I take a taxi back home and I begin to think about my life of being a single mother since that's the only option I have before me now. I will say that having a baby was not on my to-do list, at least not in a few more years but I do not want to for any reason thinks about Doctor Theresa other option which involves terminating the life of the little angel in me.
I securely wrap my arms around my tummy as I stare at it. A baby is always going to be a blessing to me no matter the circumstances around me, or the time of its arrival. And he or she might be Rory's whom I now hate and despise with all my heart, but I promise to love him or her will all I have.
"It's a girl." The voice of the taxi driver pulls me out of my thought and I look up at the young man looking most likely in his early thirties with blue eyes a messy brown and I realise that I'm not alone. "How far along are you?" he asks, his voice sounds harmless but inquisitive.
My cheeks burn when his eyes look at me through the mirror and then down to my tummy being covered by my hands. "I don't know, the doctor says it's four weeks."
His eyes smile at me, "Aww, lucky you, her dad would be so happy."
My eyes drop immediately and I turn my attention to my belly. The baby's father's not lucky, he'll never know this child exists.
"She's going to be a beautiful girl, like her mother." he continues to speak.
My eyes raise to meet his in a questioning manner. "How do you know it's a girl?"
"I just do." He grins widely at me. "You're gonna be a happy mother."
"Doubt it," I reply with a scoff. I can list out a thousand and one reasons why I won't be, but I let him speak.
"You will be." He says most certainly.
I manage to smile even though I'm thrown back with confusion. "Do you have a girlfriend?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Yes." He answers with a firm nod as his expression lightens up.
"Would you ever like proposing to her?"
"Yeah, I would love to." He says, certain and without a second thought. "Things are just not going well."
I begin to pull at the engagement ring in my left ring finger and when I finally pull it out, I hand it to the driver. "Take it, you can sell it and use the money to buy a fine engagement ring for your girlfriend whenever you're ready."
"I can't accept it." He shakes his head when he realises what it is I have given to him.
"Come on!" I say, pouting sadly. "Accept it as a gift from a lonely pregnant girl to a nice stranger," I explain further. "Besides it's diamond and it'll help with your marriage arrangement."
"It's too much... I don't know what to say?" He stutters nervously and his expression is startled.
"Don't say anything, accept it." I close my hands over his and give him a warm friendly smile.
"Thank you, ma'am, the least I can do is not charge you anymore."
My smile broadens, "Really? That's so generous of you. What's your name?"
"Liam Wood and you?"
"I'm Taylor Snowfall."
As we drive closer to my house, I notice several people gathered around and some had terrifying and horrified look on their face. My heart begins to beat faster as we draw closer to my house and the crowd of people are even much there.
"Drop me here," I tell Liam and although wanting to question, he obeys and bid me goodbye.
I begin to walk the rest of my way through and as I look up the little dark cloud above, lo, it is smoke that is caused by fire.
Something is burning, something close to my house is burning.
I triple my walking speed and soon begin to skip in runs, and as I come to where my house use to be, I see that it is the house that belongs to my family that is on fire and the fire doesn't look like one that can be quenched easily without the help of the fire fighting men.
"Oh my god!" This cry breaks out from my mouth and I begin to look at the many faces of the people standing by and watching this misfortune before our home and the face I want to see isn't amongst the faces that stand around.
"Mom," I call over the crowd of people, hoping she'd hear from where ever she might be and come to me.
"Mom!" My voice rises higher and I begin to push against the crowd of people standing close beside me, the tears in my eyes blurring up my vision as I keep my search strong.
This can't be happening!
This can't be happening!!
This can't be happening!!!
"Mom, please come out, have you seen mom," I ask Patricia one of our close-by neighbours.
"We haven't seen your mother, child, but the fire ambulance will be here very soon, we called them immediately after we noticed the fire outbreak." Replies Patricia, shaking her head. "Didn't your mother leave home?"
"No, mom was home when I left. She didn't go anywhere." I answer more to myself than to him. "Mom!"
"Taylor!" I hear Mycole's voice from behind the crowd and I turn to see him as he pushes through them to get to where I am.
"Mycole!" I call out, feeling a little relieved and I move closer to him, wiping my tears stained eyes. "I can't find mom, she was home when I left," I tell him in between sob and I can barely recognize my own voice which is deeply mixed in agony and sorrow.
"Taylor... I came running here immediately I saw." He takes me into his arms for a longing hug.
I pull away when I realized he said he saw her and I ask, "Is she with you? Where did you see her?"
"I saw her, Taylor..." He doesn't compete his word and I look up at him.
"What did you see?" I ask, staring up at him, trying to read his expression.
His eyes leave mine and painfully travels and settled on the burning house and he doesn't have to say one more word before I realise what he is trying to say.
"No! Oh my god, Mycole!" I cover my mouth and my life passed before my eyes once again. Tears fall down my eyes and all my strength leaves me and I become weak.
"I'm so sorry, Taylor." He tries, coming closer, but I move back.
"No!" Mom is not in there, Mycole! You can't say that! Mom can't be in there!" I can't begin to imagine the amount of pain she's going through being burnt in the house and I cry harder and turn to my heels, running towards the burning house and I hear is a terrified gasp from the mouth of the people standing around. "Mom, I'm coming," I say even as the heat from the house is already burning my skin as I get close.
"Taylor." Mycole takes a firm hold of me, stopping me from getting close to the door and then pulls me away from there.
"Mycole, let me go." I snap in anger and pain, ignoring the burning pain that has already been inflicted by my close contact with fire. "Mom needs me, don't you get it?! She's going to die if I don't save her. She'll die, do you want her to die?!"
"Taylor... She's gone" His trembling voice crushes my being and I collapse on the ground, weeping and crying. "I'm sorry, I was too late. I'm sorry."
We both stay that way, crying and weeping. When the ambulance came, they immediately started rolling out their pipes and quenching the fire and after about twenty minutes of fighting with the fire, it dies down and then Mycole let go and goes to the firefighters. He explains to them that there is somebody in the house and so the men go into the house two with a stretcher and two without it and begin to search through what they could.