The Way You Are

Peggy's hand tightened around the receiver as she listened to the Doctor read out her test results over the phone.

"Did you hear me say positive, Ma'am?" he asked from the other side.

"Yeah. Got it. Positive!" She said in frustration and slammed the receiver on the hook.

Dammit, dammit to hell!!!!!!!!! She couldn’t believe her ears. Positive? The first and only time she’d had sex without a condom? Dammit! She was going to kill that son of a bitch.

She had always known he was no good for her. With that goofy grin and stupid, puppy dog eyes. She had asked herself time and again why she had even gotten involved with him in the first place. He wasn’t her type at all, yet she had gone ahead and gotten involved with him and not just that, she’d had unprotected sex with him. Damn!

She never cried. If not she would be bawling her eyes out right now.

She was going to call him right away and give him a piece of her mind. She shouldn’t be feeling the misery alone. He deserved it too; the bastard.

He picked at the first ring.

“Hello” his voice was deep and husky. She felt herself melting.

“Hey” she tried to be curt.

“Hey, Sweetie.” His voice softened. He was smiling. She could hear it in his voice. He was such a stupid fool. He called her “Sweetie” and “Honey” which was ridiculous because she was NOT sweet. She was hard, harsh and firm. She was rigid. And he was the exact opposite.

“I’m pregnant” she blurted out.

“Seriously? You are? Oh wow!” he exclaimed.

“What the… What is wrong with you, Steve?” she asked tiredly.

“Wrong? No, nothing is wrong with me. I’m excited. That’s great news, Honey. We’re having a baby…”

“Shushhhhh” she snapped. “Who the hell is having a fucking baby?” she was mad.

“What do you mean? Aren’t you happy about it” he sounded confused.

“No, you idiot. I’m not happy about it. I’m sad and I’m angry and I’m frustrated and I’m sad”

“Oh dear!You said “I’m sad” twice. Okay, darling, please, calm down. Let’s talk about it when I get home, okay? I’ll be home in a couple of hours.”

“Shit” she muttered as she grabbed her pack of cigarettes. Pulled out a stick and struck a match.

“Did you just strike a match? You want to smoke? Honey, you really shouldn’t do that right now. It’s bad for the baby” Steve pleaded.

Dead Silence.

“Fuck you” she said with menace in her voice.

“Sweetie…”

“Shut the fuck up, you motherfucker! You fucking got me pregnant and I swear I’m gonna kill you.

And the line went dead.





LATER THAT EVENING…

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Steve got home to find Peggy chain-smoking and pacing up and down the sitting room.

“Sweetie, please calm down. Getting worked up won’t help right now” he went to her, took the cigarette from her and crushed it in the aluminium ashtray on the table.

“Don’t tell me what to do, don’t ever.” She warned

“Okay, I won’t. I’m just concerned about our baby”

“Our baby? This is no baby. It’s not even a fetus. It’s a frigging dot grabbing on to my insides” she cried.

“No seriously, it’s a baby already. It should be about six weeks old now and according to Baby Center, our baby's nose, mouth, and ears that by the way, you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where our baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. Its emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and its arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through its body. Its intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to its lungs has appeared. Its pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of its brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, our baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a large pea" he explained animatedly

"You went online?"She looked at him incredulously.

"Yeah, babe. As soon as you hung up, I got on Google. There's amazing stuff there, darling" he smiled and made to hold her.

"Don't touch me, you asshole. You want to ruin my life, right?" She asked through clenched teeth.

"How do you mean? How could such a tiny, sweet and beautiful thing as a baby ruin your life, honey?"

"Babies are anything but sweet. Babies are not nice. They cry when they're hungry. They cry when they're wet. They even cry when they wanna sleep. Who the hell cries when they wanna sleep? Babies are messy; they puke, they pee and they poop everywhere. They're selfish; they want you to do everything for them while they lie there all cute and cuddly. I am not having a baby" she vented.

"Ah! At least you admit they're cute and cuddly" he smiled in satisfaction.

"That's not the point, you moron. The process it takes to get them looking cute and cuddly is the whole point. I'm just not ready to have a baby yet" she shook her head.

"I understand how you feel, sweetie. But you won't be alone. I'm going to be there all the way and everything is going to be alright. I swear, you'll thank me later" he said feelingly.

"I'm sorry, i can't. I already made an appointment with my doctor. I'm getting an abortion" she sounded final.

"I see. You already made an appointment? You didn't deem it fit to discuss it with me, first? I made the sperm that produced the baby, remember?

"Steve, i don't want a baby"

"And i do!"

"See, there's no way i'm having a child now. I'm not ready for it at all"

"There's no way you're having a child with me, you mean"

"What? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You think i'm not good enough for you. You don't have to say it to my face. I see it in your eyes. I feel it because you keep holding back. You've never really opened up to me completely. There's still some part of you that you've kept away from me and it's because you think i'm not good enough for you, isn't it?

"That is so not true!'

"Really? Then what's true? Do you even love me at all. You've never said it to me and you certainly don't act it"

"That's another point, Steve. I've never told you that i love you, yet you're ready to have a baby with me. Why would you want to be with someone like me"

"Well, I love you and i believe, or rather i believed you loved me in your own way, even if you've never said it. But your adamant refusal to even consider having a baby with me proves me wrong"

"Steve, you're being sentimental about this whole thing. Its really not a big deal"

"What are you doing with me, Peggy? Are you just out to have fun or you want to have a mature relationship"

"Oh my God, Steve. What's with all the questions?"

"I just wanna get some things straight before you kill our baby, because i want to know if i'll be around for the next murder"

"What?" she looked shocked.

"I'm sorry, baby. Oh God, i'm so sorry. I didn't mean to put it that way"

"No, its fine! Call it whatever you like. I'm getting an abortion and that;s it!" she said vehemently.

"You're  bent on that, huh?"

"Yes, i am"

"Okay then. We'll let the court decide then" he shrugged

"What?"

"You heard me. If you are bent on getting an abortion, i'll just sue you. I have a say in this, despite what you think. Since i can't get through to you, maybe the law will."

"Bastard! I hate you" she spat.

"And i love you" he returned.

"I fucking hate you" she cried in anger and ran into the bedroom.

"Hey, where are you going?" he followed her.

"Leaving your house, ofcourse! I shouldn't keep sleeping with the enemy, should I?

"Pegs, please, calm down. I'm sorry, i was just playing with you."

"Steve, you seem not to understand what i've been trying to tell you. I am not ready to be a mother right now and if you force me to do it, i'll just resent you forever."

"Okay" he sighed, "but I wish you would tell me why you're so averse to babies"

"Its not that i'm averse to babies; i'm just scared that i won't be able to love them the way they deserve to be loved, just as i am with you. i mean you're this great, handsome and wonderful guy and i treat you so bad. I don't take care of you, i argue with you all the time, i smoke and everything. I'm a terrible, terrible person!" she cried frantically.

"Hey, hey, hey, slow down, honey. What are you talking about? You're amazingly wonderful. You're so intelligent and beautiful and smart. You know everything! There's no topic in the world that you don't know something about. You're deeply passionate; your eyes, your hands, your tongue, they say things which your words would never be able to say. You're wonderful. 

I know you hardly cook or clean but you make sure the house is always clean and tidy. It doesn't matter how you get it done, bottomline is, its done. I love you the way you are, darling, and you may not believe it but you're going to make a wonderful mom. Those pregnancy hormones? They change you forever. They make you all nice and warm.

"I really, really hate you" she laughed through the tears that were streaming down her face.

"And i really, really love you" he said as he moved closer to her.

"Seriously, i hate you" she said, her eyes dimming as he held her to him.

"Hmmm. How much do you hate me" he asked as he kissed her neck.

"Oh, so much, I could kill you" she whispered, her eyes closed.

"Yeah?" he had his mouth on hers, while one hand unbuttoned her blouse.

"Ooooh" she moaned as one hand found her breasts. She helped him in tearing off their clothes and they fell into bed...

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AFTERWARDS

"Still hate me?" Steve breathed as they both lay spent in each other's arms.

"Ofcourse. Absolutely" she said, holding on tighter.

"Hmmm. Cool" he smiled, kissing her shoulder.

"I love you" she whispered, looking deep into his eyes.

"I know" he kissed her lips. 

They lay quiet for a while and then he asked.

"When's your appointment with your doctor?"

"What? Why?"

"Nothing. Just want to be there for you. You shouldn't be alone during the abortion" he explained.

"You wanna go with me?" she looked surprised.

"Yes. I don't love you because of the baby. I love YOU and i want YOU to be happy, so let's get the abortion" he said simply.

"No, i'm going to cancel the appointment" she shook her head.

"Seriously?" his grin was broad and infectious.

"Yes, seriously" she laughed happily as he grabbed her tight.

"Oh, i'm going to make you so happy" he promised.

"I don't doubt that" she smiled.

"Does that mean you don't hate me anymore?"

"I guess. I mean, i could hate you; if only you weren't such a fine fuck!"

He laughed heartily and bent his head to claim her lips.

The End.