Chapter 2: The Pregnancy He Didn't Celebrate
Michael straightened in his chair.
“Fine?”” he repeated.
I nodded.
“If that's what you want, I won't stop you.””
His expression shifted from surprise to irritation.
“You're seriously going to act like this?””
I almost laughed.
He had suggested ending our marriage in front of his mother, his sister, and his nephew, yet somehow I was the one behaving badly.
“What would you prefer?”” I asked.
“Should I beg you to stay?””
“Don't twist my words.””
“Then explain them.””
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
Jessica suddenly found her voice.
“Honestly, Althia, nobody is asking you to beg. Maybe if you stopped treating every conversation like a personal attack, Michael wouldn't be so frustrated.””
I turned toward her.
“You should be careful about speaking for my husband.””
Her eyebrows rose.
“Excuse me?””
“You heard me.””
Carol intervened before Jessica could respond.
“Both of you, stop. This is exactly why family dinners become unbearable.””
I stared at my mother-in-law.
“Then perhaps the person insulting someone else should stop first.””
Carol's expression hardened.
“Jessica has had a difficult few years. She is raising a child alone. You should try to be more understanding.””
“I have been understanding for almost three years.””
“And nobody is denying that.””
“Really?””
I looked at the boxes near the front door.
“Because I've heard quite a lot tonight about how I waste money, how I don't contribute, and how I live off Michael.””
Carol sighed.
“Must everything be reduced to dollars?””
“No. But apparently everything I spend becomes a family discussion.””
Michael reached for his glass.
“Can we please just finish dinner?””
I looked at him.
“You threatened divorce. I think dinner is finished.””
Then I unlocked my phone.
My hands were trembling, but not because I was afraid of him anymore.
I had spent the entire afternoon imagining the moment I would tell Michael about our baby.
I had rehearsed the words while waiting for my appointment.
I had smiled at strangers on the street without realizing it.
I had even stopped at a small store to look at baby blankets, though I hadn't bought one because I wanted to wait until Michael and I could choose it together.
Now I was standing at the edge of a decision I had never expected to face.
I slid my phone across the table.
Michael frowned.
“What is this?””
“Look.””
He picked it up.
The screen displayed my prenatal purchases, along with the confirmation message from the clinic where I had received my examination that morning.
He scrolled once.
Then again.
His expression changed.
“What am I looking at?””
I took a breath.
“I'm two months pregnant.””
The words came out quietly.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
Carol's wineglass stopped halfway to her mouth.
Tony looked up from his plate.
Jessica's smile vanished.
Michael stared at me as if I had just spoken a language he didn't understand.
“You're what?””
“Pregnant.””
I placed one hand over my stomach.
“I found out this morning.””
Michael looked down at the screen again.
“Are you sure?””
“The doctor confirmed it.””
He stared at me for several more seconds.
I waited for him to stand.
To cross the room.
To ask whether I was feeling all right.
To take my hand and tell me that whatever had happened between us, we would figure things out together.
Instead, Jessica spoke first.
“Oh, come on.””
I turned toward her.
“What?””
She folded her arms.
“That's convenient.””
Michael looked at his sister.
“Jessica.””
“No, seriously. You argue with him, he mentions divorce, and suddenly you're pregnant?””
My fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“I didn't become pregnant this evening, Jessica.””
“You know what I mean.””
“No. I don't think I do.””
She shook her head.
“If you were really pregnant, why didn't you tell him before now?””
“Because I found out this morning.””
“And you waited until the divorce conversation to announce it?””
“I was going to tell him over dinner.””
I looked at the plates, the carefully arranged napkins, and the candles I had lit before everyone arrived.
“This dinner was supposed to be a celebration.””
Jessica made a dismissive sound.
“Convenient timing.””
Carol finally put down her glass.
“Althia, a child is a serious responsibility.””
“I know.””
“You shouldn't use a baby to hold a marriage together.””
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
I had spent years wondering whether I would ever become a mother.
I had cried alone in bathrooms after negative tests.
I had endured the uncomfortable questions from relatives who believed pregnancy was something a woman could simply schedule.
And now, on the very first day I had good news, my mother-in-law was warning me not to use my unborn child as a bargaining chip.
I looked at Michael.
“Do you believe that?””
He rubbed his face.
“Believe what?””
“That I'm trying to trap you.””
He didn't answer immediately.
That hesitation hurt more than Jessica's accusation.
Finally, he said, “This is a lot to take in.””
I nodded slowly.
“Yes. It is.””
“I just found out you're pregnant, and we're having this argument about divorce.””
“You brought up divorce.””
“Because I was angry.””
“So was I.””
“Althia, can we please discuss this privately?””
I almost asked him what there was left to discuss.
But I gave him one last opportunity.
I stood and walked around the table, stopping beside his chair.
“Michael, I need to know one thing.””
He looked up at me.
“Do you want this baby?””
The room became so quiet that I could hear the refrigerator humming in the kitchen.
Michael's eyes moved briefly toward his mother.
Then toward Jessica.
Finally, he looked back at me.
“I don't know what I want right now.””
It wasn't a cruel answer.
That was what made it so devastating.
He didn't shout.
He didn't insult me.
He simply left me alone with the most important news of my life.
I had imagined that moment for years, and somehow I had never imagined feeling more alone than I did at that table.
I nodded.
“Okay.””
He reached for my wrist.
“Althia, wait.””
I stepped back before he could touch me.
“Don't worry. I'm not trapping anyone.””
His face tightened.
“You're making this sound worse than it is.””
“Am I?””
I looked at Jessica.
Then Carol.
Then the man I had loved enough to uproot my entire life for.
“You asked for a divorce, Michael. I accepted.””
I walked toward the bedroom.
Behind me, Jessica muttered, “This is unbelievable.””
I kept walking.
In the bedroom, I closed the door and sat on the edge of the bed.
For several minutes, I did nothing.
Then I opened the drawer of my nightstand.
Inside was the tiny gift I had purchased that afternoon.
A white baby onesie.
I had imagined placing it in Michael's hands and watching him smile.
I had imagined him laughing in disbelief, pulling me into his arms, and asking whether we should start looking at names.
Instead, I held the little garment against my chest and cried so quietly that nobody outside the bedroom could hear me.
I wasn't crying because Michael had suggested divorce.
I was crying because some part of me had still believed that the man I married would be happy to learn we were having a child.
After a while, I wiped my face.
I placed the onesie carefully inside my suitcase.
Then I began packing.
Clothes.
My passport.
My medical records.
The folder containing my personal financial documents.
I didn't take the expensive things Michael had bought me over the years.
I didn't take the decorative pieces we had chosen together for the apartment.
I took what belonged to me and what I would need to protect myself and my baby.
When I returned to the living room ten minutes later, Michael was sitting on the sofa watching television.
Carol was sipping wine.
Jessica was transferring the leftover chicken into plastic containers.
My dinner.
The meal I had prepared while fighting morning sickness.
She didn't even look embarrassed when she noticed me carrying a suitcase.
“Where are you going?”” she asked.
“Home.””
She laughed.
“You mean your parents' house?””
“Yes.””
“And what are you going to tell them? That Michael asked you for a divorce?””
I adjusted the strap on my shoulder.
“That's exactly what I'm going to tell them.””
Jessica tilted her head.
“Do you really think running away will solve anything?””
“No,” I replied.
“But staying here won't.””
Michael muted the television.
“Althia, don't make a decision you'll regret.””
I looked at him.
For seven years, I had made decisions based on what would keep our marriage peaceful.
I had agreed to compromises I didn't like.
I had swallowed words I should have spoken.
I had watched his family take more and more from me because I believed love required patience.
Now he was asking me not to make a decision I might regret.
I wondered whether he had ever considered how many decisions I had already regretted making for him.
“I'm not the one who suggested divorce,” I said.
Then I walked toward the front door.
Jessica followed me with her eyes.
“You're going to regret losing someone who lives off my brother.””
I stopped with my hand on the doorknob.
I could have told her the truth right then.
I could have listed every bill I had paid.
I could have explained the money I had transferred to Carol, the tutoring fees I had covered for Tony, and the property taxes I had quietly handled.
But something told me that explaining myself would only give them another opportunity to dismiss me.
So I turned and looked at Jessica.
“You're going to regret what happened tonight.””
She smirked.
“Is that supposed to scare me?””
“No,” I said.
“It's a promise to myself.””
Then I left.
The elevator doors closed between me and the apartment where I had spent seven years trying to build a family.
For the first time that evening, I allowed myself to breathe.
I didn't know where my marriage was going.
I didn't know whether Michael would ever want to be a father.
But I knew one thing.
I would never again beg to be treated as though I belonged in a home I had helped pay for.
And as the elevator descended, I began to think about the financial documents in my suitcase.
May you like
Because the truth was much larger than Jessica understood.
And Michael was about to learn just how much.
