“What? What did you say?” Carl exclaimed in surprise. He had been feeling down these days because Nana had been avoiding him, but he never expected William to say that Nana was pregnant.
Carl vividly remembered the night at the hotel when they first slept together. So…
A thought slowly formed in his mind, and Carl’s eyes widened with joy.
William frowned, not understanding what Carl meant. Was he trying to shirk responsibility?
Thinking this way made William’s tone even more serious as he spoke again. “Yes, Nana is pregnant. You two are together, right? Now that she is carrying your child, I hope you will take responsibility for her and not hurt her.”
After speaking, William hung up the phone and walked down the empty hallway before exhaling a sigh of relief.
It was time to end things.
Nana anxiously grasped Jane’s wrist; she couldn’t imagine having a child now when she had only slept with Carl once at the hotel. How could this happen? Why did such a dramatic plot twist have to happen to her?
“Jane… what should I do?” Nana kept her hand on her stomach and looked helpless as she turned towards Jane while also worrying about how William would react.
“William knows about this now; will he…”
Jane interrupted quickly by patting Nana’s back reassuringly before saying gently, “Don’t worry for now; just take care of yourself first. Let me go check on something.”
After placing Nana’s outstretched hand back under the blanket where it belonged, Jane stepped into the hallway and turned towards William who was standing nearby.
“Are you sure about going back to teach in rural areas? It seems like Nana doesn’t want you to leave,” Jane asked him carefully.
“She doesn’t want me gone… but there isn’t much we can do,” replied William with a shake of his head while smiling wryly.
Some decisions cannot be undone once they are made, especially since he had already thought it through over these past few days. Maybe himself and Nana were just from different worlds.
Even if they were together later on in life, there might still be times where they would have no choice but separate ways eventually.
He turned slightly towards the window looking into their room where Nana lay inside before saying, “I’ve decided already; I’m going back up north tomorrow morning. Besides I called Carl earlier too. Since both of them are together now, then it’s his responsibility taking care of both mother and child.”
After a moment of silence, Jane nodded. She knew that once William said something, there was no changing his mind.
Carl couldn’t stop thinking about the news William had told him over the phone about Nana being pregnant after he hung up. He was still in shock, but what followed was joy and excitement, the comfort of seeing his dreams come true.
Once he snapped out of it, Carl hastily put on his coat and drove to the hospital. He practically ran into Nana’s room without even greeting Jane outside.
“Nana… Nana, you’re pregnant?”
Carl’s sudden entrance startled Nana. His eyes were filled with joy as he smiled from ear to ear. He even adjusted his tone so as not to scare her with how loud he spoke.
Nana froze and looked at Carl incredulously while slowly tightening her grip on her blanket-covered hand. “How did you come here?”
Carl sat down beside her and tentatively took hold of one hand that wasn’t covered by the blanket before speaking sincerely, “William called me… he said you are pregnant so I rushed over here right away. It’s such a big deal; why didn’t you call me?”
Nana couldn’t hide her disappointment in her eyes as she lowered them slightly before turning away from Carl while slowly pulling back her hand from him, “So it was him who told you… I just found out too just now about this news myself.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “To be honest, I’m not ready for this yet… I don’t know how to be a mother.”
Carl hesitated for a moment but then withdrew his hand before quickly regaining composure again. Since Nana had already gotten pregnant, then it meant that he would have to take responsibility for both herself and their child.
“I never thought I’d become a father so soon either but don’t worry; now that we have this child together, I will definitely take responsibility for both you and our baby,” Carl reassuredly spoke up again while also adding confidently, “I’ll marry you too.”
Nana trembled all over when she heard those words coming out of Carl’s mouth; she avoided eye contact with him more than ever now, because although she had changed some opinions towards him recently, there was no way she could easily let go of William like this.
“No…” She shook her head firmly again while saying softly, “I’m still not ready yet especially since we don’t have any emotional foundation between us at all…I don’t want this baby.”
Nana took a deep breath and mustered up the courage to speak her decision. To her surprise, Carl hesitated for a moment before firmly shaking his head. “No, we can’t abort this child. I’m his father and I have the right to make decisions too. Plus, the surgery could have an impact on your body. Let’s have the baby and I’ll take care of him.”
Carl spoke with conviction, even getting a little worked up at times. Jane walked in at that moment and overheard their conversation, furrowing her brow.
After some thought, she stepped forward to offer some advice, “Carl, Nana is obviously shaken by what happened. You two had an accident… but I understand where you’re coming from. Why don’t you go home now? Don’t say anything more to her.”
Carl turned around to look at Jane with hesitation written all over his face.
He wanted Nana to keep this baby but he knew that Jane was Nana’s best friend so there wasn’t much else he could do except ask for help from Jane.
After a brief silence, Carl nodded slowly and said, “Alright… Jane, please talk some sense into Nana for me while I go home.”
Once Carl left the room, Jane sat down beside Nana who was lying in bed looking lost.
She sighed deeply before trying to reason with her friend, “Nana… you were too impulsive just now.”
“But I really haven’t made up my mind yet,” replied Nana as she clutched onto her blanket tighter than ever before while turning pale.
Her heart was racing as she hadn’t figured out how she would face this child if it were born into this world.
Jane understood how complicated things were for Nana but reminded her that the child was innocent.
“I know your emotions are all over the place right now but remember that this child is innocent too! He didn’t choose any of these circumstances himself. He just wants love like everyone else! If you don’t want to get married later on, then we can raise him together because it’s not uncommon nowadays.”
“In any case,” continued Jane gently. “I hope you will think about it carefully instead of making hasty decisions which might lead you down paths of regret.”