CHAPTER ONE
"I want you to just keep drinking a lot of water and don't stress yourself too much, okay? All the babies are perfectly healthy." The doctor smiled, handing Amelia Thomas the scan paper. Amelia let out a huge sigh of relief.
She was seven and a half months pregnant and had been through so much. Just last night, she'd fallen down the stairs, and she'd been so scared something bad had happened to the babies. But now, knowing they were all fine, a cool calmness washed over her. Everything had been worth it.
She went home and waited for her husband. Around 8 PM, she heard the key turn in the lock and quickly stood up. "Babe!" she called out, her voice full of warmth.
Michael Vick appeared in the doorway. He didn't even look up at his wife. He seemed exhausted after a long day at work, silently bending down to take off his shoes.
"After the fall yesterday, I still went for a check-up today," Amelia started, her voice cheerful despite his lack of response. "And the babies are all in good health!" Michael had been super busy at the office and hadn't picked up his phone when she'd called earlier, so she'd just gone by herself. The hospital wasn't far, so it wasn't a big deal.
Michael ignored her, but Amelia kept smiling. "I was just thinking about names for our babies. What do you think we should call them?"
This was their fourth year of marriage, and they had been waiting for children for a long time. Michael's mother, especially, called almost constantly to ask if they were expecting. But now that they finally were, the whole family seemed overjoyed. Despite the difficulties of pregnancy, just thinking about not one, not two, but three sweet little babies made everything worthwhile.
Michael finished taking off his shoes, but there was no hint of a smile on his face. "We can't have those kids. We should terminate the pregnancy." His voice was flat, devoid of any emotion.
"W…what?" Amelia was still caught up in her happy mood, but Michael's words hit her like a cold splash of water. She was stunned.
Had she heard him wrong?
He actually wanted her to end the pregnancy?
Amelia Thomson had married Michael Vick when she was just nineteen. They had dated for a year and a half, and throughout their relationship, Michael had always treated her well, never pushing her boundaries. Being a conservative person, she had never been comfortable with the idea of intimacy before marriage, believing they could do enough of that once they were married.
However, after they got married, they couldn't have kids and had tried so many times with him but nothing seemed positive. Their families had constantly pressured them to have kids. Watching their friends, who had married after them, start families only made the pressure worse, especially with his mother's constant nagging and calling her barren.
Eventually, Michael had suggested artificial insemination, convincing Amelia to get pregnant through.
Over the past few months, Amelia had endured a lot for the sake of their growing babies inside her.
But right now…
She couldn't believe he wanted her to end the pregnancy.
"W-why? Why sh-should I end the babies' lives?" Amelia stuttered, her voice trembling.
Michael sighed before speaking. "I talked to the doctor last night . The doctor told me there's is been a mix up in the files that day and that someone sperm was used on you instead. These triplets you're carrying… they aren't really mine. There's no blood connection. I don't want them."
Amelia stared at him as if he'd lost his mind. The way he spoke about ending the pregnancy felt so easy, so casual.
She finally found her voice. "Why should I agree to this all of a sudden? You were the one who wanted this from the very start. Even if they aren't yours as you claim, we want kids and can still love them as ours. They're mine too. They belong to both of us, Michael. I get to decide as well. Besides, the babies are already far along. It won't be long before they arrive, we can't terminate them."
Amelia knew how far along she was. The suffering, the pain—she had accepted the existence of these babies and had started looking forward to a future with them. Now he was saying he didn't want them, just like that?
Michael seemed frustrated. "We can't keep them because once they're born, we won't have enough to take care of them. Do you think raising three kids will be easy? If I spend all my money on them, how am I supposed to afford for my own kids in the future when they're born?"
"We don't even know if what the doctor told you was true," Amelia argued, her voice rising. "We just need these babies. And kids aren't trash that you can just throw away when you no longer need them. You decided to have them in the first place, and it's best to keep them."
"So what's it going to be? Are you going to end the pregnancy or not?" Michael looked at her, his impatience growing with each passing second.
"I'm not ending it," Amelia firmly responded, without wasting any time to think. She was heavily pregnant, and only she knew the pain she had been going through. "I don't know what exactly went through your mind to make you think of ending these babies' lives, but I can't be that heartless. You don't know how hard it's been for me to carry these three babies all alone?"
She had formed a deep bond with them. There was no way she would consider ending the pregnancy, especially after seeing how healthy they looked today during her hospital visit. The thought of ending their lives felt too cruel.
Michael nodded and responded coldly. "Fine, if you want to have them, go ahead. But I want you to know that I won't be a part of that. And if you really want to keep them, once they're born, you can take care of them by yourself because we'll be getting a divorce."
The word 'divorce' hung in the air, thick and heavy, suffocating Amelia. Her mind reeled.
Divorce?
After everything?
After four years of marriage?
After waiting so long for children?
After all the sacrifices she'd made for him?
"Divorce?" Amelia repeated, her voice barely a whisper. Her eyes went wide with shock as she stared at him. "You… you can't be serious, Michael."
He shrugged, a cold, uncaring gesture. "I've never been more serious. I want my own children. A family of my own. These… These aren't my blood. I can't look at them every day knowing that."
Amelia felt a sharp pain in her chest, a physical ache. "But that shouldn't matter! We both promised that we would love them! We went through all of this together! The treatments, the hopes, the waiting… it was your idea, Michael!" Her voice cracked as tears welled in her eyes. "Are you just going to throw away everything we've built because you heard that the sperm aren't yours? That's not even a guarantee!"
Michael paced a few steps, his hands shoved into his pockets. "The doctor wouldn't lie, Amelia. I want a chance that I can have something real, something that truly belongs to me. Can't you understand that? I've been living with this for so long. The feeling of not being a real man, of not being able to have my own children naturally… it's been eating at me." He stopped and faced her, his expression hard. "And now. I can't just ignore this."
"And what about my own hope?" Amelia retorted, her voice gaining more strength, fueled by anger and hurt. "What about my feelings? I've been carrying these babies for almost eight months! I feel them kick, I talk to them, I dream about them! They are real, Michael! They are alive! How can you just… just discard them like they're nothing?" She placed a protective hand over her swollen belly. "They are real. And they are ours. We made this decision together!"
"We made a decision when I thought there was no other way," Michael countered, his voice rising too. "Things have changed. I have a choice now. And I'm choosing to have a family that's truly mine. A biological family."
"So, what? I'm just supposed to abandon these babies because you've had a change of heart?" Amelia cried, hot tears streaming down her face. "You want me to commit murder, Michael? That's what it would be! Ending a life, ending three lives that are already so developed!"
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's not murder, Amelia. It's… it's a procedure. It happens, and people do it."
"Not to my babies!" she shouted, her voice thick with emotion. "Not after all of this! You want me to give up on them, on us, just because you think they are not yours? What if this is the only chance of ever having kids? What then? Will you come crawling back to me, asking for these babies, after you've made me go through such a horrific act?"
Michael's jaw tightened. "There's no crawling back. My mind is made up. Either you end the pregnancy, and we try for a biological child of our own or you keep them, and we get a divorce. It's that simple."
Amelia stared at him, truly seeing him for the first time in this conversation. The man she loved, the man she had married, was gone. Replaced by a stranger with cold eyes and a heart of stone.
"You're giving me an ultimatum?" she asked, her voice dangerously quiet.
"Call it what you want," he said, turning away from her. "But I'm not going to be a father to children who aren't truly mine. I can't. It's not fair to them, and it's not fair to me."
"So, that's it?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "You're just… abandoning us?"
He didn't turn back. "I'm making a choice for my future, Amelia. You should do the same." he finished, walking towards their room direction and slammed the door, while locking himself in the room.