The Stolen Heart

Chapter 3: Unexpected Surprise!

"Regina no, I couldn’t possibly accept this” I wailed, desperately at Richard Malcerk’s, my fiancé’s mother, thrusting the turquoise bracelet studded with diamonds back into her hand.

“Oh, shush dear. You are part of our family. I originally wanted to give you this on your wedding day…but…” She broke down and started sobbing.

Oh god..No! I am already a pathetic mess like I always am whenever I visit his house because the house and everything in it reminds me of him. Regina made sure that I stayed every weekend in Richard’s room. And to top it all, today was supposed to be the day when we took the oaths. I quickly hugged her tightly, while patting her fragile back.

Regina Malcerk, the mother of Richard and Justin Malcerk was an admirable woman. Though, she was such a tiny little thing she packed a lot of punch in it. Ever since Richard had passed away, she had made it compulsory that I join the Malcerk family for dinner every Friday and stay there for the weekend. They had already accepted me as Richard’s bride though he passed away before we could even tie the knot. And today was the day set for our wedding….April 12th….

She stopped sobbing and took a step back, breaking the hug, but still holding on to me.

“Please…just keep this. I see my son in you now…You know because of your heart transplant surgery…..my son’s heart is beating inside you…..” She wailed.

I gulped hard and looked at her with guilt-stricken eyes, “Yes, now I have your son’s heart beating inside me. Shouldn’t you be hating me for this?”

“Hate you? Never….You were like a daughter to us way before Richard and you started going out. Why, Elma practically raised you here……Poor Elma, she couldn’t see how wonderful and beautiful her daughter grew up to be” She started wailing again and I winced.

I had lost my mother in college, and that was what made me go over to the edge, and start drinking like that. I had worked hard all my life, ensuring my grades never slip only for her….to give her a better life, than washing dishes and changing sheets……Years later here I was, all perfect and wealthy, leading the better life I had always dreamed about, only she was not in it anymore. And now I had lost the love of my life….Richard had passed away four months ago and the pain was still raw.

 A nauseating feeling hit my stomach as I remembered the s**t I had put Richard through in college when my mum passed away. I immediately doubled over, clenching my fists as I started vomiting.

I stared at Regina in horror as I realized that I had just vomited into the newly imported Italian sofa.

“Sorry” I managed to get out as I fled towards the bathroom.

I groaned as I felt bile rise up my throat and immediately doubled over the sink, retching my guts out. I felt a small hand patting me on the back as I continued my vomiting spree….Regina’s..

I stopped vomiting and she quietly handed me a box of tissue. She was looking at me with a happy expression on her face. Wait, why was she happy that I was vomiting?

“I am sorry about your sofa” I muttered while splashing water on my face.

“It’s okay dear”, she said softly as she continued looking at me curiously.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again. I raised an eyebrow at her, while looking in the mirror.

“Uhm, dear. Is your period late?” she asked hesitantly.

I shrugged as I replied, “Yeah”

Her eyebrows rose high, almost vanishing into her forehead as she asked, “How late?”

I started counting and the blood drained from my face as I replied, “Around Four months, I guess?”

Holy crap, I was busy ignoring everyone and going deep in my own shell, driving myself hard into work that I didn’t even realize that I was four months late? What kind of an i***t am I? I was so fully immersed in my work, what with all the mergers and acquisitions; I had practically slept in my office…

“You don’t think that I could be?” I asked her nervously.

She bit her lip anxiously as she replied, “It would be wonderful if you were”

“Justin” She put her head out of the bathroom and yelled as I sank a little inside.

“Mom?” Justin asked confused as he peeked his head in, taking in my disheveled look, the vomit on the sink that I had just washed away from my face.

“Go out and buy some pregnancy test kit” she said calmly.

Justin looked shocked by Regina's demand, then his eyes again took in the vomit and I saw his eyebrows shoot up as realization hit him.

He immediately fled out as me and Regina continued prancing around the bathroom nervously.

“Wait, I possibly couldn’t be” I started. I didn’t want to lead her on only to disappoint her later.

“Why not?” she countered.

“Cause, if I did the math correctly, that would make me four months pregnant and look at my stomach. Shouldn’t it be big if I was in fact four months pregnant? “

“And it’s normal for me to miss periods. Even in college it had happened. I would be late for a couple of months, then the next I would have a huge flow” I continued

She bit her lip again as she replied, “Calm down, my dear. Let’s just wait and see....and as for your stomach, the bulge will not be noticeable until you are heavily pregnant cause you are that tall, dear”

But I couldn’t calm down. What if I was really pregnant? My baby would have to grow up without a father like I had to do, just like my mother had to….It feels like history was repeating itself. I don’t want my kid to go through what I had to go through in high school.

I immediately remembered the day Sofia had asked me in pre-school, what’s the name of your daddy? She hadn’t meant it as an insult, she was merely curious to know. But the embarrassing thing was I didn’t even know what the word ‘daddy’ meant till then. I remembered how I had stood there rooted to the spot when I saw Sofia leave the class with her ‘daddy’. The first thing I did when I reached home that day was to ask my mum, ‘who was my daddy?’

 She had cried a lot that day, so I dropped the subject fearing that she would start crying again but as soon as I grew up, I found what ‘father’ meant and something died in me every time I saw my friends with both their parents.

I always had to hide my ID card because in the card, on the column next to Father’s name, mine was always blank. When the kids first had gotten their ID, everyone was excited to see their picture in a laminated card, that they were looking at everyone’s cards comparing whose picture came clearer. I had hidden my card desperately at that time, and I still feel the humiliation and desperation I felt that day when Justin had pried it out from my hands and showed to everyone, making a fool out of me. Justin was such a bully to me in high school and I hated him with all my heart until Richard…..

After that, it became difficult to hate the brother of the love of my life, so I had kept up polite pretenses with him, while keeping my distance. It was only after Justin returned from abroad, after finishing his college that he turned into a better man. He had a whole three sixty-degree change in him.

“Mom, here” A voice said, interrupting my flashback.

Justin looked at me with an unreadable expression but his eyes was looking at me softly before he exited, closing the bathroom door behind him.

“Here dear”. Regina said as she handed me over the kit.

I gulped and took it from her hands with shaking hands.

After several minutes, I was rubbing my hands together while prancing.

“It’s time dear” She said softly.

“You read it” I said, feeling small and holding my breath as I waited for the answer.

“As you wish” she said with a sigh.

My hands clenched into fists as I looked at her with anticipation.

She didn’t need to answer. Everything was clear from her joyous expression and her soft eyes, which were now tearing up. I am pregnant.

I smiled at her relieved and she immediately came forward and hugged me tightly.

“You know, today was supposed to be your wedding day, so I was trying to get you to accept my gift, but you gave me the best gift ever” she sobbed into my arms.

My heart did a flip. ….I was pregnant. I wasn’t alone anymore.....

She let go of me and started attacking the box of tissue she had brought in earlier, while I looked into the mirror, fondling my stomach and smiling…..