Chapter 37

Chapter 37 – Leave of Absence (Anj‘s POV)

Dylan pushed the door of the convenience store to treat Anya and me, and as he promised me last night,he would buy me ice cream after his crazy joke of marrying him.

“I want a chocolate ice cream,” I demanded him as we crowded around the refrigerator. “You can‘t havechocolate,” Anya said. “You don‘t want your baby to look like a cacao,” she chuckled at her joke, butDylan ignored her and opened the refrigerator, getting expensive ice cream.

“Hey,” I protested, taking the ice cream pint from him and returning it inside. Instead, I chose the lessexpensive brand and gave it to him. “You have to save money,” I said, making him raise his eyebrows. “Imight need to borrow money from you for baby stuff.” His lips twitched as he shook his head and turnedto Anya, waiting for what she liked.

“I had ice cream yesterday already, and with those calories, nuh–uh!” She took a yogurt instead andgave it to Dylan. “Make it two,” he said and waited for Anya to give him another yogurt before headingto the counter, but he stopped when my foot braked in one aisle, eyeing the sour candies. “You like

it?”

I nodded sheepishly but immediately pulled the mini candy bag before he could get one. “I‘m paying forthis, Dylan.” “It’s okay. Let me pay for this one, too,” he said, holding the edge of the candy bag.

“No. It will take time. I have to smell each, making sure I‘m not puking them after,” I lied as I moved myhead toward him. “Go. My ice cream is melting because my cousin is on fire,” I joked as I puckered mylips, pointing at Anya, raising her eyebrows, and sneering her lips at us. “Let her melt the ice cream. I‘llget you more,” He waggled his eyebrows, smiling at me, but when I raised my eyebrows at him, hechuckled and walked toward the counter.

I sighed as I compared the money I had in my pocket, so instead of choosing from the colorful andmouthwatering sour candies from the candy dispenser, I settled on taking a small pack of skittles sourcandy and followed Dylan. “What happened to the candy mix?” He asked as we walked toward the tableoutside. “The baby changed his mind,” I grinned as I put the candies in my ice cream, making them looklike colorful toppings. “Ewww!” Anya twitched her lips as she watched me. She shivered and looked atme with disgust as I enjoyed my ice cream. “Geez! What does it taste like? No wonder Mrs. Antonettacould guess about your condition.” “His mind,” He whispered.

“Huh?” Anya and I uttered at the same time and glanced at him as we sat on the chairs. He smiled atme. “You said his mind, so it means you‘re hoping it‘s a boy,” he explained while opening his yogurt.

Ta

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of Africa

“Ah! I‘m not really thinking of the sex of my baby right now. He could be a boy, and if she‘s a girl, that‘salso fine with me,” I scoop another spoonful of ice cream as I imagine little Sky if my baby is a boy or theadorable Olivia if she is a girl. “I should have used them, right?” I turned to Anya to ask. She giggled.“Gosh! I don‘t care about taking care of half a dozen little Angelas as long as their brains are as big asyours.” Dylan hissed. “Half a dozen? What do you think of Angela? A dog?”

Anya looked at him. “I have a dog, and Maki only gave birth to two puppies. Angela is different becauseshe‘s an alien, and aliens can produce more babies.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “I can‘t believe you‘re talking to Angela that way,” he shook his head, lookingdisappointed when Anya and I burst out laughing. “Do you think the babies will come out of my mouth?” Ijoked, making Dylan more pissed at

1. us.

Anya laughed at me. “Probably. We’d better stop, Anj. I don‘t want to pay for this yogurt later if this manhere gets mad at us.” I nodded in agreement, focusing on my ice cream and candies. “Are you not reallygoing to tell us who the father is?” Anya asked again. I swallowed the food in my mouth first beforeturning to her. “I told you I don‘t know.”

Dylan sighed. “That‘s impossible, Anj. You must have at least remembered a little about him.”

I squinted, showing them I was thinking really hard. “He has eyes, nose, and mouth, and his head is asbig as that balloon,” I pointed at the white balloon the little girl was holding as she walked toward theconvenience store.

“She must have been drugged that night,” Anya shook her head, but when Dylan glared at her, shecontinued, “Or her alien family came, and they got her married to a royal family.”

The word married choked me, causing me to cough, and they panicked when I was not stopping. Dylanhad to rush back inside the store to get me water, and when he returned, he found Anya tapping my backlightly while I coughed and laughed. “Are you okay?” He asked worriedly, opening the bottled waterbefore giving it to me.

I wiped the tears which rolled down my cheeks and took the bottled water from him.” Thanks,” I said in araspy voice while I massaged my throat. “I guess the candy went into the wrong pipe and head straightto my lungs.” He sighed, sitting beside me. “Only you, Angela, can replace humor in your situation.” I smiledat him, embarrassed at the thought that he had to take care of me instead of Sky, but the moment I lefttheir home, I had to forget him and believed that he didn‘t exist, and now that I have a baby to remind ofhim, no one has to know who the father is. Only Father Jesse and Sister Grace knew the truth, and I washundred and one percent sure that they would not tell anyone about it.

“I bet Uncle Jesse knew the truth. I saw you in the confession room yesterday,” Anya said, waiting for myreaction.

I kissed her cheek. “Why don‘t you ask Uncle Jesse? Let’s see if he will tell you.” “Ha! Ha! Don‘t befunny,” she smirked at me. “We both know he will never divulge anything to us.”

“I love his job,” I sighed, finishing my ice cream and ignoring Dylan staring at me intently.“ But I can‘t doit. I want to tell you anything, everything!”

“Except telling us who got you pregnant,” Dylan cut in.

I pursed my lips and narrowed my eyes at him, realizing he won‘t let this go. “I told you, Dylan, I don‘tknow who he was, and I have no intention of knowing and replaceing him.” I snarled at him, standing up toput the empty cup into the trashcan and walk away from them.

“I‘m sorry, okay?” Dylan rushed to my side and held my forearm to stop me.

“Why is it so important for you to know him, Dylan?” I asked angrily, surprised that Anya stayed on thetable and just watched the two of us fight.

“Because I want to make sure he will not come back, Angela,” He retorted.

stop cryin

I pressed my lips to ston

because I was hurt by what he said. I hate to admit that my heart was hoping he would replace me, that ourpath would cross, and that he would stop me again from leaving

I shook my head. “I told you I don‘t know him,” I whispered before brushing his hand off my arm andwalking past him.

Anya stopped Dylan from following me. “Don’t push her hard, Dylan.” I hailed a taxi, but instead of askingthe driver to bring me to the nursing home, I asked him to drive me to the university. I spent time in thelibrary, writing one thing I didn‘t know I would do during my last semester in college.

As I wrote my Leave of Absence application, tears were rolling down my cheeks. I made a wrong turnin my life, but despite that, I still hope to finish my business degree. With Anya always asking who thefather of my baby is and Dylan always wanting to save me and desiring to like him to be part of my lifeand heart is too much.

I wish to breathe...

After writing the letter, I went to Dean Jones‘s office, and luckily despite the time, she accommodatedme, wondering why the genius in her department was seeing her. My heart was hammering in my chestas I handed her my letter, and as she read it, I was sure I saw the surprise on her face

“Are you really sure of your decision, Angela?” she asked worriedly. “Your graduation is in four monthsand...”

I nodded.

“This is the first time things got out of my hand, and I wanted plenty of time to think about how to steermy life,” I explained to her, hoping she would approve my leave. “I‘m sorry, Angela, but I can‘t approveyour application,” she said, handing the letter back to me.

My mouth half–opened, surprised by her decision.

“But let me help you by talking with your professors and see what we can do for you. For now, Iunderstand you wanted to leave, and if you thought that would help, then do it, but make sure to comeback.” She rose to her feet and walked in my direction, giving me her card. “Call me at this number if youneed my help.” I smiled and thanked her for her time before leaving her office. Sighing, I walked toward

Heaven Avenue, not to the nursing home but to the church, to talk to Father Jesse about wanting toleave soon.

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