Baby Momma

by Tosha Damaya

  Sydney's father was standing in the doorway watching Zeke and approached him when he started to sob. He went to Zeke and wrapped his arms around him.

  "Let it out son," Samuel stated, while patting Zeke's shoulder.

  Zeke took his advice and let everything he was holding in out in the open. "I don't know if I can live without her," he sobbed. It was the truth, he considered Sydney his whole life. Without her, he wasn't complete.

  "I don't plan on living without her," Samuel stated. "My little girl may be quiet and reserved, but she's strong. She'll find a way to come back to us."

  Zeke nodded his head repeatedly. "You're right, she is strong. I just hope that someone finds her soon.”

  ≈

  Three hours away, Sydney was sitting in a chair with her hands tied behind her back and feet tied together at the ankles. Across her abdomen, there was another rope that confined her to the chair. It hurt to move because it was wrapped so tightly around her bulging stomach. She just hoped it didn't affect the lives that were growing inside of her.

  The last thing she remembered before waking up was eating lunch with Alana, and then getting in the car to leave. When she reached across the seat to give Alana a hug, she placed a cloth across her mouth that resulted in her passing out.

  She was shocked to wake up in a room she didn't recognize. From what she could see, it looked like an abandoned hunting cabin. She observed the dead animals hanging on the walls like trophies and the minimal furniture of one couch and a kitchen table.

  All of the windows were covered so she couldn't look outside. So far, she'd been in the cabin for two days. Alana was being evil towards her, and wouldn’t allow Sydney to use the bathroom or eat. She was starving, and felt dehydrated from the lack of liquids.

  She couldn’t believe Alana would do this to her. They’d had a great time at lunch, and she thought that they were headed back towards a friendship before this happened. One thing for sure, she needed to get out before Alana took things too far.

  Sydney attempted to slip her hands out of the ropes again, but they wouldn't budge. Alana came through the front door and laughed at Sydney. "You won't be able to get out.”

  "Why are you doing this? What have I done to you?" Sydney shouted.

  Alana laughed. "I'm tired of you, Sydney. Everyone thinks you’re so fuckin perfect when you’re not. I wanted Christopher, and he should be with me.”

  What in the hell? “So you’re hurting me because I’m with Zeke, and he loves me?” Sydney had to say it to make sure it made sense.

  “Once you’re gone, he'll be grieving and will need someone to help get over your death. I'll be there to show him support."

  Sydney shook her head and chuckled. "You're crazy, Alana. If he didn’t want you three years ago, he’s not going to want you now, whether I’m dead or not.”

  “He does want me. You weren’t there the night we made love. It was perfect, and I could tell that he loved me. I tried so hard to get over him, but I couldn’t. Our connection is too strong.”

  Sydney snorted. “No Alana, that was him using your body to catch a nut. I'm the only one that receives Zeke's love making."

  Hearing this got Alana angry. She walked up to Sydney and slapped her across the face. "You won't ever touch him again."

  Sydney tasted blood inside of her mouth. "You're lucky I'm attached to this chair. You better hope you're not here when I break out of these ropes."

  "You're never getting out. I have big plans for you, Sydney. I plan on setting this place on fire just like I burned your store down. This time you'll be in the fire as well." Alana walked towards the door. "I'll see you later, bestie. I need to go and get some supplies," Alana stated before leaving.

  Sydney started to panic and tried to get out of the ropes. After an hour of struggling she was able to get her feet untied and continued to work with her hands until she was too tired to continue. She couldn't fight the exhaustion and fell asleep.

  ≈

  Sydney woke up when she felt something wet being poured all over her. One quick sniff and she knew it was gasoline. "Alana, please don't do this."

  "Now you want to beg? It's too late for that."

  Through half-closed eyes, Sydney watched as Alana walked around the cabin, pouring the gas on to the furniture and floor.

  "Alana, I'm pregnant, please don't do this. You're not only hurting me, but innocent babies. Don't you think Zeke would be devastated about his twins dying?"

  "I'll give him more babies," Alana stated before she pulled a lighter from her pocket and threw it on the ground. Sydney watched as the lighter hit the floor and flames ignited

  "I'm sorry Sydney, but I can't let you have him. You've could've had any guy in the world, and you chose mine. I pray that you die quickly," Alana stated before getting her purse.

  Sydney started to squirm in the chair, moving her hands frantically. Watching the flames getting closer, she wiggled her hands until they slipped out of the rope. The gasoline that Alana had poured on her must have moistened her hands. With her hands loose she was able to untie the rope from around her body and get up from the chair.

  Before Alana could get to the door, Sydney picked up the wooden chair and hit her with it. It broke in pieces across Alana's back. When she fell to the ground, Sydney took off towards to door but was stopped when Alana grabbed her leg causing her to trip and land on her stomach. Sydney immediately panicked and thought about her babies. She hoped that the fall didn't cause any damage, and her little angels were safe. The two women wrestled on the ground. Around them, the fire was starting to grow, and the room was filling with smoke rapidly. If Sydney didn't do something soon, they were both going to go up in flames. In their current positions, Alana had the upper hand and was sitting on top her stomach. Sydney was able to push Alana off of her and looked around until she saw one of the wooden legs of the chair. Rolling over, she crawled towards it. When Alana came after her again, Sydney swung the wooden leg and smacked Alana across the head, knocking her back to the ground.

  To make sure the job was done, Sydney continued to hit her until Alana was unconscious. "I pray that you die quickly," Sydney mimicked before spitting on Alana. She didn't condone violence, but figured she would get a pass from God since Alana was trying to kill her.

  Now the whole room was covered in flames, including the front door. The smoke was overwhelming, so Sydney covered her mouth with her hands and looked for another exit and saw that there was a window not consumed in flames yet. She grabbed the same wooden leg that she used to beat Alana with and broke the window. Using all of her last bit of strength, she climbed out of it and fell to the ground outside. With her last bit of adrenaline, she crawled away from the house. It was pitch black outside, but Sydney could feel the grass and broken tree limbs against her knees. She knew that any moment her energy was going to diminish, but she wanted to get as far away from the house as possible. When she couldn't make it any further, she collapsed onto the ground.

  ≈

  Sean Garrison was driving in his SUV with his teen daughter Destiny in the passenger seat. For two hours, they had been driving and for two hours she had been getting on his nerves. He was grateful that his hunting cabin was only ten minutes away.

  "Daddy I can't believe you're ruining my weekend by making me come to the hunting cabin. Nicholas is throwing a party and asked me to be his date. Do you know how big of a deal that is? Senior boys never ask sophomores out, daddy!"

  "Nicholas is why we’re going hunting this weekend, honey. I figured that it was better that I hunt deer instead of teenage boys."

  Destiny rolled her eyes. "Daddy, sometimes you're so unfair. You were a teenage boy once."

  He snorted. "Exactly my point. Nicholas is only thinking about getting into your pants, Destiny. I'm trying to keep your virtue intact."

  "I'm not talking to you this whole weekend."

  "Good." Maybe he would have some peace and quiet for once.

  "I wish I could destroy
the cabin. I hate going to it."

  Sean ignored his daughter and continued to drive. Raising a teenage girl alone was one of the hardest things he'd ever done, and he was a doctor that completed surgeries every day. When his wife abandoned him and Destiny five years ago, he didn’t have a choice but to be a single parent. But each day brought on a new challenge. The current one was horny teenage boys.

  Ten minutes later, he turned off the highway and made his way down his private road. He looked over to Destiny and saw that she was asleep. He drove slowly and stopped when he noticed that the gate to his property was open. Maybe an animal knocked it loose. Sean continued to drive and almost shitted on himself when he saw his cabin going up in flames.

  “What the fuck?” he shouted, getting out of the truck. His family's cabin was destroyed. His outburst woke Destiny up, and she saw the gorging fire on their hunting cabin. She smiled and sent a silent thank you to God for making her wishes come true.

  "Destiny, call for help," her dad shouted from outside the truck.

  "What's the number?"

  "Are you serious?" Sean wished he had something to throw at his daughter to knock some sense into her. "Dial 911, Destiny!"

  While his daughter handled calling for emergency help, he attempted to figure out what was going on. The fire was too intense to go inside of the house, so he walked around and tripped over something. He knew the property well, and there wasn't anything that should've caused him to fall. The fire lit up the sky, but it was still too dark to see anything, so he reached out with his hands and felt around. With one touch he knew that he was touching a person's body, a female body. Sean went into doctor mode, picked the woman up, and carried her back to his SUV.

  "Destiny open the door!"

  When Destiny got the door to the backseat open, Sean placed the woman inside. He immediately started doing CPR, but she wouldn't respond. He could tell by looking at her face that she was involved in some fight, and he could smell the gasoline reeking from her body. This poor woman was a victim of something horrible.

  Destiny watched from the front seat. She felt sorry for the woman. Looking at her from head to toe, she realized something and alerted her dad. "She's pregnant, daddy."

  Sean stopped conducting CPR, completed a full body observation, and noticed the small baby bump on the woman. To make matters worse, when he looked at her jeans and the area between her legs, he saw that it was stained with blood.

  He needed to get her help as soon as possible.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Sean sat in the waiting room outside of the emergency room. It'd been over an hour since they arrived, and he hadn't heard anything from the staff. He felt responsible for the woman and didn't want to leave her.

  It was late, but Destiny was still awake beside him, gossiping on her phone about a girl name Natalia that she attended school with. It was evident Destiny didn't like the girl.

  "She wears her sister's old hair! Omg! I can't wait to tell everyone on Monday!" Destiny screamed.

  Sean looked at his daughter and shook his head, disappointed. It seemed like the fortune he was spending on the private school wasn't doing anything to help Destiny's character. Not wanting to hear anymore, he got up and went to get some information. He stopped one of the nurses that was walking by.

  "Excuse me, I brought in a young woman about an hour ago and I haven't heard anything about her condition."

  "Sydney Adams?"

  Is that her name? Sean took a chance and nodded his head.

  "She was moved to a private room. Are you Zeke Coleman? She's been asking for him. She's extremely dehydrated and tired, so she comes in and out of consciousness, but she's adamant about seeing Zeke whenever she's awake."

  Sean couldn't stop himself from lying to the nurse. He just didn't want Sydney to be alone. "I'm Zeke Coleman."

  ≈

  Sydney felt a light tap on her shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw one of the nurses standing near her bed.

  "Sydney, we found Zeke," she said pointing to the other side of the room. "I'll give you two some privacy." The nurse stated before leaving.

  Sydney turned her head and watched the light-skinned older gentleman walked closer to the bed. She didn't know who he was, but she could tell by his clothing that he wasn't an employee of the hospital.

  Sydney was confused. "You aren't Zeke," she stated.

  He smiled and shook his head. "No, my name is Sean. I'm the one that found you outside of my cabin." He went into further detail about how he’d found her near the woods.

  "Thank God. For a moment I thought I had amnesia or something and I couldn't remember who my boyfriend was. Thank you for helping me."

  He smiled. "No need to thank me, I'm just happy you're okay. Is there anything I can do to assist you before I leave?"

  Sydney started to cough repeatedly. It hurt to talk, but she didn't care. "I need you to contact the real Zeke.”

  ≈

  Zeke and Ethan arrived to the hospital as soon as possible after Sean called. They rushed inside and found Sydney's room. She was laying in the bed asleep, and there was a man in the room reading. Zeke went and greeted him.

  "You must be Sean."

  Sean stood and shook Zeke's hand. "I am. It's nice to meet you." Sean looked over at Sydney. "She was talking about you before she fell asleep."

  Zeke looked over to Sydney, and his heart jumped with happiness. "I owe you so much. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call. I'm a lawyer in Austin and my brother," he stated pointing to Ethan, "is a realtor. If you need any legal advice or help finding a home, we got you. That fire spread to the woods so if you hadn't of gotten her then, she would have been gone. Thank you."

  "I'm a true believer that things happen for a reason. It was a last minute decision to come to the cabin. I'll give you some privacy with your girl. I know you want to be alone with her."

  "I'll join you," Ethan said, following Sean. He would visit with Sydney later. He was happy to see her alive. He went into the hall and started calling the family to let them know Syd was okay.

  Zeke walked towards Sydney's hospital bed and stared at her. It felt like she had been missing for months, instead of two days. He never wanted to experience that type of pain again, and could finally relax, knowing that she was still breathing.

  He pulled a chair close to her and sat down. Grabbing her hand, he threaded his fingers through hers and brought it up to his lips to press tiny kisses against her fingers. Besides a few scrapes and a slightly bruised cheek, she looked fine. The same beautiful woman he fell in love with.

  "Didn't I tell you before that it's not polite to stare at people while they're sleeping?" Sydney stated before slowly opening her eyes.

  Zeke laughed and started placing kisses all over her face. "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine now that you're here. I'm just really tired. I could probably sleep for a week," she said softly.

  "You'll have time to do it. I'm going to wrap you in bubble wrap and lock you in the bedroom, Syd. I'm not letting you out of my sight. I'm just glad that you and the babies are okay."

  Tears started falling down her eyes. Zeke wiped them away. "What's wrong, Syd? Are you in pain?"

  She shook her head. "I think I hurt the babies Zeke. There was so much bleeding when I first arrived. Alana and I got into a fight, and I landed on my stomach."

  That doesn’t sound good. "Have they said anything to you about it?"

  She shook her head. "No, but what if I miscarried?"

  He hoped that it didn't happen.

  Zeke looked at her stomach under the sheet and didn't see anything different. "Then we'll try again, Syd. The most important thing is that you’re here. Women miscarry all of the time for no reason, and you’ve been through a lot.”

  “You wouldn’t be disappointed?”

  “Of course, but we can always try again to have more kids. I love you so much Sydney, you don't know how much."

  "I think I have an idea because I
love you just as much."

  ≈

  A few minutes later, Ethan and Sean came back, and they all talked. Sydney told them about everything that happened at the cabin. She didn't wish ill on anyone, but was glad that Alana died in the fire. If she hadn't fought for her life, then she would be dead instead.

  Sean left first and gave Ethan a ride to a nearby hotel. He traded numbers with both men and promised to keep in touch. Zeke decided to stay with Sydney at the hospital. He was planning on sleeping on the couch. When the nurse brought him a blanket, he asked if an ultrasound had been completed.

  "We completed one when she first arrived. We were concerned about the blood, so we examined her while she was unconscious.”

  “And?”

  The nurse looked at Sydney, her eyes were closed so the nurse assumed she was sleeping. “I’m sorry, but the fetuses didn’t make it. We haven’t told Ms. Adams yet to avoid further trauma.”

  The nurse left the room. Zeke looked over to Sydney, and her eyes popped open, letting him know that she was awake and had heard the whole conversation. When she started to cry, Zeke went and laid in the hospital bed with her.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Zeke was careful to not hurt Sydney as he held her in his arms. The hospital bed was small, but he was able to make sure they fit on it comfortably. He stroked her hair as she continued to cry into his chest.

  He was devastated, but wouldn't show those emotions in front of Sydney. He needed to be her strength right now. Whenever a tear started to fall from his eyes, he turned his head and quickly wiped it away before she could see his sorrow.

  "I'm sorry, Zeke."

  Sydney words caught him off-guard. "What are you sorry? None of this is your fault, Sydney."

  "It is. I should've been more careful. I should've known that her coming to see me out of the blue was suspicious."

  "How were you supposed to know that Alana wanted to hurt you?" It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her that Alana and Danielle were working together, but he figured that it could wait.