Convenient Love, by Melting Heart - Part 1

It wasn’t a routine for Stacy, waking up early hours of the morning to do motherly duties; cook, clean, get her brothers ready for school. She hadn’t adjusted to the schedule quite easy, it had only been 5 days since her mother's funeral. She thought of the last time we spent together as if the event occurred yesterday..

“Stacy I keep telling you to leave that boy.. he is no good and I don’t want you to get hurt, boys like Troy aren’t good news.. I mean look at him” my mother shouted. “You know nothing about Troy.. he isn’t what he looks like.. he loves me with no measure and we are going to raise this baby together whether you like it or not.. I’m 17 and if I could go in bed and sleep with him then I believe I can deal with the consequences of my so called ‘selfish actions’.. mom I love this boy and he loves me too.. the last thing that he and I will do is prove our love to you.. he’s been around more than you have.. all you cared about was that thing you call a husband”... I exit the door and didn’t turn back, that was the last I saw of her, her unanswered calls on my phone, life threw the guilt on my face and I had to face it as long as I lived whether I liked it or not. 

“Stacy!!” her youngest brother called, a 6 year old boy who desired nothing but the love and warmth of a mother, Jon was the closest to mom and the past few nights were dreadful, he’d wake up screaming and crying out moms name, although he knew she wouldn’t come back, She could tell a piece in him carried hope, it was in his eyes when he looked into her room in the mornings, the way he’d run into the house when he had gotten an award or a star at school, it was in his smile, the way he smiled at the photo album of their pictures that was in their album.

“Yes J”, She sincerely smiled at him , trying to hide the pure fact that her heart ached for moms presence the same way his jolly soul did, she had to be strong, she had to be a pillar for the young ones. She too soon, is going to be a mother to her very own child. 

“Stacy I want juice” She opened the doors of empty fridges and cupboards , Dad hadn’t been home since mom died, nobody knew of his whereabouts and nobody knew where to begin, he was lost, and nowhere to be found, the kids hadn’t had food for 2 days and their stomachs were chanting the songs of hunger, it echoed through the cracked filaments of their voices, was her child going to grow up in such? The thought of it all made her heart ache.

The middle born stood at the corner of the kitchen , hopelessness dragged him back and forth, he too, was a child that grew fond of mom, it was just her, the black sheep, she and her mother shared no special bond, She felt she just existed because of her pity, being her first child. The doorbell rang and she ran to open it, not expecting anyone she opened and saw a woman, a smile that lit the entire house, her physical appearance on its own spoke volumes, wearing a beautiful long white dress, with shades above her head, she observed the house until her eyes met hers. 

“Hi, you must be Stacy” she leaned in for a handshake, being the 17 year old pregnant girl she just took the time to do more than analyse her, she drove an expensive car, a 2016 C-Class Mercedes Benz AMG 4Matic, the material that laid itself on her wasn’t just ordinary material, but who was she?!
She smiled at her and she moved her aside and made herself at home, it seemed like she was familiar with the house as she took herself directly to the house kitchen, with men carrying multiple plastics of food , clothes etc right behind her. Her curiosity levels increased, she went and stood right in front of her, “who are you?”, she couldn’t help but give a disrespectful stare, “I am your mom, your dad sent me here”, none of the things she said made sense, the only part that took her attention was that she mentioned dad had sent her here.

Her stomach began to bug her, her back was aching , the boys still had to get ready before the bus leaves them, standing was a problem, things were getting blurry, all things lost their essence, her eyes shut down and as much as she couldn’t see, she saw her standing there, just staring at her out of the cruelty of her expense. 
 

Convenient Love, by Melting Heart - Part 2

Troy was a simple boy yet everything about him was typical, great smile, a smile that lit a house full of dark shadows with darker stories that lied within the darkest souls that roamed around the house. His soul was as handsome as him, beautiful brown eyes, light skin, rich, intelligent yet so humble.

All girls threw themselves at him with no hesitation and depending on his mood, he, without a shadow of a doubt, caught them with no intention of holding them, he was a heart breaker that needed only love to cure his ‘disease’, that’s what he called it. His love for Stacy was irrevocable and with the love that lacked no more, he hoped the baby would be the pillar and the source that kept them bind together and that it was the only thing that could cure him entirely.

“Troy, you done packing?”, his mother eagerly questioned him, a woman of courage, style, and held a strong title in society, her husband divorced her 5 years ago, leaving her with all debt they had accumulated together and with the debt he had accumulated on his own. With nobody to help her, she persistently got herself up using her vision and life goals as a tool to guide her. Now being the wealthy successful woman of wisdom, the last thing she’d let ruin her title was a baby. It seemed as if the love that left her years back is the same kind of love she doesn’t want anybody around her to find.
“Mom I can’t leave Stacy”, Troy said, his voice so broken, his tone containing no emotion, he was hurt, bruised, that his own mother didn’t care about him except for the title she held in society, he was hurt. Troy sat on the rocking chair that used to belong to his father, it was a chair that made him think, a chair that gave him solutions but at that moment, it had nothing, it seemed to share the same feeling of abandonment that he felt. Troy had hopes, dreams and a future for Stacy and their baby, she was 6 months now, carrying a baby girl, Troy couldn’t just abandon the responsibility, the last thing he wanted for his daughter was for her to not know what genuine love feels like.
He got up and left, “Where are you going young man?”, his mother questioned him, “mom, I can’t just leave Stacy like this, listen to me.” She fought with him trying to get her point across but he managed to sit her down, “Mom, look, I know I might seem a bit too young to be a dad or anything and I understand that your title in society means a lot to you, but I honestly don’t care...”, he began to fade out, “Mom I love Stacy, I don’t know what love is but I know what it feels like and if what I have with her isn’t love then I don’t want love, I want what I have with her, we both know she’s not the world’s hottest or richest but she’s pure gold, her smile when I get her biltong, her laugh when she tells me I’m stupid, it’s in the way she carries a smile on her face despite her difficulties, how she’s not afraid to walk alone, her confidence, her faith..” he started to smile as if seeing her in front of him then he zoned out, “Point is mom she gave me so much to fall in love with and I can’t just leave her like that, her mother died recently and she has too much going on for her on top of all that she is carrying my daughter, your granddaughter, the only peace in life that I purely believe will make me whole, love is so cliché but with her it’s not, it’s enormously inexplicable and I love it. I am a father and I have to start acting like one” he gave his mom a soft kiss on the cheek and left her searching for words she never knew how to find, she watched him exit the door, there was something in the way Troy spoke to her and it made her realise that he wasn’t just a little boy anymore but that he was growing and he was willing to take responsibility for his actions.

Troy drove off and made his way to Stacey’s house, on his way there his phone rang
“Hello?”
“Hello son, are you Stacy’s boyfriend?”
“Yes I am and who am I speaking to?”, concern in his voice he drove slower and parked his car on the side of the road.
“This is Dr Eugene, I am here Dr and Sir I think it’s best we talk here in hospital, please come quickly”, he was scared, his heart raced, was Stacy okay? His mind filled with scenarios on what could’ve possibly went wrong, was it stress? Anxiety? He dropped the phone and immediately drove straight to the hospital.
 

Convenient Love, by Melting Heart - Part 3

Lucinda, the woman who had claimed to be Stacy’s mother waited in the wait room for feedback from the Dr, as much as she didn’t care, she was concerned, 
“Dr is everything okay?”, her tone was more of a curious one than a concerned one
“Yes mam, everything is okay, it was just the baby, I gave her an injection for the pain but she is perfectly fine”, the Dr rubbed her back, gave her a calm smile and walked off. Lucinda walked into Stacy’s ward and watched her sleep, the small body of a young girl contained an even smaller body of another girl, she stared at her emotionless, her mind wandered off to the whereabouts of the father, he didn’t send her there , she didn’t know where she was, she just got people to keep an eye on Stacy and her brothers to keep them safe. 
Troy ran in, “I rushed here as soon as I...” the moment he saw her lying there, he fearfully walked towards Stacy, unaware of Lucinda’s presence, he held her hands and kissed her on the forehead and laid the side of the head on the stomach, he smiled, a pure genuine smile, he closed his eyes for a while as if he and his daughter were having a moment of their own. Lucinda cleared her throat, in shock he got up and greeted her
“Hi, I am Lucinda, a friend of Stacy’s.
Well.. I’m friends with her father”, not wanting to raise suspicion or give away too much she smiled and gave him a handshake. She explained what had happened to Stacy at home and the Dr’s report on her
“So she can leave?”
“Yes she can,” Lucinda analysed the boy, his looks, his hopeful eyes which held the key to his soul, she loved him, she loved him for Stacy.
He went into the room and watched her sleep, she was all types of beautiful and broken but that was what made him fall in love with her all over again. Her beauty, her natural beauty, her messed up brown hair, her delicate eyelashes, her skin so soft, her heart so pure. He wanted to do more than just love her. 

She woke up, the blurred picture of him struck her soul and she knew who it was, it was Troy, her Troy, the boy who held all of her emotions in one hand and so carefully, her weakness, her strength, her love... her boyfriend, the father of her child. Her vision cleared and shr saw him perfectly, he was smiling and in tears, 
“You look so beautiful when you’re asleep”, he held her hand and gently kissed it then rubbed it, “I rushed here as soon as possible, after they called me I went high speed running to this place, are you okay angel?” , concern dancing in his eyes she smiled, she loved it when he showed he cared coz it made her feel deeply loved.
“Yes I am fine babe”, they gave each other such promising looks, looks that gave them hope, it promised a future, a future worth the wait, two inseparable lovers who are held together by the key to their hearts, their baby. 

Troy and Stacy looked like the perfect couple, but they’ve been to hell and back
The one time Troy had a relapse and disappeared for 3 whole months, it was right after Stacy had told him she was pregnant, she couldn’t cope well, couldn’t do anything.

“Can we talk?”, she was nervous, didn’t know how to react or what emotion to show, Troy had been through so much at the time that telling him about the pregnancy would torment him,
“What is it Stace?”, he sighed, resting his head on his palms, one would easily sense he was in distress, his mind wandered off to an unknown world. His dad had recently arrived wanting love back from his mother, she gave him a chance and he had beat her up, trying to defend her, he got kicked out. His heart ached for the soldier he saw in a woman. 
“Troy, I am pregnant”, she looked down in shame, She didn’t know how to react, to be responsible or not, to act towards the situation or not, she would just go with what Troy said, even if it meant hurting her. He didn’t react, he just sat there staring into space, it seemed as if he was still absorbing the thought of it all, the soul had been through enough and a pregnancy was the last thing he needed to hear. “what do you want to do with this baby?”, he rubbed his hands together and stared into her stomach, her belly wasn’t visible at that time but he stared at it as if he saw something. A part of him was inside of her, a life, he brought that life into her. It was a wake up call he couldn’t take. 
“I don’t know... well I do..”, she fiddled with the promise ring that Troy had given her a week back, “I mean..”, she continued, “I want to keep the baby, I’ve grown to love it and I really want to keep it. This is not me trying to burden you or anything, I understand you’re going through a lot I just thought telling you now would give us time to think about what to say to our parents, it’s going to show quite soon and when we wait longer, it’ll show quicker.” Still she was facing down fiddling with everything she could get her hands on, he stared at her, his eyes made her heart melt yet again they brought across fear, she was out of words and so was he, he never contained any in the beginning. 
After a long while he spoke, “Stacey? You know I love you.. I hope it’s love.. but.. I don’t know”, with a tone of uncertainty, she felt his words penetrate deep into the fragmented parts that made her whole, was he doubtful? Would he want her to abort it ? She was scared of his next move. “I mean.. I know it’s a baby but it’s a huge responsibility and a huge step I’m not ready to take.” He got up and took a deep heavy breathe, rubbing his hands on his face, hoping this whole moment was a dream, he looked at her, “I have to go” then he walked away... just like that... she was broken, she got inside the house and slept. The rest of her days were spent indoors, his calls went to voicemail, he never called back, nobody heard anything about him and at that time she felt alone, abandoned, once again.

Sleeping on the hospital staring into the eyes she dearly loved.
“Stacey, honey let’s go home”, said Lucinda, 
“No. I don’t want to go home with you”, Stacey replied in such an angry manner, she didn’t trust Lucinda, her gut feeling told her not to.
“What’s going on?”, he was curious and confused, the tension between Stacey and Lucinda required deep attention. “You haven’t been around for a day and you’re already having problems? Can somebody fill me in?”, Lucinda squinted and left the room angry, her shoes leaving an expensive heel mark on the floor. Troy was confused, Stacey got up and he helped her. 

On their way home Troy took the moment to inform Stacey on the plans that his mother was plotting. 
“My mom wants us to leave”, he sighed, looking straight ahead with his hands tightly holding the steering wheel
“Oh, do you want to leave?”, her voice held no emotion, she sounded blank, tired, powerless, the last thing she needed was bad news. “Stace what kind of a question is that? Why would I want to leave you? You are carrying my baby”, his speed decreased, he drove slower as they turned at the corner by her house. She kept quiet, she wasn’t in the mood to talk, something overwhelming was taking away her energy. He stopped across her house and turned to look at her, what was he feeling? He had to be honest with himself and with her, “Are you sticking around just coz of the pregnancy or what?”, the question was a shocker to him, “Stacy what do you mean? Baby I love you and this baby is going to keep us together” He sounded certain and scared....