I’m pregnant 2

I’M PREGNANT 2

The moment I sit on my bed, my knees give out like something inside me has snapped. The mattress dips under my weight and the room suddenly feels too small, too quiet, too bright. My vision blurs as tears spill down my cheeks, hot and endless. My hands won’t stop shaking.

“What will I do, Mia?” I whisper, my voice breaking into pieces. “What am I supposed to do?”

Mia doesn’t hesitate. She drops beside me and pulls me into her arms, wrapping me up in the kind of hug that feels like a lifeline. Her shirt absorbs the first of my silent sobs. She strokes my back gently, her voice low and soothing.

“Melissa … breathe. Just breathe, okay? I’m here. You’re not alone in this.”

I grip her like the room is spinning and she’s the only steady thing left. The fear sits heavy on my chest, thick, suffocating, relentless. I feel it pressing down on every breath, squeezing until I’m almost gasping.

She pulls back slightly and cups my cheeks, wiping my tears with her thumbs. “Listen to me,” she says softly. “Whatever happens… whatever decision you make… I’m with you. Every step, every moment. You hear me? I’m not leaving you.”

Her words make me cry harder. Not loud tears, just those quiet, aching ones that drain the soul.

Then she hesitates, her eyes flickering to the test kits lying on the bed like evidence from a crime scene. She swallows and looks at me carefully. “Mel… are you thinking of… getting rid of it?”

My entire body goes still. I blink, stunned, the thought hitting me like cold water.

I lift my eyes slowly to hers. “No,” I whisper, shaking my head. “No, Mia. I—I could never do that.” My voice trembles violently. “It’s my unborn child. I know it came from my carelessness but I can’t punish it for my mistake.”

Mia nods instantly, squeezing my hand in understanding. “Okay. Good. I just needed to know how you feel. Don’t worry, I’m not judging. I just wanted you to say it out loud.”

I breathe out shakily, and she sits beside me, pulling her legs up, facing me fully.

“But,” she continues, biting her lip, “what if… what if it’s your ex boyfriend’s?”

I let out a humorless breath. “Mia…”

She tilts her head, waiting.

I inhale deeply, gathering courage. “It’s not possible.”

“Why not?” she asks softly.

“Because I haven’t had sex with my ex boyfriend for over a month before he cheated on me,” I say, each word hurting like it’s ripping something open inside me.

“We were already fighting… already falling apart. He found someone else.” My hands tremble, and I grip the bedsheet to steady them. “This—” I motion to my stomach, “isn’t his. I’m a hundred percent sure.”

Mia’s expression softens with painful understanding.

“So… it’s from the one-night stand.”

My throat closes. Saying it out loud makes it real in a way the tests didn’t.

I nod slowly. “Yes. It is.”

The silence that follows stretches across the room like a thick fog. Mia looks at me, sympathy deep in her eyes, not pity, never pity, just the painful ache of watching someone she loves suffer.

“So… the father is a stranger.” She says the words gently, carefully.

A stranger.

I shut my eyes tightly, the memory of that night stabbing me like a cold blade.

“That karma caught up with me,” I whisper, laughing bitterly through my tears. “Of course it did. I judged my ex for cheating, for lying, for betraying me… and look at me now. Pregnant for a complete stranger because I was too drunk to think.”

“Mel—”

“No,” I say, shaking my head violently. “This is karma. This is consequences. This is life teaching me a lesson I was never ready for.”

Mia moves closer and holds my hand tightly. “It’s not karma. Stop saying that.”

But she doesn’t understand.

“Mia, where do I even find the stranger?” I ask, my voice cracking. “I don’t know his name. I don’t know his job. I don’t know where he lives.” My words come out in broken breaths. “I don’t know anything.”

Mia watches me, her brows knitting with worry.

“And what do I even say to him?” I continue, my tears flowing freely. “Hi. Remember me? The drunk girl you slept with? Surprise, I’m pregnant?” I laugh again, but it’s hollow, painful, ugly. “He’ll think I’m crazy. Or lying. Or trying to trap him.”

Mia shakes her head firmly. “You don’t know that.”

“But I don’t know anything else either!” I snap, my breath hitching. “I don’t know who he is. I don’t know if he’s married, or engaged, or in a relationship. I don’t know if he’s kind or cruel. I don’t even remember what his voice sounds like!” My chest tightens painfully. “All I remember is being drunk and waking up to a total stranger.Stupid. Broken.”

The room falls quiet except for my soft sobbing. Mia pulls me into another hug, rocking me gently like a child. I cling to her, my tears soaking her shoulder.

“You’re not stupid,” she whispers. “You were hurting. People do reckless things when they’re hurting.”

“But now there’s a baby involved,” I whisper back.

“I know.”

“And I’m broke. I’m jobless. I just graduated. I don’t even have my life together.”

“I know.”

“And I’m scared, Mia. I’m so scared.”

She holds me tighter.

“It’s okay to be scared,” she says softly. “You’re human.”

I bury my face in her shoulder, my voice muffled. “What if I can’t be a good mother? What if I fail this child before it’s even born?”

“You won’t,” she says firmly. “You’re already worrying about them. That’s love, Mel.”

A shaky breath leaves me. My hands instinctively rest over my stomach.

My stomach.

The place where a life, small, fragile, innocent, is growing.

The thought crushes me and comforts me all at once.

Mia reaches over and gently places her hand on top of mine. “You’re going to figure this out,” she says softly. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow. But you will.”

My tears slow, but the ache remains. A heavy, overwhelming ache.

“And even if you can’t find the father,” Mia continues, “you won’t be alone. I’m still here. I’ll help you. We’ll figure everything out together.”

For a moment, I just breathe. In and out. In and out.

Then I whisper, “But how do I start, Mia? How do I even begin?”

She looks at me with a determined softness. “One step at a time.”

I turn my head, looking at the two pregnancy tests lying on the bed.

Two tiny windows.Two pink lines.One irreversible truth.

My life will never be the same again.

And for the first time since Mia held my shaking hand, I whisper the words that have been clawing at my chest:

“I’m pregnant for a stranger.”