Departed With A Belly {1}

Raising a Child Is Fun

"Who do you think she is?" Norwood asked him back. Their gazes intertwined in midair, and they stared into each other's eyes before he suddenly asked, "What's the matter? Are you disappointed that it wasn't her?"

As for who that 'her' was, both knew precisely whom they were talking about.

After a moment of silence, Alaric snorted. "Who's disappointed? What's there to be disappointed about? She can come as she wishes."

"Really?" Norwood raised an eyebrow.
"Since you don't care about this, I won't say anything more." He kept his word.

Alaric's eyebrows were scrunched tightly as he looked at him unhappily.

"Just say whatever it is that you know.
Why do you have to be so mysterious?"

"Me being mysterious?" Norwood put on a shocked expression. "I thought you didn't want to know and that you're tired of listening to matters about her, so I stopped talking. What's that? Do you want to know now?"

Alaric was speechless. F*ck. Why am I friends with him? Not feeling like talking to Norwood anymore, he removed the covers to wear his shoes and get out of bed. His actions were rough, and he was
pulling a long face.

When he was done tidying up his attire, the door was pushed open, and West entered the room.

Seeing that Alaric was awake, West immediately greeted him before telling him how worried Claudia was when she rushed over last night.

Alaric's expression became gentler upon hearing her name. "Al, Claudia just called to ask about your condition. She said to tell her once you're awake

"Sure." Then, Alaric took out his phone, but when he looked through his call log, he discovered there were calls with Victoria.

His pupils contracted slightly as he asked in a raspy voice, "Did you guys call her? Or was it she who called?"

"Who are you asking about?" West peeked at the screen of Alaric's phone and understood what he was asking about when he saw the name.

"Oh, Victoria. It was Norwood who called and told her you were drunk." Hearing that, Alaric glanced at Norwood, who shrugged and smiled without saying anything.

West and Norwood had different personalities; West was the type to blurt
everything out without being asked to.
Hence, without waiting for Alaric's
questions, he started telling him what he needed to know.

"Al, I don't mean to sow discord between you two, but Victoria has gone overboard. You were so drunk, and Norwood had called her, yet she never appeared. Claudia, on the other hand, was anxious after I called to tell her about your condition and rushed over immediately."

At first, West thought Alaric would be happy to hear that, but his thin lips were pressed into a straight line, indicating his bad mood.

"W-What's the matter?" Alaric suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly. "Nothing."

"Oh." West scratched the back of his head in confusion. "I bought breakfast. Would you guys like some?"

"You can have it." At that point, Alaric had no appetite because he was filled with frustration over Victoria's behavior.

Following that, West asked Norwood and received the same answer, so he left with a dumbfounded expression.

He also commented before closing
the door, "Why are they acting strangely so early in the morning?"

Once the room returned to silence, it made Alaric feel even more frustrated, so he tugged on his already messed-up tie and took it off.

Meanwhile, Norwood stared at him while he stood on the side and finally spoke up after a while,

"Although it's just a guess, I'd still like to help someone defend her case."

When Alaric heard that, he looked at him. "What? Victoria."

Norwood replied with a name before explaining clearly, "Though she didn't
show up last night, her reaction seemed strange after I called her again later."

Then, he told Alaric what happened last night, and Alaric fell silent.

Watching his quiet state, Norwood continued, "Could there be a possibility
that she did come over but bumped into Claudia and us outside the hotel
and decided it wasn't appropriate for her to show up?"

That explanation went straight into Alaric's heart, and he slightly narrowed
his eyes before denying it. "That's impossible."

With a raised eyebrow, Norwood asked,
"Why?"

"She and Claudia have no grudges, so why would she retreat after seeing her?" When talking about that, Alaric laughed self-deprecatingly.

"She just doesn't want to see or care about me."

Norwood stopped talking and pursed his lips while falling into deep thought.

The two were quiet for a long time.
Subsequently, Alaric's phone rang from
a call by Claudia. As Norwood was standing beside him, he saw it too.

The moment before Alaric went out to answer the call, Norwood sighed and asked, "Up until now, are you still unclear about what you want?"

Once he said those words, Alaric stopped walking abruptly.

When he turned around, Norwood had already gone outside, leaving him alone inside the room while still holding his ringing phone.
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"Have you made up your mind?" Summer was still worried about Victoria last night but did not expect to receive such good news today.

"Yes." Victoria was smiling faintly. Now, it felt like she was experiencing the rainbow after the storm. As one would say, the path became clearer when you made a decision.

While she was lost, she felt like her future was a never-ending blank
canvas. Now that she had made up her mind, she discovered things had
suddenly turned clear.

For example, she now knew what she should do next and what to strive for in the future because she had a goal she could work hard to achieve.

"That's great." Summer smiled while holding Victoria's hand. "Victoria, l'm
happy for you. So, have you thought of a name for your baby?"

Hearing that, Victoria felt her lips twitch. "Woah. We're thinking this far ahead already?"

"How is that far ahead? If you come up with names first, you can just choose one after giving birth. Also, you have to buy a house to raise your child, right?"

"Yes, I'm planning on buying a new house after getting divorced, but... that's just my initial plan.

I still have to find a way to break it to my family.

They're all staying abroad, so if they're willing to accept my child, I can move in with them, but..."

She had thought about it.

If her family could not accept the newcomer, she would find a city without Alaric and buy a new house so she could start a new life with her baby.

Before, she had never imagined what it was like to have a child, and there were even more instances where she thought she had not grown up yet because there were still many things she could not understand.

Yet, now she had begun imagining her life with her child.

The baby inside her might be a boy or a girl. There was a huge difference between both sexes and varying methods of raising them, so she had to research and devise a plan.

"Don't worry. Mr. Selwyn loves you dearly, so I'm sure he'll agree with your
decision. Plus, raising a child is fun, isn't it?"
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Published on: November 9, 2023
Time: 10:14 pm
Word count: 1222 words