she will remember to eat her breakfast in case she happens to be grieved by what's happening.

I rushed out of the house like a husband late for a board of directors' meeting. It wasn't until I was safely situated behind the wheel that I relaxed.

The little rest I could get really helped my sore mood from last night. The coffee also helped.

I made a mental note to order a fresh cup the moment I arrived. That would be my battery for the entire day.

I safely got to the office, with no accidents from losing concentration a couple of times, and no deaths. Apart from two near-collisions and a little brush that earned me a string of obscenities, my drive to the office was smooth.

From the door to my office, I openly announced my need for a cup of fresh coffee.

Just as I expected, four people stood up and dashed to the waiting room, screaming at the top of their voices that the others should back down.

It was new to me.

In the comfort and loneliness of my office, I was finally reminded of the issue that had been plaguing me since the previous night...

"What do I do?" I murmured to myself...