“I’m pregnant!”
I heard Lara say as my head shot up in surprise and shock.
“Come again?” I had to ask because it seemed like my ears were playing a trick on me.
And then she repeated herself, solemnly, “I said I’m pregnant Lara, ugh!”
I jumped off my seat immediately, dancing around my dear bestfriend in genuine happiness.
“Oh my God! I’m going to be a Godmother? You’re having a baby? Or babies?” At the last part, Lara shot me a glare.
“What? It could be twins, triplets or even sextuplets. You never can tell!” I said, teasing her further while she just smiled subtly, I could immediately tell that Lara definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy.
“What is it? Why are you so sad about getting pregnant? One would think you’re a teenager or an adult whose one night stand led to pregnancy.” I let out, not understanding the reason for her sadness.
“I can’t be pregnant, Beth. I can’t.” She said, still using a sad tone.
“Why not? You’re a twenty eight year old adult, one who is engaged and soon to be married at that. That’s like going from grace to grace. What are you telling me? Or am I missing something?”
“You’re missing a lot, Beth. A lot! You… ugh. I don’t know how I let this happen, you know. You know that I’m not the type who would have sex with a man who isn’t on condoms, I would never. They have always been on condoms with me so I honestly do not get this at all! This isn’t supposed to happen, I don’t get it!” Lara kept lamenting bitterly, almost sobbing even.
I had to rush towards her and calm her down by hugging her sideways. To be honest, I still didn’t understand what was happening but I knew I couldn’t keep celebrating something she sees as a mistake or something, something she obviously didn’t want.
“Okay, baby girl. It’s okay. Breathe in, then breathe out, calm down.
“I… I… ugh! Damien isn’t even picking my calls anymore, he just tossed me away like I am now some kind of trash.” She sobbed, confusing me even further.
Damien? The same man who witnessed her getting proposed to by another man which in turn confirms that she had been two timing him? That same man that literally shed tears on seeing her accept the ring so happily and still didn’t cause a scene or anything? The man simply left.
“Why would you expect Damien to pick your calls? Lara, have you forgotten that I told you that this guy literally saw you getting proposed to? He practically saw you kiss and hug another man after screaming yes like your life depended on it. Why on earth would you expect him to pick your darn calls? Wait, that’s not even the point! Why on earth would you even call him after doing that to him?” I questioned, rambling on, almost getting pissed off.
“What? Okay fine, I two timed him…” Lara started only to be interrupted by me, “three timed if not four.” I dropped subtly.
“Ugh! Whatever Lara, whatever! Fine, I was cheating on him and he found out, what is so much of a big deal about it, uh? He didn’t even ask for my side of the story, if he didn’t want me to say yes to another man’s proposal, he could have simply proposed first. It’s first come, first serve!” She landed, causing to stare at her in disbelief.
Was my bestfriend always this shallow and daft or is this a new development?
“Are you crazy?” I snapped.
“Of course not, do I look or sound crazy to you?”
“You may not look crazy but you definitely sound crazy, Lara. You sound incoherent even! Are you even listening to yourself? Did you just blame the victim?”
“What victim? You’re so dramatic, Beth! A drama queen is what you are, ugh!” Lara snapped at me and even then, I could see that she didn’t see anything wrong with what she said or how she thought and it got on my nerves even more.
“Victim blaming! You blaming the victim and not the perpetrator. You hurt someone so bad and you’re here blaming anyone but yourself. You’re unbelievable right now, Lara. If you weren’t my best friend, I’d even call you despicable, to be honest.” I told her in all truthfulness.
“You just called me that stylishly though.” She dropped, nonchalantly.
“That’s the freaking point, woman! Why are you still calling him even after you’ve been proposed to? I don’t even get it, what is the correlation between Damien and you being pregnant? Lara, please, do not beat about the bush and just make it make sense once and for all.” I begged since I was on the verge of just snapping and storming out of her sight.
Lara still didn’t get my point nor did she act like she cared and her next words were proof of that, “Uh… first off, me getting engaged doesn’t mean anything to me, honestly. I still wouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket, I’ll only reduce it to two baskets this time, I’m not married yet and Tony can decide that he doesn’t want to marry me anymore and when that happens, where you want me to start from, Beth? Why aren’t you just seeing things from my view, at least this time? At least take my side for once, Beth, you’re my bestfriend yet you act like my enemy so many times!” She snapped.
“If you want a friend who would support you cheating on men and then turning to blame them when they catch you then you know that friend is definitely not me. You know where to find friends who would indulge you even more or hype you while at it, but me? Hell no.” I said, making reference to Janet and Grace, I then picked up my bag and attempted to leave since we were in her house but she stopped me.
“Okay, let’s all just calm down. There is a greater issue, Beth and you know you’re the only one who trust enough to tell certain things to, you can’t leave me hanging like this, please.” She pleaded, sobbing again but this time I could see Ethan it was crocodile tears that was obviously being shed just to get me to sympathize with her and stay and I decided to just play along, she was my bestfriend after all, I had to listen to her no matter what.
I reluctantly took my seat and she did the same, facing me.
“Okay, start talking.”
“Uh… I’ve never had sex with these men without condoms,, Lara. Honestly, I always make sure that my partners use condoms with me, but there’s this one time, just one time when I was so horny and drunk and we did it raw.” She said, still beating about the bush.
“Okay, you did it raw just one time which means you know who the father is amongst them. Now, who is it?” I asked, calmly.
” I’m getting there, chill. See, the end point is that I know who the father of the child in me is and it definitely isn’t Tony…” she started, earning a silent gasp from me.
“Its uh… it’s Damien and…” At that point, I just had to interrupt again, “You’re engaged to Tony and pregnant for Damien? What… what… you know what, I’m even speechless right now.”
“Let me finish! I’m pregnant for Damien but I’m thinking of just pinning it on Tony instead.” She said, without any iota of fear or remorse on her face.
I blinked once, twice then thrice, I was utterly speechless. It took approximately thirty seconds before I could boot and finally speak.
“Okay, let me get this straight, you’re pregnant for Damien, who you once had sex with raw but you’re going to pin it on Tony who you’ve never had raw sex with?” I recapped and she nodded her head in affirmation.
“Am I missing something or is that supposed to make any sense? Is Tony daft that he would accept a pregnancy that he obviously doesn’t own? You just said that he protects himself.” I said, utterly confused.
“Oh, that’s fine. There was one time he was drunk and we had sex, I’m just going to lie and all that, Tony doesn’t remember anything when he’s drunk, even if he does remember, all I’ll need to do is a little manipulation so that’s not a problem at all.”
Wow. She already had it all planned out and was literally just telling me so I could know.
“You’re just telling me your plan, not that you need an advice or anything from me?” I let out.
“Yes, you’re my bestfriend and I just want your support.” She responded, confirming my thoughts.
“But you do know that this is not fair at all for the receiving party which is Tony, right?” I had to ask and she just remained mute so I continued.
“And you do know that paternity fraud is also illegal, right?” I added.
“Well, all of this is if it gets out which it sure won’t. That’s why I’m telling the person I trust the most even more than my mom which is you. You want my happiness so I’m sure you won’t do anything that’ll hurt me and make me a laughing stock. I can trust you right? She asked, and then proceeded to grab my hands.
I looked into her expectant eyes, unsure of what to say and then after a few seconds, I spoke, “Of course, you can.”
Even though even I didn’t trust myself.