8
I knew Mom was just trying to comfort me, not wanting me to be sad.
But I knew my own body best.
While Mom was out walking the cats, I went nearby and picked out a burial plot with good feng shui for myself.
Sitting by the gravesite, a bitter pang went through me.
There were so many places I hadn’t visited, so many foods I hadn’t tasted.
More importantly, I hadn’t even met the person I was supposed to love. How could I just die so carelessly?
It was all Julian’s fault. He didn’t get sick, but he almost killed me with this!
When I got home, Mom suddenly handed me a small bag.
“Go check it in the bathroom.”
Confused, I took it.
“What is this? A pregnancy test? Mom, are *you* pregnant?”
Mom slapped my forehead playfully.
“It’s for you to test, silly! You’re an adult now, how can you not know these things?”
It was only at that moment that it hit me: that night with Julian.
All the signs now pointed to pregnancy. I’d been so sure it was an STD.
Not until I saw those two clear lines on the pregnancy test stick did I have to admit the truth: I was pregnant.
On that very same day, Richard suddenly showed up at our door.
It seemed finding us was only a matter of time.
He was holding a lot of things, and he didn’t seem to be here to convince us to go back.
“Victoria, how have you been? You look thin, you must not have been eating well.”
To my surprise, Mom didn’t seem to resent Richard at all. In fact, her eyes were filled with relief.
“This place isn’t like home, for sure. Well, if there’s nothing else, you can leave now.”
Richard actually left, obediently.
Only after he was gone did I come out, holding the pregnancy test.
<
“Morn, weren’t you against him? You looked… different just now.”
Mom snapped back to reality, covering her awkwardness with a smile.
“Was I? I’ve always been against him. Maybe you just saw it wrong.”
Then, as if to change the subject, she stared at the pregnancy test in my hand.
“Scarlett, you’re really pregnant?”
“So what are you thinking? Are you going to keep the baby?”
Right. Should I keep this baby?
In the long run, it wouldn’t be fair to her to be born into this world, growing up without a father.
But I couldn’t shake my selfish desire. This was my first child. Could I really prevent her from coming into this world?
After a few days of internal struggle, I finally decided to keep her.
I would do everything in my power to give her the best life possible.
Mom seemed to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Scarlett, there are some things I’ll explain to you later.”
Mom was really odd tonight, saying things I couldn’t understand.
Did she still want to go back to the Richardsons?
“Mom, do you miss Richard? If you do, just go back. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“I know I shouldn’t have made you leave with me.”
Mom suddenly hugged me tightly.
“Silly girl, how could I ever leave you alone here?”
I retorted, “Then what do all these strange things you’re saying mean?”
Mom still wouldn’t tell me. Honestly, she’d been acting weird ever since we faked our deaths.
She wasn’t angry that Julian and Richard hadn’t come looking for us.
And those online videos of them supposedly worrying about us looked more like staged performances, deliberately put on for the media to see their “grief.”
9
