Stroke of Luck

And The Visitor Arrives

1 Year Later

I was awoken, once again, by the incessant kissing of my belly.

"Connor!" I moaned, rolling over. "You have proved that you love our baby, now lay off."

He popped his head out of the sheets. "How far along are you again?"

"7 months," I murmured.

Connor kissed my forehead. "Little Buddy's gonna be a playoff baby."

I turned around, propping myself up on my elbows. "I didn't even realize that. Last week of May- first week of June would be around finals time too, huh?"

His hands gravitated to my bulging stomach, rubbing it in circles. "You think I'm gonna make a good daddy to little buddy?"

"I know it," I whispered, kissing his forehead. Suddenly my hands flew to my mouth as I ran from our bed to the bathroom and threw up.

I heard the patter of feet before my hair was pulled up and out of my face. "You okay baby?" Connor asked.

"Little buddy is a kicker," I admitted. "Maybe she'll like soccer."

"Shit. I forgot about practice today," he said, skidding out of the room.

I cleaned up by myself before crawling back into our bed. Connor gave me a quick kiss and added a kiss on my stomach before sauntering out.

About an hour later I dragged myself out of bed. The smell of breakfast made me sick so I tried to avoid the kitchen as I pattered around the house.

Connor had signed the lease on our new house the same day that we got married. It was huge:high ceilings, huge newly aplliancedkitchen and 7 bedrooms. Connor had spared no expense when we decorated. Pinterest became my best friend. Being located on the outskirts of Chicago was a little bit of a commute for Connor but he didn't mind. He spent the 15 minutes getting to work calling his parents who had absolutley flipped when we told them about the baby. It was their dream.

Our gatesman, Fredrick suddenly buzzed me with our house-wide intercom system. "I'm in for duty mam. How are you doing?"

I had never seen the use in a gatesman but Connor had insisted on every precaution. Fredrick was hand chosen by me partly because of how much he reminded me of my grandpa and partly because it had been my childhood dream to have a butler named Fredrick but since that wasn't happening I settled on a gatekeeper.

"Fine Fredrick, thanks for asking," I said, grabbing the blender from our cabinet. I placed it on top of our granite countertop and ended the call.

I grabbed 3 stalks of asparagus and an avocado. There was a tub of Greek yogurt on the counter and I smelt it making sure that it wasn't spoilt before adding it in the blender. I turned it on, the familiar smell filling the house.

I turned it off and poured it in a glass, wincing. "All this is just for you, little buddy," I murmurred. I hated the taste of it, but my doctor had recommended it saying it was good for the baby. I pretended to toast someone before gulping the whole glass down in 3 gulps.

I shuddered as it went down my throat, making sure none of it got on my new clothes. I grabbed my macbook and took a seat on a rocking chair. Being alone most of the day during my maternity leave wasn't a big deal for me. I always felt safe and secure in my house and although the demands of an NBA season often left me alone at home, I couldn't imagine it any different.

Being alone at home with Internet access also made me vulnerable to reading convincing articles about new diseases that seemed to target pregnant women only. Kiranola was sure to get me in my third trimester if I didn't get all my vaccines. it was fairly often. that I called Scarlett to ask her about fictional diseases.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity of browsing, the intercom buzzed to life, a common yet surprising event.

"Fredrick, if its a reporter tell them that I am not doing an interview without a prior time slot-" I began.

"Mam, I have a man here named Jacob Greene claiming to be Connor's half brother. Should I send him in?"

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