________________...The car ride to the hospital for the check-up was silent as the seas. Rowan gave off major nervous energy as he drove. I had told him to relax multiple times but the man would not listen. We were doing the amniocentesis test today and Rowan had almost fainted at the sight of the needle. "You can relax now." Dr. Derek Mathewson, brother of Ophelia Mathewson, grinned at Rowan. He just grunted in return. My gyneac had to take leave due to unforseen circumstances, which left the other gynaec in the clinic, Ophelia's brother, to do the procedure today. "Everything is looking great." While I was accommodating of him, understanding the fact that my spite with Ophelia had nothing to do with her brother as a person, Rowan seemed like he wanted to rip poor Derek's head off. "Thank you so much." "It says here you don't want to know the gender. Why is that?" He had the easiest grin on his face. The man seemed as though he had been doing this job for a while and was
________________________..."What are you doing?" I shook my head as I tried to get off the bed. "No, no, no, stay there." Rowan left what he was doing and rushed over to me as if his tail was on fire. "Why are you getting up? Just stay there..." He said. "Okay, I will do that." I put the duvet back on my legs. "But you tell me what you are doing. Why are you dragging the living room couch into the bedroom?" "Because you don't have a couch in here." He shrugged as he went back to dragging my couch onto the side of my bed. "Why?" "Do you want me to sleep in your bed?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows. I immediately shook my head. "No freaking way!" I exclaimed. "And I don't want to sleep on the floor, so I decided that this would solve all of our problems." He said as he plopped down on the couch. "Fair enough." I nodded as I turned back to my TV. "So..." "So?" I responded, not taking my eyes off the pretty dress on the screen. "What do you think about Eric and Gabriella?"
____________________...Eric and Gabby were back together. That was two down, one to go.Zoe and Kevin hadn't fought in the last two months and my wife was currently five months pregnant and showing.She had become emotional and stubborn and I had shifted to the couch in her bedroom because "I want to be with my children."I was also taking advantage of Rory's paranoia about something going wrong to stay at her place."What's that smell?"I turned around and my breath hitched in my throat at the sight of her. She was wearing yoga pants and a sports bra.She had gained weight over the last two months. Her face was fuller, so was her breasts and ass. Her body had moulded into such a beautiful form that I could not help the reaction of my body to her no matter how much I tried not to.There was only one thing I did not like about her right now. And that was her friendship with Derek Mathewson. Yes, it turned out the old obstetrician could not come back due to undisclosed reasons and
____________________________...If it had been any other club then I would have felt self-conscious going into it with a five-month pregnant with twins belly. But this was The Loft, this was my Frank's place. I had nothing to worry about. Besides, I had all my people. "Right this way, ladies and gentlemen!" Frank exclaimed as he himself escorted us to the private room, despite being the bartender. He stopped for a moment to glare at Rowan, showing his contempt openly before ushering us all in. I was going to enter with Rowan right behind me when Frank stopped me and said, "I thought you were leaving this piece of shit for good."I glanced over at Rowan who was scowling down at the shorter man. "How is that any of your business?" "I am as much closer to her as B is. I get to ask." Frank was not backing down. He never did. "We are in a civil relationship as co-parents, Frank. There is nothing more to it." I told him. "You better stay cautious of this little shit, princess. He
________________________...I sniffed as I cried into my handkerchief. The pregnancy hormones were making it impossible for me to keep in the waterworks.Zoe's wedding dress was her mother's. A gown of timeless elegance and grace with a fitted bodice and a sweetheart neck that cascade down the waistline onto a tulle skirt. The back of the dress was a work of art, with intricate lace detailing and a row of covered buttons trailing down to the hem. Completing the look was a sweeping train that trailed behind Zoe as she walked, adding a touch of drama to her ensemble.The girl said she was not going to wear a veil and let her hair out.She was the most beautiful bride in the world."You are the most beautiful bride in the world," I told her."That's what you say every time." Bianca rolled her eyes."You all keep on outdoing each other." I dabbed my eyes. Thank you for the makeup technology for the waterproof mascara."You can say whatever you want, but you remain the most beautiful br
________________________...4 months later..."Any day now." I woke up to my children doing gymnastics inside while their Dad traced their movements on my belly.This had not been the same since the wedding.And it was good. Things should not have been the way they were to begin with.It was funny how Rowan not recognizing the song was enough to put into perspective how bad it all was.I was alone in that relationship. Now, I did not want to be part of his relationship."You are up." He smiled at me. But his smile was guarded these days.The part of me who loved him missed his smile but the other part of me who hated him found solace in this newfound distance between us."I wanna stay in bed all day." I said honestly. I did not feel like doing anything today."I have a meeting at ten. I will be back after that."I didn't care."Okay." I was still polite.The door bell rang, swallowing the awkwardness. "I will see who it is." Rowan said as he made his way out.I sighed and looked d
_____________________...Rory hummed as she waddled through the pavement to the supermarket, two blocks down the road. As much as I was paranoid about her tagging along, watching her, it really seemed as though she needed this outdoor trip. Rowan was one paranoid father and he would not let her take a step out of the threshold of the house ever since she got diagnosed with preeclampsia. He was scared to death. But my sister had faired well and reached term safely. Any day now and I would become an aunt, though I already felt like one. I was going to be the fun aunt who was going to spoil my nieces and nephews rotten. My phone rang in my pocket. "Ten bucks say it is Eric Rogers the second." Rory pointed at my pocket. "Then I am not even going to bother to check it." I rolled my eyes. She gave me a flat look but Rory being Rory, did not bug me to take the call. She knew I wouldn't budge, that was one thing, but she was also the most understanding sister in the world who always t
____________________...You know how it is in the movies? Accidents occur in such slow motion, but in real life, it is not so. In real life, it happened in the blink of an eye. One second my heavily pregnant sister is waving at me and the next thing I know, she is lying ten feet away, bleeding out. "RORY!" I screamed as I dropped the bag in my hand and ran in her direction, brain-numbing fear taking over. "Rory!" I heard Eric's voice behind me as I reached my unconscious sister. "No, no, no, no!" I prayed as I cupped her face. "Rory, wake up! Please wake up!" "Someone call nine-one-one!" I screamed at the crowd. "They are on their way." Eric was at my side. God, I hated him but at this moment, I could not be more thankful that he was there. "She is going to be fine." He did not sound like he believed what he was saying. "If something happens to her, if something happens to the babies..." I cried. "Eric, Rory would die if something happened to the babies!" Eric had a hand r