FRACTURES (The Lake House #3) *REUPLOADED*

Chapter Ten

                   

Ana

Week 8

I laid on Justin's couch flipping through trashy morning talk shows as I did every day. This was relaxing for the first few weeks when I got here at the beginning of the summer.

It had been relatively easy at first, or at least easier than I ever expected. But this was coming from someone who had expected the baby to start kicking the second he was planted in there and wouldn't stop for the whole nine months. Apparently, that's not how it worked at all. But for the first few weeks, I just laid around as if there wasn't a human growing inside of me. I talked to my family almost everyday, my father's health remaining the same but he was comfortable. And anything was better than getting worse. I wasn't showing yet and my morning sickness wasn't too bad.

But, boy, was I in for a treat.

I'd seen a doctor twice so far. His name was Dr. Lee and he was really nice in answering any questions I'd had. The key term being I. Since, contrary to popular belief, Justin had yet to step foot in a doctor's office with me. The first appointment, he couldn't make it because he had a day of meetings. I'd been mad for a little bit, even though it wasn't really a significant appointment and only served purpose to check up on me. Justin had come home that night with a beanie covering his head, shielding anyone from seeing those luscious locks. I gave him the silent treatment for a little while but when he finally took the hat off, revealing his newly chopped hair I couldn't help myself from making fun of him for the rest of the night.

The second time, though, there was no excuse. It was two weeks ago and Justin had told me he was going to the gym for a few hours but would be back by 2 for the appointment. This was an important one because we would've gotten to hear the baby's heart for the first time and found out the baby's due date. He forgot and didn't answer any of the million calls I left him. I ended up sitting in the chair alone, crying as I heard the thumping of my baby's heart filling the room.

When I got back to the apartment, after treating myself to a nice meal on Justin's dime and walking around Central Park for a little while, I slammed the black-and-white picture of our child in front of Justin, who was shockingly home.

"March 29th. I hope you can clear your schedule then to meet your baby." I snapped at him, storming to my bedroom and slamming the door. I turned the lock, spending the rest of the evening listening to Justin knock every few minutes asking if I would just come out. But I refused. Things were still tense between us to this day.

"Hey, Nina?"

"Yeah baby?" Her voice echoed from the kitchen bathroom.

"Did you know..." I took a huge bite of the cinnamon raisin bagel she picked up for me at the deli down the street I'd discovered I loved. "That a baby isn't really a fetus until after ten weeks?"

"Really?" I could tell she was barely paying attention to me.

"Yeah, like isn't it crazy how people these days just throw the word fetus around? You know how I know all of these amazing things? Because I sit here, reading those damn baby books every day."

I continued to flip through the channels, stopping on one when I saw a picture of Justin hovered on the screen. They flashed back to a panel of women who were grinning ear-to-ear as they discussed a photo-shoot Justin had done in which he was scarcely clothed.

"Do you ever wonder why we see Justin in the tabloids almost every single day but we've never seen him with a steady girlfriend?" One of the women questioned.

"I don't blame him! I mean, he's a twenty-five-year-old millionaire. With a lifestyle like that, I wouldn't want to tie myself down either."

"Or a body like that." The other woman commented and the rest of them giggled. I let out a mocking giggle myself, rolling my eyes. "And how do you trust a man like that anyways? He's constantly busy, constantly around women who are throwing themselves at them. I pity a woman who would ever put themselves in a position to have to rely on someone who receives that kind of attention."