Chapter 16 - Don’t Be Mad, But I’m Pregnant
Joe
"What?!" I yelled out loud. "Was it with that Jake fella? I'll murder him, that son of a bitch!" I could feel the blood beginning to boil in my veins, and my eyes began to see the color crimson.
This motherfucking scumbag broke and betrayed my baby girl, and he has the audacity to run from the person responsible for her becoming pregnant. There is absolutely no way that he can get away with this!
"No, Dad. Calm down, relax, and take it easy, please. Jesus!" Clara heard laughter coming from the other end of the line. "Can we take a breather for a minute here?"
"Yeah, Yeah. The question is, How the hell did you let this happen then?" I inquired while fuming inside and beginning to consider the various ways in which I could cause that motherfucker to endure endless pain and agony. I'm going to make sure this motherfucker lives in misery for the rest of his life.
"Now, now…" Lidia stated this as she wrapped her arms around my neck and massaged the knotted muscles in my shoulders with her hands. Immediately, I was able to let go of my tension, and my anger somehow diminished for a little, though not entirely. "Would you be so kind as to let her speak, please, darling?"
I merely nodded and said, "Go on."
My wife's hands on me always feel so fucking good that she always has this unique ability to instantly calm me down like no one else can. Everything about her exudes serenity and composure, and I have never stopped being appreciative of the fact that she possesses those qualities and only exclusively shows them to me.
Clara let out another audible sigh while she was on the other end of the phone, and this time she opened the camera on her smartphone and waved. While we were still in the kitchen, Lidia was sitting on the marble island while I remained positioned between her legs. If you ask me, there is nowhere else in the world that I'd rather be.
"Jesus, are you guys making out in the middle of the kitchen table?" Clara asked, teasing.
From the corner of my eye, I can clearly see my dear wife's cheeks turning beet red. Good lord, how does she manage to look so beautiful and delectable even after all these years? "Oh, we had previously done that already." I said, chuckling. Oh, the good old times.
Lidia whacked me in the arm and said, "Joe, you rascal!" she said as her cheeks turned to a deeper and brighter crimson color. "That’s too much information, even for your daughter!"
"Oh my god, you two!" Clara laughed full-blown. "That's not a scene I want in my head!" she said. "I'll never forget it!"
While Lidia was giving me the evil eye, both of us were laughing, and I could see a smile beginning to form on her face.
Lidia yelled at the two of them, "Come on, you two! She's distracting you, and you're letting her." Her tone was stern.
After a little pause in our laughter, Clara started telling her story.
"So, you do remember that I called off the wedding, right?"
"Uhuh." Lidia and I both nodded.
"So I'm staying now with Dana for the mean time."
"Go on," Lidia said.
Clara was staring right at us both when she said, So I have this crazy idea that maybe I can just have a baby on my own, and it so happened that Dana knows someone...a friend...who works in one of these fancy fertility clinics uptown."
"A what?" I interrupted her and asked because I wasn't entirely sure I heard her right the first time.
"A clinic specializing in fertility treatments for people, Dad."
"What exactly does an establishment that specializes in fertility treatments do? Why would you need that? " I asked again, trying to make sense of everything she was saying.
"Baby, it's where fancy people with money go to freeze their er... eggs or their sperm, that way they can still have children, if you know, their body can no longer reproduce a child naturally," Lidia gently elaborated on the scenario in question. My wife seems to have a better understanding of this topic than I do.
"Oh, that's possible now, huh?" I gave Lidia a look since I was aware of how badly she wanted to add more children to our family after the birth of Clara. We planned to have three or more kids; sadly, however, we were only blessed with one, and we both share the feeling of being so lucky to have one.
"Yeah, I know, right? If that had been possible back then, you and I might have had more children than we could ever hope to properly care for." Lidia let out a chuckle.
I smiled at Lidia. I could not help but think that it's possible that in a previous life I may have been a particularly decent person, which is why God has blessed me with such a wonderful woman to share my life with and to marry in this lifetime.
Knowing this information, though, I turned to my daughter and asked, "But what for?" I asked. "You're still young, Clara."
"I'm going to answer that question in a bit, Dad. So, in any case, may I proceed at this time? Or are you still interested in hearing the rest of it?" Clara asked.
"Go on, hun. Were all ears. I'm sorry your father had to ask so many questions." Lidia said this while giving me a tight hug while facing the camera so that we could both see Clara.
"So I decided to get inseminated, and it just so happened that this friend of Dana's got a slot open for a consultation at the clinic, and so I went..." she said, continuing, "It was supposed to be a consultation, but since I was ovulating, the doctor recommended doing the entire insemination process right there and then, and I agreed."
I know Lidia and I had to take a few moments to process what our only daughter just said. She decided to get pregnant on her own at a posh and fancy fertility clinic uptown. That's definitely not something we expected to hear.
"Just like that? Is it really that simple?" Lidia began asking, breaking the train of my thoughts.
"Yep. The whole procedure didn't even take any longer than ten minutes to complete. " Clara replied, eyeing me cautiously from the camera.
"Wow. That went pretty quickly. " Lidia added, giving me some time to gather all my thoughts and, honestly, compose myself enough.
"So I'm pregnant. Naturally, the father's identity will never be revealed because doing so would violate the terms of the arrangement, and I signed a non-disclosure agreement with the clinic. After the merger or acquisition, there was a massive budget cross-cutting in the company I work for, and I am one of the unfortunate ones. I was laid off from my previous job, and I am also pretty much jobless at this point. And right now I'm looking for work, but every morning I wake up feeling lightheaded and sick, and the only thing I really want to do is sleep, so that's been kind of challenging." Clara let out a long sigh as she concluded.
"Well, what exactly is the issue?" Lidia asked. "Why do you worry? While you are getting up on your feet, your dad and I will be able to help support you. Furthermore, it is no longer considered taboo to become pregnant in this day and age. It's totally fine if you're a single parent, and we can figure something out."
I nodded. "There is absolutely no way that we will leave you and your baby girl behind, kid."
"Who says it's a baby girl? You are aware that our grandson has the potential to be a little boy." Lidia said.
"I haven't found out the gender of my baby yet, you guys. It is too soon to know at this point." Clara seemed relieved to hear me say something.
I replied, "Yeah, it doesn't really matter. So long as the kid is healthy and strong, he or she will be loved profoundly and forever, just as mom is loved by all of us."
"Oh, Dad! Aren't you mad I'm being reckless?"
"Why would I be mad? You are of the right age, and I believe nowadays you call it empowered feminism; is that right?" I asked Lidia, and she nodded. "I will support you no matter what, kid. Knowing you, I know you've thought this through in that stubborn head of yours, and so I know you will be fine." I added.
"Your father is absolutely 100% correct, hun. There is no need to worry yourself unnecessarily over this." Lidia added. "No matter what is going on, all of us are here for you, and you have our love and support always." It was at that moment that she spoke that I reached up to wipe away the tears that had begun to roll down her cheeks, unknown to her. "Will you please hurry up and get back to your home?"
"Yes, ma'am, I will. That much is certain. I love you guys." Clara began crying as well.
"We love you, too, sweetie," we both said together.
Before we had said our goodbyes, I asked Clara if she could express how grateful we are to Dana for the fact that she allowed our daughter to stay in her apartment indefinitely while she looked for another apartment to live in, and with her condition at that. I know these two have been childhood best friends for the longest time, but still.