A Night's Reward

Doomed

“Dee, I don't know what to do,” I sobbed over the phone, covering my mouth with a trembling hand.

“Oh come on Ava, I don't want you to cry. f**k! I hate that I'm not there with you. Hush now so we can talk properly, okay?”

I nodded my head forgetting he can't see me.

“I know you nodded your head, don't worry about it,” he said before I could speak.

My heart warmed. There really was no one who knew me as well as he did.

“What do I tell my parents?” I asked him when my tears had subsided.

“For now, nothing,” he said, causing my eyes to go wide in disbelief.

“Nothing? Dee you know my mom, she can smell a rat from a mile away. She would instantly know that something is up from how I'm acting,” I said, feeling dejected.

Dominic was quiet for a few seconds before clearing his throat. I instantly perked up, knowing that what he was going to ask me was a serious question.

“Do you want to keep it?”

My heart thumped in my chest. Just the one question I didn't know the answer to, great.

“I don't know, Dee. I mean, I don't know the first thing about a child. What do I do, what do I not do? And then I don't even….” I trailed off at the end.

“You don't even know the father,” he completed.

“I don't even know the father,” I echoed, slumping down the door.

“Do you remember anything about the father? Maybe a name he mentioned?” He asked.

I had told Dee about the sexy brown eyed man I met that night and how I didn't know the first thing about him. Even his face was barely in my mind, courtesy of how wasted I was.

“I know nothing about this man Dee. Nothing! I got pregnant by a stranger whose face I can't remember right after I got expelled. How do I get out of this sort of s**t storm?” I asked, biting my bottom lip so I wouldn't cry.

“You know what? How about you sleep on it? Whenever you've decided if you want to keep the pregnancy or not, then we can go from there. How does that sound?” He asked softly.

“I can't kill an innocent baby, Dee. I think I want to keep it. I should find a way to tell my parents about it,” I said.

“Woah! Hold on! I said sleep on it, I don't want you making decisions like this in a rush. I'll call you tomorrow.”

We ended the call after that and I just sat there on the bathroom floor.

“I can't kill an innocent baby,” I mumbled to myself.

I'm not sure how long I sat there until I started dozing off so I stood up and went to sleep on my bed.

Big mistake.

“Ava Hale. Get down here this instant,” my Dad's loud voice pulled me out of my sleep. There was another strange sound that I couldn't quite place my finger on.

When my senses became clearer, I realized that I wasn't pulled out of my sleep because his voice was loud.

I was pulled out because his voice was angry. My Dad rarely ever got angry, that was my mother's role, so whatever it was, it must be really bad.

I had just gotten out of bed when I noticed that the door to my room was opened as well as the door to my bathroom.

Fear crawled up my spine and it was at that moment that I heard the strange sound again. It was sobbing, my mother was crying loudly.

I descended the stairs shakily to meet my parents in a similar position to the one they took on the day I came back home. Only this time, my father looked as angry as my mother did.

There was no need for a special announcement about the reason I was called downstairs. The pregnancy strip that I had carelessly left on the bathroom floor while on the call with Dominic was sitting on the centerpiece.

“Dad, I can explain,” I started but he cut me off.

“How could you be so irresponsible, Ava? After everything we have done for you, you go ahead and get yourself pregnant?” He said, fuming.

I tried to talk but I could only let out a small squeak.

“Have you told the person who is responsible?” He asked.

“I don't know him but I want to keep the child,” I said in a voice that portrayed how small I felt at that exact moment. I wished with everything in me that the ground could open up and swallow me.

For the first time, my father laid a hand on me. Well, not exactly a hand considering he flung a flower vase at my head but this was even worse.

I managed to duck in time to save my head.

“Dad!” I exclaimed in disbelief, turning to see the shattered vase on the floor. I had never seen that side of him before. I couldn't even believe it was him doing that.

“How dare you? You ungrateful little bastard! You will not raise another bastard under my roof,” my father spat. He was looking at me with so much disgust and contempt. It was like I was looking through my mother's eyes.

“You have to get rid of it,” my mother suddenly cut in.

“Mama, no!” I said, wrapping my arms around my stomach in a protective manner. “I want to keep the child and raise him/her.

“The Osbornes are no longer going to proceed with the wedding after this. I already said you were still a virgin. How do I explain that you are now pregnant?” she asked. “This girl has ruined my life,” My mom said, clutching her chest.

She lied that I was a virgin?

My Dad took a step away from my mother and closer to me. I instinctively took one back, expecting a blow but his next words hit me harder than any blow possibly could.

“If you defy me Ava, you will