I walk away each time I catch him on the phone whispering or notice a collar with a speck of lipstick on it that isn’t my mother’s. He gave me a look of guilt. Over the years, I’d learned to turn the other cheek, hoping he would change his ways before Ma got fed up. Ma begged me to be over at the house seven p.m. to enjoy an evening with the parents of Jason’s girlfriend, Brenda. I liked Brenda, the rare times I saw her. She was a sweet girl, with a face that looked so familiar. Ma was cooking up a storm. Right now, I couldn’t take any kinds of odors, due to a sensitive nose. Last week, I’d found out I was pregnant. I had no excuse, especially since I was in medicine to specialize in obstetrics and gynecology. The only soul I told was Jarrad. On top of feeling nauseated, I was scared and tired. Worst of all, my breasts itched like crazy and felt like they weighed a ton of bricks. I wasn’t ready to be responsible for another human being for the next eighteen to twenty years.
