A Lifetime With You by Athrhteera

Alena

I had been standing in front of the different brands of pregnancy kits for the past twenty minutes. It was a simple thing to do by choosing a few different brands and pay them at the counter-Igor was waiting for me in the car but I knew he could see me from where he was

parked.

The fact that I was standing here on my own like a confused teenager was weird.

Matteo had sent me a few text messages for the past few minutes and I hadn't responded to any of them. If I left those messages unread for a long time, he was going to get worried and I didn't want that to happen. However, I needed a few more minutes to myself. He could call Igor if he was worried.

Many customers had came into the store, picked up their wanted items and they left after paying while I was still standing at the same spot. Some were looking at me weirdly but luckily enough, they just minded their own business.

The woman at the cashier didn't mind her own business though, she kept looking at me as if I was going to steal one of the pregnancy kits. I was holding a Birkin, I sure as hell could afford to buy a pregnancy kit.

Without wasting anymore time, I picked up a few different brands before making my way towards the counter to pay. There was a customer in front of me and once she was done, I placed the items on the counter and immediately went to grab my purse in my handbag. "I couldn't help but notice you were staring at the tests for the past fifteen minutes," the woman said as she scanned the items but her eyes were looking at me. "Did you need any help in choosing the best ones?"

I blinked a few times, "No. These are fine."

"Is it your first time?"

Her question somehow caught me off guard but I shook my head and responded with a smile. I never like it when someone tried to pry when they could've just minded their own business but she clearly wanted to know. She couldn't leave it alone. "How much are they?" I asked, glancing up at her nametag: Jenny.

Jenny didn't answer my question but instead she went ahead to say something else. "It's really hard not to notice the big rock on your finger. What is it then? An abusive husband? A bad marriage? You don't really look happy," "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it the wrong way. I'm just concerned," she replied.

"Thank you but I'm fine. My marriage is fine."

She nodded as she smiled and I went ahead to pay the full amount. Once it was paid, I slowly put my purse back inside my bag and grab the paper bag-she had placed the pregnancy kits inside which I was grateful for because I didn't want Igor to see. I didn't even want Matteo to see what I was carrying when I came home.

Jenny cleared her throat, "I don't usually do this but you can use our bathroom if you want."

I stared at her for a few seconds, trying to understand what was happening. From her perspective, she was probably trying to help a girl out because she assumed there was something wrong in my life but from my perspective, she was trying to cross a stranger's boundaries.

"Sure," I replied.

There wasn't much customers in the store and they weren't coming to the counter to pay yet. Therefore, she went ahead to walk me towards the bathroom before pointing at the door. I slowly stepped inside and locked the door.

It took me a few minutes to calm myself down because every time I stared at the pregnancy kit in my hands, my heart was beating fast. I was nervous about the possibility of being pregnant because truth be told, I wasn't ready for it.

I was scared if the test came out positive and my life was going to be changed forever.

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I still had scars from losing Marco, I didn't think it was possible for me to recover that quickly but Matteo and I never used protection ever since we got back together. We stopped tracking my cycle as well and I hadn't gotten my period in awhile but I assumed it was from the lack of sleep and my changing hormones.

I did it. I 'peed' on the stick and it was time to wait.

It was the longest three minutes of my life.

I still remembered the first time I did a pregnancy test, it was at home. It was a random day when I came home and I thought I looked different in the mirror before I decided to do a pregnancy test-it came out positive. That night was one of the happiest moments in my life and I was grateful especially after what happened.

Matteo and I never expected for our lives to change as fast as it did but we always followed the flow, wherever it carried us.

This time, it was going to be different. I was terrified of what could've happened in the future if I was pregnant, I didn't want to lose the baby again because what if I took a wrong step and everything went wrong? I couldn't experience another heartbreak.

I stared at myself in the mirror as I placed the pregnancy test on the sink, turning it around so I wasn't able to see the result. I needed to be fully prepared first.

The three-minute timer on my phone went off and I locked my phone. As I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm myself down, I immediately went ahead to grab the pregnancy test before holding it in front of me but my eyes were still closed. Slowly, I began to open my eyes.

Just like that, the double lines were clear.

Everything around me went quiet and nothing else mattered. I was staring at th

pregnancy test as my fingers trembled before they went cold. My mind was wandering off to different scenarios and I didn't know if I was supposed to be happy or not-if Matteo was going to be happy or not.

It wasn't my fault. It wasn't even his fault.

We had been careless in having sex and we should've expected this to happen.

It had slipped our minds the whole time we were together because we were too worried about catching the person who kidnapped me. We didn't spend much time together when we were separated either and whenever we were together, we were lost in the moment. I couldn't remember exactly when this happened.

"Shit," the curse left my lips.

A knock was heard on the door which shook me, "Hey, are you okay in there? Do you need any help?"

It was Jenny and she really did sound concern.

I immediately put the used pregnancy kit in my handbag and grabbed the paper bag. It was enough to do one test for now because if it showed double lines, it couldn't be wrong. I needed to process this whole thing on the ride back home in the car, hopefully Matteo wasn't at home already.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open, revealing Jenny.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to bother you. Is everything okay?" She asked.

I nodded, "Everything's fine."

"Did you take the test?"

""Yeah, I did."

We looked at each other and I didn't have to say anything else for her to understand what it meant. She muttered a low 'oh' before she took a few steps back, giving me space to step out. When I had stepped out of the bathroom, I saw Igor standing by the counter with his arms crossed.

"He came in to check up on you. Told me he was your bodyguard," she added.

"Yeah, he must've been worried."

9.29 AM

Jenny slowly grabbed onto my hand before she whispered, "I hope everything goes well in your life. I may not know what's going on but I do wish you the best."This is property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

It was the nicest thing someone had ever said to me in awhile and I could see the sincerity.

Thank you, Jenny." I replied, smiling.

I held the paper bag close to my body as I began to walk out of the store. Igor followed behind me before he unlocked the car and pulled the door open for me. Once we had stepped inside, he drove away without asking a single question. He didn't stop looking at me through the rear-view mirror though and I knew he had different questions.

"You can ask me if you want to," I broke the silence.

"What makes you say that?"

"You look like you're curious."

"Your business is yours. My job is only to protect you."

Just like that, the conversation ended.

I reached for my phone in my handbag before I reading the text messages from Matteo. He had sent a few and they were just simple messages:

'Are you on your way home, baby?

Is everything okay?"

'Igor told me you guys are stopping to grab some stuff. Let me know next time, baby.

'I will be at home waiting for you. Love you.

As hard as I tried to calm myself down from freaking out, I knew I failed miserably. As soon as I arrived home later, Matteo was going to see it on my face and he was going to ask me a lot of questions. My poker face was nowhere near as good as his, he could tell if I was lying.

Igor stopped the car and it took me awhile to realise that we had arrived home.

He had already walked out to open the door for me but I remained still in trance.

"Alena?"

My eyes wandered around before I turned to look at him, "Yeah?"

"We've arrived. You should get some rest," he replied.

Igor was always the type to speak only when he had to. Sometimes, he reminded me of Angelo and they were somehow the same. They only knew to mind their own business and focused on their job but deep down, I could tell igor was slightly different. He was like a caring brother. He was concerned.

I grabbed onto my stuff tightly before I slowly stepped out of the car.

"Thanks, Igor."

"The pleasure is all mine, Alena."

I began to walk to the door and I felt as if my heart was going to thump out of my chest when I saw Matteo opening the door with a smile plastered on his face.

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