The baby contract

Chapter 17

Liam reached out for her hands " I'll take care of you, Carla. I can't promise a peaceful marriage, there'll be good and bad times but I promise to do my best to make you happy " He said softly.

" Let me go home and think about it, okay? I'll let you know whatever I decide " She said quietly. Her head was starting to ache, it was all too much to take in, she came with him to the dinner because he had no one else to ask and the next, she was faced with a marriage. What an irony. Jenny would sure laugh and say " I told you so ". She groaned inwardly, she didn't want to think about Jenny now. She just wanted to go home and get a good sleep.

" Alright but be fast about it, okay? I want an answer by this time tomorrow. You have the whole night to think things through, I'll be waiting for a reply " He said firmly.

Carla's nostrils flared " Excuse you, do not push me, this is all too much for me to take in "

Liam seemed to calm down at her outburst as he sighed " I'm sorry, Carla. It's not my fault, I'm being pushed as well "

Of course she knew he was forced to make the big decision by his father " Okay, let's go home "

He nodded and opened the car door for her and she slid in, muttering thanks. The ride back to her place was silent and one could feel the tension in the car. They arrived at her place and she got down quickly, not waiting for him to come around and opened the door for her.

" Good night " She said hurriedly and turned to go but Liam pulled her back.

" What's wrong, Carla? You look tensed up, is something wrong? " He asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

She shook her head " Oh it's nothing, I'm probably tired "

Liam obviously didn't believe her and he held her by the shoulders " Listen Carla, this marriage won't change anything between us, it will be a marriage in name only and be rest assured that I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do "

Carla looked up at him with an unreadable expression but Liam read it so well and he shook his head.

" It's not possible Carla, a baby is part of the deal. It's the sole reason we're getting married in the first place so sharing your bed is inevitable, I'm sorry " He said apologetically.

Carla nodded " I'll think about it, good night " She said in a more composed manner and turned to leave once more.

" You'll come to work tomorrow, right? " He called out and she stopped on her tracks.

She turned and stared at him for a full minute before she bursted into a small, humorless laughter " Of course I will " She turned back towards the house and started walking again. She didn't look back until she was fully in the house. She locked the door and rested on the wall. She closed her eyes, feeling tired suddenly. She snapped her eyes open when someone switched on the lights. It was Jenny and she looked just as surprised as Carla was.

She frowned " I came here when I heard some sounds, are you okay? You look weird "

On a normal day, Carla would have literally scratched her eyes out for calling her ' weird ' because she hated being called that but right now, she was very tired and to speak was even difficult for her.

" What are you doing here? " She managed to ask as her voice was weak.

Jenny rolled her eyes " I clearly told you before you went out that I would be sleeping over tonight. I guess being with Liam flushed that away already "ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

She added " You look sad though, what's wrong? I was expecting to see a flushed face, wide eyed, thoroughly kissed, messed up hair and rosy cheeked Carla but here you are, looking sad and all that, what's up? "

Carla looked at her and wondered how she would react when she finally explained everything to her. She could see her friend was dying out of curiosity so she decided to take pity on her.

" Liam proposed to me " She blurted out.

Jenny looked at her in shock and waited for her to burst into laughter and tell her she was joking around but she didn't. Instead, her eyes bored into Jenny's green ones as they looked at each other.

" Are you kidding me?! Is this some sort of joke?! Speak up Carla, are you pulling my legs?! " Jenny was shouting now.

Carla shook her head slowly " Calm down Jenny and let me explain everything "

" You better do, and don't you dare leave any information out! " Jenny replied and took the chair closest to where Carla stood.

" Well? " She prompted when Carla still refused to speak.

" Okay... " Carla started talking and by the time she was done, Jenny bursted into uncontrollable fit of laughter.

" My God! " She managed to say in between laughter.

Carla just folded her arms under her breasts and waited for her friend to snap out of her laughing fits.

" This is absurd! " Jenny exclaimed and bursted into another round of laughter.

Carla shook her head at her friend's silliness and took a seat too. She sank down into it with a sigh.

Jenny finally calmed down and went over to sit beside Carla " I told you, didn't I? "

Carla threw her a glare but Jenny went on undeterred.

" I knew it! I just had this hunch that with the way things were going between you and Liam, the next thing I would hear would be you two deciding to get married " She said thoughtfully.

" Are you ready to spend your life with him, Carla? " She asked in all seriousness.

Carla threw her a look, Jenny sure exaggerated things sometimes " It's just a year Jenny, not lifetime "

Jenny rolled her eyes " Whatever " and got serious again " Will you lose your virginity to him for some million dollars? "