THE WIDOW WHO NEVER WAS

ALIRA'S POV

I wouldn't have thought that the three words, capable enough to bring happiness to my life, were also capable of bringing destruction to my life.

"Alira, are you there??" Betsy asked as I realized I was still on a call with her.

"Oh yeah yeah...emm....con.. congratulations Betsy." I said, stuttering.

"You don't sound like you are happy about this news Alira."

The truth was that deep down in my heart, I wasn't happy in the slightest about the news...I mean...I was happy that my sister was pregnant but the news just had to come at the very wrong time.

Betsy, my younger sister got married a few months after mine and although I was shocked and am still shocked about it because I could have sworn she told me she was never going to marry Liam who happened to be my old schoolmate and close friend back In the day.

Life with Betsy was a competition in which she was the only contestant because I had no time to compete with her.

Everything I wanted right from childhood, she wanted it as well and I assumed she was trying to follow her big sister's footprints but I knew otherwise when she surprised me with a huge rock on her finger a few months after my wedding from a stranger we knew nothing about.

"I am really happy for you Betsy...just a little bit tired because it's been a hectic day." I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

"Hectic day or not, it shouldn't affect your happiness for me sis...I am going to be a mother!!" She said as she squealed happily.

"Trust me when I tell you Betsy that I am happy for you...congratulations to you and Liam."

"Thank you Alira!!! I want to call Mom now and give her the good news...talk to you soon." Betsy said as she hung up the call without waiting for my response.

I sighed deeply as I shut my eyes and got lost in my thoughts again.

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"Alec, it's been two days, I've been worried sick about you!! Where have you been??" I asked my husband as he walked into the house.

"Look Alira, I don't have the strength for your tantrums today...I am a grown man and so I can leave the house and come back any day or anytime I like."

"Alec, you are a grown married man!! You can leave and come back to the house any day or anytime as you like..." I said as I took a deep breath.

I knew arguments weren't going to solve anything and I didn't have the strength for it and so I walked closer to him and placed my hand on his chest.

"What happened to us Alec?? You have been treating me so differently since I announced my pregnancy to you...what's happening ??" I asked with a soft tone.

"Nothing." Alec muttered.

"Alright, what do you want??" I asked.

"What I want Alira is for you to get rid of your pregnancy, can you do that for me??" Alec asked as my hands suddenly dropped down from his chest while I gazed at him with a shocked expression on my face.

I couldn't say anything because my brain wasn't processing anything at that moment and so Alec shook his head and walked away.

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My phone rang again as I snapped out of my thoughts.

This time around, it was my mother calling...what a coincidence.

"Hello mom."

"Alira, where are you??" She asked.

"I am out of the country mom...I came for an important business meeting."

"You should be heading back home by now!! Your sister Betsy is pregnant and needs all the care and assistance she can get from you!!"

"What exactly are you trying to say mother?? That I should travel back home to be a maid to Betsy who literally just announced her pregnancy to me a few minutes ago?? Besides, isn't that the job of her husband??" I asked.

"Why are you such a bitter soul Alira?? Was it your sister's fault that you couldn't keep your own pregnancy??"

And that was the question that suddenly reopened my old scar.

"How can you say such a thing to your own child?? You of all people know very well how I lost my pregnancy mom!! Did you have to rub it in my face??!!" I yelled as tears slipped down my face.

"I only asked you a simple question Alira...anyway, if you aren't coming then stay exactly where you are...you have never been useful anyway." My mother said as she hung up the call.

That was the person who was supposed to be my support system...the one I was supposed to call to inform her of the bad news I heard today just so as to get her words of encouragement but if she could just say such a thing to me, I couldn't begin to imagine what she would have said after I told her about my inability to carry my own kids.

The tears that welled up in my eyes didn't have enough holding capacity anymore to store them as they continued slipping out.

I dialed my husband's number to talk to him and see if it would make me feel better but he didn't pick up his calls...the whole six times I called.

I ended up crying myself to bed and very early the next day, I took the first available flight back to the US.

As soon as I landed, I didn't even go home to drop my things... I headed straight to Betsy's house to be a supportive sister.

I knew the kind of Mother I had so well as to know that she would literally tell everyone that needed to know that I was a terrible person for not coming to see Betsy.

As soon as I got to her house, the door was weirdly opened and I assumed she must have had some visitors.

I walked towards the living room and just before I got there, I overheard Betsy's conversation with my Mother.

"Betsy, you still haven't told me who the Father of your child is...because I remember vividly that you told me Liam was unable to get you pregnant due to some health complications." My mother said as I looked on in confusion.

I didn't understand what was going on and so I decided to stay back and hear more of the conversation.

"I don't think you need to know who the Father of my child is." Betsy said.

"What are you saying Betsy?? You got pregnant by a random man??!!"

"I didn't get pregnant by any random man!! I am not a whore Mother." Betsy bit out.

"Then who is the Father of your child??!!"

"It's Alec."