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My Business

Family Business

By JillyPublished 2 years ago 5 min read
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My Business
Photo by Robert Anderson on Unsplash

Today is my daughter Michelle's seventeen birthday, and we are celebrating it with family and friends. The smell of freshly baked pepperoni and mincemeat pizza, chow mein, baked chicken, and a few other tasty foods dance around the room. The sound effects of a video

I walk out of the kitchen and search for my daughter in the living room area. I see her sitting on the light-blue, leaf pattern sofa with her best friend, Lilly. Michelle wears a dress that is slightly above the knee. It is a pink and white pleated dress, and some of her black curly hair is resting on her shoulders. She has my oval shape face, but her Dad's tiny nose and ears and curious eyes are hers. Lilly leans close to her and whispers something into her ears, and the words cause her to laugh.

The sound of her laughter floats into my ears, and my heart is overwhelmed with emotions, and suddenly my legs become paralyzed. Water fills my eyes, but I blink them away, and I willed my feet to move, and they move about two steps to where the seven-piece mahogany dining set stands.

I pulled out a chair and collapsed into it, as my heart continued to surge with unexplainable happiness. I smile, and I allow my thoughts to drift to the past.

I grew up in an extended family, and this consisted of my parents, two older sisters and a younger brother, my Dad's parents and two of his sisters. We lived in a two-story brown and white concrete house. My parents, siblings, and I lived upstairs, and my grandparents and two aunts lived downstairs.

Although I loved my family, when I was younger, sometimes, our closeness became a bit overwhelming. No one in the family can do anything without the rest of the family hearing about it.

When my two older sisters had crushes, the entire family knew. At age seven, when my younger brother started wetting the bed again, the whole family knew, and when my parents withheld my allowance for three weeks because I did not do my Science homework for a week, everyone knew about it. They also found out about my first crush, and they teased me endlessly about it. After that, I'd had enough of them knowing everyone's business, so I decided that my business was my business and not everyone else's. So, I began actively hiding my business from them. I stopped volunteering information about me, and when they asked, I brushed them off.

Sometime later, I met and fell in love with Roger, and my family did not know about him. Yes. They did suspect that I might have a boyfriend because all of them, except for my little brother, asked if I had met a boy in one way or another.

However, I held firm and told them nothing. So, yes, score one for me.

I was seventeen years old when Roger and I met, and six months later, I was pregnant. When I missed my first monthly period, I rushed to the public library and scoured the Internet for reasons, except for pregnancy, why I could have missed it, and I was not disappointed. It turns out that I could have missed it because of stress, and I was under a lot of stress at that time.

However, when I missed it the second and the third months and my appetite was on the crazy side, well, I couldn't deceive myself anymore. I ate more food than usual, and corolla, a vegetable I avoided eating. Still, the most telling one was my growing belly, so I broke the news to my boyfriend, and he broke up with me.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I have my whole life ahead of me. I cannot be a father right now."

I was devastated, and when I returned home and refused to leave my bedroom, my mother came in and asked me,

"How far along are you?"

"Three months," I replied, stunned that she knew.

She nodded and told me that we would see a doctor the next day.

The following day, it did not take long for the doctor to confirm that I was pregnant, and I waited for my mother to ask him about me having an abortion. I knew that I couldn't keep the baby. I knew that my parents were disappointed in me, even though my Mom didn't say so. Then there was the rest of the family. They will hear about it, and their shame in me would converge like a boulder. I could not survive that.

My Mom asked the doctor several questions, but when we left the doctor's office, not one question about abortion came up. Therefore, as we walked home, I decided to ask her.

"When will I get an abortion?"

My mother, who was a short woman in stature, stopped walking and looked at me for a long time before she replied,

"Sweetie, you're not going to get my blessing to have an abortion, you brought this baby here, and you will not run away from your responsibilities toward this child."

Then I heard Roger's words coming out of my mouth.

"But I have my whole life ahead of me. I cannot be a mother right now."

"Well, my dear," my mother said, sighing, "you should have thought about that before you lay down with this boy."

I stared at my mother and then busted into tears. My Mom quickly wrapped her arms around me, and she rocked me from side to side as she whispered,

"I'll help you. The whole family will help you. It's not the end of the world. It's a major change, but it's not the end."

I cried harder.

"Don't cry, sweetie, don't cry," my Mom soothed.

The present pulled me back when my Mom rested her hands on my shoulders.

"No sad tears today," she ordered, "only happy ones."

"Only happy ones," I replied, looking up at her.

She pulls out a chair next to me and sits down as I search the room for my Dad, two older sisters, younger brother, grandparents, aunts, and Roger. Yes, Roger.

When Michelle was six years old, he wanted to be in her life, and since then, he has been in it.

My eyes travelled back to Michelle, and she was looking at me.

"Thanks, I love you," she mouths.

Tears rush to my eyes, but I blink them away.

"You're welcome. I love you, too," I reply.

***

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About the Creator

Jilly

If one person (but more is always welcomed) is entertained or encouraged in their life's journey by reading/listening to one of her writings, she has succeeded in her task.

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