She Waits Chapter Four

                                       Don't forget to visit the Mine!!

                                      http://diamondsinfiction.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

~ Chapter Four ~

Nina paced back and forth across the kitchen. He would be knocking on her door soon. What should she do? She couldn’t answer it. If she did, he would know. He would see her this way. “Ugh!”

Indecision filled her and she sank to the high-backed wooden chair. “Dear Lord, what should I do? I’m so afraid.”

Of course there was no answer forthcoming. That’s not how God works.

The sound of the doorbell had Nina’s heart boomeranging to her feet and into her throat. “He’s here.”

She was frozen to the spot. The doorbell rang three more times. He would leave now…

The knob rattled.

Had she locked it? No!

Footsteps crossed the living room. “Nina?”

Desperate eyes searched out the kitchen for a place to hide. There was no escaping.

Max stopped short when he entered the kitchen. He smiled and rushed to stand in front of her. And then his smile began to diminish as his eyes traveled from her face down to her stomach. “Nina? What in the world—why didn’t you tell me?” His voice rose at the last.

She cringed. Would he get violent? Hurt her? As soon as the thought formed, she discarded it. No, he wasn’t the abusive type. “You…you didn’t call,” She whispered.

“You told me not to,” He boomed. “How could you keep this from me? Am I the father?”

Nina shrank back. Knowing he wasn’t the violent type didn’t keep his voice from disturbing her peace of mind. His words sank in and her back snapped up, ram-rod straight. She spat, “Of course.”

He eyed her speculatively and then glanced away, his eyes circling around the bright yellow kitchen. The one he’d helped paint.

Nina followed his lead, examining white lacy curtains with huge balls of sun and dark brown chickens as if seeing them for the first time. The oak spice rack and matching mail holder registered in her mind but didn’t hold her attention. Her eyes fell on him. Tall, stocky build dark hair and hazel eyes. An ache so deep she could scarcely breathe rose within in her. Was it love? If so, she wasn’t sure she wanted to feel it.

His eyes returned to her burgeoning figure as she slumped in the chair trying to disguise it. But it was no use. She was huge, easily twice her normal size. Or at least it felt like it.

His stare was penetrating. Was he really that angry? Hadn’t she been doing him a favor by not telling him?

Finally, he spoke. “You had no right.” Shaking his head, he began walking backward, toward the living room.

Confusion swirled in her already over-loaded brain. “No right?”

He nodded.

“No right for what? You’re not making sense.” She sat up, her growing belly protruding from beneath her shirt.

His stopped and his eyes gestured toward her mid-section. “To hide it from me.”

Her mouth fell open in amazement. “You didn’t call me, Max. It’s been six months. Why would I tell you?”

Bitterness spewed out in his words. “You just found out then?”

A snort escaped her lips. “No—but…”

His hand came up and she just then noticed he clutched onto a bundle of bright red roses as he threw them at the counter. “I never would’ve guessed you to be that way, Nina.”

The disillusionment and disappointment in his tone cut her to the quick faster than pretty much anything else could’ve. She watched as he turned and stomped back through the living room. Huge tears of grief slid silently down her cheeks as the front screen door slammed.

She sat that way for an indeterminate time, tears continuously falling from her eyes in silent pools of sorrow. A feeling so all-consuming she couldn’t take it rose within her. She was all alone. No one cared. No one was here for her. Life was over…

Finally, she straightened up and brushed the tears from her eyes. “No, I will not feel sorry for myself.”

She got up from the chair and shuffled through the living room and up the stairs. Flopping onto the bed, she grabbed the well-used Teddy Bear and hugged it to her as she settled onto her side. “I have God. I am never alone.” The words comforted her and she grabbed the cellphone on the bedside. Scrolling through the contacts list, she stopped and hit a button.

It rang four times, and she was already pulling it away from her ear when a voice said, “Hello?”

Renewed tears trailed down an already soaked face. “Mom?”

“Nina! I’m so glad you called. I wanted to call you but your father said no, wait until…”

“Mom, I’m pregnant.”

The silence that fell between mother and daughter was unbearable. Nina was again pulling the phone from her ear when her mother’s voice came across the line. “How far along?

“Six months.”

A shocked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was afraid.”

More silence, and then, “Nina, you know better than to ever be afraid of me. I’m coming up there. I’ll go pack and get a flight.”

“Okay. Thanks Mom.”

“I love you, Nina.”

“I love you too, Mom.” Nina ended the call, hugged the bear tighter to her chest and fell into exhausted sleep.