Paul scoffed. "No way. Ingrid knows better than to have sex, at this time of her life! She knows that better herself like her life depended on celibacy."
"That's because it does," Layla stressed. "Paul, if she's pregnant then that means she's..."
"Layla stop with your wild thoughts, honey." He shook his head. "If Ingrid was pregnant I'm pretty sure we'd have known. She couldn't keep something as serious as that from us."
Layla chuckled as she shook her head. "You don't know how your daughter is a good liar Paul. Ingrid's been hiding her pregnancy all this time! Oh my god..." Layla freaked out, her eyes wide and open, and mouth resting well on the car's floor.
"Layla, could you just calm down?" Her breathing was becoming intense.
"Don't tell me to come down!" Layla told him.
"Wait, honey when was her period?" Paul asked.
Layla looked at him confused, as her mouth was still agape. She turned back to the driver at the front, who seemed to be in his own world. "Stop the car!" She yelled at him. The man didn't hear, she had to shout louder this time around. "I said stop!" The man gasped at the quest and skidded the car to the bank of the road instantly. Layla got off, purse in hand and husband behind her back. They walked ten meters away from the car as the driver waited for them.
"Honey, what's wrong?" Paul asked her as he approached, running.
"How did I never think of that before?" Layla hissed, tears tempting to come out. "Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my, she's pregnant!" She gasped.
"Layla will you calm down!" Paul took her hands. She looked at him, tears starting to make their way about their hidden sanctuaries. She snuffed and muffled her lips, eyebrows raised to the shock.
"Paul, she's pregnant!" Layla told him sharply.
"Why do you think so?" He asked, teeth cluttering against each other.
"What can be the other logical explanation?!" Layla roared.
"Wait... are you sure? Layla, you're just being too paranoid." Paul told her shaking his head once again. "When are her periods?"
"I... I don't know. She said that she was feeling her cramps during Ethan's graduation. I guess so it's somewhere early in the month?" Layla cried out, wiping off her tears.
"And when was the graduation party held?" Paul asked her, raising his brows.
"23rd December? If I can remember clearly..." Layla shrugged.
"Huh? Huh? So you see?" Paul calmed her down. "There was no way she could have two period sessions in one month, honey."
"Paul, I need to be sure. If she's pregnant that could put her life in danger if she does anything stupid with it."
"Layla, Ingrid is not pregnant. Call and ask the school. You said she had a fresh medical report yesterday. Call and inquire about her status. "
Layla dug her hand into her purse immediately and called some number from the school. She had a lengthy conversation with the person on the other end. The driver had now gotten out of the vehicle and Paul had excused himself from his wife and went on to chat with the man. After ten minutes, Layla was done with the call and ushered Paul to come back to where she was standing.
"So?" He asked.
"She's not," Layla told him in a low voice whilst shaking her head. "She's not pregnant."
"I told you so." Paul cohered, smirking in the end. "Layla you need to cool down. Ingrid is a big girl and she knows that being pregnant right now is one of the things that she can't afford to be."
Layla started to calm down, and her heaving breaths started to ease out. She leaned back on his chest. Paul embraced her choreographically. "I know. But Paul she needs to be careful. I'll have to see her again when I come back from this visit. I have to remind her, just in case she's forgotten."
"Ingrid's complicated but she's our daughter. She knows what's right and what's wrong. Could you just give her a chance? We've been at odds with her for some weeks now, clearly, it's time we can let her be, Layla. She's just lonely and that's why she wanted to stay in school with people she can relate and talk with."
"She wanted to stay in school... because of that girl that kissed her," Layla told him, still under his lovely embrace.
"So she's now...?" Paul's statement jittered as he tried to deny the statement. "Are you sure or are you finding something else to blame on her?"
"She gave reasons that it was because of Ethan being absent... but as of late I can't believe anything that comes out of that girl's mouth."
Paul laughed. "You need to let that girl breathe Layla. Seriously, we've had her for almost three weeks now, and now our son is waiting for us. Can't we just make this weekend be memorable for him?" He kissed her hair once again. "No Clara, no Ingrid, no Elena, no Ethan cases. Just let it be about Ethan... okay?"
Layla shrugged before she answered. "Yes..."
"Come on let's go." He told her.
With his arm snaked around her waist, they walked back to the car in tow, cold biting from behind.
***********************
She couldn't fathom the fact she slowly transitioning into a young mother. The presence of her supporting herself on the toilet seat as she emptied herself this fine Saturday morning was enough to cement that fact in case she had forgotten already. Some days she would wake up fine, some days she would walk up into the toilet to vomit. Today, this was her second time and it wasn't as pleasant as the first time. When she was sure that everything was out, she flushed and darted outside to the sinks in the opposite end of the washrooms. She washed her mouth, and her face too before she stared into the mirror and saw the young mother that was looking back at her.
"Is everything okay?" Freya asked from one of the taps. She had been waiting for her meanwhile. Ingrid gulped some water before she answered.
"Yeah, yeah. Just some small morning sickness. Nothing much of a deal." She wiped her mouth after she had finished gurgling water. She washed her face once more and turned around to see Freya who was holding out a mint for her. She took it and did the necessary. They then walked outside the washrooms together.
"I'm still baffled why you had to come here and deal with it instead of staying back at home, everything would have been much simpler there." Freya told her as they made their way to the gaming block. She had in her hand a small bag pack and a phone in the other.
"That's because Freya, I can survive girls knowing that I'm pregnant instead of my parents. My mom is nosy and she'd find out soon when I was not ready to confront her. I told you they'd kill me." Ingrid muttered. They continued walking, dressed in black leggings and warm dark red hoodies.
"But they're going to find out eventually, you know that?"
"Yes, Freya we had discussed all of this yesterday. Stop acting like you've forgotten everything I told you already." Ingrid told her, almost sounding angry.
"Hey, hey I'm sorry." Freya apologized playfully. They got down the stairs to some underground room of a large building. There were five table tennis tables with all under use in the long hall. Some students had sat by the benches and were talking by themselves while watching others play. It seemed others were waiting for their turn to play. Some girls were also on their phones. Two of the senior girls in the hall were kissing by some corner. Nobody was even paying attention to them. Rules are rules, and that meant they were made to be broken. There were no cameras here too.