Chapter 2: The Appointment Nobody Knew About
My father didn’t sleep that night.
Neither did I.
The accusation had disappeared from the house, but the damage remained.
My bedroom felt smaller than usual. The scholarship email sat open on my laptop, glowing in the darkness.
A future I had been proud of suddenly felt fragile.
I kept replaying my mother’s face when Dad found the receipt.
Not guilt.
Not sadness.
Fear.
The next morning, I walked downstairs expecting silence.
Instead, I heard voices.
“You owe me an explanation.””
My father sounded different.
Not angry.
Worse.
Disappointed.
I stopped halfway down the stairs.
Nicole stood near the kitchen island, holding a cup of coffee she hadn’t touched.
“Richard, you’re making this into something it isn’t.””
“You accused our daughter of being pregnant.””
“She lied to us.””
“No, she didn’t.””
The words made me freeze.
My father believed me.
Nicole noticed me standing there.
“Maya, this is not the time.””
I walked into the kitchen.
“Actually, I think it is.””
She looked away.
Dad pulled out a chair for me.
“Sit.””
Nicole shook her head.
“This is ridiculous.””
“No,” Dad said.
“What’s ridiculous is that I almost believed my own daughter was capable of something without asking the right questions.””
My mother’s eyes flashed.
“So now I’m the villain?””
Nobody answered.
Because we all knew the answer.
She put the coffee down.
“I went to the doctor because I thought something was wrong.””
My father crossed his arms.
“And?””
“And I didn’t want to worry anyone.””
“Then why tell Ethan not to touch the box?””
She looked annoyed.
“Because children don’t need to know every adult problem.””
“That’s not what I asked.””
Nicole looked at me.
“You’re enjoying this.””
The accusation shocked me.
“Enjoying what?””
“Watching your father doubt me.””
I stared at her.
“I spent the entire night wondering why my own mother wanted people to think I was pregnant.””
Her face tightened.
“I never wanted that.””
“You put the test in my bathroom.””
“I found it there.””
“You lied about where it was.””
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
My father noticed.
“Maya, tell me something.””
I looked at him.
“What?””
“When was the last time you used the upstairs bathroom?””
“Before Ethan spilled paint. Mom locked it after that.””
Dad nodded slowly.
Nicole suddenly grabbed her keys.
“I have to go.””
My father stepped in front of the door.
“No.””
Her eyes widened.
“Excuse me?””
“You’re not walking away from this.””
“I’m your wife.””
“And she’s your daughter.””
The room went quiet.
Nicole looked at me with an expression I couldn’t understand.
Then she said something I would never forget.
“You have no idea what you’re about to destroy.””
She left anyway.
For the next few hours, Dad searched through everything.
Not because he didn’t trust me.
Because he finally didn’t trust her.
Around noon, he found something else.
A message notification appeared on Nicole’s tablet.
She had left it charging on the counter.
I wasn’t trying to invade her privacy.
But when Dad saw the name on the screen, his face changed.
“What?””
I looked over.
The message was from a clinic.
“Your ultrasound appointment has been confirmed for Friday at 9:30 AM.””
My hands went cold.
My father picked up the tablet.
“Maya…”
I looked at him.
“She’s pregnant?””
He didn’t answer immediately.
Because the message wasn’t the only thing on the screen.
Below the appointment reminder was an older message.
One that had been sent two weeks earlier.
A message from Nicole to the clinic.
“Please make sure the results stay confidential. My husband cannot know until I decide what to do.””
My father sat down slowly.
I had never seen him look so broken.
“Your mother…”
He stopped.
Then whispered:
“She was planning to tell me something.””
That evening, Nicole came home.
But she wasn’t alone.
She walked through the front door carrying a folder.
And the moment she saw the tablet in my father’s hand, she knew.
Her face changed.
“You read it.””
My father stood.
“Were you ever going to tell me?””
Nicole held the folder tighter.
“Richard…”
“When were you planning to tell your husband that you were pregnant?””
The question hung in the air.
I expected her to deny it.
To scream.
To blame me again.
Instead, she looked at me.
And then she said the one sentence I never expected.
“Because if I told your father the truth, I would lose everything.””
I felt a chill run through me.
“What truth?””
Nicole looked down at the folder.
Then slowly opened it.
Inside was an ultrasound image.
But it wasn’t the picture that made my father step backward.
It was the name written across the top.
May you like
Because beneath Nicole’s name was another name.
A name none of us expected to see.
