Chapter 6

• “Do you need help, miss?” The female employee who had been watching my every move finally approached me. I shook my head and tried to cover my face with my hoodie. I had been standing in the pregnancy aisle and staring at the different tests for a while now and was unsure of what to choose. 
• No one knew me here and there was no shame in being pregnant at twenty-one, so I had no idea why I was so desperate to hide myself.
• My eyes immediately found the digital pregnancy tests which I could not afford, but I had to know for sure and those were the most believable. Unfortunately, I did not know these things whatsoever and was confused about how many I should buy. Should I go for two, three, four? 
• If someone would’ve told me that I would’ve been buying a pregnancy test just a month ago, I would’ve smacked them in the face—but that scenario was out of question. I was here because I was irresponsible, all of this could’ve been prevented—but no. Serena just had to go and be Serena.
• Whenever I thought about the possibility of me becoming a mom, I couldn’t help but cry. I tried to hide my tears and planted as many happy thoughts as I could inside of my head in order to hold it all back, but it was too late and before I knew it the tears streamed down my cheeks. I looked around me to see if anyone noticed me, but it was early in the morning so it wasn’t that crowded.
• “Miss, are you okay?” I heard the voice of a young boy. I took a deep breath and wiped away my tears before I raised my head to face the boy. He couldn’t be any older than ten and was looking up at me with kind bright eyes. How bad did it have to be in order for this question to come from a child? 
• “Luis, I told you not to talk to strangers!” A man who called out as he made our way over to us, with another man following closely behind him. It only took me a second to recognize this man, it was the same man whose suit I had ruined with champagne at the night of the club meeting. The first thing I did was turn around, as I hoped they would disappear—but luck was not in my favor and it was all because of this young boy.
• “But she’s crying Vince, and you told me to help people in need.” So, Vince, that was his name. 
• “Yes, the homeless and others who really need our help.” The other man spoke. “Not some random woman at the grocery store!”
• I flinched at the sudden hand I felt on my shoulder. “Are you okay?” 
• I accepted my fate and turned around to look at the man who had been a victim of my clumsiness. I had hoped that he wouldn’t recognize me, but his eyes turned big, showing me that was not the case. “Hey, you work for the Lamberti’s don’t you?” He asked as he looked from me to the pregnancy test in my hands. 
• “It’s a small world!” He commented while he looked away, pretending to not have seen anything. It had always amazed me how people felt the need to continue a conversation despite seeing the other person was clearly not in the mood. “I’m Vincenzo.” 
• “Serena.” I barely whispered and looked the other way. “I’m Luis and that is there is Beau, but a quick question. Why are you crying, miss?” The little boy asked before he received a smack on his head from the man who stood next to him. “You can’t ask her that!” He whispered.
• “Are you okay?” Vincenzo asked. I took a deep breath and tried to recover myself so he would leave me alone, but the moment I started speaking my voice cracked. “I’m fine.” 
• “Then what do you have in your hands?” Vincenzo smiled and grabbed my wrist to raise my hand. “I think she’s crying because she’s pregnant!” Luis spoke as he walked over to Vincenzo. Beau stayed at a distance and looked the other way. I figured he was some kind of bodyguard. Vincenzo looked as if he came from an important and powerful family, just like the Lamberti’s.
• “Are you crying because...it’s none of my business,” Vincenzo said and finally let go of my hand. “All I want is to apologize for my little brother. He didn’t mean to disturb you.” 
• “I don’t want any babies. To have babies you have to do that thing. I saw it in live-action on my brother’s laptop-“ Luis ranted, but before he could finish his sentence, Vincenzo covered the young boy’s mouth with his hand. “Shut up!” He muttered, embarrassed.
• For the first time, I heard a chuckle leave Beau’s mouth. He had a satisfied look on his face while Vincenzo nearly died of embarrassment. I couldn’t help but laugh at the small pout he gave as he waited for my reaction. “Well, at least you made her smile, Luis.” He chuckled.
• Luis gave me a bright smile and shrugged his shoulders while I gave him one in return. Growing up in a group home and a couple of foster families I knew exactly how little children did nothing other than speaking their innocent truth without thinking about others, but that’s what I loved about them. I loved children. 
• “Were you crying because you got knocked up?” Vincenzo asked as he quickly changed the subject. I was shocked at his sudden question and immediately shook my head. He was right though. 
• “N-no, I don’t even know if I’m pregnant!” I made clear. I thought he was being serious, but he burst out laughing instead. If he only knew. 
• “Okay, then there is no reason for you to be crying. I don’t want to involve myself in your personal life but being able to provide for a child is a blessing.” He said and looked down at Luis who was distracted by his phone. His words sounded encouraging, but I could barely provide for myself. “Are you a dad?” I wondered.
• Vince shook his head and gave me an apologetic look. “No, I’m sorry it’s really none of my business.” He apologized, while I felt bad for the way my words came out. It was a sincere question and not meant to be a snarky comment. 
• “Can you keep this a secret?” I asked with pleading eyes. It was a bit embarrassing to ask, but I was aware of his good relationship with Christian and could not have him finding out under any circumstances. I didn’t even know if I was pregnant. Would Christian even believe me if I was?
• “I don’t know who I should tell, but sure.” Vincenzo promised. We stared at each other for a few seconds but after a while, I got self-conscious and lowered my head. All I wanted was to get home as soon as possible. 
• “Well, thank you for your advice and for cheering me up but I really have to go.” I excused myself and gave Luis who had put his phone away a pat on his head. “Bye, miss!” I heard Luis call out but I had already disappeared from the aisle and made my way to the counter to pay for the pregnancy test. 
• The moment I arrived back home I wasted no time and immediately ran to the bathroom to take the pregnancy test. Yes, I was so prepared that I had even drunk two cans of water before going to the store so I didn’t have to wait till I had to go to the bathroom. 
• After going through the difficult instructions I patiently waited for the results while I stared ahead of me in a zombie-like state and thought about my life. I had graduated high school with bad grades, I was a college drop out because I couldn’t keep up with my peers and had no further life plans and all of that at the age of twenty-one. What had I actually done?
• No matter what, I couldn’t be- 
• My thoughts got interrupted by the loud beeping sound which almost made me jump up. I took baby steps as I walked towards the cabinet where I had positioned the tests and closed my eyes. 
• Please let it be negative. 
• I clasped my hands together and prayed for the test to be negative so I could move on with my life and forget about all of this, but when I opened my eyes and read the exact same text on both tests I felt as if my world came crashing down. 
• Pregnant, 3+ weeks