Chemical Reactions

Part 17

As you left the doctor's office, the walls seemed to close in around you. The secrets you carried were becoming heavier by the second, threatening to suffocate your very existence.

With a deep breath, you made your way to Robert's office again, determined to confront Robert about the situation. He had to know what lay ahead, hearing it from you rather than the doctor and this, itself made you worry.

Arriving at the outside of the small building, the secrecy that had shrouded your affair began to dissipate with every step closer to the door and since Robert saw you walking towards the building which once used to be a school, a gleam of curiosity became visible to you in his eyes.

"What did the doctor say?" was the first thing he asked after his office door closed behind you, and you mustered the strength to meet his gaze.

You gestured for him to sit, and with a heavy heart, you sat opposite him, fumbling with your trembling hands.

"The doctor suspects I might be pregnant, Robert," you told him as shock rippled across his face, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Pregnant? But...how is that possible?" he asked, causing you to laugh and cry simultaneously.

"Are you really asking me that?" you asked with tears welling in your eyes, and Robert leaned forward, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"I never expected... I mean, I always knew the possibility was there, but..." he stammered before asking you about your plans for the future. "What do you want to do?" he asked, and, of course, this was a fair question for him to ask.

You sighed, your heart heavy with the weight of the decision. "Robert, as much as I love you, I can't jeopardise my dreams for this child. I can't have a baby. Not now, not like this. Not here and not while you are married to another woman," you told him, and his eyes searched yours, filled with a mix of pain and understanding.

"I can leave Katherine," he told you, and tears cascaded down your cheeks as you spoke the words you never thought you would utter.

"And then I become just like her?" you gasped. "Married to you because you took pity on me, and it was the right thing to do because you knocked me up?" you asked, and, at that moment, you saw the flicker of devastation in his eyes, a pang of guilt striking your heart. But you couldn't let it deter you. This was your choice, your life, and you had to be true to yourself.

"It would not be like that, Y/N. I already told you that I love you," Robert said before telling you again that his feelings for you were much more potent than those he had ever harboured for his wife.

"I want to have a career, Robert," you told him, crying.

"And you can have a career. We will make it work. Despite this, abortion is illegal. It is a dangerous procedure so I won't allow it," Robert then said, snapping at you, his voice laced with pain.

"It's not your choice to make, Robert. It's mine. It's my body," you told him, and he reflected on the time Kitty told him that she was pregnant, not wanting an abortion at her age after he had suggested it.

"No, it's my choice too. You are carrying my child, which, by this point in time, may already have a heartbeat," Robert told you, and, with that, the room fell into silence, broken only by the heavy weight of the decision that hung between you. The once-bright future of your affair seemed to dim, swallowed by the harsh reality of the choices you had to make.

The room span as his words sank in, the anguish of the decision tearing at your heart. Should you sacrifice your career and the child's chance at a stable family?

"Robert, it's not that simple," you managed to say, your voice trembling. "This baby is not something I was prepared for. It could change everything," you told him as his eyes never left yours, filled with a steadfast resolve.