CHAPTER 3

　　The breeze that blew fresh air was visible in the market as Aunt Clara tried to adjust her snacks from getting dusty, her friend Rita had just stopped by her stall to get some of her snacks that she sold. "Congratulations Clara," Rita, her friend, exclaimed.

　　"Congratulations for what? Did I win the lottery?" She asked as Rita scoffed. "Common, I heard Travis got Married," Rita muttered looking at the fresh and tasty looking snacks. "Why would you congratulate me about that? I mean, that woman gets on my nerves each time I set my eyes on her," Aunt Clara said, fixing her hands on her waist before rolling her eyes.

　　"Don't say that," Rita muttered.

　　"I really don't know what Travis saw in that woman," Aunt Clara muttered furiously.

　　"Why say that?" Rita asked.

　　"Travis didn't use his head this time, there are a lot of women out there but he chose to end up with someone as poor as he is," she muttered making Rita scoff. "Don't be like that Clara," Her friend insisted.

　　"Isn't it the truth? Travis is a really handsome man! He could easily get a rich woman if he wanted to,``'' You know Rita, I had always thought that our lives would become better when he marries someone who had the money," Aunt Clara said.

　　"Do you know that woman is pregnant?" Aunt Clara said, picking the yellow lady snacks out of the racks of snacks she sold.

　　"Pregnant? Oh, that good news," Rita said happily. "That's not a good news Rita, it's not been long since they got married and she is already pregnant. That child would only add up to our responsibility, we're going to have another mouth to feed in our house and that is terrible," Aunt Clara explained.

　　"Just forget all of that Clara, I'm sure Travis got everything covered. I guess you should learn to accept her as a family, moreover, I heard she is a nice lady," Rita muttered.

　　"I would give it a thought," Aunt Clara said.

　　***********************

　　"Mother, you must be happy that you would become a grandmother soon and I also can't wait to be an aunt," Emerald muttered happily in the kitchen as they made dinner.

　　"Huh, how can I be happy when we don't even have any money. What are we going to feed that child, especially now that things are quite expensive," Aunt Clara muttered, steering the food, she didn't care that Jessica was present in the kitchen and listening to her harsh words.

　　"But Mother," Emerald said.

　　"Soon enough, there would be five of us living in this house. Oh my goodness, hurry up Emerald or dinner might take the whole night if we keep on talking about our added burden." Aunt Clara muttered before adding salt to the food she was making.

　　Jessica sighed before dropping the onions she was peeling. "Aunty, I'm also going to help you in the market and around the house," Jessica let out.

　　"What, you're pregnant and practically you don't have to do that because I don't want my nephew or niece to have any complications during birth," Emerald muttered wisely.

　　"Emerald, thanks for the concern but I promise that I won't be stressed out." Jessica insisted with a smile. "Jessica, would you just listen to Emerald? If your husband finds out, he might get furious with me. It's best that you don't stress," Aunt Clara said, pouring the rice into the hot water.

　　"I won't tell Travis about it, I promise you that I can handle it,'' Jessica said as her eyes began to get watery from the onions she sliced. "Don't say I didn't warn you, you asked for this, and I didn't force you. Okay!" Aunt Clara clarified.

　　*AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS*

　　"Jessica, what's taking the food long to cook?" Aunt Clara muttered, walking towards the cupboard. She wasn't going to get anything from the cupboard, she only wanted to intentionally push Jessica towards the hot pot she was steering.

　　"Ouch, my hands." Jessica muttered, painfully the minute her hands hit the hot plate. "Oh, are you okay? What happened to you?" Aunt Clara asked like she hadn't done anything skeptical. Jessica said nothing as a sob escaped her lips,

　　"You burned your hands, I'm so sorry Jessica! I didn't mean to push you towards the Stove when I opened the cupboard," Aunt Clara lied. "Emerald, get the pain reliever so we can treat the burn," Aunt Clara let out.

　　"No need, I would just finish off the cooking before it get burnt," Jessica said.

　　it was late evening and the only sound heard at that time was that of the cricket. Jessica was sitting on her matrimonial bed trying to list some things on the book on her lap when her husband trudged in holding a glass of milk.

　　"Here, have some of this milk love! It would make you and our baby stronger." Travis said, handing Jessica a glass of milk he had gotten for her from the kitchen. She pushed her hair behind her ear before collecting the milk from his grip.

　　Travis sat close to her on the bed as he watched his wife sip from the cup of milk in her hand. "Rose, you know what?" Travis asked, placing a hand on Jessica's tummy.

　　"Your father is very excited to see you and your mother and I promise that we are going to love you and take very good care of you," Travis muttered before kissing Jessica's tummy.

　　"You see love, I'm very happy that we are having a family together and I know that you grew up without a parent figure in your life but I promise that you won't feel the difference anymore!" 'Travis said, staring at Jessica. She said nothing as her hands moved towards his cheeks before caressing them gently.

　　"I'm very lucky because you are the father of my child," Jessica muttered. Travis smiled before giving her hands a gentle squeeze. "Ouch," Jessica let out a girly hum.

　　"What happened to your hand?" Travis asked worriedly as he noticed the burn on his wife's hand. "That's nothing babe. I burned my hand this morning while I was cooking," Jessica said. "You know love, you shouldn't push yourself to do any of the house chores! It's not good for a pregnant woman to stress herself out." Travis said, rubbing the burn softly.

　　"But I can still do little household chores and I won't get tired," Jessica said. "Even so, I hate it when you get hurt," Travis said, staring at the burn before kissing it softly.

　　"I don't like to see marks like this one," Travis insisted. "Babe, I want to help Emerald and Aunt Clara around the house! Besides, I won't keep up this way," Jessica said. Travis let out a big sigh when he knew it was a waste of time to keep arguing with his wife.

　　"Well, you should be careful next time. This must not happen again," Travis said, caressing his wife's cheeks before pulling her in for a hug. "Yes, I promise," she said with a huge grin.