Chapter 17

Martina's POV

The telephone call left Teddy flabbergasted. His colour drained from his face and he kept staring at me with his mouth dangling. 'Ted? Theodore! Are you still there?' I heard the other line echoing.

'Aa… I'll call you back.' He replied as he hung up.

'Bro… You look like you saw a ghost… What happened?' I asked

'Um… That was Karen.'

'Yeah, I kind of got that.' I chuckled. 'So what… she wants to get back together?' I asked whilst I sipped my tea.

'She's pregnant.' He replied as I spit the tea with the fright he gave me.

'What?' I asked as he stared at the phone.

'She's pregnant… and it's mine.' He replied as I moved forward with the tea.

'I think you need this more than me.' I chuckled.

'Martina, this is not funny.'

'I know… it's just that the greatest Theodore messed up.' I laughed. I couldn't really comprehend what it meant for him expecting a child. Usually the woman always ends up suffering through an unplanned pregnancy but he seems like this did hit him hard. 'What are you going to do now? How are you going to tell mum and dad? What happens now? Are you getting married?'

Theodore's POV

I could see this was a telenovela for her and probably she couldn't understand what being a father or rather a parent truly meant. She started bombarding me with questions that were already going through my mind. I sat down next to her and sipped the tea that was supposed to be for her.

What am I going to do now?

'Martina, those are the questions that are passing through my mind.' I replied as I looked at her. 'What would you do? If you were in this situation?' I asked her.

'Well, for starters if I was in your situation I would kill myself. I never want to have children let alone face an unwanted pregnancy. Also it's even tougher for women you know? You don't have to go through 9 months of pregnancy and morning sickness, and having something squishing your bladder every 3 minutes…' She replied. '... oh and don't forget the bloody hormones!'

'How do you know so much about pregnancy?' I asked surprised.

'Well for starters, I am a woman. I kind of have to know what I might be getting myself into someday.' She replied. 'Also, Rachel from friends gave such a good representation of what pregnancy is like.' She continued whilst I realised she said that she doesn't want children.

'Do you really never ever want to have children?'

'Yepp… No children is my motto, zilch, nada… and that is my choice.' She continued. 'That's why I panicked after… you know…'

'I'm assuming she wants to keep the child…' I admitted. She wouldn't call me to tell me otherwise, else she would have taken care of it on her own.

'...but, do you want the child?' Martina asked.

'I am not sure… I don't know… We broke up because we weren't compatible.'

'Well, you don't need to get married… You can just be present in its life as his dad but not as her husband.' She suggested. I smiled.. Her advice actually made sense.

'How did you become so intelligent?'

'You kind of have too you know Teddy… especially when you are on your own.' She smiled.

'I have to tell mum and dad…'

'Don't you think it's better if you talk to Gail for now? She could slip it in softer and…'

'I still need to tell them myself Martina.'

'And you forgot another person you need to talk to, Ted.' she continued as I passed her the tea onwards. 'You need to talk to Karen.'

'You think Gail is still up?' I asked as I checked the clock and realised it was still 8.30pm.

'She's prepping our lunches and breakfasts for tomorrow in the kitchen.' Martina smiled as she stood up. 'So shall we go down and talk to her?'

'Now?'

'Well… didn't you question that to actually speak to her?' She replied. 'There's no better time than now… Come on.'

'You're right…' I admitted as I stood up and followed her out of her room.

'Wait... ' She said and she stopped and turned to talk to me. 'This means… you had sex…'

'Yeah…' I replied not sure what she was hinting at. 'That's how babies are made?'

'Ewwwww…. Brother!' She replied. 'I mean I knew you might have had it… but… I never actually thought about you in that way…'

'You blow my mind every time!' I chuckled as we made our way down to talk to Gail.

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Martina's POV

The following day was quite hectic. I had finally got some freedom back; I managed to convince my parents that after school I didn't need Taylor to pick me up as Emily and I had somewhere to be. We managed to get some extra hours into the psychology lab, where we started working with the lab conducting experimentation for dissertations of other students. It was really amazing meeting different people every single day. Unfortunately, William wasn't chosen for this job but he had taken one in the IT department. It still didn't stop us from our usual shenanigans.

'Tina, did you see how cute that guy was?' Emily teased when the last student came in to sit for the questionnaire and went into a separate private cubicle.

'Yeah, he kind of was.' I admitted as we started to pack up so that we could leave after this guy leaves.

'So, did you tell your parents about this?'

'Of course not!' I replied. 'Dad would tell me that I don't need to work, but I had told Theodore.'

'Which is true.' She affirmed. 'Is your hunk of a brother single?'

'Haha yes. But he might not be for long.' I admitted. '...and back on the subject of work, like this, I can have a normal life. You know, have friends I can be with, away from securities and such… just like we were back in St. Catherine's.'

'How are you keeping up?' She smiled. 'In… you know?'

'Well… I managed to lose 3 more pounds.' I smiled. 'You?'

'I'm stuck.' She pouted. 'I keep binging and purging is not enough.'

'We can run together.' I suggested.

'I think we better find you a solution for your next weigh in.' she smiled understandingly. 'How is therapy going?'

'I'm thinking of stopping.' I admitted. 'I just want to be normal, and I think the furthest I am from hospitals and therapy would do me some good.'

'Well… as good as your progress is, I don't want you to get sick.' She smiled as she rubbed my arm. 'Just promise me you'll stay safe?'

'I promise.' I smiled as we saw Theodore coming in.

'God, your brother keeps getting hotter and hotter.' Emily said as I elbowed her.

'He's my brother!'

'Sooo…' She chuckled.

'Hello Emily' He said as he ruffled her hair. He knew all my friends and kept close contact with them. He always wanted to know what was going on in our lives.

'Hi Theodore.' She weakly said like those fairytale princesses say when they are melting under the guy's gaze.

'Tina, are you ready?' He said as he took my bag. 'God what are you carrying in this? Concrete?'

'No!' I laughed as I switched off my computer. 'Do you need a lift Emily?'

'No, William and I are walking.' She smiled as she pulled me into a huge and whispered in my ear. 'Take care… ok?'

'I'll see you tomorrow.' I smiled

Theodore's POV

On the way to home, Tina didn't stop talking. She managed to take my mind off things and helped me gain some normality back in my life. I had talked to Karen but I still had to tell my parents. It was going to be tonight during dinner. Let's see how this goes.

'You know… you made quite the hit!' She smiled and poked me in my arm.

'Martina, I don't even understand what you're trying to say…'

'Well, Emily likes you…' she laughed. 'She totally melts whenever she sees you.'

'You girls!' I replied. 'Listen, on another more serious note… Taylor told me you have missed your breakfast and that you refused to….'

'Teddy… can we not do this now?' She replied sternly.

'Ok... ' I replied as I put on my sunglasses. 'Uncle John called today... '

'Teddy…'

'He said you missed 3 sessions since last week?' I asked as I pulled over. I knew that like this she couldn't escape my questioning.

'Yes… and?'

'...and?' I asked surprised. 'You can't miss therapy.'

'I can! It's not life or death…'

'It is Martina!' I replied. 'Grandma Grace said you refused to climb on the scale…'

'Theodore I gained enough weight in the hospital.'

'...and you lost 10 more pounds and probably more. So technically what you gained you lost…'

'I'm Fine.' She replied sternly

'You're not Martina. Why are you so stubborn?'

'Because… I want to be normal.' She admitted. 'I don't want to be in a hospital. I can do this on my own. I've got it under control.'

'You know… you can actually die.'

'Theodore. I will not die. I'm fine!'

'Please, just please, at least go therapy.'

'No... ' She replied. 'I texted John, I told him that for now I don't have the time.'

'You're under 16, we can make you go.'

'You're not my guardian Theodore. You can't make me do anything.'

'I might not be able too, but mum and dad can.'

'Yeah, like they care.' She replied as her gaze went down.

'They do care about you… in their twisted sense. I promise you they love you. They're scared for you. We all are.' I assured her. 'I even told them what happened at St. Catherine's. They have taken them to court.'

'What?'

'Yes, they are fighting for you and every child in there.'

'As good as that is, I would need to testify and I don't want to do that… It's behind me now. I just want to move forward.'

'So you want to drop everything?'

'Yes….'

'Ok… What about therapy?'

'Why are we still talking about this?'

'Fine… but know that we are not giving up on you.' I replied as I started making our way on the road again.

The drive home turned from a lot of talking to planning how I was going to tell our parents that I'm going to be a father. I managed to call Karen and I agreed that I was going to be present as a father but nothing more. Now that I wrapped my head around it, then I needed to tell my parents they're going to become grandparents.

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