Anna was shocked when she heard him read that, how did Jimmy know that she was pregnant? Or was he just bluffing? What if he did this just to plant doubt in Maxwell’s heart and cause a rift between them?
There were so many thoughts going through her mind at the same time and she had no idea what to do. Should she deny it? But at what cost, he would easily believe her if she said she wasn’t carrying a child but then what? She would have ruined all chances for a future together because the pregnancy will be visible sooner than later.
“Max, I…” she tried to speak but he signaled her to hold on.
“Wait, there is more.” He muttered and then continued reading from the paper. “You must be wondering how I know about your pregnancy, well I found your test results in your Waste Basket before I set your house on fire, believe me now?” Maxwell read out loud, then he lowered his gaze at her.
Annabel felt her legs shaking inside the water, she was scared to her bones and unprepared for this conversation.
“Is it true? Is this the truth?” Maxwell asked but she remained silent, unable to find words.
“Don’t ignore me, Anna. Tell me the truth, are you pregnant?” he half-yelled, making her shiver in fright.
“I am sorry, Max. I can explain,” she pleaded as she extended her hands towards him but he took a step backwards.
“Explain what? So it is true? You are pregnant?” he queried; shock and disappointment very visible in his eyes.
“Yes…” Anna answered sadly, unable to look him in the eyes.
“How long?” he asked, his tone reluctant.
Tears were already streaming down her eyes. “It has been over three months,” she answered.
“You have been pregnant for over three months and you didn’t care to let me know? Anna, how could you?” He yelled, flipping the letter to her, surprise and disappointment laced in his voice.
“I swear, it is complicated, Max. just let me explain, I never wanted to do this to you. I am sorry that you had to find out this way but that was not what I wanted, I promise I was going to tell you tonight.”
“Oh wow, how convenient of you, today of all days.” He blurted, anger written all over his face.
“I promise, I am not lying, I know I should have told you earlier but it was complicated. I just got off a call from Jenny and I told her I was going to tell you, I wanted to tell you tonight, you can call her to confirm, please don’t be mad at me.”
“Wow, so Jenny knows and I don’t? Okay cool, she is your best friend, I get it. What am I to you anyway? Just your boss who took advantage of you, isn’t that right?”
“No please don’t say that, Max. you know that is not what I think of you, I know you are hurt but you have to believe me, please.” She begged in tears.
Mr. Blackwood sighed and scratched his head, turning to the left, and then he turned back to her. “I know he already said it here but I want to hear it from you, is Jimmy the father of your child?”
Annabel paused, she didn’t even know how to answer that question. “Max… I… I…”
“Okay, you are not going to tell me, it is fine,” he muttered and made to turn away.
“No please don’t walk away, I will explain, just wait.” She begged while in the pool. Anna couldn’t even move from that position, the stairs out of the pool were at the far corner and she didn’t want to turn her back to him.
There was a little silence between them and with her heart racing, she began to speak. “You asked if Jimmy was the father, well to be honest I don’t know.” She responded.
“What do you mean by you don’t know?” Maxwell queried, getting even more confused with the situation.
“I know how it sounds, believe me I am ashamed of saying it but I have no idea who the exact father of my baby is. That is the reason why I never told you, I was with both of you that week and so I don’t know who the child belongs to.” She confessed.
“So that baby could be mine?” Mr. Blackwood asked with furrowed eyebrows, getting even more offended with the new revelation.
“Yes, just like there is a fifty percent chance that Jimmy is the father, I am sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you,” she replied.
“So that is why you have been pushing me away all this time? You made me think I was the problem but it was all you? Why would you keep this away from me? The fact that I could be the father of this child and you kept me away from the first three months of your pregnancy hurts me the most.” He uttered.
Anna lowered her face in shame, unable to look back at him.
“Anna, your decision to keep this away was a very wrong one, I had the right to know! Now everything makes sense, the way you have been acting lately, I was actually starting to get worried for you; all you had to do was be honest.”
“I am sorry, I am sorry okay? I was scared, I was scared of being in love with someone else, I was scared of carrying your baby, I was scared that I would disappoint you, I was scared that you would hate me if you learnt I was carrying another man’s child, I was scared, Maxwell, I couldn’t help it.”
Maxwell sighed and shook his head in disappointment, then he turned around and walked away.
“Max! Please don’t leave!” Anna begged in tears.
As she watched him walk away, she lay her head on the pavement and cried. The water had stopped to feel cold or maybe her body temperature had risen so high. With her head bowed, Anna cried.
Everything was going so well and once again Jimmy found a way to mess it up! No, this wasn’t Jimmy, this was her mistake. She had three months to tell Maxwell but she kept running from him, she needed to stop the blames and account for her mistakes, this was all her and she hated herself for it.
What if Maxwell never forgives her? She could live without his love but she cannot live with his hate?
Not long after, Anna heard footsteps approaching her and she raised face immediately. It was Mr. Blackwood, he had changed into new clothes, she was confused. What was going on?
“Come on, give me your arms.” He asked in a soft voice.
She was hesitant but she wiped her tears and did as he said, then surprisingly he pulled her out of the pool, lifting her up to the ground surface. She was more surprised by his actions than by the strength with which he used to pull her out from over four feet down.
“I am not mad at you, Ann. I understand what it must have felt like but I thought we were past that stage of you not trusting me, I am just disappointed that you kept this away from me and kept rejecting my love over something silly. You should have told me about this, but nevertheless, what do you plan to do?” he asked in a calm voice.
Anna was surprised, she expected him to be screaming at her, how could he let go of that so fast?
“I… I don’t know, I was initially planning to raise enough money and leave the city before any of you found out I was pregnant, I planned to raise my child away from here.” She admitted.
“And did you think that I wouldn’t have come looking for you? There is no scenario where you successfully hid this baby from me, I would have found out eventually, no matter which part of the world you choose to run to, you should know that by now.”
“You are right, I am sorry.” She replied sadly, staring at her toes.
MB gently put his hand under her jaw and raised her face to look at him. “Anna, I am in love with you, I have said it several times, something like this would not change the way I feel for you or it was never love in the first place. I don’t care whose child you are carrying, if it is mine, then I want to be here to watch her grow, respectfully of course. And if this baby belongs to Jimmy, I am still willing to be the father, but only you can grant me that right.”
Anna was surprised when she heard him say that, did he love her that much? She felt bad for pushing him away all this while because she was scared that he would hurt her like Jimmy did.
“So take your time to think about it, do you love me? Do you want a life with me? Don’t make decisions based on this pregnancy, listen to your heart and do what you know is right.”
“Thank you Max,” Anna whispered.
“No need, I am just glad this is resolved. We are going to go for a DNA test next month, I am sure it can be done that early, that way you can be certain who the baby’s father is before making any decisions. Now go get dressed, we are going shopping.” He announced.
Anna’s face brightened with a smile, she couldn’t believe this was what she had been stressing over for the past two months. Maxwell Blackwood was a blessing to her and she couldn’t afford to lose him.
TBC!!