Developments

Four weeks later, I went to the clinic as I was asked by the doctor. This time around, he did a scan. I wasn't ready to know its gender yet so I told him not to give me the possibilities. He checked my weight and told me I was doing well.

By now at sixteen weeks, I was already showing. The baby had not yet started kicking but I could feel his movements in the belly. My breast, to Fred's delight, were huge! I had to go buy new bra set as the earlier ones could not fit anymore. The sudden breast size gave me a cleavage that I always wanted. I also got myself new maternity dresses. I was not comfortable at all with my other normal clothes. They would fit a bit too tight at my waist line. I went through some online stores and had some tops delivered to me. They were so cute!

I had a hard time concentrating at work. I was so sleepy and just lazy. Moving from one point to the other was a task. Thankful for my colleagues at work who tried to make things a bit easier for me. My boss too, Mrs. Wright, also avoided me to give me deadlines. Clearly, I could not manage to keep them.

I invested in some maternity magazines and books to keep myself a little updated on what goes on during pregnancy. Ann was there for me too alongside my sweet mother and my mother-in-law. Fred's mum made a point of visiting us every Sunday since Fred gave her the good news. She always came with some fresh fruits from her farm, and ready fruit juice.

The bad news from the office came at a rather unexpected time. The retrenchment happened. They were laying off six of us. I knew about this because I overheard Mrs. Wright talking to some directors in her office. The meeting was scheduled on a Friday evening before we left the office.
We all got some memo about the scheduled meeting. I looked at Fred at the other side of the office and I could see the fear in his eyes. This would be a major setback to all of us.

The C.E.O started the meeting. She thanked all of us on our hard work in the office. She then continued saying that the inevitable had happened and the layoff would not have been prevented. The Director said very little when he stood up. He passed on some small enveloped to each of us. We were to pick the ones that were written our names on. He assured us that the company would ensure we get a good send off package and a recommendation letter.

My hands trembled when I received mine. I raised my head to peep at Fred but he was busy staring down to his envelope. I could not tell what was written on his. So I slowly opened mine. There was a white letter addressed to me. Just a few words. I looked at the content of the letter and saw that I was not yet given the kick. Thank God!

I looked at Fred again. He looked at me and shook his head.