When Gloria realized she was pregnant, fall had already settled in town. Her period was usually irregular, so it took her two months to realize she was expecting. At first, she panicked, how was she supposed to take care of a baby when she was still a child herself? Also, how would she tell her parents?
Gloria kept the secret for almost a month. She tried to get in contact with Gary in the meantime, but he never returned her calls or replied to her letters. When she finally admitted he would never reply, she told her parents. Contrarily to what she had expected, Gloria's parents were supportive, they were disappointed for sure, and they told her off. But, in the end, Gloria was their only child, and they loved her. Yet, they also wanted her to take responsibility for her acts, so, even though she stayed in school, she had to start working to provide income, more so if she wanted to keep the baby.
The pregnancy catapulted her into adulthood. She was no longer full of infinite energy, she felt tired and moody most of the time. Most of her friends stopped talking to her altogether, as if being pregnant was like having the plague. Gloria was let down, but she also realized who her real friends were. She braved up through the school year, attending her lessons until the very day of her delivery. That experience made her realize she needed to take her studies more seriously, and, maybe, eventually, when her baby was born, attend the local college.
Gloria's waters broke just after she had arrived home from school, and she called her mother alarmed. She was scared, even with the delivery preparation classes, she was not ready. Her mother drove her to the hospital, and the birth unravelled at a much slower pace than she would have expected. After twelve hours at the hospital, she was finally able to hear her baby crying. Before having her, as she turned out to be a girl, taken away. She was exhausted and they put her in her room to rest, after instructing her mother to beware of signs of bleeding.
When Gloria woke up, she immediately asked to see her baby girl.
-She's dead.- her mother told her.
-But I heard her cry.
-She died, Gloria.
-I want to see her! I want to bury her!- Gloria shouted with tears in her eyes.
-You can't. Don't do this to yourself, is not going to do you any good. You need to move on.
-You tell me my daughter, the one I carried inside me for nine months, is dead, and you dare to tell me to move on!- Gloria was completely out of control.- Get out!
No comments:
Post a Comment