Chapter 49

JAYDA

^A FEW WEEKS LATER^

Jayda was worried about Lilian. It had been almost two weeks since she and Sebastian had come back from their one-week vacation. She hadn’t heard from her best friend since before they left.

She wanted to tell Lilian the good news about her daughter in person, but whenever Jayda called her, she could tell something was not right. No matter how much Jayda tried to get her to talk, Lilian would not say anything.

Instead, she would give an excuse to end the call and also promise to call back but never did.

Jayda also reached out to Roman, who assured her everything was fine, but she found it hard to believe him.

Now that she was home, Jayda made up her mind to go visit Lilian as a surprise. She knew if she called to inform her that she was coming over, Lilian was going to make some silly excuses and give her lame reasons why she shouldn’t show up.

After four rings, Lilian finally answered her door.

“W—what are y—you doing here?” She shuddered when she saw Jayda.

Jayda took in her best friend’s appearance and almost wondered if she was at the wrong apartment. Lilian wasn’t looking like her usual self. She wore baggy pajamas, her hair was in a rough, messy bun, and her eyes were swollen from crying.

Jayda walked into Lilian’s apartment and settled on the couch without saying a word. She felt like the worst friend on Earth knowing Lilian was going through something that could make her look so terrible, but Lilian could not talk to her about it.

Lilian took a seat beside Jayda.

“What’s wrong, Lily?” Jayda asked with a heavy heart.

“Nothing.” She replied, looking everywhere else except at Jayda.

Jayda shook her head. “I know something is wrong. Please tell me.”

“Nothing is wrong, Jay!” Lilian whispered, looking down at her hands.

“You don’t know how much I hate myself now because I feel like I’ve betrayed you. You are hurting, you need me, and I’ve not been there for you. Please tell me what’s wrong,” Jayda pleaded.

A tear slid down Lilian’s cheek, and she wiped it away immediately with her palm.

Jayda took Lilian’s hands in hers. “I’ve never judged you for anything, and I won’t start now. Please tell me what is going on.”

Lilian let out a heavy breath, and for the first time that night, she looked into Jayda’s worried eyes.

“R—Rome…Roman and I are no.…no longer together.” She shuddered.

Jayda looked confused. She’d talked to Roman two days ago, and he sounded like everything was fine.

“How? When? What happened?” Jayda asked.

“I broke up with him,” Lilian confessed with teary eyes.

Her confession made Jayda more confused. She knew Lilian and Roman were so much in love with each other. What had gone wrong?

“Did he cheat on you?” Jayda asked with a heavy heart. Roman was like a brother to her, and she didn’t want to think he would stoop so low.

“No, he didn’t,” Lilian wiped another tear.

“Then what happened? Don’t you love him anymore?” Jayda asked, almost in tears.

“I love Roman more than I love myself, but I can’t give him what he truly wants, so I let him go.”

“What do you mean? What does he truly want?”

Fresh tears poured down Lilian’s cheeks. This time she didn’t bother to wipe them off. “A baby. He wants us to have a child, and since I can’t give him one, I had to let him go.”

Jayda was shocked by Lilian’s revelation. She didn’t know her best friend was going through something like this and had refused to open up to her.

“Did he ever threaten to leave you?” Jayda asked with a shaking voice.

“He didn’t. I broke up with him because I know he will eventually break up with me. We’ve been trying for a baby long before he left for Australia.”

“While he was away, I went for check-ups, took vitamins that would boost my fertility, ate healthy, and did everything that the doctor recommended. And when Roman came back, we kept trying, but all the results came out negative.”

Jayda cried along with her friend.

“Why didn’t you tell me, Lilian? I’m your best friend. You were going through something this crucial, and you didn’t inform me.” Jayda was mad at herself for not paying better attention. She should have noticed something wasn’t right with Lilian.

“You had so much on your plate, I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You were always there for me Lilian. Being there for you too would cost me nothing,” Jayda cried.

“God, I’m so sorry, Lily.” Jayda pulled her best friend into a hug, and they cried together.

After a minute, Lilian pulled away from the hug and continued where she left off. “I told Roman that we could find an alternative, but he refused all my suggestions. He was against surrogacy, and he wouldn’t even consent for us to start an IVF journey.

“He’s a brilliant and well-known doctor. He could use his connections to fast track the process, but he refused no matter how much I pleaded.” Lilian looked at Jayda with swollen and red eyes.

“He’s scared of allowing me to go through the process, and he’s scared I’ll be broken and probably fall into depression if the process didn’t work.

“He said he will never stop loving me, with or without kids. He said we would keep trying, and if we still can’t conceive, we will opt for adoption.

“Because of that, we got into a fight. I accused him of being selfish because he could easily look for another woman and impregnate her.” Lilian’s voice rasped from her sobbing.

“I feel weak, Jayda. I feel useless. Roman wants a child, and I can’t give him one.

“I see the way he looks at other kids, and that breaks my heart every time. I want to become a mother too. I’m almost thirty-two.

“If it doesn’t happen now, what hope do I have that it’s going to happen in the future?” Lilian burst into another round of tears.

Jayda embraced her. She wished there was something she could do to make her best friend’s pain go away.

“So, I broke up with him. I can’t give him what he wants so it’s better for us to go our separate ways.”

Jayda reached for Lily’s hands and looked into her swollen eyes. “We will get through this. You will get pregnant with your own baby and give birth to him or her just like how I’m going to give birth to your goddaughter.

“I will talk to Roman. We will figure out something. I will also talk to my mom. She used to be a nurse. She can tell us what to do,” Jayda promised.

“For now, I want you to stop crying. It’s not good for your health, and I don’t want you to get sick. Remember, only a healthy body can carry a healthy baby, so I want you to put you and your health first. Okay?”

Lilian bit her lip and nodded.

“Thank goodness tomorrow is Saturday,” Jayda said. “I’ll be staying here for the night.”

“You don’t have to, Jayda. Your family is waiting for you at home. They need you. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine,” Lilian reasoned.

Leaving Lilian right now was the last thing on Jayda’s mind. She was afraid Lilian was going to hurt herself. She needed to stay and watch over her. Lilian would have done the same thing for her.”

“You need me too, so I’ll stay with you. Sebastian and Aaron can manage without me for tonight.”

“Are you sure?” Lilian asked.

Jayda nodded. “I know you’ve not eaten all day. What do you feel like?”

“I’m not hungry,” Lilian whispered.

“Will you manage a few slices of pizza? I don’t want you to go to bed on an empty stomach.”

“Seriously, Jay! I’m okay.” Lilian assured her.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Jayda said, reached for her phone, and dialed a pizza shop.

Jayda pulled Lilian into a final hug and whispered in her ear. “Everything will be fine,” she promised.

Lilian nodded. “I want to soak myself in the tub.”

Jayda gave her friend a stern look.

“I promise not to do anything stupid,” she said, but Jayda was not convinced.

She accompanied Lilian to her bathroom and prepared a bath for her. Then she gave her some privacy but promised to check up on her in a few minutes.

When Jayda got to the living room, she called Sebastian.

“Hi, love.”

SEBASTIAN

From the way she sounded, Sebastian could tell all was not well.

“Hey, is Lilian okay?” he asked, concerned.

“No, she’s not. She and Roman are currently going through a rough patch. It’s a long story. I’ll explain when we see each other. Do you mind if I stay over for the night? Lilian needs me.”

“Sure, she would have done the same for you. Don’t worry, Aaron and I will be fine. We’ll come over tomorrow morning with breakfast.”

“Thanks. Give Aaron a kiss for me. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“I will. Take care of yourself and my little miracle. My regards to Lilian. I love you.”

“I love you too, babe. Goodnight.” Jayda ended the call.

Lilian had left the bathroom and gone to bed. She was sleeping when Jayda looked in on her. Jayda’s heart ached for her bestie. They’d been through so much together. What could she do to help her?

Then, she got an idea of how she could do it.