Chapter 119: Chapter 119

"Oh," Carol said, gulping hard.

"Yeah." Sebastian continued, feeling the need to explain further. "I just feel that children need all the love that they can get, so having a father who is not ready to father a child yet might do more harm than good."

"I understand. What if it happens by mistake, though?"

"Come on, Carol. I'm too experienced to make such a silly mistake, so I'm sure that I'll never find myself in such an awkward position."

"Mistakes can happen to anyone though, can't they? What if you make a mistake and got a woman pregnant? Are you going to want her to keep it?" Carol asked, unable to leave the subject alone, at least not until she got her answer. Sebastian sighed before answering, so she knew that the numerous questions were beginning to get him irritated.

"I'm not going to make such a mistake. Besides, why are you asking me all these questions? I'm not seeing anyone or having sex with anyone, apart from you, and we're being really careful. You don't want a child too from what I gleaned when we newly got married, so I don't know why you're asking me all these."

"Oh, ok. I know you're not seeing anyone. I was just making conversation." Carol said, deciding to leave the topic to the next morning. She would inform him of the pregnancy, and she was sure that everything was going to be fine, after all, it wasn't as though they had any choice in the matter. If he wanted her to get rid of it, she would inform him in no uncertain terms that that wasn't what she wanted at all, and that she was only giving him a chance to be in the child's life if he wanted. If he didn't want the chance, it would hurt real bad, but she could not very we force him. However, she was sure that it would not come to that, so she got up, turned on the TV, and selected a show which she loved so that they could both watch it together before they went to sleep.

***

The next morning, the sky was still cloudy and thunder still rumbled as though the rain that fell yesterday had just been a demo. The atmosphere was dark and gloomy, mirroring exactly how Carol felt. Although she had promised herself the previous night that she would have a talk with Sebastian concerning the pregnancy, this morning, she found that her courage deserted her. It was already 6:00 in the morning, but everywhere was still so dark that she was tempted to go back to sleep, but her body refused to allow her to do so. Nowadays, she found that she woke up earlier than she used to do, but she did not know if it was because of the pregnancy or not, after all, she had never been pregnant before and did not know what to expect.

Already, she had had her first doctor's appointment without Sebastian's knowledge and the fact that she was keeping him away from such important things did not go down well with her, especially as she had no idea if he would change his mind. Suddenly, a particularly strong wave of nausea hit her hard and she got up as stealthily as she could from the bed, making it to the bathroom just in time to throw up the late-night meal that she had eaten with Sebastian in bed the previous night while they were watching their show. She threw up until her stomach was totally empty and it felt as though she was going to throw up her intestines too.

Once she was done, she splashed some water on her face, rinsed her mouth thoroughly, and turned to leave the bathroom, only to find Sebastian standing by the door and watching her suspiciously.

"Hey." She said nervously. "I didn't know that you were awake."

"What's going on, Carol? Are you ill?" Sebastian asked, looking her up and down, but not moving an inch from the door.

"No, I don't think so. Something I ate must not have agreed with me." Carol said, looking anywhere but at him. Her heart was pounding, and she was fully expecting him to accuse her of what she was guilty of, but he only nodded, before turning and leaving the bathroom, speaking to her from over his shoulder.

"That's good to know. I've had enough of hospitals to last a lifetime. Well, are you going to stay in there all day? Come on out so we can go back to bed. Looks like today is going to be a lazy one." He said.

Carol came out obediently, wishing that her mouth would obey the command she kept giving it in her head to speak. Fear kept her mouth sealed though, especially after the conversation they had had the previous night.  Now that she thought of it, she realized that she had to tell Sebastian sooner rather than later because once she started to show, which would not be too long from now, considering she was already entering the second trimester, he would see for himself.

"What's wrong, Carol? You look really pale. Are you sure you're not ill?" Sebastian asked, more worriedly this time around.

"No, I'm fine. Listen, I have to tell you something." She said at last. Her mouth and body felt as though they belonged to someone else, or as though she was not even there at all and was rather watching the scene from a distance. She watched as Sebastian stiffened and turned to face her fully, giving her his undivided attention. Before she could open her mouth to speak, he beat her to it.

"Don't tell me you're already regretting your decision to stay, Carol. I meant what I said. I'll make Jessica leave in no time. She should not have come in the first place, but I did not realize how hostile she was going to be towards you. I've already contacted a lawyer to start the process of removing her name from the deed to the house if she wants to be difficult, so you have nothing to be worried about."

"I'm really glad to hear that, Sebastian. I wasn't planning to change my mind even if Jessica comes back. I hope you will still want me to stay when I say what I have to say, though."

"Hmm. You're scaring me, Carol. What is it?"

Carol took a deep breath, ignored the ringing in her ears, the pounding in her heart, and said, "I'm pregnant."