After My Best Friend Had a Baby Instead Me, I Broke Up with My Boyfriend

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1.

Seven years together, and Clarence Simmons and I had both agreed on a child-free life. But both sets of parents wanted grandchildren, so they'd refused to let us marry.

Then, on our anniversary, both families got all mysterious and said they'd set up a surprise for me at a hotel.

I thought they'd finally come around, that they'd teamed up with Clarence to propose.

Instead, I pushed open the door of the private dining room, and my best friend Elaine Henson tossed an ultrasound photo at me and announced she was carrying my boyfriend's baby.

My best friend said sweetly, "You're scared of having a baby, aren't you? So now I'll have one for you."

"When the baby's born, it can call you Mom and me godmother. Simple as that."

Clarence's parents spoke to me as if handing down a favor. "Now that there's a baby, we approve of the marriage. The county clerk's office is still open, so go get your license."

Clarence looked at me, his tone matter-of-fact. "Do you know how good Elaine's being to you? She's giving up being the child's real mother, all so the two of us can be together."

My mother chimed in from the side. "Exactly. You don't even have to give birth, and you get a baby for free. What's not to like? Now hurry up and thank Elaine."

My boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend, and yet every single one of them stood there waiting for me to say thank you.

I tore the ultrasound photo to pieces, turned, and walked out.

I wasn't marrying into this. And I didn't want this family either.

……

I picked up my bag and walked out.

Clarence chased me to the hotel entrance and grabbed my wrist.

"Can you stop making a scene? Both our families are in there. Do you have any idea how embarrassing you're making this for everyone?"

I shook his hand off, my voice full of disbelief.

"So now I'm the one embarrassing everyone?"

Clarence drew a deep breath, like he was holding something back, then tried to explain it to me as if he were being patient.

"I know you can't accept it right away, but this really is the best solution. You don't want to give birth, Elaine's willing to have the baby for us, and once it's born, you get to be its mother."

"Don't be so ungrateful. Besides, the Simmons family runs a huge company. I'm the only son. You really expect me to go child-free and never have a kid?"

Clarence didn't feel he'd betrayed me at all. In his mind, Elaine having his baby was doing me a favor, making our marriage possible.

And my refusal was somehow me not knowing what was good for me.

I looked at this man I'd loved for seven years, and all at once he felt like a complete stranger.

Clarence was the one who'd brought up the child-free life in the first place. He was the one who'd said, isn't it better to just have each other? Why let a child come between what we have? And now he was the one asking for one.

Back then, I'd actually wanted a child. It was Clarence who kept telling me he wanted the child-free life, that he didn't want kids, and because I loved him, I was the one who went around telling everyone I was child-free by choice.

And now Clarence was betraying me like this.

I didn't say anything more. I flagged down a taxi, got in, and shut the door.

I looked in the rearview mirror. He stood where he was and didn't come after me.

Back at my rented apartment, I sat on the edge of the bed, my eyes red, drowning in everything I'd swallowed, the tears about to spill over.

The lock turned, and my mother suddenly pushed the door open. She had a spare key to my place.

She shut the door and looked at me, without a trace of worry in her eyes, only reproach. "Why did you run off like that? Do you have any idea how much face I lost? I had to sit there smiling at his mother because of you."

"Now come back with me right this minute. The clerk's office hasn't closed yet. Go get married, on our anniversary, a good day like this."

I lifted my head and looked at her, and she seemed like a total stranger.

"My boyfriend's been sleeping with my best friend, and you still want to force me to stay with him?"

My mother sighed and sat down beside me, as if she were about to reason with me. "Try to be more open-minded. Isn't Elaine doing this for your own good too?"

I froze. They'd cheated, and it was somehow for my own good. How absurd was that?

I was so furious I could have spat blood, and yet my mother said in complete earnest, "You think having a baby is easy? She's sacrificing her own body to give birth for you. What more do you want?"

Her face was full of sincerity, as if she saw nothing ridiculous in a word she was saying.

My voice trembled as I fired back. "That's her baby. Hers and Clarence's. How am I supposed to raise it?"

My mother's tone went cold, exasperated with me. "Why couldn't you raise it? It'll call you Mom anyway, and once it's grown, it'll take care of you all the same. Better than you never having kids and having no one to look after you when you're old."

As if she couldn't be bothered to talk to me anymore, she stood up and added one more line. "Don't get a good deal and still act like you're the one being wronged."

I was shaking all over with rage.

She left, and the door closed behind her.

I sat on the bed, and the tears I'd been forcing back finally fell.

I finally understood: in her eyes, I wasn't a person.

My pain, my dignity, my limits, all of it was worthless next to a child that didn't even exist yet.