Chapter 43

When Jason and Anna got to the hotel room, they both sat on the bed silently, each lost to their own thoughts. After like thirty minutes, Jason looked at her "I have been thinking" Anna granted him her attention then, she waited for him to continue but when he didn't, fear gripped her heart and she shook her head at him.
"No Jason, don't even think about it, don't even say it out loud, I don't want to hear it!"
Jason looked at her in confusion, he grabbed her hands in his "say what Anna?"
Anna's eyes had welled up and it wasn't long, the tears started dropping "I'm not having an abortion."
Jason heaved a sigh and looked away from her "Jason, I know this is wrong but this is life we are talking about here and not just any life, our baby. Will you bear to kill our baby? When I saw that little dot in that monitor, I developed a sense of protection. I want to have my baby, please Jason" she sobbed.
Jason heaved another low sigh "I will not lie to you Anna, I did think about it..."
Anna interrupted him "no please. Jason we can figure this out together, we mustn't kill our child. There has to be a way..."
"There is no way" Jason interrupted "Anna do you realize the intensity of this situation? What effect it will have on our family? My mind has done all calculation throughout the day and none of them ends well. You will drop out of school you know?"
"I don't care! I can always go back to school. One year out of school aren't gonna kill me."
Jason reached to hold her and she subconsciously covered her stomach while looking at him. Jason saw her action and was shocked, is she protecting the baby already? And from him?
Anna realizing what she had done, uncovered her stomach "I'm sorry" she whispered.
Jason sighed and shifted closer to her, he put his fingers on her chin and lifted her face up to look at him "I'm never gonna hurt you, not in this life or the next or ever" he gulped and his Adam apple moved with that action, bringing her eyes to it "yes, I did think of getting rid of the baby" her eyes met his immediately "but I decided against it after I read a similar post in the internet and after seeing him in that monitor, I know I could never hurt him. I want to protect him too."
He looked deep into her eyes "to the world this is wrong and it will sound wrong but you guys are my family now and I need to protect you. My hands are just tied at the moment, I can't think of a possible way now. But I want you to know that I'm never abandoning you, through the storm and waves, you will have me by your side and that's a promise."
Anna's lips quivered as tears dropped from her eyes "thank you" she muttered.
Jason smiled and wiped her tears away with his hand "we just have to find a way to approach the world."
"Must we do that? We can elope, you talked about it once."
Jason smiled weakly "and you said you don't want to live the rest of your life knowing dad and mom are angry with you."
"That was then. The case is different now, we have a baby on the way."
Jason shook his head "no Anna. No more hiding, no more lies. This had been a sin from the very beginning, we had tried hiding it and look where it got us. It's time we do the right thing, we have to face our fears, we have to tell mom and dad."
"No!" She tried to back away from him.
"Yes Anna. It's the right thing to do now, they are our parents, they won't kill us."
"But they will separate us!"
"If it be the only way they can forgive us then so be it. Anna we have sinned against them, against morality, against nature. We talked about retribution before didn't we? This is it now. This is the price we have to pay."
"But what about the baby?"
"I don't know what mom and dad will say but I'm sure they will not kill their grandchild, even if he was gotten in the wrong way."
Anna bit her lower lip and stared into his eyes with fear, he smiled to her and caressed her face "I will always love you, no matter where I am."
Anna threw her hand around him and sobbed, Jason hugged her too and gently caress her hair "I will always love you too."
A phone ringtone disrupted the moment and they let go of each other, Anna wiped her tears away and reached for her bag to get her phone, she froze when she saw the caller ID and looked at Jason who smiled and nodded to her to pick the call when he saw the name too. Anna cleared her throat "hi mom" she breathed, trying her best to sound lively.
"Make sure the next person I see again is you" Veronica's voice was heard.
Anna's hand that was holding the phone shook lightly and she gulped "oh. Okay. Is there anything the matter?" She asked but Veronica has already hung up the call.
Anna looked at Jason with her fear returning back in her eyes with more intensity "I think mom knows."
"What did she say?"
"She asked me to be the next person she sees" she looked at him "I told you I saw someone like aunt Sharon at the parking lot" she smiled lightly.
Jason sighed and tucked some strands of her hair at the back of her ear "that's good then. It will make it easier for us to raise the topic."
"Are you coming with me?" She asked shocked.
"Of course. If aunt Sharon was the one that told her, under must she saw me too and there is no way I'm going to let you face mom alone in this situation."
"Thank you" Anna said sincerely.
Jason smiled at her "don't thank me. We are in this together."
Jason booked the next available train ticket home. The ride in the train was so quiet, it was as if the other passengers knew they were about to face a death penalty and was mourning for them. They got home not long after and stood at the porch for close to twenty minutes, they can both hear the sound of their heartbeats. Jason heaved a deep sigh and linked his hand with Anna, he opened the door and they both walked inside silently.
Veronica was pacing to and fro in the living room with her phone in her hand while Samuel was sitting on the sofa, his head resting on it. They both looked at the door when they heard it open. Veronica was surprised when she saw Jason but she didn't let it show, her gaze settled on the petite figure hiding behind him "I am going to ask this only once. Annabelle Naomi Macaulay, are you pregnant?"