My Girlfriend Was Pregnant, But When I Asked If the Baby Was Mine, She Said, “I Don’t Know”

I almost didn't meet Aaliyah the next morning.

Her message sat on my phone while I lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to my mother move around the kitchen downstairs. Every few minutes, I picked up my phone, read the message again, and put it facedown on the mattress.

I need to tell you what happened after Andre left that night in June.

I had spent the previous day discovering that my girlfriend had betrayed me, my brother had hidden it, my mother had known enough to keep secrets, and another girl had been dragged into a lie that wasn't hers.

What else could there possibly be?

At 9:12 a.m., I finally replied.

Where?

Aaliyah answered almost immediately.

The park behind the library. Please come alone.

I stared at those last three words.

Come alone.

Even now, she was asking me to meet her on her terms.

I typed, You don't get to tell me what to do anymore.

Then I deleted it.

Instead, I wrote, I'll be there at ten.

Downstairs, my mother was making coffee. The smell filled the kitchen, warm and familiar, but it did nothing to settle my stomach.

She glanced at me when I entered.

"Did you sleep?""

"Not really.""

She pushed a plate of toast toward me.

"Eat something.""

"I'm not hungry.""

"Nico.""

I sat down, mostly because I didn't have the energy to argue.

Mom leaned against the counter.

"Are you going to see Aaliyah?""

I looked up sharply.

"How do you know?""

"Your phone lit up while you were getting dressed. I didn't read the messages, but I saw her name.""

I stared at her.

She raised both hands.

"I'm not asking you to tell me what she said. I just want to know whether you're okay.""

I almost laughed.

"Why does everybody keep asking me that?""

"Because you're my son.""

"Then why does it feel like I'm the last person anyone thinks about?""

Her face crumpled.

I regretted the words, but the hurt behind them was too deep to pull back.

Mom sat across from me.

"I know I've made mistakes.""

"You kept secrets.""

"Yes.""

"You knew Andre was getting too close to Aaliyah, and you didn't tell me.""

"Yes.""

"You let me believe everything was fine.""

She nodded, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Yes, Nico. I did.""

I waited for the explanation.

For the part where she told me she had been protecting me, or that she thought it was best, or that she never imagined things would get this bad.

Instead, she took a shaky breath.

"I was afraid of losing the family we had left.""

I frowned.

"What does that mean?""

Mom looked toward the window.

"After your father left, I promised myself I would never let anything tear this family apart again. I worked hard to keep you and Andre close. I wanted you to grow up knowing that no matter what happened between your father and me, you would always have each other.""

She wiped her cheek.

"When I realized Andre was getting too close to Aaliyah, I thought I could stop it quietly. I thought if I confronted him, he'd listen. If I warned her, she'd back away. I thought I could fix everything without making you choose between your girlfriend and your brother.""

"But you didn't fix anything.""

"No.""

Her voice broke.

"I made it easier for them to keep lying.""

For the first time since this nightmare began, I saw my mother without the armor she usually wore.

She wasn't the woman with all the answers.

She was a woman who had made a terrible decision and was only now seeing how much damage it had caused.

I pushed the plate away.

"I'm going to hear what Aaliyah has to say.""

Mom nodded.

"All right.""

"If she tells me something else that changes everything, I'm not promising I'll forgive her.""

"I wouldn't ask you to.""

I stood.

At the doorway, Mom called my name.

I turned.

"Whatever happens today, don't let anybody pressure you into making a decision you're not ready to make.""

I nodded once and left.

The park behind the library was nearly empty when I arrived. A few older people walked along the paved path, and a groundskeeper pushed a mower across the grass. The morning sun filtered through the trees, leaving patches of light on the benches.

Aaliyah sat near the playground.

She wore jeans, a loose cream-colored sweater, and white sneakers. Her natural curls were pulled away from her face, and she looked as though she'd barely slept.

When she saw me, she stood.

"Nico.""

I stopped several feet away.

"Talk.""

She looked at the empty space beside her.

"Can we sit?""

"No.""

She nodded, accepting the answer.

For a moment, she studied my face as if she were searching for the boy she'd known before everything fell apart.

Then she looked down.

"After Andre left that night, I called him.""

I folded my arms.

"Why?""

"Because I was scared.""

"Of what?""

"Of what we'd done. Of you finding out. Of being pregnant.""

She swallowed.

"I asked him whether he thought I could be pregnant.""

"And what did he say?""

"He told me it was possible.""

I stared at her.

"That's it?""

"No.""

She pressed her hands together.

"He said we needed to keep what happened between us until we knew what we were dealing with.""

I felt the familiar anger rising.

"Another secret.""

"I know.""

"You keep saying you know, but you kept doing it.""

She nodded, tears spilling over.

"You're right.""

Her willingness to agree with me made it harder to stay angry in the way I wanted. I wanted her to argue, to defend herself, to give me something I could point to and say, There. That's why I can't forgive you.

Instead, she stood there looking broken.

And I hated that a part of me still wanted to comfort her.

"What happened after that?"" I asked.

Aaliyah took a trembling breath.

"About twenty minutes later, Andre came back.""

I stared at her.

"He came back?""

"Yes.""

"Why?""

"He said he'd forgotten something.""

"What did he forget?""

She shook her head.

"He never told me.""

I waited.

She looked toward the playground.

"When he came inside, he was upset. He said he couldn't believe what we'd done. He said he'd spent his whole life trying to be a good brother to you, and now he'd ruined everything.""

I felt a bitter laugh rising in my throat.

"He was worried about being a good brother?""

"I know how that sounds.""

"Then stop telling me how things sound and tell me what happened.""

She flinched.

"I'm sorry.""

She took a breath.

"Andre asked me whether I loved you.""

I didn't answer.

"I told him yes.""

"What did he say?""

"He said that if I really loved you, I needed to tell you the truth.""

I stared at her.

"And then?""

"Then he told me he loved me.""

For a second, I couldn't process the sentence.

The words seemed to hang between us, separate from the world.

"What?""

Aaliyah covered her mouth.

"He said he'd been trying to ignore his feelings for months. He said he never intended for anything to happen, but he couldn't pretend he hadn't wanted it.""

I took a step backward.

"Your feelings?""

She nodded miserably.

"My feelings.""

I looked away, staring at the path beneath my shoes.

My brother hadn't simply made one impulsive decision.

He'd been texting my girlfriend, listening to her complaints about me, and building something behind my back. Then, after sleeping with her, he'd returned to tell her that his feelings were real.

It was almost impossible to understand.

"Did you tell him you loved him, too?"" I asked.

She shook her head immediately.

"No.""

"Did you kiss him again?""

"No.""

"Did you want to?""

She hesitated.

That hesitation told me more than a denial could have.

I nodded slowly.

"Okay.""

"Nico, please. I was confused. I was angry with you because of what I thought about Kiara, and Andre made me feel like somebody understood me.

I know I should have talked to you. I know I should have walked away.""

"But you didn't.""

"No.""

I rubbed my face.

"Why are you telling me this now?""

"Because there's more.""

Of course there was.

Aaliyah reached into her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

It was a printed email.

She held it toward me.

"I found this in my email yesterday. Andre sent it to me the morning after he came back.""

I took the paper.

The message was brief.

Andre had written that he regretted what happened and wanted them to stop communicating privately. He said he had crossed a line and needed to take responsibility for his actions.

For a moment, I felt a strange flicker of relief.

Then I reached the final paragraph.

If Nico asks, tell him I came over because you needed help with something. We don't need to destroy his trust in both of us over one terrible night.

I read the sentence again.

He had acknowledged what he'd done, then immediately suggested another lie.

I handed the paper back.

"Did you answer him?""

"Yes.""

"What did you say?""

She pulled out her phone and opened the email thread.

Her reply was dated that same morning.

I can't tell him. He'll leave me, and I'll lose everything.

I stared at the screen.

"Everything?""

She looked up.

"I was scared of losing you.""

"But you were willing to risk losing me every day you kept the secret.""

She began crying again.

"I know.""

I turned away.

The breeze moved through the trees, carrying the sound of children laughing from somewhere beyond the library. I stood with my hands in my pockets, trying to understand how the person who knew me best could have spent months hiding something that changed the meaning of our entire relationship.

Finally, I looked back at her.

"Is the baby mine?""

Aaliyah's face crumpled.

"I don't know.""

"Have you seen a doctor?""

"Yes.""

"What did they say?""

"They confirmed the pregnancy. They said there are ways to estimate the timing, but they can't tell me who the father is just from that.""

I nodded slowly.

"Then we'll need a paternity test when it's medically appropriate.""

She looked startled.

"You want to do that?""

"Of course I do.""

"What if the baby is yours?""

I stared at her.

"Then I'll have a decision to make.""

"And if it's Andre's?""

"I'll have a different decision to make.""

She wiped her cheeks.

"Do you still love me?""

The question hit me harder than I expected.

I looked at her, at the girl who'd sat beside me through difficult days, who'd held my hand when my father forgot my birthday, who'd laughed with me until our stomachs hurt.

I still loved pieces of her.

I loved memories.

I loved the person I thought she was.

But I didn't know whether those feelings could survive what she'd done.

"I don't know," I said honestly.

She lowered her head.

I started walking toward the parking lot.

"Nico?""

I stopped but didn't turn around.

"There was something else Andre said that night," she whispered.

I closed my eyes.

"What?""