The Path To Perfection

Chapter 12: Nine Months

Just as it was to be, Selou was made to live with Ivan and his household.

Although Ivan's father was highly disappointed, he couldn't cry over spilled milk. He had no choice but to accept it. At the back of his mind though, he wished to take a DNA test after the child was born. He was still unwilling to believe that his son could be responsible for it.

Ivan's mother took it upon herself to take Selou to the hospital for antenatal care. Over time, she grew to accept the fact that she was going to become a grandmother quite early.

Ivan could no longer leave his house through normal means. He hated the way the people of his neighborhood looked at him. Even when some of them wanted to hide it, their eyes still gave away the disdain they felt within.

Because of this, Ivan's attitude towards Selou at home started to change for the worse. He hardly talked to her and when he talked it was usually to complain about something. Ivan also had to go look for a job. As for the university application, that had to wait.

Ivan's father was not bad to her, but neither was he good. Ivan's mother was the only one who actually treated her nicely out of goodwill. She started treating Selou just like a daughter she never had.

On the first month of Selou's pregnancy, Murry along with Al'ravee visited them. Al'ravee could be seen in their residence once or twice a week but Murry only visited them a total of three times that month. Each time, for some reason, the friendliness between Murry and Ivan seemed to slowly fade out.

After that, Murry traveled for his college entrance exam on the second month. He only kept in contact with Al'ravee to get news from him. He and Al'ravee might have only one last time to see for a long time

As for Al'ravee, his own entrance exam was on the sixth month of Selou's pregnancy. He wasn't going to be around for the delivery. Both Murry and Al'ravee's exams were taking place in another region of the country. Unless they didn't get admission, the only reason they were to come back would be to get their stuff.

Al'ravee didn't want to be idle while he prepared for his exam, so on the third month, he got a job as a sales representative in a small supermarket. He planned on saving enough money to reduce the financial expenses of his parents.

Al'ravee spoke to one of his former classmates and they both helped Ivan get a job in a construction company as a laborer and a part-time job as a cleaner. It was the best they could do as most supermarkets no longer had vacancies.

Ivan was never the type to like manual labor, every day, he kept on feeling pressure because of future expectations from everyone around him. Even if he behaved coldly towards Selou, he couldn't ignore her.

On that very month, Selou's pregnancy started showing and it became obvious to even those that had not yet found out. There was no use hiding it either. Ivan grew more distanced from Selou and hardly talked to anyone, even his parents. He became very secretive. He also tried to convince Selou to abort the pregnancy again but she had become increasingly headstrong and even more determined to keep the child.

Coupled with the fact that on the fourth month, Ivan started coming in contact with some bad company. Some gangs wanted to exploit the fact that he was young to draw him into their circle. They introduced to him different easy but dangerous prospects of making money. Ivan was already under a lot of pressure so anything was good enough.

On the fifth month, Al'ravee received news that Murry had gotten admission into the university and was now going to study political science. Murry was coming home but Al'ravee won't be around to meet him. Al'ravee stopped working at the supermarket. There were just a few weeks to go before he too had to travel for his college entrance exam. Al'ravee would always sigh to himself whenever he remembered some of the things that Murry used to say. He remembered that Ivan wanted to be an architect, Selou wanted to become a doctor, Murry wanted to become a politician and he himself wanted to be a real estate businessman.

Before going on any journey, everyone plans ahead and calculates how long it will take them to get to their destination. But on a trip that's supposed to take one hour, there are a thousand things that could either shorten the journey or increase the time taken to reach that destination. Those were variables... kinda like a plot twist.

That was how life was, everyone has decided where they want to be in a certain amount of years but not many of them get to reach their goals because of those variables. Ivan was currently facing his own variable and it was up to him to decide how to overcome it.

Al'ravee finally understood Murry and knowing him, he was probably mentally prepared for the variables that life would throw his way. This mentality couldn't be gotten at once, it had to be gradual. Murry had to experience the discomfort of not being able to control his own life repeatedly and then had to be smart enough to use the resources available to make things better for him, to reach that point.

On the sixth month, Al'ravee left for his exam. Just like Murry, Al'ravee traveled by road. The entire journey took ten hours and he had to call his parents when he finally arrived. With financial assistance from them, he rented a one-room apartment in the community near the university. After all, he had no friends or relatives whatsoever in the new city. This was the con of going to school away from home.

On the seventh month, Al'ravee sat for his examination along with other students from around the country. Although Al'ravee could be considered an average student, he found the exam not difficult. The results were supposed to be released within the month that the exams were written. Al'ravee waited patiently as he indulged himself in his e-novels and comics. As he grew older, the feeling of entertainment that he got from the e-novels and comics seemed to die down. Nowadays, he was too preoccupied to enjoy reading those fictional stories unlike before.

Eventually, the results were released and Al'ravee's score was sixty-four percent out of a hundred, so he passed. The following week, he was sent a message which stated that he had been admitted into the university to study financial management.

Jurdelious didn't really think much of it but Krene was overly excited.

On the eighth month, Al'ravee traveled back home to officially prepare for his coming life as a university student, only to hear surprising news. Ivan had left town...He had left Selou behind, he left his parents behind...He left his responsibility behind. Selou was completely disheartened. His parents were also saddened, they didn't bother to call the attention of the law enforcement agency when they saw that a lot of his clothes were missing. Ivan had obviously left on his own accord, desiring not to let a single soul know of his whereabouts. The ones close to him hoped to find or hear from him or for him to come back and he would, someday, just not the way they wanted.

Selou found it hard to move on despite how Ivan had treated her, one could say she had a soft spot in her heart for him. Ivan's parents continued to care for Selou and his father dropped the notion of having a DNA test, Ivan wouldn't run away if he was sure that he wasn't responsible.

When Murry found out, he was furious. But he also understood that Ivan had succumbed to the pressure.

As for Al'ravee, he found it hard to understand why Ivan would run away. Even if he was under a lot of pressure, at least he still had the backing and support of his parents until he could stabilize himself in society.

On the second week of the ninth month, Selou gave birth to a baby boy.

He was named Duane. Everyone was glad to know that Selou had a safe delivery. Surprisingly or unsurprisingly, Ivan's father turned into a dotting and overprotective grandfather.

Al'ravee was already around and Murry decided to come back so that they could both go visit Selou together.

When they arrived, they were able to see a beautiful baby boy held in Selou's arms. Ivan's parents were not home so it was just three of them at home. They talked about a lot of things like her experience of the past nine months and what she planned on doing next.

Selou still wanted to further her education, at the same time, she also wanted to take care of and watch over her son. Murry suggested that she wait until Duane was two or three years old before she should leave him temporarily with anyone. As for who to leave him with, her parents and Ivans were up for options.

Al'ravee and Murry finally left when Selou said she wanted to breastfeed her son.

....

While walking home, Al'ravee said. " You shouldn't hate him for it."

"Why not." Murry immediately responded.

Al'ravee sighed. "Cause he is your...."

"Stop!..."Murry said calmly." Was...Ivan WAS my friend, but not anymore. He stopped being my friend the day he abandoned another friend of mine." Murry continued calmly.

Al'ravee could only sigh as he saw that Murry was deeply pained by Ivan's action. If he changed perspective, even he wouldn't do what Ivan did.

"Anyways, next month is your birthday right, it's finally time to take alcohol, hahaha, it's time you finally grow up, let's head to the bar." Murry changed the topic.

This might be the last time they were going to see each other, therefore, they had to use the time to make the best of memories.