Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life. I should be smiling, feeling over the moon. I am supposed to turn 18, yet I am becoming a mother-to-be. I have recently found out that I am 3 weeks pregnant. My life has turned out to be a mess. I have never cried like this before. I am barely out of my teens.

These will be the words that my mom will utter. I wish this secret will never come out. I am running out of options; days are going by, next thing I know I will be looking like a hippo and all eyes will be staring at me. No one will congratulate me but feel disgusted by me. I am now trying to celebrate my birthday. I am trying to contain myself but I feel something heavy in my throat. I feel like crying. I feel like I want this party to be over so that I can rest alone in my bedroom and sob.

My mom will be disappointed, especially after she knows who the father of the baby that I am carrying is. The father is the son of my mom’s employer.

It all started when my mom was not feeling well; I had offered to help her. My mom was a domestic worker for Martin’s family. She had always done everything in her power to take care of my siblings and me.

Let me go back to the day when I went to Robin’s house. It was a Saturday morning and I had already prepared myself. I was wearing my track-pants and my brother’s jersey. I was a middle child so clothes that my brother had overgrown were passed down to me. We hit the road. It was in the neighbouring suburb, not far from where I was staying, but I got there being very tired.

When I got there I saw that the house was very beautiful, I could not believe that my mom worked there. They had a very beautiful garden, full of different coloured roses. I felt like I could still smell them. I was more amazed as we entered the house. My mom showed me to the house and introduced me to the Martins.

They found me to be adorable; I am humble so I guess they saw that about me. The best part was yet to come. I was coming from the bathroom when I met him at the passage, my eyes met his. I did not know what to do, whether to look away or what. My heart was racing like never before. I felt like my body was betraying me, I did not know what was happening to me. I did not know what to do or what to say to him.

He was like, “Hi, I am Robin. I guess you are the maid’s daughter.”

I did not know what to say, whether to say yes or no because he had just called my mom a maid. He could have just gone for a ‘house-helper’.

I was like, “I am Serena.” I wish I had a Pedi name. I wanted to see him struggling to pronounce my name. He was a coloured, both his parents were coloureds. A man talking a foreign language sounds sexy to me. He asked for my number but I did not have a phone at that time. He gave me his number and some cash to call him.

He was a gentleman.

After some days, I had called him and we had arranged to meet at a mall. We went to a restaurant and I had never been to one before. I did not know what to order. I skipped the fancy foods and just ordered fish and chips. It was a wonderful day.

One month down the line he had invited me to his place. He was home alone and we had the house to ourselves. We were watching a movie and I was feeling cold, shivering and he put his arms around me. I felt a little warmer and before I knew it, I was in his bed. I did the deed with him. Now I am pregnant and he does not know.

I have been ignoring him since the day I found out about my condition. I have to call him or text him, maybe he will come up with options, it is a right thing to do.

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Tell us: What advice would you give Serena?console.log(‘ThelmsSurveyLink::GetLinkArray() returned ‘, false);