"No, Belinda, that is not what it is, Brian said rather slowly gazing into Belinda's eyes, I thought... no, I have always thought you do not want to communicate with me, I mean, you have never allowed me to talk to you as a husband would do to his wife, I have always wanted to talk to you, but each time you wear this gloomy face, which makes it impossible for me to talk to you, that is why, I leave after having sex with you, it is not only because of a child, Belinda," Brian told her.
"Are you for real?" Belinda asked sounding like she is about to cry.
"Yes, Belinda, I have loved you for so long, hoping that I communicate properly with you, but each time I look into your eyes, I see nothing but hate for me, I think you despise me, Belinda, and you do not know how much that hurts me, I wanted to feel my wife's affection too," Brian told her.
"No, Brian, I do not despise you, I have loved you, but you do not love me back, that is what I feel, that is what I thought, Brian," Belinda told Brian.
"Oh my goodness," I said to myself, so these two have actually been in love with each other but yet do not know it because of lack of communication, I said within me this time.
"I tell you, Belinda, I have loved you, in fact, I love you but I do not know how you feel about me, that is why I have kept my distance, I did so too because I do not want to offend you, I know the circumstances of our marriage, this marriage was planned by both our parents and from the onset I thought you did not love me," Brian told Belinda.
"No Brian, it is I who thought you did not love me, you are the first man I have ever been with and I accepted you the moment I saw you, even though, I did not fall in love with you immediately, I did not want to fall in love with you either because of how you allow your dad control you but gradually as time passed by, I began to develop feelings for you hoping that you will take the initiative to speak to me properly as your wife but you have failed to do so, instead you come home and tell me that you want us to have sex with me and after that, you just stand up and leave without saying anything," Belinda said to Brian.
"What ?" I couldn't help but ask out loud, "you said that to her, Brian?" I asked Brian, surprised at what I just heard, I mean how can he just walk up to his wife and tell her that he wants to have sex with her and leave after that? I asked within me this time.
"It is not what you think, Kyle, so stay out of this," Brian told and turned again to face Belinda.
"I am so sorry, Belinda, if I have made you feel that way, it was never my intention to make you feel that way, I just thought that is how you want us to be, I mean, you should have said something, Belinda, why did you not say anything all these years and you kept it all to yourself?" Brian asked her rather calmly.
"You know what? I have loved you and I still love you, you are the first woman I have met and I was happy to marry you, I never had the time to be in a relationship anyway, I was not allowed to, so you were the first woman I met and I Found You Beautiful the moment I set my eyes on you, so please, Belinda, I ask that you give me a chance for us to start over again, we were young remember? And I promise you, I will do better this time, and I need to correct something Belinda, I am not my dad's puppet, if that is what you meant to say, I only see it as a way to channel my energy since I cannot communicate properly with you as my wife, that is the only place I found Solace, my work, it is not because of Dad, and again I do not say no some times to Dad because I respect him as a father and I love him as well, but that is not the reason why I do not communicate with you, the only reason is because of you, but now that I know this, I am going to do better and I can only do that if you allow me, show me how to love you, Belinda," Brian told her, gazing into her eyes.
"I have a confession to make, Brian," Belinda suddenly said after a while, staring at Brian and fondling a little with her fingers.
"What confession, Belinda?" Brian asked, still gazing into her eyes.
"I am so sorry, Brian, but I still have to say this for my own peace of mind," Belinda said and continues immediately, "I wanted to say this in the presence of Mum and Dad too, but I need to tell you first before I tell them now that I got the other," Belinda said looking from Brian to me and then back at Brian.
"What is it, Belinda? I need to hear it first," Brian told her glancing at me briefly.
"I am sorry, Brian," Belinda said again and continues, "I am sorry that I have to lead you and your family to believe that I am barren for years now, or that there is something wrong with you or me," Belinda said and paused.
"What are you talking about, Belinda?" Brian asked peering inquisitively at her this time.
"I am not barren, Brian, neither is anything wrong with me nor you for that matter," Belinda said again looking from Brian to me.
"I have been taking pills since we started having sex because I do not want to get pregnant..."
"What, hold on a minute what did you just say?" Brian asked interrupting her, even I stared at her feeling very confused right now.
"You heard me, Brian, I have been taking pills for years, avoiding to be pregnant because I thought you never loved me, so I do not want to bring my child into this family to watch him suffer and be controlled just as I have seen your dad do to you and Kyle," Belinda said almost tearfully too to Brian.
"What? Do you mean you have been doing all this? Why Belinda?" Brian asked sounding heartbroken.
"Yes, Brian, I told you the reason for that, but I know now that this is a misunderstanding and thank goodness things happened the way they did, else I would have made the worst mistake of my life," Belinda said again, still tearfully.
"I am pregnant, Brian..."
"You are what?" Brian asked before she could complete her statement.
I looked at her too surprised and confused.
"You are what? You are pregnant?" Brian asked again grabbing her shoulders almost like he is in shock because of what he just heard.
"Yes, Brian, I am pregnant and I was thinking of aborting the baby..."
"You want to what? no no no you don't have to do that," Brian said pleadingly to her and letting go of her shoulders.
"I know, Brian, I will never do that, not after hearing you say you love me, I am already three weeks gone, when I realised it, so I was thinking of taking pills to abort it, or go for an abortion, I could not just bring myself to kill my child that is why I have been stalling on it until this happened, and thank goodness things happen this way, my God, Brian... I could not do it," Belinda said and started crying.
"Oh my goodness," Brian said brushing his hair backward with his palms and looking at Belinda.
Slowly he took her in his arms and comforted her, "it is alright, Belinda, it is all right, thank goodness you did not abort the baby," Brian said holding her in his arms, "I love you, I have always loved you and that is the truth, it is a good thing you said this now, that you did not say this in the presence of Mum and Dad," Brian added still holding her in his arms.
"We are going to manage the situation and you have to keep it this way, Belinda, you hear me?" Brian asked, turning to me, "you don't have to let this get to Mum and Dad, it is only going to be between us, Okay," Brian told me and I know that I agree with him, if this gets to Mom and Dad, it is going to be the worst thing for them, and we do not want anything that will make dad's condition get worse, so I totally agree with Brian to keep it away from Mum and Dad.
"I give you my word, Brian, I will not tell Mum and Dad," I told Brian.
"Thanks, bro," Brian told me.
"It is alright, Belinda, you have to stop crying now, you're expecting a baby and that is a good news, we are all expecting a baby, Brian," I said trying to lighten the mood.
Belinda wiped her tear with the back of her palm and let out a weary smile, I never knew Belinda has this side of her and it felt heartwarming to know that she is not at rigid as I have assumed her to be.
"Cheer up, Belinda, we are all expecting the baby," I said again looking from Belinda to Brian.
They both chuckled and started smiling this time.
"Yes, Kyle, we are all expecting a baby," Brian repeated.
"And we also have a wedding to plan," Belinda added looking at me.
"What wedding, Belinda?" I asked taken aback by her statement.
"Your wedding and Kimberly's, of course," she said eying me.
I chuckled at the mention of that, hoping that it will be easy as she has said it.
"Do not worry about it, Kyle, I am going to talk to Kimberly on your behalf, I like that woman, Kyle, I like that woman better than Sonia, not better anyway, I never liked Sonia at all for you, and I am happy she is out of your life and this family's life for good," Belinda said smiling at me.
I smiled at her too, I am glad that someone is actually taking my side on my decision.
"We are here to help you, Kyle," Brian added smiling at me too, I think things are going to get better for this family now I guess.
"Come on let's go, it's time to talk to Kimberly, it's time to bring her into the family and on our team," Belinda said gesturing for us to follow her and leading the way to my room...