Pregnant!!

I was afraid of the reality hence was not ready yet to answer that question yet. I returned to the kitchen and prepared the fish fillet that had defrosted under the running water.

I took out two eggs from the fridge, some bread crumbs and flour and placed them on the kitchen table. I cracked the eggs in a bowl and whisked them up well. I took flour and placed it on a flat plate, placed the fillets flat then pat it down evenly to coat the meat then dipped it on the egg mixture. I later placed the fillets on a plate of crumbs, covered it evenly before placing it on a pan which was hot under medium heat after adding a little vegetable oil. I cooked the fillet for about three minutes for each side before removing them. I then prepared rice and green beans which I later served with the fish. The food was delicious.

The next morning, I woke up and directly went to a pharmacy just down the street and got myself three pregnancy tests. I wanted to be sure and confirm it the weight gain was because of it. I went to the bathroom, and tested on all of the sticks. As I was leaving the bathroom, I almost knocked over Fred who was walking while on his mobile.

“What the hell?” He said.

“I’m sorry.” I replied. “I didn't see you over there.”

“Okay.” He said and tried to open the bathroom door.

“No, no. You can’t go in there now.” I said while held the door tight.

“Why?” he sounded angry.

“I’m still using it.” I said remembering the pregnancy sticks were still on top of the sink. I was waiting for five minutes to be up before I go check up on them.

“Kate, you are really acting up today. How are you using it and you are outside?”

“Just five minutes, please.” I begged.

“No, my bladder can’t wait.” He pushed me aside and went in.

A second later, he came out slowly and looked at me puzzled.

“What are these?” he said pointing to the sticks.

“They are pregnancy sticks. I’m waiting for the results.”

“Are we pregnant?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“How can we tell? All I’m seeing are two blue lines.”

“What?” I rushed and took all of them. I looked and saw it was indicating two lines on all of them!

“Kate, what does it say?”

“I think am pregnant.”

Am I....?

“Baby, do you think am fat?” I posed this question to Fred when I returned home that day. His parents had already left the house to their place.

He looked at me and continued watching football on the television.

“Fred, I am talking to you.” I said.

“Catherine, I am not answering that question.”

“Why?”

“You women don’t always want to know the real answer.”

“What? And what do you mean with ‘you women’?” I asked getting a little bit mad.

“The question is always a trick question. I am not answering that.”

“Fred, please. Just tell me.” I told him touching his shoulder.

“Okay.” Fred said. “It’s true. You have gained weight a bit.”

My stomach sunk in. It was not what I was waiting to hear.

“Where in particular?”

“You have started getting some love handles. Your ass on the other hand…”

“Okay, okay. You have made your point.” I said trying to shut him off.

“You look good dear, don’t let it worry you so much.” He assured me.

“Thank you.” I said. “Let me organize something for dinner.”

I walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was some fish fillet in the freezer. I took them up and placed them in the sink under running water. I then walked to the bedroom. The ceiling to floor mirror caught my attention. I moved closer to it and removed all my clothes. Standing there naked was a bit scary. I was looking at myself in a whole new way. I looked at my mid section and noticed what Ann and Fred had initially seen. I was bigger. No wonder my outfits to work were always a bit tight.

I turned around and looked at my behind and let out a loud laugh. It’s big. How comes I have never noticed this before? I look like I have undergone some kind of butt injections. But there was something else going on. I was glowing. I stood on my side so that I could see the side view of myself. My tummy was big, yes, but it was kind protruding in front. Could I be…..?

I'm Fat

After the lunch with my in-laws and husband, I called Ann and confirmed to her that I would be joining her we go swimming. She had already started her journey towards the swimming pool venue. I packed my stuff quickly then met her at the swimming pool.

The pool was big, much to my expectations. It was big; the same size as an Olympic size pool. The blue color of the water was so inviting. There were few people swimming already under the clear sunny skies. We went to the changing rooms and quickly changed to our costumes.

I did two laps before my upper arms started to ache. I think it was because it was a while since I did any kind of exercises. I lifted myself out of the water and went to lie down on the sun bed that had been arranged on both sides of the pool. I was shivering a bit. The sun was hot and soon after I started feeling the heat all over my body.

Ann was still swimming. Back in high school, she participated in swimming and had several times won medals for representing her school in regional competitions. Although she had taken some time out from competitions, she still loved swimming once in a while. Right now, she was doing the butterfly strokes in the water. She looked so happy.  

My skin was getting a bit dry so I got my sun screen from my bag and started applying myself. Soon after, Ann came and sat next to me on the adjoining sun bed. She was dripping wet.

“That was nice!” she exclaimed.

“Yes it was…and the weather is beautiful.” I added.

“By the way I can see you are really starting to add weight.” Ann said.

“Huh?” I asked surprised.

“Yes you are. Haven’t you noticed? Your tummy is getting a bit bigger.”

I looked down on my stomach and noticed the two folds of meat on the sides. I didn't like it. I had actually never noticed them. I looked at the rest of my body but the stomach stood out from the rest.

“Oh my God. I’m fat.” I screamed.

“No you are not!” Ann assured me.

“I can’t believe this. When did it happen? I have never noticed the bulging stomach.”

“Don’t worry, it will go away soon. You really loved going for walks. You should start doing it. Walking will do the trick.” Ann said smiling.

Lunch Pt. 2

“That’s nice. Was wondering if we could get to do swimming later? I have a new place in mind.” Ann asked.

“Where is that?” I asked excitedly.

“Remember that day we took the wrong turn when we wanted to go to the market? I found a good place along that road.”

“Yea, I remember.”

“So are you in?” She asked.

“I would love to go but I have visitors at the moment.”

“It’s alright. Just tell me when you will be free and we can go there. I need to lose this baby fat.” She said.

I laughed.

“Speaking of baby; how is he?”

“He is good. By the way today I got a nanny. I got her from the nanny bureau that Kelly referred me to.”

Kelly was a mutual friend that worked with Ann.

“That’s nice. Is she good so far?”

“It has been just a couple of hours, but she is okay.”

“I am always wary of nannies these days. You can never be sure of their intentions.”

“That was my main concern. I asked that a lot and was even given referrals of where she had previously worked. They all spoke good of her and her ability to bond with kids. So it’s just a matter of watching how she will perform.”

“That’s good. Listen, I have to go but I’ll tell you when we can hook up for swimming.”

“Cool.”

I hang up and joined the others at the table.

I found Fred talking loudly on a trip he had taken while young. Seemed an interesting story as they were all laughing loudly. I listened in.

“Catherine, you should be happy you knew Fred as a grownup. He was so cheeky while young.” My mother in law filled me in. “He kept sneaking out of school and going to the other towns so as to ride a bicycle with his friends.”

“He got into so much trouble. He was even arrested once.” His dad added.

“Dad!” Fred said trying to make his dad stop telling it.

“What happened?” I asked.

Lunch

The next morning when we woke up, I still could feel the strange feeling of the new house. I had not settled in properly. I even confused took the wrong way to the toilet rather than going to the kitchen!

My in-laws came by later in the evening to see how we were settling in. Fred’s dad took a walk in the entire house and praised us on how well we had filled up the house. He said it felt more “homely”.

His mother, God bless her, she helped me cook her favorite dish - turkey. She was kind enough to show me the way she had made it, and a side dish of some vegetable salad. After it was made, we served it on the dining table that we had never used in the old house. The four of us sat down facing each other before a word of prayer was said by Fred’s mother. She thanked the almighty on the gift of life, the food before us, for keeping us safe and for the needy. She ended up the prayer with a comment on hoping to get a grandkid!

We burst out laughing. I was so embarrassed infront of them especially when the father added that he would like it to be a boy. Fred just smiled.

I served food amid some conversations about general stuff affecting the country. The topic mostly talked about was on politics and international trade. I kept quiet observing the two men engaging in the topics with so much zeal and passion.

My phone, which I had placed on the center table, rang. I excused myself from the rest and picked it. It was Ann.

“Hello.” I answered.

“Hey girl, have you adjusted well in the house?” she asked.

“Yes we have dear. We are even having lunch with the family.”

The Move

At the coffee shop, we discussed more about the offer of taking the house Fred’s dad have given us and we both agreed to accept it. So Fred called up his dad and told him about the decision and he was really glad we accepted it.

Now the hard work started. Hiring a moving company took us hours to find since most had already been booked. We finally managed to secure one and it helped us pick our things from the old house. The firemen who were still investigating the fire also helped them carry the heavy items.

The apartment that we had been given was on first floor of the complex. The moving guys finished arranging the stuff at around eight o’clock in the evening and I was too tired to do anything. The apartment that we had been given was spacious and cozy. The finishes were really high end. I was impressed. I loved the kitchen more. It was big and well furnished. It was divided into two with a dining room. For the bedroom, the closets were a plus. For once, my clothes only filled a quarter of the closet. It was so big and mirrors stood on every wall. Since it was ensuite, the door connecting with the bathroom was made up of glass. The bathroom itself was a marvel. The bathtub stood out with its oval shape, the toilet seat one corner and we had two sinks.  

The living room area had a balcony where you could also extend the siting area incase you had visitors. I think I would love this house.

“This house is beautiful.” I exclaimed when we were done paying for the services.

“Yes it is. I had come here when it was still under construction. I am glad that it turned out so well.” Fred replied. “I’m hungry. What do you think we should eat?”

“Chinese food won’t be a bad idea.” I suggested. “What do you think?”

“Nah, I am too hungry today. Let’s order pizza, the large one for that matter.”

I laughed.

“I think we should call your dad and tell him we have succeeded in moving today. He might be worried.” I said looking at my watch.

“Oh yes!” he said waving his hands down. “Let me call him.”

Fred dialed his number and we both talked to him thanking him for the kind gesture.

The pizza guy arrived after about thirty minutes. We had ordered barbequed pizza and we took it with some soda from the fridge. The rest of the night we spent on the couch watching a movie.

Back to the House

Early the next morning, Fred and I went back to where our house was. By this time, there was no crowd forming around and the fire was obviously contained. The barrier was still in place to prevent people from accessing the building. Fred talked to one of the guards and we were allowed to go back to our house and see what damage had taken place.

As we took the stairs, my heartbeat increased significantly. For a second I thought the heart was going to come out of the chest! The door was still unlocked just as we had left it. The room was pitch black. The fire had raged half of the sitting area. My favorite couch was burnt beyond recognition. The glass table in the middle of the room was partially burnt also. Electronics and some wall hangings were also not spared. We walked to the bedroom and to our surprise, everything was perfect. The fire had not affected the rest of the house. I went to the closet, picked one of my blouses and sniffed it. Although it smelled of smoke, I could feel my perfume still. I held it tight towards the right side of my face before Fred held my hands and hugged me. We held each other for about five minutes before letting go.

“I am happy the house was not all consumed by the fire. We have to look for somewhere else to live now.” He said moving towards the bed. “The fire has left the house in a bad state nevertheless.”

I nodded in agreement.

“I am hoping we found a house as soon as possible. Living with Mike and Ann is straining them as they have a kid.”

“They haven’t complained, have they?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“It’s good then we get a house before they do. I couldn’t sleep the whole night. The baby kept on crying.” I said.

“He did?” Fred asked looking surprised.

“You didn’t hear? He cried for almost an hour or so.”

He shook his head.

“Guess Ann was right. You guys never hear a thing when you are asleep.” I said.

Fred leaned on me and laughed a little.

“Let’s go down and see what we can do about it.” He said.

Together we descended down the stairs.

Fred was called again by one of the guards. I took this moment and called my mum. I told her about the unfortunate events and what we were looking forward to do. She was so shocked and kept on asking if I was okay. Despite my efforts to assure her everything was alright, she insisted on coming to see us.

“I just talked to dad. He has offered us one of his apartments so that we can stay over there.” Fred said as he walked back.

I didn’t know what to say. It was so thoughtful of him but I was also a bit worried on accepting his offer. His apartments were located on the other side of town. It was far from where we lived and would take more than an hour to arrive to work. It was going to be a big adjustment.

“What do you think?” I asked Fred who was scratching his head as if he was thinking about something.

“I’ m not really sure. His offer seems to help us at the moment.”

“I guess.” I said slowly. “Can we talk more about this at the coffee shop. I’m hungry.”