Abigail Lacoste
Two weeks later
Time was passing too fast, and I kept feeling nauseous, which was catching my mother’s attention. She wasn’t foolish, and just like my aunt, she suspected a possible pregnancy. During this time, Orion hadn’t looked for me, and it was tearing me apart. Even knowing he had chosen his election campaign over taking responsibility for our baby, I still held on to false hopes.
I was in my room, reading some articles when my mother knocked on the door. I told her to come in and smiled as soon as I saw the tray full of fruit in her hands.
“Daughter, look what I brought for you,” she said, placing it on my bed.
“You didn’t have to, Mom.” I got up from the chair where I was sitting in front of my computer. “I feel nauseous; I can’t eat anything.”
“You need to try and eat well.” She looked at my still flat belly. “Especially now.”
“Mom, do you know?” Tears burned in my eyes. I knew she suspected, but now I was right in front of her, confirming my pregnancy.
“I do. Your body has changed, you’re always nauseous and vomiting.” Smiling, she held my hand. “I had three children; I can tell who’s pregnant from afar.” I sighed and hugged her.
“I’m lost. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“The father of the baby?” I let the tears flood my face.
“He doesn’t want the baby, he’s too busy with his life and can’t help me.”
“Oh, my love.” She wiped my tears. “You’re so smart; how did you let yourself get involved with someone like that? A real man owns up to his mistakes and doesn’t abandon a girl who’s alone and pregnant.”
“I know, Mom, but I was so in love, he’s so handsome and…”
“You’ll have to forget him. I can see in your eyes how much you love him, but if he rejected you, he doesn’t deserve your love.”
“Aren’t you going to ask who he is?” She kissed my forehead, took two steps toward the door.
“That doesn’t matter. If one day you want to tell me, I’ll be here to listen. But until then, let’s worry about more important things, like your health and the baby’s.”
“And Dad? Are you going to tell him?”
She took a deep breath, looking at the floor for a few seconds before facing me.
“Everyone needs to know, dear. We’re your family. Even if this wasn’t in your plans, it happened, and there’s no use fighting or trying to punish anyone. So, I’ll support you like I always have and always will.”
I ran to her, throwing myself into her arms. My mother always had the best advice, with no judgment—just comfort and support, something I would do for my son or daughter.
“Thank you, Mom. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I was alone again in my room and placed my hand on my belly, letting more tears fall. It wasn’t easy to tell my family how foolish and naive I’d been. It was obvious the governor would never claim me, yet I let myself be swept away by passion.
I lay on my bed for a while until I fell asleep, and once again, Orion appeared in my mind. This time, he said he loved me and that he would stay by my side so we could raise our baby together. I woke up, a little dazed, realizing it was all a dream, that he wasn’t here and wouldn’t let me forget him.
“Damn you, governor,” I thought aloud before hearing a deck of cards being shuffled from the living room.
I got out of bed, walked out, and headed down the hall to the living room when my legs suddenly went weak. The voice I heard was deep and had the power to make the hairs on my arms stand up.
“I’m only leaving after I talk to your daughter.” I grabbed the wall, dragging myself toward the living room. It was him, as handsome and imposing as ever.
“Governor, first explain what you’re doing in my house, and then we can sort this out,” my father said beside my mother. I took a few more steps, and Orion looked at me and smiled.
“Sweetheart.” He ran to me, holding my arm, and looked at my belly. His eyes were shining. “Are you okay? Is the baby okay?”
“Baby?” my father shouted, watching everything from afar. “You’re pregnant, Abigail?”
I was about to answer when dizziness hit me, my legs gave way, and before I fell to the floor, Orion caught me in his arms.
“Sweetheart… sweetheart.” That was all I could hear as darkness took over. It felt like I was in one of my dreams again, where the governor came to me to ask for forgiveness.
I didn’t know how long I had been unconscious, but as soon as I came to, I could hear my father shouting. They were arguing, and in that moment, I was sure I wasn’t dreaming. It was real, and the governor was in my house, behind me. Slowly opening my eyes, I faced my mother next to me. She was holding my hand, smiling, and kissed my forehead, stroking my hair.
“Thank God, you’re awake.” With her help, I sat on the bed. Someone had carried me to my room. “What a mess you’ve made, daughter. Your father is on the verge of a heart attack.”
“Where’s the governor?” I wanted to know, trying to get out of bed. I wanted to see him and understand what he was doing here.
“He’s in the living room. He’s very polite, while your father is yelling nonstop, Mr. Orion is keeping his composure.” I smiled. My father didn’t care that the governor was in his house; he just wanted to defend me and understand why his daughter was pregnant.
“I need to talk to them, explain everything, and send Orion away. He rejected me and now regrets it.”
“Daughter, from what he told us,” she looked at me, “he didn’t reject you. He was just angry and needed to figure out what to do with the news of becoming a father again.”
“That’s his excuse?” I carefully jumped off the bed and quickly walked out of my room back to the living room. As soon as I got there, I saw Italo punching Orion in the face.
“Don’t ever come near my sister again, or even your position won’t save you.”
I crossed my arms, watching the scene. It was pathetic how my brothers solved problems—not with talks, just brutality and ignorance. Orion wiped his mouth, cleaning the blood that was running down. One of his bodyguards tried to go after my brother, but the governor stopped him.
“You can do whatever you want to me, but I’m not leaving here without Abigail and my baby. I don’t care what you think. Actually, I don’t care about anyone’s opinion. The only thing I care about now is the health and well-being of my wife.”
My heart skipped a beat when I heard “my wife.” I hated myself for loving him, for still believing his false promises. I could never be his first lady; that would be the end of his election campaign, and Orion wouldn’t accept that.
“That’s enough,” I shouted, walking toward them. “Let’s go to my room, governor. We need to talk alone.”
“Seriously? You’re going to talk to this man after he got you pregnant and abandoned you?” Sebastian grabbed my arm, staring at me.
“Let her be, son. They need to talk alone and try to work things out, because we have a baby on the way, and he needs a united and loving family,” my mother said behind us. I looked at her, smiling, then turned to Orion on the other side of the room, and my heart raced again. I brought my hand to my belly, making his follow the movement.
“Let’s go, governor.” He walked toward me, taking slow steps down the hallway to my room. We entered together, and I closed the door before turning to him. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to get you,” he said softly, trying to touch my face, but I stepped back twice. “Sweetheart, why did you run away from me?”
“Why? You rejected me while I was pregnant, put the election first, and didn’t think about me or our baby.”
“You misunderstood everything.” He tried to get closer again. “I just lost my head. I wasn’t planning to be a father again, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want the baby.” I closed my eyes, crossed my arms, and turned my back to him, trying not to cry. “Sweetheart, I love you and our baby. We didn’t plan this passion, but it happened, and now we’re going to build our family together.”
I felt his hand softly on my arm, and my whole body shivered. Orion bent down, smelling my neck, making me go completely weak in his arms, and I had to be strong before forgiving him.
“Stay away from me.” I stepped aside twice. “You left me alone in that flat, governor, and just sent one of your little soldiers to take me home.”
“Listen, sweetheart, Melissa showed up, and I didn’t want her to know at that moment. You were already too stressed, and it could affect the baby.” He came closer, stroking my hair. I turned to face him. “Look deep into my eyes and tell me you didn’t miss me. I almost died during these two weeks. Your aunt didn’t want to tell me where you were, and even though I could find out with a simple call, my assistant asked me to give you some space, but those were the worst days of my life.”
“I was so scared…” My voice broke briefly, and tears fell over my face. I felt so helpless; those two weeks had been pure torture, and when Orion took me in his arms, I could feel safe again. “I thought you didn’t want our baby.”
“Are you crazy? My children are the most important things in my life. I wasn’t the best father to Melissa, but I was always by her side, and it will be the same with this baby.” He placed his hand on my flat belly. “Forgive me for losing my head that day. I should have supported you.”
“You’re here now.” He let go of my body, kneeling in front of me, pulled up the shirt covering my belly, exposing my skin, rested his head there, and kissed it. “Daddy will never leave you two again.”
I stroked his hair, smiling. The dreams I had every night became real. Our love was real, and even if the whole world turned against us, we would fight for our family.