'Cause I Like Him Too Much

Chapter Forty-Two

“We should get going.” Aunt Anne said after closing the zipper at the back of my dress. “They are waiting.”

 I grunted softly for having the fixed and heating friction of the satin fabric against my skin. It was utterly making me feel uncomfortable. It felt rough and tight as if I put on a corset and fastened it strings carelessly to strangle my body. But no, I wore no such garment and the only reason why I wasn’t able to squeeze myself smoothly into this dress was because it had become too small for me to wear. It didn’t shrink actually it was I who got bigger. It was me and my tummy, colliding forces.

 Getting a little plumper wasn’t my greatest concern. This progress is a nature of an expecting woman. Only each day I was getting more troubled since like we expected, people nearby would start to know about this; what I have had that I could no longer anymore conceal. If George and Aunt Anne were the first ones to find out about what I was trying to hide, why else must I wonder if the others, or my only father would know? I had come to this path in which I could never turn my head and go back.

 Having her hold on me, we walked out from her room and headed for the stairs. Though I was holding her as well, I could not help to feel uneasy—both palms sweaty, and with the sense of nipping and itching going on my back. The intention of meeting and talking with the guests below was certain. To have a crucial discussion with them was according to the arrangement. It was a stepping stone to help both sides, which was said by Aunt Anne, would be the most sensible thing to do. However, I stopped as we took a few steps, and we were already halfway downstairs.

“Please, Aunt Anne…”, I flustered, pressing my both hands on her arm. “I don’t think I can do this.”

“SShh.”, she put a finger on my lips and gave a motherly pat and smiled. “Darling, don’t be scared. It’s just them.”

 I looked down, between the bounded wooden pieces that created the whole staircase, I saw George’s parents sitting together on the large sofa, patiently waiting for us to come down. I knew it was Aunt Anne who wanted to see them and who had them welcomed in this household. And it was her who helped me dress up properly so I could see them as well. That was the part I was having a hard time sinking my teeth in. They will hate me I’m sure. Perhaps George finally told them, that they had come here to see the truth for themselves. They wouldn’t like it.

“But,” I muttered and looked at my aunt, almost crying on her shoulder. “What if they don’t like me and this thing I’m carrying?”

“Again with that thought. Please, Hannah. Try to cooperate. Please.”

 Aunt Anne held my face to calm down the rising trepidation that was consuming me every now and then. She disliked the erratic behavior I got especially in executing decisions and she was always there to help me get through this crisis, yet we couldn’t change the fact that I had to show up too and let everything be heard from my own mouth. I needed to speak for I was a big part of the crisis we were all inflicted with.

“Everything will go fine as long as you calm yourself.”

 

 Everything will be alright as long as I remain calm, I told myself as we got nearer to the living room, closer to the sofa in which by the moment both visitors were standing to greet us and in return I heard Aunt Anne in her sweetest tune say: