COUPLE 1 - Chapter 3: The moment of truth has arrived

On Monday, at lunchtime, I met Mel and she handed me a little bag from a fancy store. I looked at her blankly.

- My mother told me to give it to you. She said it's perfect for you and doesn't suit her. - Mel said with a big smile.

I opened the bag and inside was the perfume I wore to the prom. I smiled big. I loved that perfume and it was part of the best night of my life. I just hoped that my best night hadn't left me with a sexually transmitted disease as a souvenir. With that thought in mind, I thanked Mel and would call her mother later, so I told Mel that I wanted to call the lab and schedule the tests.

I called the lab and was told that I would need to present a doctor's request to do the tests through my health insurance. Thank God the company paid for health insurance for its employees, because if it didn't, I don't know what I would do. My salary wasn't high and the little that was left after covering college expenses I helped out at home, since my mother didn't work outside the home and my father didn't earn much as a driver either.

So I made an appointment with the doctor who only had an appointment for fifteen days later and waited in agony. The more days passed, the more nervous I became, Mel did everything she could to calm me down. On the scheduled date, she went with me to the doctor. With the list of tests in hand, she made an appointment with the lab and insisted on accompanying me. Three weeks had passed since the party when I finally managed to get the tests done. The results came back five days later and I went back to the doctor. Of course Mel was with me.

The doctor checked the results and looked me in the eye:

- Miss Catarina, your health is great. You're healthy. But from now on, you'll have to take better care of yourself.

I breathed a sigh of relief, but was I really going to listen to the doctor lecture me for having sex with a stranger without a condom? I deserved it, it was stupid not to use a condom, I could have caught a disease. And then he continued talking:

- Congratulations, you're pregnant! I'm going to refer you to an obstetrician-gynecologist so you can get prenatal care...

I didn't hear anything else, just the blood pounding in my ears. I couldn't believe it! Pregnant? How was I going to explain it? It's not possible. I, who was the good lady, who never took a step out of line, who always weighed the consequences of my actions before doing anything, who was always responsible, the first time I left rationality aside I ended up pregnant and I didn't even know who the father was! Mel held my hand and repeated:

- Calm down, Cat, everything will be okay!

How could everything be okay? I didn't even know who the father was. Shit! I would have to tell my parents this, their only daughter would destroy them. They would be disappointed, they would hate me, they would throw me out of the house. How could I explain that I don't even know what my son's father looks like? I was already hyperventilating. Suddenly, I felt the doctor take my hand and say calmly:

- Daughter, calm down! The situation, from what I can see, is not the best, but you can't get so nervous, it will harm your baby, now you have to take care of yourself for him. I'm sure the people who love you will support you and help you. But you need to calm down, because only you can make sure that this baby develops healthily and is born strong. Do you understand me?

I looked at that short, white-haired, somewhat chubby man, with his glasses perched on the tip of his nose, and nodded. Somehow he calmed me down a little, maybe because his eyes shone with a kindness and understanding that we rarely see anymore these days. The doctor asked the secretary to bring me some chamomile tea and while I drank the tea and tried to calm down, he gave all the information to Melissa, who listened attentively.

We left the office and Melissa took me to a café saying that we needed to eat something. As soon as I sat down I felt tears fall. My friend hugged me and told me once again that I was not alone. I looked at her and said:

- The only thing I know for sure now is that I want you and Nando as my son's godparents, because I know that you will support him and give him lots of love.

Her eyes shone and she burst into tears and, sobbing, she answered me:

- I will be the best godmother in the world and I will always be close to our baby! And I am sure that Nando will be very happy too!

She assured me that she would always be by my side, she made it clear that I would not go through anything alone and that she would be with me when I went to talk to my parents. My parents... oh! I started to think and decided that I would not hide it from them for even a day, I would tell them that very night, I would not go to college, because I would go home to talk to them. Mel immediately supported me and said:

- Then let's go, I'm with you!

When we arrived at my house, my parents were scared and my mother came right awayall worried:

- Girls, didn't you go to school today? Is everything okay?

- Not really, mom. I need to talk to you.

My parents realized right away that it was something very serious. We all sat down in the living room and I told them what was happening and that I had been irresponsible and had hooked up with a stranger at the party. I didn't go into details, obviously, but I made it clear that I couldn't meet my son's father again. The disappointment in their eyes was evident. My mother was sobbing so hard and saying that I was ruined. My father hadn't said anything until then. Melissa, seeing how nervous my mother was, went straight to the kitchen and came back with a glass of sugar water for her. Melissa always gives sugar water to people who are nervous, saying that it calms them down. I never understood that.

Finally, my father said:

- You made a huge mistake and there's no going back.

My parents were very simple people, my father was a tall and strong man, my mother was an older version of me, but they both had great character and very solid principles that they always made a point of passing on to me. Hearing my father emphasize that I had made a mistake made my heart ache even more. I started to cry and said:

- I know, Dad, I was irresponsible. But there's no way out now. I'm going to drop out of college so I can raise my son. And I'm going to pack my bags...

- Pack my bags? You're very wrong if you think you're going to leave this house like this. You made a mistake, you disappointed us, but we love you, we'll get through this and we'll help you. You're not alone, my daughter! And neither is this child! - My father said this and my heart filled with hope.

- But Dad, I've embarrassed you...

- You're not the first and you won't be the last single mother in this world. We wish things were different for you, that they weren't so difficult. You've always been so responsible! But if that's the case, we'll face it. You won't drop out of college. More than ever, you need to grow up in life to take care of your child. You're going to be a single mother. Your responsibility is huge. We're going to help you, and even if it's hard, everything will be fine.

Melissa was already crying and soon spoke to my parents:

- Mr. Antônio, Mrs. Celina, you can count on me. I'll help you with everything! Especially because I'm this baby's godmother. Cat is like a sister to me, and I'll always be around.

My parents looked at her with gratitude. I looked at those three, feeling completely blessed to have them in my life, full of love for them and a totally new feeling for that little being that was still growing inside me and that I had just discovered existed!

As hard as it was to be a single mother, that night at the prom was the best night of my life. I'll never be able to forget those violet-blue eyes looking at me with adoration during our furtive encounter and everything my body experienced that night. I'll always have that sweet memory with me.

The following months were difficult. I kept the dress, shoes, mask and perfume that Mel's mother gave me in a box. On difficult days I would open that box and relive that night in my memory.

Although I had a calm pregnancy, the comments and meanness from people were hard to bear. To make matters worse, after they got married, my ex and my cousin went to live with her parents, who lived on the same street as us, and they made a point of humiliating me with mean comments whenever they saw me and spread the word throughout the neighborhood that I didn't know who the father of my child was and that I was a loser, that's why Cláudio left me. I wanted to kill them! Kelly's mother, who was my mother's sister, also didn't miss the opportunity to come over to our house and torment us, saying that it was a good thing her daughter wasn't like me, that she was a good girl, that she had married a decent man. She seemed to have forgotten that that whore had stolen my boyfriend and had sex with him in my bed.

But I swallowed it all, it wasn't worth arguing with those people and I didn't want to transmit bad feelings to my son. The more the days passed, the more I loved that baby, I had no idea that love like that could exist. Everything I did, I did for him. I would protect him from everything, I would give my life for him. And, oddly enough, with the pregnancy it seemed like everything was flowing for my good, everything was going well and working out.

My boss was great, he understood my situation and even raised my salary a little, which was a huge help! Mel and Nando showered me with affection, they were in love with their godson who didn't even know yet if it would be a girl or a boy. They made sure to buy everything for the little room, which turned out so beautiful. Mel accompanied me to every appointment, every test, she didn't miss a thing. She even organized a baby shower at work and another at college. My son would come into the world with a lot of love.

I found out I was having a boy and decided to name him Pedro. And so it was. Pedro was born healthy, with a pair of hugeviolet blue eyes that would never let me forget the night that changed my life, but that was the best night I ever lived! I would never forget that man!

My son was surrounded by love from the very first moment. My parents were delighted with their grandson. Mel and Nando came home every day to see their godson and find out how we were doing. Mel was always with me in everything. Her parents also went to visit Pedro and said they would be step-grandparents, since they considered me their daughter too. I thought that was beautiful, they also surrounded me with care. They made sure to give him the stroller as a gift and on the day Pedro was born they went to the maternity ward with a huge basket of flowers and balloons to welcome him.

When my maternity leave ended, my son was in the care of my mother while I was at work and college. I worked a lot and all the time I wasn't at college or work I dedicated to my son. With the help of my parents and my son's godparents, I was able to handle everything and didn't miss a single semester of college, graduating with my friend Melissa. It was a great moment for me and my family. With my diploma in hand, I would now pursue a better future, with the firm purpose of ensuring that my son would lack nothing.