"Issy,you really have a wonderful family,and to think you were so worried about them disowning you",Gabby declared as soon as we entered my room,which was gonna be shared by the three of us.
"I didn't say they would disown me Gabby, I was only worried at how much shame I would bring them and how painful it would be for them to have their unwed daughter be a single mom",I corrected her. "Potato Po-tah-toh",she simply replied and I could only roll my eyes at her.
"Today was wonderful though. I love your mom,she's like the mom I never had",Aurora said,and I could only smile at her and give her a hug and add,"Girl,she already gave you a nick name which,by the way,rhymes with her name. Trust me,she loves you as much as she love me".
"So where does that leave me? The ugly step daughter?",Gabby pouted ,to which both Aurora and I replied,"Yes",and laughed out much to Gabby's dismay. "Can we come in",Zeke knocked on our door. I opened the door to find Zeke,Joshua and Leo,standing right outside my door.
"You didn't leave yet?",I questioned Leo,surprised at seeing him with the boys. "Ouch, that hurts, Ace.What, you don't want to see me anymore now that your friends are here?",he pouted like a kid. "I'm just asking cause you're usually out with your girlfriend at this hour",I shrugged and noticed the sudden change in his demeanor.
"Oh no, don't tell me things didn't work out with Grace. I'm so sorry Leo",I told him,though I was a little happy cause there was just something about Grace that didn't sit well with me,but I didn't tell him that. I realized that my friends were watching the whole exchange between us,and the three of them were still standing outside the door,and I could only say,"I'm so sorry. Please do come in. Don't mind the mess my room is in,and Leo, you can always talk to me about it if you want to",I said as I let them in.
"Sorry for disturbing you girls,but we thought it was too early to sleep now so we thought of going on a ride by the river Leo mentioned of today",Zeke said. "Wow,that's a lovely idea",Gabby and Aurora joined in."You mean now?",I asked,quite surprised cause even though it was just 8pm, I was tired,but I didn't want to spoil their happy mood,so I obliged.
We gathered some stuffs we would be needing for a river side outing, and loaded them into Joshua and Leo's car. I took a quick visit to the restroom, and informed my parents about the outing."Be careful honey. You need to take utmost care in your first trimester",my mom said and I nodded a yes.
By the time I came down,all arrangements were made. Gabby and Aurora would be going in Leo's car and I would be with Joshua and Zeke. We soon left for the riverside, but quickly had a stop over to buy beer and some snacks.
We arrived at the river side,and placed the blankets and the sheets we brought at a nice spot and sat down to enjoy the peaceful sound of river flowing and the crickets chirping.It was a beautiful moonlit night and the moonlight cast on the serene river looked so beautiful and I was simply amazed at the beauty of Mother Nature.
"Here,take this",Leo handed me an energy drink, but before I could accept it, Joshua took it from him and simply said,"She can't drink this. Here,have this",he gave me a bottle of orange juice, which I didn't even realize when he had bought for me."Geez,its just the energy drink she takes all the time",Leo added, a bit offended at Joshua's behavior. But before I could say anything,Joshua said,"Its not good for the fetus" and Leo's mouth gaped open,and I could only bow my head low cause I had to tell Leo of my pregnancy as well,and I didn't know if he would take it well for being the last one to get the news.
"What fetus? Are you telling me that Ace is pregnant? Is that true Ace?",Leo asked Joshua,and then me. Meanwhile, Gabby,Aurora and Zeke had gone to the river to unwind themselves and I felt relieved that they weren't here,else it would be much more embarrassing.
"Leo, its true.I'm pregnant",I said. Before I knew what was going on, he grabbed Joshua by his neck and punched him and I gasped."Leo, what are you doing?",I asked him not aware of why he was hitting Joshua, and just then I realized that he was mistaking Joshua to be the father,so before things got escalated further, I blurted out,"Stop it Leo, Joshua is my doctor, he's not the father".
That seemed to make him stop his fist,which was hanging midway in the air, ready to hit another blow on Joshua's face, while the whole time, Joshua just stood there,without retaliation.