Millie
Millie
M illie slumped into her very uncomfortable bed and rubbed her growing belly. She had gotten out of town just in time to avoid anyone else noticing that she was starting to show, but there was no avoiding it now. She was six months pregnant, and she had outgrown most of her clothing.
She hated her new apartment, but most of all, she hated being away from family and friends, but what else could she do? If she had stayed back home, she would have had to explain to everyone, including Ranger, that she was an idiot who forgot to take her birth control pills and got herself pregnant. Telling Ranger that he was going to be a father would be nearly impossible since he wasn’t really even talking to her. She couldn’t take the silent treatment that he was giving her anymore, and she knew that if she told him about the baby, he’d do the right thing and help her. That was the last thing that Millie wanted from Ranger. If he wanted her, he would have made a move by now. It was very clear that he only wanted her for a one-night stand and that hurt like hell.
Since their only night together, she spent so many sleepless nights trying to figure out what she had done wrong. It had to have been something that she did. Things seemed to have gone great until the next morning when he felt like he was trying to put a little distance between them. The night before, he had taken her to dinner, offered her a dream job, and then, she pushed him for more. Maybe that was her mistake—pushing Ranger to jump into bed with her. Maybe she was too pushy, and he liked his woman a bit more laid back, but that was who she was. When Millie wanted something, or in this case, someone, she went for it. She just had no idea that it would end with Ranger not even speaking to her within the first few days of their working together.
It was so embarrassing, and she only seemed to make things worse. He had avoided her at work, and she couldn’t seem to take the hint. God, she even asked him out to dinner, after her second week on the job, and he turned her down flat. That was the last time that he really talked to her besides when she handed in her resignation. Millie wasn’t sure what she was hoping for when she turned in her letter of resignation to him. He acted like he didn’t want her to leave—even asking her to stay, but she just couldn’t do it. She had a little secret with an expiration date that she just couldn’t tell Ranger about.
Millie decided to stop sulking in her bed and got up to go into her little living room. She plopped down on her sofa and grabbed the remote control, turning on the television. It was her routine—dinner, on the couch, watching television. Millie needed to get used to the fact that she was going to be trapped at home with her baby every night, soon enough. Not that she’d change that fact in any way. Being a mom was something that she’d always dreamed of for herself. She just never imagined that she’d be doing all of this alone—completely alone. She didn’t even have a birthing coach to go to classes with her. And when it came time for her baby to come, she had no one to take her to the hospital or make sure she had her bags in the trunk for the big day. She had no one who’d be there with her to cheer her on or tell her that it was going to be okay. Millie would be all alone until her little one arrived and then, it would be just the two of them. She’d figure the rest out from there.
She was just getting into one of those crazy reality television shows when her phone rang in her pocket. She pulled it free and saw that Ruby was calling her again. Her friend had called her just about every day since she had moved, and it was getting harder and harder not to tell her that she was pregnant. Millie wondered if she could do that and trust that her friend wouldn’t tell Ranger. It was a big ask, and one that she wasn’t sure was fair to make of Ruby.
She couldn’t avoid Ruby’s call. Millie knew that she’d end up just trying her back later and she planned on heading to bed early tonight. “Hello,” Millie answered.
“Hey,” Ruby said. “How are you doing?”
“I’m good,” Millie lied. “How are you doing?” She was tired, as big as a house, and ready to break down in tears at any moment. Ruby was about a month ahead of her, pregnancy-wise, and she had to be feeling about the same. Millie decided to concentrate on her friend and then, hopefully, she’d be able to avoid Ruby’s questions that would have her spilling her guts over the phone.
“How are you doing?” Millie asked, trying to put the focus back on Ruby.
“Um, you’ve asked me that question twice now,” Ruby teased. “Are you sure that you’re good?”
“I am,” Millie lied again. “How’s Luke doing?”
“He’s good,” Ruby said. “He’s driving me crazy with getting things ready for the baby. I think that some of the girls around the office are going to throw me a shower and I don’t want to go out and buy stuff first. It’ll ruin the surprise.” Millie knew all about the shower that was being thrown for her at the office. She was invited but had to come up with some stupid excuse about being too busy at her new job to travel back for it. Her new job allowed her to work from home, so she really could have taken a few days off, but then, she’d have to explain her baby bump and that wasn’t something that she was ready to do. Millie had always been a little bit curvy, but there would be no hiding her belly behind her curves now.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Ruby said, breaking Millie’s inner thoughts. She had forgotten to interject little hums and signals that she was listening to Ruby. God, she was just becoming a bad friend. “Why not tell me what’s really going on, Millie? You haven’t been yourself since you moved away. I’m worried about you, and you shouldn’t make a pregnant woman worry.”
“No kidding,” Millie mumbled under her breath.
“What was that?” Ruby asked.
“Nothing,” Millie said.
“Millie don’t make me drive out to see you. I’m seven months pregnant but won’t hesitate to get in a car and drive down to see that you’re all right with my own two eyes.”
That was the very last thing that Millie needed. “You don’t need to do that,” she insisted.
“Give me one good reason not to,” Ruby insisted. “Tell me why you’ve been acting this way. Are you unhappy?”
“No,” Millie lied.
“Are you homesick?”
“No,” she lied again.
“Do you hate your new job?” Ruby questioned.
“No, Ruby,” Millie shouted, “I’m pregnant and alone. How do you think I should act?” Millie gasped and covered her mouth with her trembling hand as if trying to stop anything more that might come out of her pie hole. It was too late though. The damage had been done and there would be no taking her words back now.
“You’re pregnant?” Ruby asked.
“I am,” Millie whispered. “Please don’t tell Ranger. He hates me and I just don’t think I can raise this baby with him. He won’t even talk to me, you know?” The silence at the other end of the call worried her. “Ruby.”
“Um, I’m so sorry, Millie. The guys put me up to it. They wanted to know if you were really happy at your new job,” Ruby said. A sense of doom filled Millie’s gut and she knew that she wasn’t going to like what was about to come.
“What did you do?” she asked. “Tell me that he’s not there listening to what I just told you.”
“I wish I could,” Ruby said. “I’m so sorry.”
“So, he’s there, listening to everything that I just said, and he still won’t talk to me?” Millie asked. She couldn’t deal with his silence anymore. It was why she decided to leave town after finding out about the baby. She had grown up in a home where her parents fought constantly. They hated each other and Millie didn’t want her son or daughter growing up in a home like that. If Ranger didn’t want to talk to her, that was on him, but she wouldn’t be made to feel guilty about any of this. He was the one giving her the cold shoulder and not the other way around.
“Listen, I have to go,” Millie said. “I have a busy day tomorrow and I need to get some sleep. I think it would be best if you don’t call me anymore, Ruby,” she said.
“Millie,” Ruby shouted into the phone just before she hung up on her. She didn’t care if she sounded like a bitch or that she had just told the father of her baby that she was pregnant over the phone. None of that mattered. In fact, the only thing that did matter was her baby right now. Millie rubbed her hand over her belly and longed for the day that she’d be able to feel her baby kick her, but for now, she’d settle for the little flutters that told her that her baby was just fine inside of her growing belly. Yeah—he or she was the only thing that mattered, and she’d make sure that her baby had the best she could give. Even if that meant being a single parent.