“I understand and I am not going to push it, thank you for all the help, I couldn’t have done it without you,”
“Well, you don’t have to thank me, you just need to slay by Saturday night and that would be all the thanks I want,”
“Right, it’s not my first but I am damn well nervous as this will be the biggest so far,”
He said looking like a scared little cat, he was actually adorable when he acts like this and she wanted to protect him at all cost, no one can tell her that she got his character or vibes wrong, they just don’t know him enough yet, she wished Grace and Natalie will see him right now.
“You are adorable Aron, you should know that,”
She said with a smile.
“What?!” He asked, cringing really hard.
“That’s not something you say to a full-grown hot-blooded man,”
He said but his ears were already growing red from embarrassment.
“Well, red-blooded man, I find you adorable, so live with it,”
“I have to, I don’t have a choice,”
He said and they both laughed.
“I have to go now Aron, I will keep in touch and will see you by Saturday,”
She said getting up, she still needed to go for the ultrasound, she has been postponing it since Friday last week, just like she has been procrastinating about calling Rafael and just telling him they are going to be parents, she didn’t know where to start from, imagine calling him and being like.
‘Hey, Rafael, I know we are divorced and you find me disgusting but our disgusting night resulted in a baby and we are going to be parents,’
Well, that was all shades of wrong.
“Thank you again, and also thank your sister and Grace for me, I appreciate their help even though I know they don’t like me,”
He said she felt bad for him, noticing that her sister and best friend weren’t into him like she was.
“They don’t hate you, Aron, they are just, I don’t know, but don’t worry they will come around,”
She tried to explain but he shook his head.
“Nicole, I know I am not supposed to say this now, seeing that you are helping me but can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what is that?”
“Please just be sincere with me, alright?”
“I will so tell me,”
“Do I stand a chance with you, Nicole? Or should I just give up? I feel like I should, I don’t know but I think I don’t stand a chance but I just want to hear it from you,”
He said, she looked at him and smiled weakly.
“I like you, Aron I like you a lot, but just as a friend, I can’t see myself falling in love with you, so no, you don’t stand a chance,”
She replied sincerely, even if she wanted to give him a chance maybe in the future, that’s not going to happen now, she had a child on the way and she was sure she would be single for years and she couldn’t keep him waiting for all those years.
“Wow, why so brutal, this has to be the most straightforward rejection I have ever had,”
He said. he looked hurt by her words but he was handling it better than she would have if it had been her in his shoes. If only she could tell her heart what to do then Aron would have been her ideal man but her heart didn’t think the same and she couldn’t fight it.
“I am sorry Aron,”
“No, don’t be, like I said, I already knew, I just wanted to hear it from you, and yes, I heard it, I heard it loud and clear, friend-zoned but it’s okay, I like being friends with you,”
“Me too Aron,”
“Good,”
“I have to go now, for real,”
“Sure, I will see you off,”
“No, you don’t, you have work to do,”
She said, pointing around his studio which was a mess since he was doing some emergency work that he might have decided to add to the pieces he wants to display.
“I am just seeing you off to the door,”
“And I say no, bye,”
She replied hugged him, he argued but she made sure he listened to her and did not follow her out when she left his studio, she drove towards the main hospital where she had registered for her first child that didn’t make it to the finals, hopefully, and fingers crossed that she will carry this baby to term and birth it safely.
“Our baby is doing so well,”
The sonographer said, Nicole smiled, she felt Deja Vu will staring at the screen, all she could make out was a small dot but she knew that dot held a life that was so dear to her, the first time, she had made a mistake but this time, she would make sure she doesn’t make any mistakes, she already knew this was the risky period from all the antenatal lessons she took for the first, which is why she would be careful and not engage in any activities that would ruin this second chance for her.
“Just a few more weeks and we can be able to tell how well it is doing and the gender, but so far, everything is looking good,”
She added as she concluded and wiped off the gel on her tummy, Nicole sat up and thanked the sonographer.
“Do I have to be careful of anything?”
She asked to be sure she didn’t miss a thing.
“No you don’t have to walk on eggshells, you can go about life, as usual, just don’t overdo things, and try and take a rest now and then, eat healthily and stay hydrated, you can see the doctor in the other room to further explain,”
The sonographer said and she thanked her, buttoned up her dress, and left to go see the doctor who told her almost the same thing the sonographer had said, she left the hospital at about two pm and went home, she still needed to call Rafael and tell him she has something to say to him but like the crazy clown that she was, she couldn’t do it and just decided to do it some other time, she was still just in her first month, she still had a long time to go and she would tell him soon…