I’m the underachiever in the family. At least I’ve always felt that way. It wasn’t any better when my dad was alive. He was a general practitioner, and my brother Caleb took after him, and my sister Adeline became a lawyer. My mother worked as my father’s secretary until they both retired. She loved and still loves reading.
And then I came along and got none of those academic genes. I loved sports, and when I grew up, I loved fitness. No one in my family understood my passion. When I got a chance to buy out the previous owner of the gym, I puzzled my family even more. My mother had even been kind enough to share what she believed my father’s thoughts would have been. He was a staunch believer in a steady paycheck. So was she. The general consensus was they would not bail me out when not if I got in trouble.
Then there’s my pregnancy. I have to tell them, and the earlier, the better. But what do I tell the truth about the baby’s dad? Just thinking about this gives me a headache. I can’t possibly admit to a one-night stand that resulted in the pregnancy. In addition to being a loser, I’ll look like a slut.
And if I were to be fully honest, I’d have to tell them that my initial plan, the one that took me to Thomas, was to have a baby by artificial insemination. I’d kept that particular decision to myself, knowing they would have tried to convince me not to do it. To hold out for love and do things the right way. My family would not understand that love just didn’t happen to everyone. I’m one of the unlucky people whom cupid never struck.
I feel sick.
It doesn’t help that my morning sickness has extended until it’s become all-day sickness. I’ve had to cancel some classes at the gym when it got too much in the last few days.
I push open the main building door and stop short when I come upon Thomas standing there.
“I’m going to assume you know someone else in this building and just walk past.”
He stands in my way. “No, it’s you I came to see.”
Unbelievable. “Can’t, no time. I’m going for dinner at my mom’s.”
“Please, Cora.”
“No.”
I place my palms on his chest, and sparks fly from his body to my hands. I give a mighty shove. He’s strong, but the surprise push is enough to nudge him out of the way. I march to my car while Thomas hurries behind me. I ignore his pleas. He has hurt me too many times, but this time, he went too far and rejected my baby. I won’t forgive him for that, and besides, I don’t need him. I won’t be the first woman in history who has to be both mom and dad to her child.
I unlock the door, enter, and get the car started. I glance at Thomas one last time, and I’m glad to see he has given up and gone to his car. I sigh and slowly drive toward my childhood home.
Sadness comes over me when I remember Thomas’s reaction that I was pregnant. It plays over and over in my mind like a bad movie.
I don’t want a baby.
Those words are ingrained in my brain. I’d cried half the night and then made a resolution to raise my baby alone. I’m not going to force myself on anyone. Because I’ve owned my own business for years, my finances are in pretty good shape, and I can even take a long maternity leave when my baby is born.
I reach my mom’s house and ease my car into street parking. I get out of the car, and that’s when I see him parking his car behind mine. I’m stunned. I march to his car, and gesture at him to roll down his window.
“You know what this is called?”
“It’s not stalking,” Thomas says. “Not when it’s your lover, and she’s pregnant with your child.”
I go weak at the knees. I bite my lower lip and caution myself. Thomas doesn’t want babies. He said it three years ago, and he said it again just days ago. I can’t let him charm his way into my life again.
“Look, forget I said anything. Go on with your life, and I’ll go on with mine.”
He gets out of the car, and I turn to walk away. A car door bangs shut, and I hear his footsteps behind me.
“Cora!”
I grind to a halt. That’s not Thomas’s voice. I turn around in time to see my sister getting out of her car. She rushes up to me, but her gaze is on Thomas.
“Hi, Cora didn’t tell us that we were having a guest for dinner,” Adeline says to him.
She’s so well put together that no one could tell at a glance that she’s the mother of energetic three-year-old twin boys. Her black hair is silky smooth and straight and falls stylishly on her shoulders. A lot of people find it difficult to believe she’s my sister. She looks every inch like a lawyer, even now, with a sexy cream skirt suit and killer heels. I’ve barely ever worn heels in my life. I’m forever in sneakers. We’re so different that even members of our extended family like to tease my mother that she’s been keeping secrets. At some point, I suspected that I was secretly adopted.