Denial is the Way

It was the following day that Ender forgot that something is going to happen today. He yawns as he walks into the kitchen, blinking away the water building in his eyes. 

 

Ender softly rubbed his stomach. "What would you like to eat?" He told his stomach, stopping himself at the last minute. 

 

Ender could not stop talking to his stomach after finding out about the life growing in him (he was still silently freaking out about it). 

 

Does a baby in your stomach even know you are talking to them? Ender thought as he opened the refrigerator.

 

He looked through it, seeing that he did not have much food inside. Ender sighed because he did not feel like going grocery shopping. Maybe he could get them ordered over here like he usually did. 

 

He would have to give a big tip like he always did since his home was in a secluded area. 

 

Ender took out a strawberry-flavored yogurt, looking at the date before deciding to eat it. He grabbed a spoon and walked to the living area, turning on the TV. 

 

He started eating his yogurt, watching whatever was on when there was a knock at the front door. Ender frowned, wondering who would be here as he set his food down. 

 

Walking to the door, Ender felt like he was in one of those scary movies. I should have brought something to fight with if it is a killer. He thought as he grabbed the doorknob, slowly turning it. 

 

His heart was pounding as the door cracked open. Ender pulled it more open, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw it was only Nevan on the other side. 

 

But his reaction changed when he noticed the bags in Nevan's hands. I forgot that he said he is going to live here to help me! 

 

His heart started to beat faster as his hands felt sweaty. Ender's stomach even felt heavy, and it was not the growing baby in there causing the problem. 

 

"Hey, can I come in?" Nevan asked as he watched his best friend staring at him with a blank expression.

 

Ender brought himself back to reality as he opened the door wide, moving away. "Uh, yeah, come in. I have three guest rooms, so you can choose the one you want." 

 

Nevan nodded as he walked in with all his bags, making his way to one of the guest rooms. Once he was out of sight, Ender started to freak out as he closed the door. 

 

He slowly walked back to the couch, not knowing what to do now. It will be complicated with Nevan here because he does not know if he could keep the part of him being the other father a secret. 

 

If something he is denying is there, it becomes harder for Ender to push it away. 

 

Hopefully, he could get Nevan to leave before the baby is born. Or, on another note, the baby could look like a carbon copy of Ender. 

 

Nevan walked into the living room, seeing the yogurt on the table. He sighed, "Ender, I hope you are going to eat more than that." 

 

"Huh?" Ender answered with a confused expression. He was half in his mind, so it took a while before Nevan's words registered with him. 

 

"Oh, uh, yeah. There is barely any food in the fridge; I am going to order some groceries later on." Ender answered after the fact. 

 

Nevan did not look happy with his response as he shook his head, "That is not good. Do not forget that you have another to eat for. I can go to the grocery store and get some food." 

 

Ender shook his head, "You do not need to do that. It is fine, Nevan." 

 

Nevan gave him a look that said he was not going to change his mind. "I am going, and I am going to bring food that is good for you and the baby. Do you have something you want?" 

 

Ender bit his lip for a second, wanting to tell the man that he did not have to do this. But when Nevan sets his mind on something, he will do it no matter what. That is how he ended up owning multiple businesses. 

 

He shook his head, giving in as he said, "Can I get cookie dough ice cream, like one of those half-gallon ones? And maybe two or three of them?" 

 

Nevan raised his eyebrow at Ender's request before nodding, "Okay." The man walked to the front door, leaving as he closed the door behind him. 

 

Ender nervously tapped his fingers on the couch, ignoring the way they shook. He took a few deep breaths, wondering how the rest of the eight months are going to go. 

 

He looked down at his stomach, stopping himself from rubbing it. It is a habit that he did not want to start building. Please, be a good baby and come out looking like me. He told his stomach. 

 

Okay, so he is growing two bad habits that he is going to have to stop. 

 

He sighed, pulling out his laptop from under the couch. Ender planned to write a few words for today to stop thinking about his frustrations, but his fingers stupidly typed baby clothes. 

 

Ender wanted to bang his head for typing those words. But as he moved his fingers to close the tab, they didn't want to click on the x. 

 

Instead, he looked at the baby clothes, choosing a store so that he could look through the website. He did not know the gender of the baby because it was still early. Ender decided to look at all the outfits, regardless of gender. 

 

As he continued to look at the outfits, his face softened as a smile made its way to his face. He could not help but think how cute the clothes were. 

 

Ender never wanted to get pregnant nor be one of the males with the ability. But, he could not stop the feeling of getting excited about having the baby. 

 

Maybe it is the deep-seated loneliness he buried inside, but he cannot stop the unconscious feeling building within him.