Chapter 14 #2
“Nice to meet you, too! You look like you need a friend, and no one wants to be here alone, without anyone to talk to. Trust me, it’s miserable.”
“I’ve only been here for a night, and I can already tell,” I mumble, and she laughs.
“Well then, you’re going to be my new best friend.”
“I’d like that. I could use one of those. How old are you?
“I’m twenty. You?
“Eighteen.”
“Not bad. We’re still going to be best friends! Come on! Let me give you my own tour around this place,” she tells me, when we’re finished eating. Since I have nothing else to do, why not?
“Let’s do it!”
It’s been two weeks since I’ve been here, and I’m officially eighteen weeks pregnant. The bump isn’t all that much bigger, but it’s definitely more noticeable now. I’ve been miserable the whole time I’ve been here, and it doesn’t look like it will ever get better.
Being around the sisters all the time is kind of depressing, to be honest. Though there is one good thing to come from the two weeks here so far, and it’s my friendship with Isabella.
I guess we were both lonely, and that made our bond grow.
She never asked about my bruises, even though you couldn’t miss them, which I was thankful for.
I really didn’t want to talk about it. I’m sure she was glad I didn’t pry into why she was here either.
We’ve been inseparable since that first day in the dining hall.
Plus, the bonus is the fact that her room is right next to mine.
Right now, we’re both in our religious studies class, and I’m ready to fall asleep. The deep drone of Father Andrew’s voice just keeps going on and on. I look over to where Isa is sitting, and she’s focused—well, more like hanging—on every word he’s saying.
She must feel my eyes on her because she turns to look at me. I just grin and wink at her, and she blushes before turning to look at him again. I know exactly why she’s so focused on everything he’s saying. It’s because she has a huge crush on him.
I can’t deny the fact that Father Andrews is hot as sin, but even with all that hotness, he does absolutely nothing for me. All I can think about is a certain tattooed off-limits bad boy.
At long last, the class is finally over. I stand from my seat, and so does Isa. She hooks her arm in mine as we begin to walk out of the room.
“Have a nice day, Father Andrews,” she says to him before turning to me. “Are you excited for today?”
“Yes! I’ve been dying to find out what I’m having.”
“What do you think it is?”
“Mm, I don’t know, but I just have a feeling it’s going to be a little girl.”
“Ooo! If you do have a little girl, I’m sure she’s going to be pretty just like her mama,” she says.
“Meh, I’m not all that. But she will be, since her father is the hottest and most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid my eyes on,” I tell her with a dreamy sigh.
We make our way to the courtyard, and one of the sisters motions for us to follow her down the pathway to the street, where a car is already waiting for us. Sister Mary gets into the front with the driver while we get in the back. I’m so glad Isa offered to come with me today.
Even though it’s an easy appointment, I didn’t want to do it alone. I wish Enzo were here to go through it with me, but he isn’t. Hell, I don’t even know whether he’s aware that I’m gone by now. I just wish things were different.
It only takes about ten minutes to get downtown, and the driver parks right in front of the doctor’s office.
Both of us get out, while Sister Mary stays in the car.
We only have a ten-minute wait before I’m called and shown into the room, pulling Isabella along with me.
I take a seat on the examination table just as the doctor walks in.
“Hello again, Aria. How are we doing today? I see that you’re in for an ultrasound,” Dr. Michaels says.
I’ve already been here before. The day after I got here, I made an appointment to see the doctor because I wanted to double-check and make sure my baby was fine.
They had an appointment available that afternoon, and since Isa and I were hanging out all day, she came with me then, too. Thankfully, nothing was wrong.
“I’m doing well. I’m just excited to finally find out what I’m having,” I tell him with excitement in my voice, and he laughs.
“Well, let’s not keep you waiting. Shall we get started?” he asks.
“I’m ready,” I tell him. I lie down on the exam table and lift my shirt. He squirts the gel onto my stomach, then places the wand on it and moves it around.
“Everything still looks good. The baby’s development is as it should be,” he tells me, pointing to the baby on the screen.
Holy moly! I still can’t believe there’s an actual baby in there!
The head and tiny body make my eyes fill with tears because it’s such a beautiful moment to get to see my little nugget again.
“Are you ready to find out what you’re having? ”
“Yes, please, I’m more than ready!” I murmur in excitement as he moves the wand around a little more.
“Congratulations! You’re having a girl!” he tells me, and the tears that I was holding in stream down my face.
“I knew it!” I mumble through the tears.
“Oh my God! It’s a girl!” Isabella squeals from next to me before she stands up and bends down, wrapping me up in a hug. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll print a picture for you to keep,” the doctor tells me as a nurse helps me clean the gel from my stomach.
“Thanks, Doc.” We wait for the ultrasound picture before we leave the office, our arms looped together.
“We should get ice cream to celebrate,” Isa tells me.
“I mean, I won’t complain, but we do have guards,” I mumble, pointing to the car. We can both see that Sister Mary is watching us.
“Let me talk to her real quick,” she tells me as she lets go of my arm and runs over to the car. A moment later, she’s walking back to where I’m standing. “She said yes.”
“Let’s go get some ice cream then!” I tell her excitedly. I haven’t had ice cream in forever. I’m guessing Sister Mary only said yes because the shop is two doors down from the doctor’s office, which means she can still see us from where they’re parked. This isn’t that big of a town to begin with.
Not wanting to rock the boat too much, we get our ice creams to go before heading back to the car. We eat it on the way back to the convent, and it’s delicious. As soon as the car parks, Sister Mary gets out and walks back to our building, like her ass is on fire, and I giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Isabella questions.
“Look at how fast she’s walking. Like her ass is on fire or she just can’t wait to get away from us.” I giggle some more.
“Come on, we weren’t that bad.”
“I know. But I’m thinking she didn’t like our outing.”
“Well, if they’d let us go out on our own, then she wouldn’t have had to come with,” Isabella grumbles.
“Tell me about it.”
As we walk through the courtyard to head to the set of stairs closest to where our rooms are, we see Father Andrew in the distance outside his office, looking over at us. Isa waves at him, but he doesn’t return it. He simply turns and walks back into his office.
“Looks like somebody’s grumpy today,” Isabella mumbles.
“Want to come hang out with me in my room for the rest of the afternoon?” I ask, while we’re walking up the stairs.
“Sure. It’s not like we have anything else to do, right?”
“Right.”
We head to my room, and I open the window to let some of the fresh air in. We both lie on my bed since it’s big enough for both of us.
“I hate this place,” she tells me, starting the conversation off.
“Me too. Why were you sent here?” I decide to ask. I mean, it feels appropriate to ask now, since we’ve been friends for a few weeks.
“Something was going down with my family, so my father thought it best to send me here to keep me safe. I don’t think anyone would think to look for me here, since it’s a convent and all. Plus, it’s in such a small town.”
“That’s true. I don’t think anyone would look here. So, we’re both Mafia princesses? There’s a war going on with another family and mine.” I sigh.
“Oh, wow. Small world.” She giggles. “I mean, I had a feeling you were part of the life as well because you’re here.”
“Is this where they send us all? This is the Mafia babysitters club?” I joke.
“I mean, your father did send you here to protect you,” she tells me, and I let out a snort, pointing to my stomach.
“He didn’t. Not really. My father is an asshole.
He’s at war with another family because of something that happened in the past. But he didn’t send me here to protect me.
He sent me here to stay hidden until I give birth to my baby.
After that, I’ll go back to being his puppet once again.
He wants me to marry someone who’s fucking old enough to be my grandfather,” I mutter in disgust.
“Wow, what an asshole. That’s a lot for anyone to deal with. What’s going to happen to the baby?” she asks.
“He said he’s going to take her away from me. He wants to raise her to no doubt do his bidding eventually. But I’m never going to let that happen. He’s cruel, and I don’t want any of the things he did to me to happen to her,” I say.
“I’m so sorry you had to go through that. What about her father? Especially, since there’s no way in hell you want her anywhere near yours.”
“I don’t know. He doesn’t know about her existence yet. I couldn’t contact him before my father sent me away. Plus, he’s kinda the prince of the family that my father is at war with,” I mumble, and she gasps.
“Shut the front door! You screwed the enemy? Not only screwed but got knocked up as well,” she says, before she bursts out laughing. “Naughty girl. I’m guessing your dad doesn’t know who the father is, right?”