“I can see we’ve surprised you,” Liana said.
“I just ...that can’t be possible, can it?”Mia asked, with a frown.She wasn’t stupid.She knew it was a real possibility, but right now she didn’t want to believe it.What if she was pregnant?Would that change everything between her and Giovanni?
“There’s no reason for you to freak out,” Liana said.
“No reason?Are you kidding me right now?There is every single reason.”She was trying not to hyperventilate.
Liana got to her feet and put a hand to her back.“You’re going to be okay, Mia.I promise.We can just stop by a pharmacy, grab a test, and then we can, I don’t know ...be there for you when you take it?”
Mia looked from Liana to Clarissa, and Tatiana.
If she was pregnant, it wouldn’t make her family happy.They would still have a complaint to make.What if she gave birth to a girl and not a boy?Giovanni needed sons.This had to be one of the worst things she could do.
They finished their meal, and the guards didn’t say a word as they all climbed into Mia’s car.
The guards would tag behind in their own vehicles, but this didn’t help Mia.She wanted to scream and cry.Everything was happening so fast.She didn’t know if a baby was the answer or not.
“Are you okay?”Liana asked.
Mia sighed.“I just thought that having a baby, I would be in a different headspace or I would feel different, you know?”She pressed her lips together and shrugged.“Like Giovanni and I would be in a better place, or we’d ...I don’t know.This is so frustrating.”
“You’ll be surprised what having a baby would mean for you,” Liana said.
She watched as her friend put a hand on her ever-expanding stomach.
“It feels pretty damn good,” Liana said.
Mia rested her head on Liana’s shoulder.She wanted to have children, wanted a big family, but she didn’t want to have a life like her own family.If she had sons, she would not force them to compete with each other.Mia had watched firsthand as her brothers, one by one, were forced to compete for everything they were worth.One fight after another.One business deal after another.It was never-ending.It was exhausting to watch.
But being a female was just as hard.Her mother constantly putting down the way she looked, how she dressed.The incessant criticism.Even though she felt sorry for her brothers, they loved to turn the attention onto Mia, so they didn’t have to put up with it.
She rubbed her temples.Her brothers had moved out of the family home when they had turned twenty-one, each getting his own place.Even still, that hadn’t been enough to remove their father’s constant need to force them to fight.
Mia pulled out of her memories as the car parked outside a pharmacy.She followed Liana inside, who immediately took her to the pregnancy test section.There were so many choices.She didn’t know how she was going to be able to pick just one.
“This is insane,” Mia said.“How do you know which one to buy?”
“They all work, but let’s be honest, Giovanni will probably get you to take a blood test to be sure, and that’s because he cares, so don’t start panicking and thinking it’s because he doesn’t love you.That is toxic behavior.”Her friend wagged her finger at her.
“Just grab one and then can we go back home.I don’t know if I want to take it in a public toilet.”She wrinkled her nose, and Liana picked one.
Mia didn’t know the brand.She hadn’t paid much attention to pregnancy tests and how good or bad they were.She was trying not to panic.This felt like a complete and total nightmare.
She was not going to freak out.The man behind the counter wished her luck, but Mia didn’t know if she even wanted luck.
The trip in the car and getting back to her home was all a blur.She didn’t know how it happened, just that one moment they were in the car, and the next, they were home.
Once inside, she went to the old bedroom.There was no way she was going to have her friends sitting on the bed she and Giovanni had sex in.It just didn’t feel right.Now, she sat on the toilet, her friends outside, the door partially open.
“How are you doing?”Liana asked.
“I’m terrified.This is ...what if I’m not a good mom?”Mia asked.“What if I am just as bad as my own mom?What if I’m worse?”
She hated how nervous she felt.
“You’re not going to be,” Tatiana said.
“How do you know that?”Mia asked.
