After we both left the library and I had managed to gather myself, I returned to the living room to join my mother.
She sat upright, spine straight, face unreadable. I hesitated for a moment, then quietly took the seat across from her instead of beside her. My heart thudded, loud in my chest, like it wanted to give me away.
My tea sat untouched on the table in front of me, cold now, just like the silence hanging in the room. I stole a glance at her. I wasn't even sure she was breathing. Her composure was sharp and solid, like carved stone, the only betrayal of emotion being the way her thumb moved in slow, tight circles against her lap. Like she was holding herself back from saying something that would hurt too much or reveal too much.
Killian didn't come back downstairs until twenty minutes later. He looked apologetic when he finally walked into the room.
"I'm so sorry," he said, checking his wristwatch. "The call took longer than I expected."
His eyes moved between the two of us, catching the heaviness in the air. He frowned slightly, like he sensed something was off but decided not to press it.
"My apologies again," he continued, his voice softer now. "I'll have to step out, there's a meeting that was rescheduled last minute. I'm not sure when I'll be back."
He turned to face me fully, the corners of his lips curling into a small smile. "My card is on the dresser. Take it and go shopping with your mum, both of you. And remember..." he paused with a slight smirk, "no limit."
I forced a smile back, nodding. "Okay."
He kissed my forehead, said a polite goodbye to my mother, and left.
The door shut gently behind him, but the silence it left was loud, deafening.
The hours passed while mum and I went shopping as Killian had suggested, we didn't do much or buy much, just wandering through one luxury store to the another trying to act normal like the tension in the air wasn't choking. Mum didn't mention Selena, not even once,not like she need to, the air between us said more than enough.
In the evening, my phone rang and it was Selena. I stepped aside to pick the call, my voice low, "Hello?"
"Hey, I just landed, took the first flight available, where are you? How do we do this?" She said, no greeting, no warmth, she went straight to the point like I was the villain in this situation.
"Mum and I are out shopping at Essence, the store downtown." I replied, glancing over at mum, who was pretending browse through rack of dresses she probably don't have interest in at the moment.
"Oh, you guys couldn't find anywhere less cheaper?" she responded, sarcasm dripping from the tone. "Anyway, I'll be there in a few." She said, not waiting for my response before she hung up.
I wasn't offended, at least for now.
She arrived forty minutes later, wearing a large hoodie, sunglasses, black leggings, and that signature confident smirk she's always wearing that faltered when she saw mum. She strode towards us like she hadn't left her marriage for almost three months and dragged me into this situation.
She didn't greet me, instead, she looked straight at our mother.
"Mum." she greeted, trying to maintain her strong facade like she's not scared shitless right now.
Mum didn't smile. "So, you remember that you have a mother now?"
Selena facade shattered. "I had my reasons, mum."
" And now they have consequences, and you're going to bear them alone." her voice was sharp. "How could you? Dragging your sister into this mess and now you're telling you have reasons?!" she continued, her voice raising at the last part but she controlled herself when some people looked our way.
She didn't say nothing more after that, not in public, they've drawn more than enough attention already. Thankfully, this isn't one of the snobby rich stores where they would meet someone that probably knows Selena and Killian.
"Let's just get this over with, I'm tired already. My legs are aching and my head is banging, I need a bed" I said, trying to fasten this as fast as possible. " First, we need to switch clothes, we'll use the dressing room for that. And after that, I'll tell everything you'll need to sell all this act to killian." I finished, exhausted from all this.
Doing as I have said, we both moved to the dressing room with mum following us inside.
The tension was unbearable.
"You are unbelievable." Mum started again, finally letting her mask drop as the door shut behind us. "You—" she pointed at Selena, " are selfish. And you—?" she turned to me. " stupid isn't enough to express what I think you are. I thought you were the responsible and levelheaded one, but I guess my judgement was wrong. You two think this is a game? That marriage is something you can just switch places in when you don't feel it because you have 'reasons'? Because you're identical?"
"Mum—" Selena and I started but she cut us off.
She turned back to Selena, "And to top it off you're pregnant? With a baby that's not your husband's? How? I didn't raise to be a cheat or an unfaithful partner! Where did I go wrong with?" She vented, her eyes laced with tears and I could my throat tightening. I hate to see my mother cry and the worst part of this whole situation is that we're the cause of the tears.
"Mum—" I said, moving closer to her but she stopped me.
"i don't want to hear it. Fix it now before more people get hurt." She said, then turned away, pacing with her back to us, while she rubbed her temple with one hand like she had a headache coming and wiping her eyes with the other. Then she finally stepped out.
The silence between Selena and I thickened, this wasn't like the other times we had issues, this was different, it felt like I was here standing with a stranger but I don't say anything.
Selena took off her hoodie first, pulling it over her head with ease, the high waisted shirt she wore under came off next, and even though I saw it when she pulled the hoodie but it didn't prepare me seeing it bare with no clothes shielding it. Her baby bump, a gentle swell, slight, yet present, almost a month older than mine but looks like we got pregnant the same time. And all I could think was,
She wasn't lying, she actually slept with someone and got pregnant.