Chapter 17: Between a rock and a very hard surface

Elena’s P.O.V:
I watched the color drain out of Knight’s face as soon as I told him who might be at the door, but as much as I wanted to feel sorry for him, I kinda felt like he deserves this. Oh, who am I kidding? He definitely deserves this and so much more. Serves him right.
I took off my mitts and went over to the couches where I had placed my shrug and pulled it on real quick while Knight stood frozen beside the kitchen counter. To be honest, it was his fault for arriving unannounced. Kareena and I had made plans a couple days earlier when we’d been texting each other and she’d found out about my side-job. I’d sent her a few sample pictures of my work that she’d loved and she’d asked if she could buy one from me. It was a painting of a woman standing under a tree with a child in her arms. I had drawn t a while back but since I had a picture of it saved up in my phone, I’d sent it to her. Kareena had said it was perfect for her since she was pregnant too and wanted to place it in her bedroom and how could I have let down a client?
“To be fair, I told her all those things way before we met for the second time.” I told him as I rushed past him on my way to the door.
“Okay.” Knight said in a small voice and I was pretty sure he was hatching plans in his brain on how to face his sister’s wrath when she finds out the truth or how to make excuses and get the Hell out of here. I wouldn’t blame him for that; I’d be doing the same if I were him.
“Kareena!” I opened the door to the petite woman who was wearing a teal colored dress that complimented her eyes and was holding a bog of paper bag in her hand.
“Hi!” Kareena greeted excitedly. “I brought some homemade chicken casserole for lunch. I’m sorry, I didn’t ask, are you alright with it?”
“Yeah, sure. It’s cool.” I welcomed her into the house. “So far I’m alright with chicken, but I can’t stomach any other meats these days.”
“I know right!” She exclaimed. “I’ve been the same recently; I can’t have anything but chicken these days. I’m pretty sure I’ll be a fluffy little chicken by the time this little kitten is born.” She rubbed her belly for emphasis.
“Thanks, I’ve made cinnamon rolls for desert.” I told her much to her delight.
“Oh My God! I love Cinn-Blaze?” Her tone changed from delighted to confused as she finally noticed her brother standing in my kitchen. “What are you doing here?”
Before Knight could open his mouth and vomit out a gallon of lies, I decided to take matters in my own hand. “Kareena, I think you’d want to sit down for this.” I guided her to the couches and took a seat with her as Knight, if possible, paled even further.
“Blaze? Elena? What happened? How come by brother’s at your house? How do you know each other?” Kareena looked from me to Knight and then back to me again but Knight remained fixed to his spot.
“Remember what I told you about the father of my child?” I asked her grimly and Kareena nodded her head slowly, her face turning weary. “Well…that’s him.”
“Oh dear!” Kareena’s hands went to her chest as she looked at her brother in dismay. “Knight?”
When Knight didn’t say anything, Kareena turned to me looking deeply shaken. “I…I seriously don’t know what to say…I…I’m so sorry, Elena. I know it doesn’t matter if I say sorry or not, it’s already too late for that…but…I…”
“Hey,” I placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “You need to relax; it’s not good for the baby if you get stressed like this. Look, what’s happened cannot be undone, the only way out is to move forward.”
“I’m so sorry.” She took my hand in hers and gave them a light squeeze. “Do your parents know?”
I shook my head. “My elder brother does and he’s currently gone back home to inform my parents and ease them into the situation.” I told her.
Knight gave a distressed moan like he was being physically assaulted. He was indeed stuck between a rock and very hard place.
“Hey, Leo!” I answered as soon as saw the caller ID, but I would have never expected what happened next.
“Hello, honey.”
“Mom?” I spoke in a shocked whisper.
Keena sat up on the seat, looking even more worried and Knight looked even more panic stricken. But what surprised me the most was when Keena suddenly grabbed onto my arm and shook her head vigorously to stop me from telling anything about her brother. My expression hardened instantly and I shrugged off her hand and got off the couch to hear what my mother was telling me.
“Your brother just told us what happened,” she said in an extremely calm voice; which was more reason to worry because she usually got calm when she was really upset or really angry or both. “We’ll be catching the noon flight tomorrow. Your father and I’ve decided to bring you home.”
“What? Why?” I asked, dismayed.
“Elena, we’ve let you do everything on your own until now because we knew you were capable, but there are certain things that we need to guide you through.” Mom told me. “I can’t let you go through what I did, honey. And as much as I’ve heard from Leo, I’m concerned about you.”
I sighed. “Okay. I’ll be seeing you tomorrow evening then?”
“Sure.” She said before saying her goodbye and hanging up.
When I turned around, Kareena was looking majorly concerned and Knight looked ready to pass out.
“What happened?” Knight asked, his voice sounding strained like he was under a lot of pressure. Well, he had no idea what was about to happen next.
“My parents just found out about my pregnancy.” I told them. “They’re coming here to take me home.”