Sharon was seated at the head of the table, with her sons on either of her sides. Next to Jeremy was Kiara, and next to Jacob was Nesisa. Everyone looked happy, except for Kiara, whose facial expression could not be explained. She was neither sad nor happy, but carried a flat expression, difficult to comprehend.
"Are you having any cravings yet, Kiara?" Nesisa asked while she stroked her own tiny, almost invisible bump.
"No," Kiara answered and did not care to go any further.
"You're blessed," Nesisa smiled. "I failed to handle my first trimester. And what made it worse was I was not even aware that I was pregnant. You see, I was on the pill, so I could not imagine what made me that sick. The thought of pregnancy never crossed our minds," she rested her head on Jacob's shoulder, and the latter kissed his wife's forehead.
Everyone was expecting Kiara to say something, but she did not.
"Kiara has very bad morning sickness," Jeremy came to her rescue.
"It usually gets better with time," Sharon smiled at her children.
"Shall we eat? I'm starving," Jacob stretched his hand to open the food bowels.
His mother lightly tapped the back of his palm and said, "wait, let Kiara dish up first. She is the one we're welcoming. Kiara my child, feel free, you may say grace and you will dish up first."
Everyone bowed their heads, waiting for Kiara to pray for the food, but she did not utter a word. Jeremy nudged her and whispered, "pray, Kiara." And she mumbled, "may our food be blessed, amen."
Everyone was a bit worried and surprised about Kiara's behaviour.
"Are you feeling well, my child?" Sharon asked.
Kiara did not respond. She faced down and began to cry.
"What is it, child? Jeremy, did you two have a fight?"
"No mum, she hardly ever said anything to me since the time she came. I've been trying to talk to her but she gives me only one word answers." Jeremy was very worried.
Sharon stood from her chair and went to stand behind Kiara's; hugging her from behind. She carefully wiped off the younger lady's tears, and said,
"Were you not ready to move in? Did you want to stay a bit longer with your parents? Tell me my child, we don't want to do anything that will upset you."
"I…I am fine," Kiara spoke through her sobs.
"Why are you crying, my love?" Jeremy's heart was pierced by immense pain when he saw the love of his life crying.
"I…I just feel sick. I have a headache and I am always sick." She cried.
"It will be fine, my child." Sharon comforted her. "For now, let's concentrate on our dinner. You can eat just a bit of the food, you don't need to force yourself. And I made some ginger tea. Ginger helps, my child."
Kiara wiped off her tears and started to calm down.
"Here, what shall I dish up for you?" Sharon started to open all the food bowls.
"Is there anything spicy? I would like something spicy, please," Kiara tried to smile.
"OK, this fish is nice and spicy. Here, Kiara hold this plate. Come, Nesisa my child, hold your plate. I will dish the food for you too. Boys, you can serve yourselves once I am done with the ladies…."
Everyone started to eat their food in silence. Here and there, Jacob would say a joke and everyone would laugh, but generally there was not much talking.
"I'll bring the dessert," Sharon stood up and went to the kitchen. She brought back bowls of fruit salad.
"Is there any ice-cream, mum?" Jacob asked.
"No, there isn't any. These fruits are good for the ladies. You don't need ice cream," Sharon placed a bowl in front of each person.
"You need to sit down and take some rest, mum. You overwork yourself. Don't worry about clearing the table later on, Kiara and I will do it," Nesisa suggested to Sharon.
"No, no no. You two are my guests today. You don't need to do anything. You can sit and relax, the boys will clear the table and do the dishes. Did you hear me, Jacob and Jeremy?" Sharon raised her eyes to look at her sons.
"Not fair!" Jacob complained, and everyone laughed.
"Tell me, Kiara, when are you due?" Nesisa tried to make conversation.
"I was given December the 29th as my expected day of delivery," Kiara said in a small voice.
"Our babies will grow up as twins, then. Ours should come on the 1st of October," Kiara smiled.
"Ok," was all Kiara said.
"Do you prefer a boy or a girl?" Nesisa went on.
"I haven't thought much about that. Jeremy?" Kiara looked at the man seated next to her.
"I don't know. I think a little girl who is as beautiful as Kiara would be awesome," Jeremy said.
"We're having a boy," Jacob told them.
"Congratulations my children," Sharon said with a smile.
"Nesisa wanted a little girl,"
"Liar! I said I was ok with any, either son or daughter."
"That's not true, you were sad when we were told it's a boy."
"And you shouldn't have told them! I never wanted to know from the beginning. I always wanted to have a gender reveal party, but that lady who did a scan just blurted it out, 'it's a boy!'!" Nesisa complained.
"Oh I am so sorry. I totally forgot about the gender reveal." Jacob was feeling very bad, but Nesisa assured him that it was ok, since she no longer had plans of having the party.
When the diner was over and after Jacob and Nesisa had left, Kiara immediately excused herself. She was showed into the new room, and she was shocked to see how well-decorated the room was, just for her.
She closed the door behind her and checked to see that her clothes were neatly packed in the wardrobe. Sharon was surely such a lovely woman.
The bag with her personal belongings was untouched. Kiara unzipped it and carefully pulled out her diary, and she made her entry for the day:
Dear Kimmy
I have moved in, and I have never felt this bad. I really regret not aborting this child. I should have.
What am I going to say on the day that Jeremy finds out that this child is not his? I can only keep my fingers crossed that he is the father.
My biggest flow these days is my failure to make decisions. I can never make up my mind on anything.
Dear Kimmy, many times I have considered taking my own life….
She stopped writing immediately when she heard footsteps. Quickly she threw the diary back in her bag, and folding her hands on top of her laps, starring at the door.
Jeremy walked in with a cup in his hands.
"What's that?" she asked.
"It's ginger tea. Mum said it's good for you to take it just before bed."
"Thank you," she reached out for the cup and drank half of it in one go.
"Welcome home," Jeremy smiled and pecked her cheek.
"Thank you," she smiled back.
"Do you feel better now?" he asked.
"Yes," she smiled back.
Jeremy kicked off his slippers and looked around the room in great excitement.
"Do you like it? The room?"
"Yes. Who decorated it?" Kiara asked.
"My mum," he smiled.
Kiara nodded her head and finished off the contents of her cup before she placed it on the bedside table.
"We're going to be parents, Kiara," he beamed with joy.
"We are," Kiara smiled.
"Are you happy?" he asked her.
"I am," she smiled.
Jeremy picked up Kiara's bag from off the floor and said, "you can use those drawers for all your staff. Feel free, if you need anything please just tell me."
"Ok, let me unpack my things," Kiara was quick to take the bag, for she feared that Jeremy was going to see her diary. What if he decided to open it? She did not want to imagine anything like that. She was still scanning the room to find a safe place in which she was going to hide her diary.
"What exactly is bothering you, my love?" Jeremy was confused.
"Nothing is bothering me." She answered in a cold tone.
"But I see you are still very much troubled. What is it, my love?"
"I also don't know. My mum said it could be pregnancy hormones. I constantly feel depressed. It's nothing to do with anything bothering me. Besides the pregnancy and the morning sickness harassing me, I have no other worries. I can hardly stand the smells of many foods, and I don't like some of the things I used to love. I'm trying to adjust, I'm sorry that I am distant."
Before Jeremy could respond, Kiara headed to the bathroom, asking Jeremy to give her some space. Jeremy hated to see her like that, and he was more than certain that from the day that she worked at the Two-Sons Hotel, Kiara had never been the same. Was she hiding something? What really happened in that hotel?
She was soaking in the bathtub, crying her heart out. Her cries were suppressed, making sure that Jeremy heard nothing of her sobs. She cried and cried until she had no more tears.
The water ran cold, but she did not mind it at all. She was seated in it for hours, crying her soul out. And when her face was all swelled up, Jeremy knocked and asked if she was ok.
"I am ok, just give me a minute."
She quickly dried herself up and left the bathroom. Burying herself under the bed linen, Kiara did not say a word to Jeremy, neither did she respond when he tried to talk to her.