Chapter 14
With great trepidation, Sophia picked up her phone. It took great determination and willpower for her to press on her mother’s contact name. Seeing the picture of her mother beside the number made her heart ache, since she knew she was about to lose this woman in her life forever. Her mother might as well be dead, for how their relationship would become after this phone call.
This was the type of thing she needed to do in person, but she just could not bring herself to visit her family. She knew that their reaction would be fiery, extreme and negative, and she could not face it, especially in her hormonal pregnant state. The phone offered an uncertain and false layer of protection. Nevertheless, she wanted to hide behind that layer, however uncertain and false it was.
Maybe she had not let Tony win. In an obvious way, she had won, and taken away the leverage that he had thought he had over her. After all, he had apparently agreed to drop the threats and had handed back the photos. But he was still close to her family and he could easily tell them everything just to hurt her. In any event, the news was going to some out sooner or later. Sophia could only truly win if she broke the news to her family herself. So far Sophia had managed to circumvent every possible twist and turn of Tony's plot . Imagine his shock when he went to tell her family about the Franklins, and found out they already knew everything!
Maybe it was time for her to come clean, anyway. How else could she proceed with her life? She was starting to show and there was no more waiting. She was about to have a baby and her family had to find out. This could not be a secret forever. Of course, she could lie about who the dad was, but she didn’t want to carry that paranoia that Tony might tell or they might find out some other way for the rest of her son’s life.
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“Allo?” her mother answered on the second ring. She always kept her phone on her in case one of her children called. Often she complained that they did not call enough. She was always ready to talk, even when she was busy cleaning and cooking. The house was her domain and she kept it perfect, always smelling of Fabuloso and simmering beans. The special smell of home filled Sophia’s nostrils and made her briefly homesick. She would miss all of this! One should not live without family!
“Allo? Sophia?” she repeated.
“Hi, Mama.”
Her mother let out a cry. “You have not called for weeks! You kicked me out of your apartment and you never call! You hate me!”
“I don’t hate you,” Sophia sighed. “I love you, Mother.”
“Then why do you act like you hate me?”
“I don’t Mama. I just needed space.”
“Space? Ah, what kind of daughter are you!” Her mother let out a string of aggravated Spanish. “I have been so worried.”
“Well, thanks for being patient. It took a lot of courage for me to make this call.”
“Why? You can call anytime, girl! What on earth would make you scared to call your mother?”
“Because I have some news, Mama.”
Her mother cried out. “Oh, no. I knew it. You were robbed and attacked, weren’t you?”
“No, Mama, nothing like that.”
“Oh, God.” She heard her mother sitting down. “What is this news?”
“I’m pregnant.”
Her mother was silent. Then she whooped. “Pregnant? With a baby?”
“Yes, with a baby.” Sophia would have laughed normally, but she couldn’t now.
“I knew you and Tony would work things out! Hallelujah!”
“No, Mama, it isn’t Tony’s baby.”
“Oh.” Then her mother began scolding her. “What have you been doing in that big city? Who is the father then? He better not be some no-good thug!”
“The father is…well, it's complicated. I don’t know who he is.”
“Mi Dios! Sophia!” Her mother sounded stunned. Indeed, it was out of character for Sophia, who had previously only been with one man.
“Mom, you have to listen to me. And you may never talk to me again after you hear this. But I need you to listen. I have made a decision that you won’t understand.”
“You aren’t having an abortion, are you?”
“Of course not.” Sophia sighed. “Please just let me speak. I have a lot to tell you. Listen, Mother. I have been dating two men. They are brothers. And either one of them may be the father of this baby. We have agreed to raise the baby together, to be a family. We’re all together, in a relationship together.” She kept speaking to fill the void of her mother’s chilly silence. “Well, they are not dating each other. But they are both dating me and they know about each other. And they have both stepped up to be the father of this baby. And Tony even knows about this.”
Suddenly, the line went dead.
Sophia sat there, feeling cold. She was not sure if she should call back or not. She decided to wait until her mother called back, which took fifteen minutes. Her mother was sobbing as she cursed her to Hell in Spanish and told her how she would burn for eternity and she had fallen so far from the good angel she used to be. “You are not a part of this family! And your filthy whore self is not allowed in my house again so don’t you dare come over or bring by that bastard child! Perverts!” she screeched before hanging up the phone.
Sophia leaned back with the phone against her chest and sobbed into her couch pillows. Then she called the brothers to come join her and comfort her. It took her all evening to cry out her broken heart. Then she finally wiped the tears from her face and saw both brothers, who looked guilty.
“We've ruined your life,” Adam said bitterly.
“No, you haven't. About that I am very clear. You are my family now. And you helped my life begin. I can’t cry over her. She doesn’t want me and its her choice. Hopefully, with time she will reconsider.” Sophia set the phone down. She had been holding it this whole time, as if it were her portal to her mother’s heart.
“That took a ton of courage. I didn’t think you had it in you,” Adam commented. “We’re proud of you.”
“Yeah, well, I suppose it had to be done.” Sophia stretched the kinks out of her neck. “Well, that’s that. I beat Tony and I told my family. What else is there to hold us back?” She offered both men a weak smile.
“Now we just need to stick this out and wait for our child to be born,” Blake said with a shrug.
“Sounds good to me,” Sophia agreed.