Opinion
You read about how Jonny professed his love to me in the first part. Emotional pain flowed out of his every pore as he spoke and I could feel it and I could no longer think straight. We ended up in my room, had sex and slept off. And that was the beginning of something.
That was the beginning and it felt great, something I wish had not happened but which I liked anyway. A message alert tone on my phone woke me up the following morning. It was a message from Jonny.
“Good morning pretty, I know you slept well but how are you doing? Uhm just wanted to repeat this - I’m in love with you and now that I know you do too, DW (slang for don’t worry) we will find a way. Love, Jonny,” the message read. How sweet! I thought and smiled.
I couldn’t look into my sister’s eyes that day. The heavy load of guilt on my mind wouldn't let me but I chose to think about myself and live that moment to the fullest.
Jonny and I slept together in my room each night but we made sure he went back to their room before Reena got back from work.
From the time Reena got back from work until about 8:30am when Jonny left the house, was the only time they had to themselves.
We met up for lunch almost every day and we made sure no familiar eyes spotted us. So he would usually come in a taxi.
It went on for about six months and Reena had no clue- and I am very sure of that. Once, Jonny told her he was attending a conference in a different state. I said I was going on another countryside adventure with a friend from school two days after Jonny left.
We met and lodged in a hotel for four days. I went back home on the fourth day and Jonny, the following day.
All I wanted was to enjoy every bit of those moments for as long as it lasted. Call it selfish but I call it being honest - it wasn't my fault that my sister's husband was in love with me and that I subsequently fell for him too.
On one Saturday morning, I eavesdropped on Reena's conversation with our mother. She had begun suspecting her husband of infidelity. Trouble!
Jonny said there was no cause for worry when I told him. "Even if she suspects me of anything, I don't think she knows it's you. Relax, everything will be fine," he assured.
But there was something unusual-Reena had stopped talking to me, and that worried me a bit. Initially, she would inform me about any development in her marriage before telling our mother.
So I walked up to her one day in her room and asked "Ri (as I called her), are you alright, you seem very disturbed lately...Is anything bothering you?"
She smiled and gave me a look that shocked me from my bubbles. "Has she found out already? Omg! How am I going to explain this to her? What is she planning to do to me?", these and other questions run through my mind then suddenly I told myself, "No, she doesn't know."
Then she sighed and began..."Sel my husband is cheating and I don't know what to do...."
"Omg already?," I asked as I heaved a sigh of relief and thought "Thank God. she doesn't know yet.
"
Sel continued, "I think it's because I haven't been able to bear him children. I was just telling mommy about it and she wants me to confront him. But I want to get proof before I ask him about it."
"...I think mommy is right, you don't have to wait until you get proof. Who knows, things might get worse by that time. I think you should ask him," I advised.
She assured me she would be fine, thanked me and said she was thinking about it.
"You know I'm always here for you right? Don't hesitate to tell me if you find anything or decide to ask him...now can I see that smile on your face?," I said and watched her smile.
But I was restless when I got back to my room. I texted Jonny to inform him about it, this one couldn't wait until he came back home.
He said we would talk about it when he got back. Reena looked all smiley as she left the house for work later in the evening.
A part of me believed that she was putting up a strong face so I wouldn't worry too much about her after what she told me. But I also felt like she knew about us and was happy that I had no clue she knew about Jonny and me.
But that last voice came in mind again and said, "hey, you are thinking too much." Soon after, Jonny got back home and as usual, he walked straight into my room.
"Are you alright, What did Reena say?" After hearing word by word what Reena said, his response was that "I don't think she knows anything...she would have told you. You did not hear her tell your mum she suspects I'm cheating with you right?." I nodded.
"I'm working something out, everything will be fine soon okay," He assured me and kissed me on the lips. I guess there is no need to tell you what this led to, do I?
This episode of tension in the house passed and everything was normal until one cold morning.
I overheard Reena and Jonny screaming at each other in their room. What could they be fighting about?, I asked myself and stayed completely quiet to listen.
"But you have refused to give me a child," a voice that sounded like a drum but deeper -Jonny's said.
Reena in a shrill voice replied "And how is that my fault? I can't make the babies alone?”
“Besides that is not enough reason to cheat on me, Jonny. It’s unfair.”
The voices faded and soon after that Jonny walked out so furious, grabbed his car key and stormed out as I stood at my door and watched him.
It was the first time I had seen him in that state and I could feel the anger as he walked past me with his head down.
Initially, I would walk into their room and console my sister but I couldn’t do it this time. Knowing very well that it was partly my fault, I just couldn’t go there.
But wait, did Jonny justify our affair with the fact that Reena had not yet conceived or born any children? I asked myself as I closed the door behind me.
Jonny did not call the whole day and I refused to call as I thought he needed some time alone after what went on in the morning.
The day passed so fast and I thought Reena had already left for work when I returned from school. Jonny had still not called and I was beginning to worry about him.
After a while, I heard some voices bubble like a mountain river in the living room. Guess whose they were? Reena and Jonny's.
With her head buried in his bare hairy chest and his hands wrapped around her, they cuddled on a sofa in the living room. A slight cough behind them brought them apart. “No work today, Reena? I asked as I walked past them to the kitchen. Jonny felt so uncomfortable at the sight of me. “No, Jonny and I had an appointment with a doctor,” Reena replied.
I later learnt from Jonny that they made up and decided to go see a fertility specialist. "The doctor said both of us are f... "Spare me the details. I don't need them," I interrupted him before he could say the word 'fine'.
I did it to take her attention away from us my love, Jonny said as his hand stroke through my long hair. How I wished I could extend the nights to have his big, strong and very protective arms wrap my body.
It wasn't long after that episode that I began to feel nauseous and liable to vomit at the slightest provocation.
One morning, I couldn't come out of bed. I felt really cold even under a cotton sheet, I radiated heat like a piece of metal out of the oven. The food I had eaten the previous day surged up my throat and before I could reach for the toilet bowl, chunks of the food covered in creamy chyme from my stomach splattered the floor of my room. Eeeew!
My hope was not for it to be what you are thinking, but it was. I was pregnant. Pregnant for my sister's husband and that meant there was trouble!
A doctor confirmed I was six weeks pregnant when I visited the hospital. Jonny drove straight there as soon as he got a text I sent him.
I just can't explain how I felt about it but excitement wired his whole body as he walked towards me.
"Are you okay? This probably is the best news I have heard in years," he stated as he walked up to me, pulled me closer and wrapped his hands around me.
You have no idea how that felt, for once I thought he would be mad at me. He held my hand gently and led me towards the car. "Is that your husband? You guys look so cute together, congratulations," a nosy nurse voiced as she walked past us.
Now there is a bigger problem. How were we going to handle the situation? Jonny repeated his assurance that everything was going to be fine. When, and how long were we going to hide the pregnancy?, I asked him in an unsteady voice.
Jonny pulled over, grabbed my head in his hands, and said: "Nothing will happen to you or our unborn child, I promise."
After several discussions and meetings, Jonny convinced me and we decided to tell Reena about it.
"What will my sister think of me! My mother would kill me if she hears about this," I said to myself and buried my face in my palms as I waited for Jonny and Reena in the sitting room.
I actually couldn't face her or talk to her from the day I got the pregnancy test done. And maybe I over thought the whole thing but she looked very relaxed as she walked into the sitting room.
Jonny began, Reena, there is something you need to know. Uhm...Sel and I have been seeing each other and..."
My heart hit my chest hard that I thought it would break my ribs as he went on and Reena kept on staring at him with absolute stillness. Her face was expressionless with no sign of emotions.
"...she...she is carrying my child. Yeah, she is six weeks pregnant," he ended. There was an eerie sort of tranquility in the room and it heightened my anxiety.
"Reena, say something, please," I uttered in a distressed voice.
You would have to wait for the concluding part of the story to know how Reena reacted to it. It was the shock of my life.