INICIAR SESIÓNMARKWhy in heaven’s name would Mona choose this moment to call?I really should have switched it off, but I didn’t even remember that I had a working cell phone after I saw Alexa walking down that stairs in that dress.Everything else in my head disappeared.And now, she chose this moment to call. I intentionally didn’t speak to Mona at all because I wanted this moment with Alexa to be special.She could have called me during hours of the day, but she didn’t until this very moment. As soon as I ended the call, I ensured that I turned off the phone and kept it in my pocket so that I wouldn’t have to deal with such distractions.Tonight was special.I didn’t want anything or anyone to ruin it.“I am so sorry about that, Alexa. It was someone from work, and I don’t want us to be distracted,” I lied.Gosh, I hated lying to Alexa.She would hate me if she found out about the lie and the big secret I was keeping from her, and I dreaded that as well because more than anyone else, I knew how
ALEXA“Mark,” I said, the words coming out in a gasp of breath.Mark stopped and turned to me worriedly.“Is anything wrong?” Mark asked me. “You don’t like it?” He asked further.He was so worried that I could see it in his eyes.I shook my head.“No, Mark, it’s not that,” I responded.“Then what’s wrong?” I questioned further.Mark was so tender and careful that it warmed my heart. It was as though he was being extremely careful not to hurt me or break my heart.If only he had been like this from the very beginning…“There’s nothing wrong, Mark,” I said, making him confused. “It’s just that this is so beautiful,” I eventually said.And that was because my breath had been taken away.Mark sighed with deep relief knowing now that it wasn’t something he had done wrong.The interior was decorated in a cozy and an older pattern. It reminded me of when I was much younger.Although, unlike Mark, I didn’t get to spend time with any of my grandparents as they passed when I was a kid, but the
ALEXAEverything seemed calm and peaceful between Mark and I, and a part of me wished that it would never end, but I also had to remind myself that there was nothing between us except for the fact that we were expecting a child together.If I wasn’t pregnant, Mark would probably be doing this with Mona.“Alexa,” Mark called, interrupting my thought.“Mm?” I responded, snapping out of my reverie.I had no idea why I was thinking about something like this in a moment like this.“What are you thinking about?” Mark asked me.“Why do you think I was thinking about something?” I asked in return.“You seemed lost in thought for a moment,” Mark responded. “What were you thinking about?” He asked again.And it was just at the tip of my tongue to ask him if he would have been here with me if I wasn’t pregnant and not with Mona. If he was doing all of this because he felt the need to act responsible because the thought was making me see his gestures as obligational.Granted, I knew that I pushed
MARKEven though it seemed as though we were both enjoying the silence, I just wanted to talk to Alexa, so I cleared my throat and tried, hoping that she wouldn’t be upset about talking to me.“Um, do you mind telling me why you seemed somewhat upset when I got to the house?” I asked, gently breaking the silence between us.Something inside of me warned me that I might not like the response, but I had already asked.What if I was the reason Alexa was unhappy or upset?It might ruin the moment completely, just like it did before we went for the doctor’s appointment.“What?” Alexa asked.Her mind had been somewhere else, obviously, because she didn’t hear what I said, and I wondered if this was a chance for me to either stay quiet or repeat the question.“Do you mind telling me why you seemed upset when I got to the house?” I repeated against the warning sign in my head.“How do you mean?” Alexa asked, sounding confused.“You looked upset when you came down the stairs to meet me,” I res
MARKI held the flower behind me as Alexa walked down the stairs, and my breath hitched when I saw her descending the stairs.She looked absolutely stunning and I was reminded of how attracted I was to Alexa. It wasn’t just about the attraction, but also love.Nothing I felt for Alexa ever died.They had all been put to rest after she rejected me, but watching her right now and seeing that little bump in front of her, knowing that the baby growing fast inside of her belonged to me as well, everything I had felt for Alexa in the last couple of months came back to life.I could barely even breathe.And I didn’t stop staring at her until she got to where I stop in the living room.“Hi, Mark,” she said.Alexa had packed her hair in a neat bun, and it was just perfect.She didn’t have much makeup on except powder and lip gloss, but I realized that I wouldn’t have wanted her any other way. Even if Alexa’s hair was scattered and she applied nothing at all on her face, she would still look st
ALEXAI stood in front of the mirror and stared at my reflection.This was the only dress I could find that seemed appropriate and I hadn’t worn before. I didn’t want Mark to think that I wanted to impress him, and at the same time, I wanted to steal his breath away in a certain kind of way.“Ugh, but this feels really tight,” I complained.I could see a slight bump on the dress because it was really tight. I realized that if I wasn’t pregnant, it wouldn’t have been tight.It wasn’t until the moment that I placed Mark’s hand on my stomach that I started noticing the growing bump. I never paid attention to it until after that moment, and now, it just felt like every dress that wasn’t big was too tight.Four months.I touched my bump and felt my heart skip.“Yes,” I said as tears gathered in my eyes.It was as though I felt the presence of the baby the moment I did that.The doctor already said that the baby was forming well enough, and soon enough, it would be a very obvious bump, prob
MARKReyna’s text came in when I was speaking to the doctor with Alexa, so right after I left the hospital, I went to meet Reyna at Mr. Silver’s company.“Am I late?” I asked her the moment I got there.“By twenty minutes,” she said lightly.“I apologize, but it took longer than expected at the hos
ALEXA“Good morning, dad,” I greeted my dad the moment he opened his eyes.I gave him a few seconds to adjust his eyes to his environment, being that he slept all through the night. The doctor, during his last checkup last night, had already informed me that the medication will keep him unconscious
ALEXAWhat I just saw brought back all the anger in me and disoriented me internally.And I could not explain the jealousy I felt in the pit of my stomach. Mark was such a shameless man. How long had he known Reyna that something was already going on between them? I had loved only Mark since I was
ALEXAMark became too skeptical to speak.“Can you stop placing me under suspense and just say what the fuck you are thinking?” I almost barked at Mark demandingly.“Calm down, Alexa, and please, let us all be mindful of our mood and language,” the doctor cautioned me.Again, I felt embarrassed.“I







