BITTERSWEET MEMORIES

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

I waited for Melisa to open up and tell me on her own timing. I sat in the opposite couch and looked at her without saying a word. After a few minutes, she let out a sigh and opened her mouth but no words came out. I did not want her to feel pressured but I was getting impatient. I needed to know what had happened.

"What happened Melisa, did your parents fight again? Has the divorce been finalized?" I ask impatiently.

"I Uumh... I'm ... I," she says avoiding eye contact.

"What is it, say it already. You come to my house this early in the morning to say nothing," I ask slightly angry.

"I'm pregnant," she answers.

"Okay, so what has that got to do with me, I mean why tell me?" I ask her confusedly.

"Uumh it's yours," she says.

As soon as those words left her mouth, it was like my world had been turned upside down in one day. If I was holding something in my hands, I was sure I would have dropped it already. My ears were ringing and my head started spinning. I was thankful that I had been seated when hearing this or I would have fainted from the news. I looked at her and asked her to repeat what she had said. Maybe I had heard wrong the first time.

When she confirmed that she was pregnant and that I was the father, I knew there and then that this would change things. I tried thinking back to the when we had slept together and then I remembered the night of the party a few weeks ago. I asked her how far along she was just to make sure. She said that she was four weeks and that would amount to about a month ago. That was when we had slept together without protection. I for one had promised myself that I would never abandon my kids. I would never turn out like my parents, but the news was life changing and I didn't know what to do. Melisa's parents were not rich so I know they would have a difficult time helping raising the baby.

Melisa was known for sleeping around even when she was my girlfriend. I knew she was never loyal so I myself had my doubts about the baby. I calmed myself down and looked at her. Her eyes looked hopeful of something which I didn't know. I finally let out a deep sigh and told her that I needed a paternity test done to know for sure if the baby was mine. If it was, then I would step up and raise it taking full responsibility, but I needed to be sure. I knew that my parents were going to go ballistic if they heard about this but that was the least of my concerns.

Melisa seemed a bit hesitant about taking the paternity test but finally agreed to it. I asked her if she had told her parents and she told me that she was going to tell them after she left here. She said that she had just taken the pregnancy test that morning and came to my house as soon as she found out that she was pregnant. Melisa did not stay long after we agreed on going to the doctor to take the test. After she left, I immediately went to the kitchen and got a beer and headed to my room.

My main worry about this whole situation was that I would never go to college like all my friends. My parents had money and they definitely could pay for my online studies but I always wanted to experience college life. I wanted to get away from this town and live in a new environment and meet new people. My life had always been planned out for me by my parents. It was never about what I wanted. It was always what they wanted. Whatever I did had to be beneficial to them in some way. They always said that I had to uphold the family's image.