Chapter 249 Heaven-Sent Gift
During her free time, Caroline called the designer to ask about the renovation progress on her new house. She learned that the floor tiles were currently being laid, which meant her plan to move in soon wouldn't work out.
She'd been running into Nash more often lately, and to avoid any unnecessary trouble, Caroline decided to stay at her parents' place at night.
At noon, she went home to quickly pack some clothes and toiletries, then headed downstairs. After work, Elysia was cooking in the kitchen. Caroline put her bag in the bedroom, changed clothes, and went to help in the kitchen.
"Why the sudden decision to come back and stay?" Elysia asked while chopping vegetables.
Caroline was cutting tomatoes and didn't explain much. "I missed you. Besides, who would turn down your cooking?"
Elysia glanced at her with a smile. "Just figured that out? A girl is only a princess at her parents' home."
Caroline said, "I'm not exactly a maid at my place either. Leopold does all the work."
"Then why are you coming back to stay?"
"Living alone is boring, isn't it?" Caroline pointed at the pan. "Stop talking, the fish is burning, burning."
Elysia quickly turned down the heat.
Right after dinner, Erica called her. "What are you doing?"
Caroline said, "Just finished eating. I'm at my mom's."
"Want to hang out for a bit?"
Caroline asked, "Where?"
Erica said, "Morning Coffee."
Caroline readily agreed. "That's pretty close to my mom's place. Wait for me."
After hanging up, Caroline changed into casual clothes and got ready to go out. Elysia came out of the kitchen. "Don't leave empty-handed, take out the trash."
Caroline took the garbage bag. Elysia asked her, "Where are you going?"
"Erica wants to meet. It's at Morning Coffee, just a street away."
Elysia reminded her, "Don't come back too late."
"Got it."
Standing by the elevator, thinking about Elysia's reminder, she had this feeling like she was still a kid.
It really proved that saying—in your parents' eyes, you were always a child who never grew up.
Walking out of the apartment, it took about ten minutes along the maple tree-lined street to reach Morning Coffee. Passing by the coffee shop's floor-to-ceiling windows, she immediately spotted Erica sitting by the window, looking blank and dazed.
Caroline pushed the door open. The bell on the door didn't pull Erica's attention back.
Getting closer, she saw a glass of water on Erica's table. Her face didn't look good. Caroline's heart sank, guessing she and Maddox had another fight.
She pulled out a chair and sat down. Only then did Erica's gaze focus, and a faint smile appeared on her face. "You're here."
"Yeah, how long have you been here?"
"Not long, five minutes maybe." Erica looked listless.
Caroline ordered a coffee randomly, and the server left with the order.
"Did you fight with Maddox?" Caroline asked directly.
Erica shook her head slightly and said, "No."
"No? But you don't look like it." Caroline was worried about her. "What's really going on?"
Erica said, "We really didn't fight."
"Good if you didn't." Caroline let out a light breath. "You look so pale. What happened?"
Erica's shoulders drooped weakly, giving the impression she was weighed down by worries. After a moment of silence, she said, "Caroline, I'm pregnant."
Caroline instantly sat up straight, leaning forward, repeating in disbelief, "You're pregnant? Wait, didn't you guys use protection?"
Erica replied weakly, "We did every time, except that one time. Just once, and it happened. If only I had this kind of luck buying lottery tickets."
The tense atmosphere suddenly felt almost funny.
Caroline asked, "What are you planning to do?"
Erica had said long ago that she didn't plan to have kids in this lifetime.
But now, the marriage hadn't happened yet, but the baby came first. She neither succeeded in being child-free nor in getting married.
Erica said, "What can I plan?"
Caroline asked, "Does Maddox know?"
Erica said, "I wanted to tell him, but I was afraid of scaring him, so I tested the waters. I asked him if we had a kid, would he go meet my parents? Guess what he said?"
How could she guess? Guessing good or bad both seemed inappropriate.
Erica continued, "He told me not to be stupid."
Caroline opened her mouth, saying angrily, "How could he say that? What kind of thing is that to say? Don't be stupid—what does that mean? He's bullying you! No way, I'm calling him."
"Don't call him, he's really busy." Erica stopped her, taking Caroline's phone and putting it aside. "The day of the heavy rain in Seaside City washed away the program crew's activity venue and all the sets. He's been working overtime for four or five days straight now. They even hired a crew to work at night, and to avoid delays, he's been camping out at the site."
Caroline said, "Even so, he should know you're pregnant."
Erica said, "I told him I didn't want kids, and he said he doesn't like kids either. Now I'm pregnant. What do you think he'll think? He'll definitely think I'm playing him, that I'm not taking this relationship seriously."
After speaking, Erica propped her head up, feeling very irritated.
Caroline disagreed with Erica's thinking. "I think you should still have a serious talk with him."
Erica fell silent.
Caroline asked again, "What do you think?"
Erica hesitated, her mind completely blank. She didn't know what to do right now either.
Erica continued, "I always thought I was very rational, that I could think through anything. I have a decent job with good income, my boyfriend's appearance and body meet my standards, we have the same interests and hobbies, and similar views on marriage and family. I've considered everything about my life, except for kids. My head is a mess right now, but this isn't like me. I'm child-free, so why would I be hesitating about having a kid?"
Caroline said, "Maybe it's a gift from heaven? Letting you, a child-free person, experience being a parent."
Erica said, "I can take care of myself, but I don't have the courage or preparation to take care of a child. This gift—maybe heaven delivered it to the wrong address."
"Stop overthinking," Caroline gestured for Erica to make a call. "If you can't ask in person, call him. If he says he doesn't want it, this child is yours alone. Whether you keep it or not is your decision. At least we've done our duty to inform him. Don't let him find out later and use this as an excuse to blame you."
Erica thought about it, seeming to have made a decision. She picked up her phone and dialed Maddox's number. It rang seven or eight times before he answered.
"What's up?"
Maddox was so tired that his eyes were fighting to stay open. He'd already pulled two all-nighters.
Erica said, "Yesterday I asked you, if we had a kid, would you go meet my parents early?"
A steel pipe fell and hit the newly built prop set. This acrylic board design had just been finished, and now, with this damage, they'd have to reorder it, and there wouldn't be enough time.
"Be careful, work faster," he said, pointing his chin at the damaged design. "Do you know how much it costs to reorder this?"
The worker gave a compensation quote he could accept, and he thought it was reasonable, but hearing the price, Maddox laughed. "With that attitude, we have nothing to talk about."
Maddox hadn't heard anything just now. He put the phone back to his ear. "What did you just say?"
Erica closed her eyes and said, "Never mind. Asking you is like you could actually solve it."
Maddox replied, "If you don't tell me, how do you know I can't solve it?"
Erica said, "I'm saying, if we had a kid, what would you do?"
At first, Maddox thought she was just messing around, but Erica had asked the same question three times. He really couldn't brush it off anymore.
"Didn't you say you weren't having kids?"