chapter fifty-five
Two years later
I'm in the kitchen washing the dishes while I'm humming to The Joke is on You by Niki Watkins. As I was about to dry the plate I just washed, I hear the front door open, causing me to stop what I'm doing and turn my head over my shoulder seeing Freddie walking inside the house.
"Sam, I'm home!" Freddie announced.
"I'm in here!" I called. I turn around to finish wash and dry the dishes as I hear his footsteps walking inside the kitchen. Then I feel his warm arms wrapped around me from behind.
"Hey, Beautiful." He whispered in my ear then kisses my cheek.
"Hello." I smiled. "How was your day?"
"It was alright, one family gave me a hard time while I was fixing their sandwiches, but I'm fine." I dried my hands with a red rag, dropped it on the kitchen counter and turned around facing him.
"Why? What happened?" I asked him while wrapping my arms around his shoulders.
"Well, the mother's kids wanted two different types of sandwiches, and then as I was making them, the kids decided to change their orders and change them again while the mother didn't do a single thing to stop them." He finished, rolling his eyes annoyingly.
"This is what you get for making sandwiches for rude customers." I stated as I laughed picturing how he must've looked like trying so hard resisting arguing to the family.
"Yeah, whatever..." He mumbled. Freddie still works at Subway as a full-time job, and I know he wants to quit so badly, but he's thinking about the good paycheck he receives every month. After we had graduated college a few years ago, Freddie wanted to have his Master's degree in Film Directing. He majored in Film Production and he loved it; he loved to learn about how to make movies and learn about certain cameras for making movies or television shows.
It may sound nerdy, but I'm not complaining since Freddie is my nerd.
"Aww, it's okay." I cooed, flicking my finger on his nose and he smiles while leaning down, kissing my forehead.
"So, how was your day?" He asked me.
"Eh, just cleaned the house, washed the dishes and I came back from the doctor not too long ago." I said, pulling my arms away from his neck.
"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly with his eyebrows furrowed and his hands gripping on my hips gently.
"I'm fine really, nothing to worry about, Nub." I assured him.
He nods his head, then he kneels down on his knees, rests the palm of his hand on my stomach and rubs it in a circular motion. "How's our baby doing?" He asked looking up at me.
That's right, I'm pregnant! I'm nine months pregnant, so in the next three weeks, we'll finally have our daughter, Amara. Freddie was surprised when I told him that he was going to be a father. But of course, he was excited about being a dad since he didn't get the chance to know his from childhood.
I remember the day I told him.
I am sitting on our bed looking at the clear blue stick I'm holding in my fingers while my hand is shaking with it.
Two blue lines...
I can't believe this... I'm pregnant. I actually have a baby growing inside me right now; I never thought it would happen so quickly. Half of my body is scared while the other half is jumping for joy at this sudden news.
I should've known something was wrong with me a few weeks ago. I started to have morning sickness, nauseous every time I would look at food, having severe cramps in my body. I didn't know the signs until I figured out that my period was late. I thought it was just the flu and I talked to Melanie about it; then she told me to buy a pregnancy test just to make sure it's not what I thought it was.
I went to the bathroom half an hour ago and was waiting for an eternity to see if I was pregnant or not from a little stick. The time to wait was fifteen minutes, and I found two blue lines; from the instructions on the box, it stated if there are two blue lines, you're pregnant and if there is only one blue line, you're not.
But there are two lines.
Which means I'm pregnant.
I don't know how long I've been growing a cell in my body, but all I know is that I'm going to be a mother. And Freddie is going to be a father.
Freddie!
He doesn't know about this yet. He went to the store to buy groceries and that gave me time to pee on the stick for nervous results. He's not back yet and I'm scared of how he's going to feel about this news. He's going to be the first one to know about this, and I don't know how to break it to him.
We've talked about having children during our honeymoon, but Freddie was afraid of being a father figure. He was petrified as he told me about not being a good father like his dad was to him.
I thought he was being an idiot.
Freddie is nothing like his father, Leonardo Benson. What happened on Christmas Day years ago was just the whole truth of how he is and how he only cares about himself. He didn't care about his son when Mrs. Benson was pregnant with him and he left when Freddie was seven years old. That's a young age to leave a child when he needed him the most.
I told him then that I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt his children when we get one and that he was going to be a great father and make his kids happy. Freddie is a lovable person so I know it wouldn't be a problem that our future daughter or son is going to love him and be glad that he's their dad.
We talked about having a baby one-night last month and thought we were ready to have one.
I know he's worried that he's going to make some mistake as a parent, but doesn't everybody make a mistake? All parents make mistakes sometime in their lives, but I know Freddie is not going to make the same mistake his dad did on purpose. They will be accidents.
Freddie is going to make a great father and wouldn't fail.
My train of thought was interrupted by the front door opening and the sound of grocery bags being held inside. He's home... I jumped off the bed and looked at the stick in my hand as I shove it behind my jean pocket.
I was nervous again as I walked outside the bedroom and strolled downstairs to the kitchen where Freddie is putting the plastic bags of items on the counter. He has his earbuds on as he listened to music, setting the last bag on the marble counter.
I stepped closer behind him and tapped his shoulder with my hand.
He flinched as he whipped around and saw me with wide eyes. He calmed down, taking the earbuds off his ears and gives me a smile on his face. "You scared me," he leans down, peck kiss my lips and pulls away from me. "Well! I just bought loads of food for us to make tonight and I gotta say that it's going to be worth it for the money I've spent on it. So, after I put everything away, I'm going to start making dinner and–"
"Freddie, we need to talk."
He stopped his sentence and his smiled faltered to a frown as he looked at me, concerned. He noticed my emotion was scared and nervous on what I wanted to talk about. He takes his phone that was attached to his earbuds and sets it on the counter behind him still locking his eyes on me. "What is it?"
I took a deep breath and felt my hands shaking as my fingers were intertwined. "Okay, um... I'm just going to go right out and say it." I see Freddie's eyes narrow as he's suspicious on my mood and I open my mouth saying two little words.
"I'm pregnant."
The silence took over the room as the tension felt thick and hardened. I inhaled shaky breaths watching Freddie's reaction; he has a blank look on his face with his eyes showing no emotion towards them. I can't identify what his eyes are telling me and I'm scared to know what they mean. Freddie blinked rapidly as he leaned against the counter and his hands on the edge, gripping them tightly showing his knuckles turning white.
I could hear my ears pumping from my heart beating so fast and my whole body shaking with fear. What is happening? Is he going to say anything? His quiet mouth is worrying me that he's not happy about it and I wish I have never told him the news even though it was really important.
I couldn't run away, not now. This news is for both of us as we are now parents to this unborn baby that is slowly growing inside me and if Freddie regrets of having this baby with me, then... I don't know what I would do.
After what felt like years, Freddie speaks while looking down on the floor. "You're... you're pregnant..." he said as it sounds like he was talking to himself and taking in the news.
I nodded my head even though he wasn't looking at me.
"When did you find out?"
"Right after you left to go buy the groceries..." I answered quietly.
"You're... the mother and I'm the father?" He asked innocently still looking at the ground.
I felt my lips tug to a small grin and I nodded again at his question. "Yes..."
Freddie tilts his head up slowly and I got a look at his face. His eyes are glossing as tears are welling in his eyes with a small smile arising on his face. He looks at me and shows me the happiest smile I've ever seen and it made my heart leap. "I'm a dad?"
"Yep..." I nodded as I felt my eyes burn with tears pouring out, falling on my cheeks.
He pulls himself off the counter and stands straight as he walks closer to me. Being surprised, he wraps his arms around my shoulders and squeezes me tightly without trying to hurt me. I wrapped my small arms around his torso and hugged him fondly, savoring this moment and not wanting to let go.
He laughed cheerfully against my neck and cupped his hand behind my head. "I'm gonna be a dad... we're going to be parents." He whispered.
Once he said those words, it all becomes real by the second. Freddie and I are going to be parents to our son or daughter, and we're going to take care of them for a lifetime, and I want to be there for them whenever they need us. "I know." I smiled feeling more tears come out of my eyes and feeling my arms hugging him tightly feeling this embrace.
I can't believe another part of our chapter is happening once again. This time, this chapter is about going through pregnancy and waiting for our child to be born into this world.
That day was one of the scariest days of my life because I didn't know how Freddie would react to the whole thing of me being pregnant. Besides, he was happy and now he can have a chance to be with his child for the rest of his life.
We found out that we were going to have a girl when I was three months pregnant and I was actually excited that there was going to be another girl in the family. Melanie was screaming her lungs out when we told her she was going to have a niece and went ballistic on how she was going to buy dozens of clothes for the child. I got scared knowing she would go three days straight buying what she can. Carly was happy for Freddie and me and wanted to be her Seattle aunt. She's weird for coming up with that family orientation, so we decided for her to be her Godmother instead. She was crying for bits and hugged me for a long time to have Freddie pull her off me.
My parents and Mrs. Benson were shocked about the news of me caring Freddie's baby. My mom was happy for me as she gave me advice on how to carry a little human inside. Dad was going crazy in his mind that his little girl was pregnant and realized the fact that he was going to be a grandfather. Mrs. Benson, however, was really excited the most about the whole thing. My mom and Freddie's mom helped me get the supplies I needed to get through this long pregnancy and what I needed to do to take care of myself when Freddie is at work or running errands.
Who would've thought I would get so much information from the ladies? I was happy for getting help from my family and my husband's family and them supporting us for it.
"She's doing well. I went to talk to Doctor Meyers about Amara, and he said that she's still in good condition for the next three weeks." I smiled answering Freddie's question.
"Good, I'm glad you and Amara are okay." He stands up and looks at me again with his adorable smile.
"Yeah me too." I said, rubbing my stomach softly. "I swear, after I have this baby, I'm gonna look fat." I mumbled under my breath.
"Hey," He puts his hands on my shoulders. "After Amara is born, you're still going be the beautiful girl I laid eyes on."
I stare at his chocolate eyes finding his eyes beautiful with the sparkle that is looking dead at me. But then I started to snicker at his previous words. "That was so cheesy, man." I laughed.
"It might be cheesy, but it's true." He said seriously. I look at him again and see from his structure that he's telling the truth. I stand on my tippy toes, kissed his lips for a second and pulled away quickly.
"Thank you." I smiled.
"You're welcome, Princess." He smiles, and I playfully hit his chest as he laughs at his nickname for me.
I turn around and place the clean plates in the cabinets getting on my toes to reach the shelves. "Your nicknames for me are getting old, old man." He laughs again and slaps my butt, causing me to yelp. I turned around and faced him with my jaw opened, and my eyes widen. "Excuse me?"
"You still got it." He laughed and I turned around rolling my eyes. "I'll help you put the dishes away." He walks closer to me and takes the plate I had in my hand and stacked it on the shelf.
I smiled in appreciation and continued to dry the glasses with the dish towel. We were left in a comfortable silence as he helps me stack the plates and glasses in their cabinets and me washing and drying the dishes. After two minutes of doing our parts, Freddie asked me a particular question.
"Are you nervous?"
I turn to him confused at his question. "Nervous about what?"
"Having Amara." He turns his full body facing me and looks at me with concerned eyes. I haven't thought about having complications while going into labor when it's time. But now that I'm going to have the baby in a few weeks, I am kind of scared of what might happen.
"Well... maybe I am scared a little bit. I don't know how everything is going to turn out." I replied, playing with my fingers. "What if something happens to Amara or something bad happens to me—"
"Sam, Sam." He stops me from my rambling. "Everything is going to be fine. I'm sorry I asked..." He assured looking guilty. "Listen, everyone is going to be there for you; your parents, my mom, your sister, Carly, and me." He whispered. "You're going to be okay including our daughter. After she is born, we're going to be official parents and Amara is going to be alive and healthy just like we want her to be."
I nod my head at his response feeling the positive outcomes from his words. I snaked my arms around his waist while my head is resting on his chest then he hugs me back wrapping his arms around my back. "Thank you, Freddie." I whispered as we stayed in this position in the kitchen.
"You're welcome, baby." He kisses my forehead and pulls away from me. "I love you, okay?"
I grinned, nodding my head as I looked into his eyes. "I love you too." I whispered. He rubbed my back slowly with the tip of his fingers and withdrew them from my back. "These hormones are messing me up..." I muttered.
"It's not like they made you different from before," he shrugged. I gave him a death glare with my lips formed in a thin line, crinkled. He laughed narrowing his eyes showing wrinkles on the side of his eyes. "Aww, you know I'm kidding!"
"You better be before I punch you to sleep tonight." I mumbled.
"I heard that. Anyway, I'll finish up putting the dishes away, you go to the bedroom and rest up." He offered.
"No, I'll do it—"
"Sam, room. Now." He points his finger to our bedroom upstairs and I bring my bottom lip out, crossing my arms over my chest. "Go." He ordered with a smirk on his face.
"Fine." I huffed and turned around to walk to our bedroom until I felt a hand hit my ass. I realized Freddie smacked my butt again and hear him laughing behind me.
"Love you!"
"Love you too, pervert." I replied shaking my head with a smile on my face as I leave the kitchen and walk upstairs to our bedroom to rest.