Whether we like it or not, the truth never stays hidden forever no matter how carefully it’s tucked away or how convincingly we tell ourselves it isn’t there, it still finds a way to surface.
My sister is pregnant and has made her decision to keep the baby. In her own way, she seems at peace with that. Her boyfriend is also willing to take responsibility, but not marriage, but in my family, that giving birth out of wedlock is a big deal. Marriage before pregnancy is not just expected, it’s almost sacred to my parents. So for now, she’s chosen to be silent about it. I am the only one who knows but I’ve taken on the role to keep my mouth shut as it is not in my place to tell.
What actually puzzles me is how she thinks this can remain hidden. Every time she’s about to leave the house, she reassures herself out loud that it’s not visible yet. For a while, I let her believe it until one day, I decided to just be an arse. So I told her firmly that it is visible.
Because how could it not be? Something is growing steadily, day by day. These days, it just seems like time knows she’s trying to outrun it and has been moving faster. Plus each day adds a change and an announcement her body is already making, even if her words are not.
In all of this, she goes over to see our parents once in a while but they haven’t noticed or maybe they have, and they’re choosing silence too. Who knows?
She says she’ll stop going entirely soon and I keep wondering why? I mean why avoid the inevitable? Why carry the weight of secrecy when the truth is already beginning to show itself? I told her, to just tell them. Let them react however they will. Let them be upset if they need to be. They’ll come around eventually because parents often do.
But I guess fear is a powerful thing. She’s afraid of the disappointment, the questions, the anger that might come before understanding. And yet, she’s equally certain about the fact that she’s keeping her baby. So here we are, in this strange in-between space where something so real is being treated like it can still be hidden, where truth is growing quietly, but undeniably.
It’s almost ironic because of all the things in life that can be concealed, delayed, or denied, this isn’t one of them.
My response to the Freewriters daily prompt