2. Chapter Two
It’s been a long emotional ass week for me after finding out that I was pregnant.
At first, I was shocked and confused. I mean, yes, Evan and I had been moving real recklessly while out here in Paris.
We partied hard, drank even harder, and were having sex at every chance we could.
Pregnancy never even crossed my mind though.
I legit wanted to pass the fuck out when the hospital told me the news.
I literally thought they had made a mistake because how the fuck could I be pregnant?
Shit, I was only sixteen and had barely even experienced life yet.
A baby simply wasn’t in my plans right now and even though I knew that I still wasn’t able to mentally prepare for the next step.
Naturally, I sunk into a deep depression.
After laying in bed sick for a few days and telling my parents about it, they did their big one and popped out to visit me.
That shit was sooo needed. Having both my parents shower and love up on me while attempting to nurse me back to health was everything.
I wanted to spill it all to my mom and almost did.
Until she got to telling me about how proud she was of me for all my accomplishments.
Now that gave me the reality check that I needed.
It was a couple of days later and now that they were gone, I’d sunk right back into my depression and had been lying in bed at my hotel all day everyday.
I alternated between crying and throwing up then went right back to bawling my eyes out again.
My life was falling apart right before my eyes and there wasn’t anything that I could do about it.
My phone vibrated next to me in the bed, and I rolled my eyes when I saw the caller’s name.
Declining the call, they didn’t wait two seconds before calling right back causing me to finally answer.
“Yes?” I spoke, hostility lacing my voice.
“I’ve been calling you. Are you okay? How are you feeling?” Evan asked, sounding all concerned like he actually gave a fuck.
“I’m fine. What do you want?”
“Uh…” he cleared his throat. “I need you to come by the Penthouse so we can talk.”
“I’m not feeling well today so that’s going to have to wait,” I let him know.
“That’s not gonna work for me, Kari. We have to sit down and discuss some things. You’ve been ducking me for the past week,” he told me, and I sighed.
Truthfully, I had been keeping communication with Evan super short. In my opinion, there wasn’t anything for us to talk about. He told me where he stood on everything that day at the hospital so what else was there to say?
“Whatever, I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” I said, before hanging up.
I laid in the bed for a few more minutes before finally getting up and gathering myself together to head out.
My hotel had taxis on standby so by the time I walked out front, one was already waiting for me.
It only took us about eight minutes to pull up to Evan’s family Penthouse.
Since the doorman already knew me, he didn’t hesitate to buzz me up on the elevator.
Entering the suite, I immediately grew emotional.
For weeks, this had been my home away from home.
I didn’t even bother sleeping at my own hotel and aside from checking in to cover my tracks from my parents, I only went there to swap out clothes.
All that changed after we left the hospital last week because I needed to put some major space between Evan and I while I got my thoughts together.
I looked up just as Evan joined me at the elevator. “Hey, how are you?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “What did you want to talk about?”
The sadness in his eyes was evident, but I was sure he didn’t feel remotely close to what I was feeling so I nixed it off. I followed him over to the oversized sectional and sat down.
“I don’t wanna seem insensitive for what I’m about to say but we have to deal with this before we’re out of time—”
“Out of time?” I repeated.
“I’m not saying it like that. But realistically, we are on a time crunch Kari. They said you’re already four months. I feel like my hands are tied and I don’t know what to do.”
“Well, neither do I!” I started tearing up because these hormones mixed with this whole situation was beyond stressful.
“That’s why I made a judgment call. Obviously, neither of us are in the right frame of mind to handle this shit by ourselves. We’re in a foreign country, and I’m completely out of my depth,” he overly explained himself.
“What—What did you do?” I stammered and my question was answered when an older white man joined us in the living room.
Just by looking at him I already knew that he had to be Evan’s father, Mr. McKasey.
Based off what Evan had told me, his father was some kind of big politician and not only were they rich as fuck, but he also had a lot of pull in higher places.
I could dead ass smell the money reeking off of him as he swaggered into the room clad in a dark gray three-piece Brioni suit with matching patent leather dress shoes.
His silky brunette hair was in a comb over as his clean-shaven face appeared fresh.
I hated this was the first time that I would be meeting him especially under these circumstances.
“Hey dad,” Evan said, standing up to hug his father.”
“I was able to push back my meeting until Thursday and spoke with your mother. She wants you to call her.”
“Yes sir.”
Mr. McKasey turned to me next. “You must be Kari. I’m Evan’s father, Jim. I hate that we’re meeting under these circumstances, how are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, I’ve been better honestly,” I said.
“I bet. So, Evan tells me that you guys got yourselves into a real bad situation. From what he’s told me, you both are on the same page with not having this baby—”
“We’re not on the same page with anything. Respectfully. We’ve barely spoken about it.” I cut my eyes at Evan’s bitch ass standing there looking all stupid.
“So, do you want to keep the baby? You’re a little too far along to terminate and from what I hear, you come from a good family so there’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll help you, but have you thought about your future?
How you’ll take care of a newborn, finish high school, and go to college? What about NYU?”
Hearing him mention my dream school let me know that Evan had basically told him damn near everything about me. The questions he asked were the same questions that I’d been racking my brain and asking myself for the last week.
“I—I don’t know,” I sniffled. “I mean, yeah, I do have a good family and I’m sure they’ll help but—but I just don’t want to disappoint them with this. It’s not fair for me to put my mistakes on to them.”
“I agree. And speaking for me and my wife, we’ve planned the next ten years of Evan’s life.
While babies are a blessing, this wasn’t in our plans.
Not right now anyhow. Evan has a very bright future ahead of him.
I know this is hard for you, I can only imagine but you guys made some grown-up choices and now you have to follow through with grown-up decisions.
Take out what you are feeling and think about that child.
He or she can have a great life from a family that’s ready for them,” Mr. McKasey suggested and I blinked my eyes rapidly as tears finally fell down my face.
“Adoption?” I quizzed. “But—But how? Isn’t that a long process?”
“It could be. However, I have friends in high places from all over. We can do this discreetly and quickly. No one but us would ever have to know. I can handle everything; all you two would have to do is sign the paperwork and an NDA for everyone’s own protection.”
“How will I know that the baby is taken care of or that they’re a good family?”
Mr. McKasey picked my hand up and gave it a firm squeeze as he stared me in the eyes.
“You have my word; I will make sure this child is very well taken care of. This is my blood too, Kari. I want nothing more than to make sure that he or she lives a good life. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if they didn’t. ”
The room fell extremely quiet as I thought hard about everything he was proposing. On one hand, this was the best decision for both of us while on the other, I didn’t think I’d be able to live with myself knowing that I had a whole child out there that I gave up. That was selfish, wasn’t it?
“We should really think about this Kari. It’s what’s best for the both of us. We’re still young; it’s okay for us to be a little selfish,” Evan said, as if he had read my mind.
“I agree,” added Mr. McKasey. “Being selfish isn’t always a bad thing when it’s about not harming others.
It’s prioritizing your own health, happiness, and growth without depriving others of theirs.
What you’re doing isn’t selfish; it’s selfless.
This only works though if you both are in agreement.
So, the ball is in your court, Kari. And just know, if you do choose to keep this child, me and my wife will be there as much as we can while Evan is at Harvard.
You’ll have our full support, whatever that may look like. ”
It was the fact that he was letting it be known that either way it went, his son was still going off to college to start their “ten-year plan.” He wouldn’t be dependable for changing diapers, late night feedings, or even babysitting.
Evan was going to continue living his best life while I was stuck in New York raising a baby—all by myself.
I knew right then what my decision was and as much as it broke my heart, I knew that it was for the best.
“Okay.” I nodded, wiping the last of my tears. “Okay, I’ll do it. As long as you promise to keep your word and make sure that my baby is safe and loved. That’s all I care about,” I said.
“I swear, I will.” Mr. McKasey stood up.
“Oh, wait. I don’t have to tell my parents about this, do I? I’m a minor.”
“Even as a minor, once you become pregnant, you legally make all decisions for your child. All medical procedures including childbirth and prenatal care are protected by confidentiality so unless you choose to tell them, they won’t know.
You plan on staying out here for the remainder of your pregnancy, correct? ”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“Okay, so you’ll be giving birth here around…”
“January,” Evan replied.
“Alright. That’s more than enough time for me to get things in order.
I’ll be in touch and once you go into labor, I’ll fly back out here to handle everything else.
You’ll both sign the paperwork then. My wife and I will handle all the necessary prenatal care costs and anything that you may need.
Here’s my number, if you need anything else don’t hesitate to give me a call Kari.
We’re going to get through this. You made the right decision. ”
Mr. McKasey spoke with Evan for a few minutes on the way to the elevator, then he left. I was already standing up when Evan returned with a dumb ass smile that I wanted to badly to slap off his face.
“You wanna go lay down?” he had the nerve to ask me.
“Lay down?” I jerked my head back. “Nigga, I wanna be as far away from you as possible right now. Move out my way!” Pushing past him, I stomped to the elevator with him hot on my heels.
“What did I do wrong! We needed help Kari! You were ignoring me, not trying to discuss anything. What did you expect me to do?”
“I expected you to be supportive and not bum rush me with your father! I expect you to be understanding about my feelings. I damn sure expect you to be a little bit sad that we’re giving our child up.
But no, you just cheesing from ear to ear, like a weight is finally lifted off you.
Meanwhile, I’m the one who still has to carry this baby!
From the moment we found out that I was pregnant you’ve just been trying to find a way out of this and honestly, I can’t even respect you for that. ”
“Oh wow. So, because I want more for my life that doesn’t make me respectable?” he spat in disbelief.
“No, not being reliable or accountable doesn’t.”
With that, I fully gave him my back and proceeded to the elevator, promising myself that it would forever be fuck him.