Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 111(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
7
Aria
A year later.
“Haley, I’m leaving,” I call over my shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
My babysitter appears with little Tommy in her arms.
“Everything’s going to be fine, Aria. Tommy and I will be happy and good while you’re gone, won’t we Tommy? Say bye-bye to Mommy.”
But I can’t resist and rush to my baby one last time, pressing kisses to his brown curls. He looks up at me with big blue eyes, innocent and round while waving a small fist in my direction.
“Gah,” he says. “Goo-gah.”
I laugh at the little tyrant.
“Mommy will be back soon, I promise Tommy. Mommy loves you,” I say before giving him one last kiss and disappearing through the door.
After all, I can’t put off life forever. Strange things happen, but you have to roll with the punches and do the best you can no matter what.
A year ago, I never would have guessed that I would be in this position. Back then, I was a college junior engaged in the hottest relationship I’d ever been in. Okay, it was the only relationship I’d ever been in, but it was with a gorgeous, handsome, charming man who swept me off my feet. Roland Moore was my English professor, but he was more than that. He was witty, kind, and made me feel so good inside and out. I felt safe in his arms, as if all my problems were over.
But that was only the beginning because after a month of dating, I fell pregnant. I didn’t even know it at first. I missed my period, but it was no big deal because I’ve never been regular. Then I forgot to look out for my second missed period, and by the time my third missed period came into view, he’d gotten that terrible letter from the university. Roland was being investigated for lifting someone else’s work, and he was going to be grilled by a panel of lawyers, professors, staff, and university management. It was bound to be awful.
I didn’t want to add to my lover’s misery, and the truth is that it wouldn’t have been right. After all, what we were doing was absolutely taboo. He’s an older professor, and I’m a student in his class. He has direct control over my grades, and not only that, but he’d given me A’s on my last two papers. I deserved the good grades because of my hard work and in-depth research, but I knew it wouldn’t appear that way to the investigators. They would uncover our secrets, and allege that our relationship was just another breach of the university’s Code of Conduct.
So I disappeared from Roland’s life. I withdrew from school and sent him a two line email saying goodbye without explaining anything. Then I shut off my phone and moved home to have my baby. My parents weren’t thrilled at this turn of events, but what could they do? Their daughter was pregnant and there was no turning back the clock.
But they supported my decision to keep the baby, and after Tommy was born, they were over the moon with joy. My little boy is a cutie, with blue eyes and brown hair just like his dad. He has the same dimple in his left cheek, and the same way of putting a tiny fist to his chin when he’s thinking.
It breaks my heart that Roland doesn’t know that he has a son, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t reveal my pregnancy to him, not when he was facing down the Inquisition. If the school discovered our affair, then he’d most certainly be fired. So I disappeared, giving birth in secret in my small rural hometown.
But now, it’s time to get my life started again. After all, I couldn’t stay hidden forever, and it’s not like unmarried mothers are publicly shamed these days. In fact, out of wedlock birth is quite common in Rhode Island, and I was merely joining the ranks of single moms trying to juggle a load of different responsibilities.
“Bye Tommy,” I wave as the curtain opens and Haley and my baby look out at me. “Mommy loves you!”
I’ve been lucky to find Haley. She’s a local girl who lives close to the University of Rhode Island. She has a flexible schedule between working as a tutor to elementary-aged children, and helping her elderly mom at home. So Haley’s able to babysit for me on a regular basis, and she’s been a lifesaver so far.
Still, it pains me to leave my child because he’s only a few months old. But I have to because I have to move on with life, and my parents made me deal: so long as I got my college degree, they would support me and the baby financially. So here I am, re-enrolled at the University of Rhode Island for my senior year.