The Choices We Make

Chapter 5

Yanna

Sleep eluded Yanna after she sent the link to her online diary to DJ. The baby seemed to be on the same boat as it kicked around in her womb, causing her to toss and turn in her bed all evening. With the unexpected reconnection with DJ, she had forgotten about her 38th week check-up the next day. 

Also, DJ had not responded at all. So she didn’t know if it was proper to tell him when he was probably still in shock at the bomb she dropped. Perhaps she had to allow him some time to process things just like how he didn’t pester her all those months of her being incommunicado.

Maybe she could ask Lucy to accompany her. Or if not, she could always go to the appointment alone, no problem. 

Yanna didn’t always wear dresses. She felt more free in pantsuits. But as her pregnancy progressed and it was getting harder to bend her knees and fit into pants, she bought maternity dresses that doubled as nursing dresses in bulk. Admittedly though, wearing such were convenient and saved her the trouble of matching tops and bottoms.

It came as a surprise too, that her skin was better and didn’t have breakouts during her pregnancy. Which meant she had forgone wearing makeup besides the fact that whatever she put on her face might not be good for the baby. All she had to do was apply light lipstick and she was ready to go out.

A pissed-off Lucy, sitting on the couch, her arms crossed over her chest, was waiting for her when she stepped out of the master’s bedroom. The luggages and bulging backpack caught Yanna’s attention. Lucy spared her from asking the obvious question.

“I’m leaving,” Lucy announced, stunning Yanna into silence. “Thanks for ratting me out, Ate,” she added, every word dripping with sarcasm. “Good luck looking for help.”

There was no time to clarify the misunderstanding. Lucy just got up, stomped her way out of the unit and slammed the door shut behind her.

Shocked, Yanna steadied herself against the wall. True, she was all for independence. But she wasn’t delusional to think she could still handle everything when the baby had arrived. Even when her best friend and colleagues had told her she could ask them for help, there was only so much that they could do. 

Her eyes stung and she breathed harshly to stop the choking sensation and the tears welling behind her eyes. She wasn’t going to cry from this. She told herself the tears came easy because of hormones going out of whack again. Surely, she could find a temporary help quickly.

For now, she had an OB appointment to go to.

With another deep, shaky breath, she straightened her back and headed to the door. She pulled it open and froze when DJ stood there, carrying ecobags in both hands.

“Hi,” he greeted again, his smile gentle and shy. “I read everything. And reread it this morning to make sure I’m not hallucinating. You might think that I haven’t really carefully thought about it, but nothing changes, Yanna. I want to spend my vacation with you and the baby, whether you like it or not.”

Her lips trembled and the tears she was keeping at bay broke free as a sob escaped her lips.. 

This alarmed DJ and he dropped the ecobags to the floor to embrace her.

Yanna sobbed harder, not only out of desperation for someone to assist her but she missed this. She missed how safe and secure she felt in DJ’s strong yet gentle arms. She cried because she knew leaving him was one of the biggest mistakes she did. 

She cried because she was grateful that even when she chose her career over him, DJ still cared and still wanted to be with her. At least until his vacation ends.