Grown ish: Zoey and Aaron, The Future (BOOK 2)

Part 40: Late

Zoey narrates.

Some time had passed. We now had a one year old baby girl, I'd been busy at work and with helping Jazz plan her wedding, and Aaron had been preparing to leave and work in Dubai for the next few months.

I'd been putting on a brave face every time Aaron talked about being gone or whenever he was packing, but deep down, my heart was hurting. I was terrified of being without him.

Aaron was leaving today, so I'd gone with Zara and my friends to the airport to see him off.

I hold Zara close to me, as everyone begins to say their goodbyes.

'See you soon, man. Go get em.' Doug says, hugging Aaron.

'Thanks.' Aaron replies with a smile.

'We'll take care of Zoey and Zara.' Jazz says, as she hugs him, before Aaron comes over to me, taking Zara in his arms.

'Papa has to go now, baby. I love you.' He says to her, as she giggles in his arms, and he kisses her cheek.

'Zoey, we'll meet you in the car, okay?' Ana says, taking Zara from Aaron, as I nod.

Aaron comes closer to me, holding my waist, as I avoid looking at him, my eyes watering.

'Zoey?' He says, softly, as I finally look into his eyes.

'Aaron...' I whisper, as he hugs me, and I silently sob into his chest.

'Hey? It's going to be okay.' He says, stroking my head.

As we pull away, I take his face in my hands and kiss him, hard. He keeps one hand on my waist and the other on the small of my back, as he continues kissing me. He finally breaks away, but leans in to kiss my neck once more.

'I want you to call everyday. In fact, I'll call everyday. And keep texting me. And and we'll FaceTime every night so Zara can see you, okay?' I say to him, sternly, as his smile widens and he nods.

I hug him again, pulling him closer to me.

'I love you, Aaron. So, so much.' I say.

'I love you too, Zoey.' He replies.

'I'm going to let go now, and then turn around so I don't see you leave. I don't want to say goodbye.' I say, as he kisses the side of my head, before I turn around, wiping my tears.

I wait a few minutes before turning around again, and see that he's queuing to board, but he stays looking at me, smiling to let me know that it'll all be fine, even though I know he's feeling the pain too.

_____

Later that night, I finish feeding Zara, before putting her in her crib to sleep.

I head downstairs and find Jazz, Nomi and Ana watching a movie. The girls offered to stay tonight, since it's my first night without Aaron.

I sit on the couch, resting my head on Nomi's lap, as I scroll through my phone. Suddenly, I get an odd notification from one of my apps.

'Oh my god? Look at this.' I say, showing my phone to Nomi.

'Your period is late by 3 weeks?' She says, reading it aloud.

'In all the stress of everything, I completely didn't realise...you don't think...no...it can't be?' I say, sitting up, confused.

'I mean....' Jazz starts, but is not quite sure what to say.

'Do you think you should take a test anyways?' Ana asks.

'There's no harm...right?' I say, as they nod in agreement.

_____

So, I decided to take a pregnancy test. I wasn't worried, as this has happened to me before, and it's usually nothing to worry about. We're always careful.

I come out of the bathroom, pacing around, waiting patiently, as the girls continue watching their movie.

'Do you think I should check now?' I ask, chewing at my nails.

'Yeah, it's been a while.' Nomi replies.

I go back into the bathroom, and I'm shocked at what I see.

'Guys....' I say, coming into the living room, holding the test in my shaking hand. My body feels numb, with that weird type of anxious but excited feeling.

'I'm pregnant!' I say, excitedly, as my face widens into a grin.

'Oh my god! What?!' Nomi screams, as they rush over to me to see.

'What? It's positive! Zoey! Oh my gosh, this is amazing!' Jazz says, excitedly, as Ana jumps up and down.

'We're getting another niece or nephew!' She says, hugging me, as my eyes water with tears of happiness.

I'm pregnant again!

_____