XII
(edited.)
"An ice cream store?" Carmen asked Taylor after he had parked the car. He turned to face her with a smile.
"Yeah," was his simple reply before he removed his seat belt and got out of the car.
She hesitantly removed her seat belt as well before getting out of the car and following him into the store. Once they entered, they were greeted by a girl who appeared to be in her late teens.
"You should find us some seats, I'll get the ice cream," Taylor told her before walking towards the girl. She turned and saw how empty the store was for the first time; smiling slightly as she walked towards a pair of seats beside the window.
Not long after she sat down, he joined her with two small bowls. He placed on before her before he sat down.
"You do realize how cold it is outside right?" she asked, wondering why he had brought her to an ice cream store when it was the middle of winter.
"The weather doesn't matter. Ice cream is like magic; it fixes everything," Taylor said, taking a spoonful of his creation.
"What are you, five?" she asked him. A mock offended look crossed his face before he smiled at her,causing her to smile too.
"Don't knock it till you try it."
She looked down at her bowl of ice cream, unsure of whether or not it was edible from the way it looked.
"Why do you look so scared? It's my own creation so of course it'll be good."
Carmen took in a deep breath before reaching for the spoon and taking a bite. As soon as she tasted it, her eyes widened.
"It's good right?" Taylor asked knowingly.
"What did you put inside?"
"Usually, I don't like to reveal my secrets but since it's you, I'll make an exception," she rolled her eyes, "I picked vanilla, apple pie filling, caramel, butterfingers and pie crust."
"It's like an apple pie but it's ice cream," she noticed. He smiled and nodded his head.
"Exactly. My mom─" as soon as he said those words, her face darkened as she looked away from him. He cleared his throat before eating another spoonful as her eyes stung with tears. When she felt his hand on hers, she turned to face him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up my mom." She forced a smile as she shook her head.
"You don't need to apologize," she told him, slowly removing her hand from his.
And for the rest of their time at the ice cream store, they didn't speak to each other as she was lost in her thoughts surrounding what his mother had told her.
---
She stood before her full length mirror the next morning, her hand on her pregnant belly as she looked at herself with a small smile. As she turned around to pick up an over-sized shirt to change, her door swung open to reveal her mother.
"Carmen─" her mother stopped as soon as her eyes landed on her abdomen. Carmen attempted to cover it up with the shirt but her mother walked towards her and took the shirt from her, dropping it as she clearly saw her pregnant belly.
"Please tell me that you gained weight and that you're not pregnant," her mother said, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Carmen looked away, unable to say anything.
"How long did you think you could keep this from me?" her mother asked, still shocked as she looked from her stomach to her. Again, she didn't say anything.
"Carmen, did James do this to you?" she asked. And when Carmen continued to remain silent, she walked towards the door. She followed her mother as she walked towards the entrance to the house, grabbing her jacket and car keys.
"When I get my hands on that boy─"
"Mom!" She called out in an attempt to stop her. But her mother only continued to get ready to go outside. And when she reached for the door handle, Carmen blocked her path.
"It wasn't James! We never went that far!" she screamed to snap her mother out of it. Her mother finally looked at her and she didn't miss the shocked look on her face.
"Then who is it?" her mother asked in a whisper.
"Someone you don't know," was all she could say as she looked away, slightly ashamed.
"What do you mean? I thought you were dating James."
"I was... But it just happened this way."
"Who is he? At least tell me that he's going to help you," her mother said, holding her head in her hands. As Carmen remembered what Taylor's mother had told her, she kept her mouth shut.
"You can't do this alone, Carmen; raising a child alone is not easy."
"But you did it, why can't I?" she asked.
"You know this isn't the same. Your father didn't leave because he wanted to; he was sick and that sickness took his life. We had no control over that."
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