Chapter 13

The following day Kristine learned about what Andrew said to Dianna over the phone. Dianna texted her about it. At the moment, they were sitting in the living room of Dianna’s house. It was a warm Friday afternoon and Kristine just came from school. Dianna did not go to school on that day. Outside the window, they saw and heard kids playing and laughing their hearts out. The two girls were sitting on a big sofa by the glass table. On the table were a pitcher of orange juice and two cheese and ham sandwiches on the plates.

Kristine grabbed the sandwich and ate hastily. She said, “I can’t believe Andrew said that to you. What a dick!” Her mouth was full while she talked.  Dianna did not eat or drink anything.

Dianna’s face was grim. For a moment, her beauty diminished. She looked pale and haggard. She sighed. “You said it.”

“Did your parents know about this already?”

“Yes, I told them I’m pregnant. They said they’ll do their best to help me with my pregnancy and raising the child after I give birth to him or her. And they also said that Andrew was an irresponsible, good-for-nothing guy.”

Kristine nodded. “They were right for saying that.”

“I just realized that in the end, only our families and friends support us in times of crises. They’re the only ones who care about us. Boys stop caring about me the moment they got me.”

Kristine hugged Dianna. “Hush, don’t say that. Someday you’ll find the right guy.”

“I’ve been with a lot of guys and they were all the same!”

“Not everyone is the same.” Kristine kissed Dianna’s cheek. “You’ll get through this, I promise. You should go back to school like nothing happened. You’ve got to finish high school. To hell with everyone in school! When you go to college, nobody will care if you have a baby. In fact, it will be cool if you have one.”

Dianna smiled a little. Then Kristine said, “You’re going to be fine. Just take care of yourself and eat the right kinds of foods. Your baby will be healthy.”

“Okay, doc,” Dianna said. She had to be strong for herself and the baby.

 

After nine months, Dianna’s baby was born. The baby was a bouncing tiny boy named Andrei. Dianna named him after Andrew, only modifying his name a bit to make it sound more modern.

Dianna raised the baby with the help of her parents. They showered him with love and care. It was too expensive to have a baby in this country. A consultation with an obstetrician-gynecologist was 500 pesos.

When Dianna gave birth to Andrei via normal delivery in a private room of an expensive hospital with high quality services, it cost 140,000 pesos. Of course, after giving birth, she needed to go to a pediatrician to make sure her baby was healthy. The price of the check-up was 600 pesos and the vaccinations about 5,000 pesos. His clothes, accessories and other items cost 20,000 pesos. The milk cost about 1,000 pesos and it would only last for one week. Dianna’s parents hired a nanny whom they paid 5,000 pesos per month.

The expenses don’t stop there. I heard that everything would cost you 500,000 pesos or more than that.

Luckily for Dianna, her parents were rich so they did not have any problems with the money. However, they still curse Andrew for leaving Dianna before she gave birth to their baby.

“The son of a b***h doesn’t even give a cent!” Dianna’s father said.

“Shh. Stop complaining. It’s not like we’re having a financial crisis here,” her mother said.

“It’s true. Money isn’t the problem. The baby is healthy, Dianna still goes to school, and our lives are comfortable, all thanks to us! What did Andrew give? Nothing but head ache!”

“Stop it!” Her mother retorted.

“Why did you name him after his good-for-nothing father?” he asked Dianna.

Dianna said nothing. It was best to keep quiet whenever her father ranted. If she contributed to the noise, the house would explode.

Only she knew the answer. The baby looked a lot like his father. Naturally, Andrei reminded her of Andrew. I still love Andrew.

Dianna managed to finish high school while raising Andrei. A few weeks after graduation, she took an entrance exam in the university of her choice: Philippine Women’s University. She passed the exam and officially became a Communication Arts student. She left Cavite and lived in a condominium in Manila to be near the university. Her parents took care of Andrei; she visited them on weekends when her schedule let her to take care of him and spend quality time with her parents, as well.

Dianna and Kristine tried to keep in touch but failed miserably because they went to different schools and hanged out with new people. They also had outgrown each other.