Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Rather than do a straight phone call, I decide to do a video chat. So, I click his face and place the video call, starting to feel nervous and having second thoughts about my decision as I’m waiting for the phone call to connect.
But I know this is the right thing to do and I just need to get it over with.
As Derek answers the phone, he looks at me in confusion as my face appears on the screen.
"Hey, sis, what's going on?" he asks.
"Not much,” I answer vaguely, as I work up the courage to tell him the news.
“Is everything okay? I thought you’d be in class right about now?”
“Yeah. I sort of have the day off from school today. How are things there?" I reply, making small chit chat while I’m hoping to judge his mood.
He seems to be in the same spirits as always, just understandably confused about why I’m calling right now at this unexpected time.
"There’s not much going on around here either. So, how have you been? Is there something wrong? Because it's kind of unusual for you to call me like this. I mean, at this time of day, and a video call?"
"Well, I actually did have something to kind of tell you," I say, still hesitating a little bit as he waits patiently.
"I’m not sure what this is about but go ahead and say your piece," he finally urges me.
I can’t help but hesitate for a few more seconds before I take a deep breath and start talking.
"Okay, this isn't really easy to say but you need to be the first to know because you're my brother. You raised me and cared for me, so here it goes. I'm pregnant," I announce.
I wait for his response. His face just shows shock. I don't say anything further. I definitely don't want to tell him who's responsible for this.
I'm about to say something further when he interrupts me, so I wait.
"What are you talking about? Are you insane? You better not have just said what I think you did!" he responds.
I can see him getting angry right now.
"But I'm just telling you the truth. I'm just letting you know what I'm dealing with right now," I tell him.
I want to calm him down, but he doesn't listen to me.
"Whose is it? Who did this to you? Tell me right now!" he demands.
"I'm not saying anything else. I'm just telling you what's going on and that I'm going to have this baby and keep it," I inform him. “I’m actually really happy about it. I figured you wouldn’t be, but I still thought I should let you know.
"You’re keeping it? No you’re not! You're insane if you think that's what you're going to do. And you're just downright crazy if you think that you're going to get any help from me if you insist on making that very wrong decision! It will ruin your life. You’ve only just started college and you’ll lose your scholarship if you don’t go to school. How could you do this? How could you let this happen?" he keeps yelling at me.
I knew he wouldn’t take this news well, but his reaction is way worse than I feared it would be. I'm tired of this. I don't need this added stress right now; it’s not good for the baby. I hope he’s wrong about my scholarship but I can’t even think about that right now.
Hopefully the school will let me take a maternity leave but still keep my scholarship. I’ve been studying hard and getting good grades.
This isn’t what I needed to worry about right now, though. I was just trying to inform Derek.
Now wonder I’d put it off for so long!
I know he likes to act like my father, but he could at least try to understand where I’m coming from and try to be happy for me, because he’s not my father— he’s my brother. And I just need some support right now. Clearly I won’t get it from him though.
"Listen, I have to go. I have things to get done. I just wanted to let you know this. Sorry if I've done anything to upset or disappoint you," I say.
I hang up the phone call right there. I sigh for a minute and rub my temples. That was a lot of stress.
Then I grab my phone and dial a number I know by heart before putting it up to my ear. Janice answers right away.
"Hey, Bestie. How is everything?" she asks.
"Not so great. I just told Derek the news and he flipped out, like I expected," I say, with a sad sigh. “Except even worse, honestly.”
"Oh, my gosh, no! Do you need anything? Are you okay?" Janice asks, sounding concerned.
"No, thanks, I'm fine. It's just… you know… dealing with Derek’s reaction that’s stressing me out. Otherwise I’m good. Of course, I'm happy I got to see the baby on the ultrasound. I even got some sonogram pictures and found out it's a girl, but now as I get further along, I'm going to start feeling and experiencing more symptoms soon," I explain. “I guess I’m a little afraid of pre-labor contractions and stuff like that. Not to mention labor itself!”