I'm back at my company signing some contracts and looking over my design plans for the new orphanage next to where we live. I've always loved little children and it's always been a dream of mine to have kids of my own, maybe 3 or 4. And I guess that's why the orphanage is so close to my heart. The orphanage is run by a small old lady who's the most kindest person I've ever met.
She helped me get back to my feet after my divorce, and she's always been the mother figure I've always wanted, the mother that I wished my biological mother would've been. I have always wanted my mother to actually give me the love that she gave my brother, the care and support she gave him, but I guess everything happens for a reason, and I'm lucky I have my dad and his side of the family to lean on, as well as Ms Shelly of course.
Even when I was lonely and thinking of Scott, Ms Shelly has always said to me, "never let a man show you twice how he feels about you."
I decide to give the go ahead to the final design plans and squirm excitedly in my chair knowing that the kids are gonna love it. I attend some meetings during the course of the day, some boring and some really interesting, and some ending in arguments that I just don't care for.
Alex walks into my office, clearly showing annoyance that I'm still here.
"Sweetie, we're trying to make sure shit's in order, but that doesn't mean work yourself to the fucking bone. Get some rest babe."
"Oh Alex, I'm sorry...I'll clear up now. I didn't realise how late it was until it was too late."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, I just want this to be an absolute success. You know how I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to this."
Alex looks at me sympathetically. " I know Sweetie, but I'm serious. Go home and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow." With that he blew me a kiss and left.
By the time I check the time it's 10pm, and I pack up tiredly and yawn. I walk down the hallways and greet Jimmy, one of our janitors, sweeping up.
"Get some rest Jimmy, you've been working at it since early morning" I chuckled while walking into the elevator.
"You got it Miss, Goodnight."
I get into my Mercedes and this is one of the reasons why I don't regret splurging on a good quality car, gives you a run for your money, but it's all worth it.
I cruise down the quiet streets of Cali, not in a hurry to arrive at home. I stop at a red light, and my phone starts ringing.
*Unknown Number*
That's weird, but I answer it anyways.
Zara : Hello, who's this?
Mallory : Zara hello. It's Mallory, Chrissy's mom.
Zara : .....
Mallory : Hello? Zara dear, are you there?
Zara: Sorry, yeah. I'm just a bit surprised is all. Although I am curious as to why you're calling me. Is everything okay?
Mallory : Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Chrissy is in labour. And she wants you to be there.
Zara : Listen Mallory, I just don't think we need to complicate this shit any more than it already is and I just -
Mallory : Please my dear. I wouldn't be calling you if it wasn't urgent. I know my daughter did you wrong, dirty even. But I truly apologize for her. I'll even do it a million more times if I have to. Please, please come to the hospital.
*Green Light.*
Zara : .....fine. Just send the address and I'll try and get there as fast as I can.
I hang up and drive to the hospital she said I should go to, but I call Mason and ask him to come over to the hospital.
I walk through the doors and I am instantly greeted by Mallory, and she gives me a big hug, just like the ones we used to share before the entire mixup happened. And I gladly returned her hug.
"It's so good to see you. You look so much beautiful than the last time I saw you."
"Thank you Miss Mallory. How is she?" Although she makes me sick to my guts, that baby she's carrying is innocent and it would be unfair to project it unto her baby.
"She's barely coping, her pain is getting worse and worse. Come, let's go to her room." She took me by the hand and took me to her room. When we got in, Scott was no where in sight. Typical.
"Zara, Zara!!! Thank you for coming." I looked at Chrissy, and she looked terrible. She was ready to pop that little baby out of her.
"Don't worry about it. It's the least I could do."
She said before letting out a painful scream.
Soon enough thenurses came in geared up and the doctors positioned themselves by her legs.
" Alright Mrs Cruise, we're gonna be helping you bring your little bundle of joy into the world. Now as soon as you feel your contractions, start pushing. We're gonna count up to 10, alright dearie?"
She started pushing as soon as the next painful contraction started. I decided to hold her hand, for moral support as well as her only wanting me to be in the room with her.
"That's good honey, the head is out, we're gonna need one last big push okay? You got this."
With all the power left in her, she pushed out and out came a beautiful 6 pound baby.
"Congratulations Mrs Cruise, it's a boy!!!!" The nurses who were in the room with us started cheering and congratulating her, with me standing in the corner as awkward as ever,not knowing what to do.
"Come hold your little godson, Zara."
"Uhh, I don't think so. I've already done enough."
"Nonsense. Please, do it for him."
Ugh, emotional blackmail.
I slowly made my way on over to her and took the little pink boy and held him in my arms. He was beautiful, and he let out a little yawn and tried opening his eyes, and when he got tired he went to sleep. Cute, I thought. I wonder how my kid with Mason will look.
"He's adorable, Chrissy. What'll you name him?"
"How about....Jack? Jack Axl Cruise."
"Hmm....sounds great to me."
I gave Jack back to Chrissy, this felt way too intimate for me. I said my goodbyes to Chrissy and Mallory, as it was already too late and I had work in the morning.
I left the room and came to face Mason drinking a cup of coffee.
"Hey baby, how's everything ?" He gave me a kiss.
"Meh, it was alright. It's a boy, Jack. He's the cutest baby ever."
"Awww, don't worry, hopefully we'll make our own Anderson babies soon" he said with a wink.
"Oh shut up" I laughed at him. " Let's go home."
¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶
Chrissy became a single mom even before she gave birth, Scott was never there for any of the baby visits, as well as their baby shower, or the birth of his first child. It's pretty clear where his priorities lie.
But eventually Chrissy found out that he was having an affair with his secretary, Jasmine since she was 4 months pregnant, and it's being going downhill since then.
Scott's P.O.V :
"You missed Jack's 3 week check-up. Where were you?"
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my cognac.
"I was busy."
"What's more important than OUR SON Scott? You're the one who wanted him, not me. I was okay with not having any kids, and now you're just dumping me with a fucking child?!"
"Listen, there's no need for you to act like a fucking bitch right now. You're not a wife anymore, but a mom and I expect you to act like one."
I heard a ping from my phone and smiled when I saw who it was from.
"Is it her? Is she the reason that you decided to abandon us?"
"Chrissy -"
"Is she the one I found you with kissing on your office desk? The one who's cheap lipstick was on your collar last week?"
"No my love." This lying will get me into deep trouble one day. "- listen my baby. It's been a tough time at the office today, and I just want nothing but to rub your back and play with Jack. But I need to work, for us, for our son. And I promise she kissed me first. It was totally unexpected and uncalled for. I promise I would never cheat on you."
"You promise?"
"Always. I would never deliberately hurt you, or our son."
~~~~~
And, it's become a norm for her to call me Everytime her and Scott get into yet another fight, with me giving some half-baked advice while I'm howling on the inside.
"Karma is a bitch, A BAD BITCH AT THAT. SUCK ON THAT BITCH.Ahahahahha."
Okay that's wrong. Is it really? I don't think so.
And it always ends the same way, her promising to keep in touch and making me promise her to visit baby Jack, to which I always reply "of course sweetie, I can't wait to meet the little man again."
Sure I would have gone a long time ago to see him, if the situation was different. But I had to prioritise myself and my happiness now. And me letting her back into my life like nothing happened is just me basically turning into a doormat, like I've always done with her. I need to change my habits. So I went to her number, and blocked and deleted it. It's also one of these days that I give myself a pat on the back for not disclosing my address with her.
I set my phone on the counter and continued making dinner.
¶¶¶¶¶¶¶
My palms are sweaty. It's Mason's 35th birthday today, and I have a surprise for him. I'm not sure how he'll react to it since it's only been 10 months, but I've never been sure about this my entire life.
My thoughts are interrupted when I hear the door opening.
"Sweetheart, I'm home!!"
"In the kitchen!!!"
The footsteps get closer and closer until I see him standing by the doorway " aren't you gonna greet the birthday boy?" A pout on his face.
"You know you're too old for that right?"
"Yupp. We really need to catch up some more."
"I know, it's just been a while since we last spent some time together, you know?"
Lately we've been spending less time together, with him launching new hotels in Spain and Amsterdam, so he's been gone for close to 6 weeks. But we make an effort to communicate as much as we can.
~𝑭𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌~
𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒉.
𝑵𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 4 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒇𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒐.
𝑺𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈......'𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕....𝒐𝒓 𝑲𝑰𝑫𝑵𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑬𝑫?!?!? 𝑶𝒓 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 -
*𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈*
𝑰 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒎, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆.
𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 : 𝑶𝒌𝒂𝒚, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝑵𝑬𝑽𝑬𝑹 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈?
𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 : 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈...𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎.
𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 : 𝑯𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒕?
𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 : 𝑵𝒐𝒑𝒆. 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒕. 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 -
𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 : 𝑵𝑶𝑷𝑬!!!! 𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑯𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑯𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 7 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 5 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒊𝒎. 𝑯𝒆'𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆.
𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 : 𝑰 𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒐, 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒉??
𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙 : 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒃𝒚𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆.
𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 : 𝑩𝒚𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆.
¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶
𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 : 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔. 𝑻𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉?
𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 : 𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏, 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒅𝒐.....𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒖𝒑 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓'𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.
𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 : 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 10 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔? 𝑨𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒘𝒆'𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉?
𝑯𝒖𝒓𝒕.
𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 : 𝑰𝒇 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆, 𝒘𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓.....𝒊𝒕'𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐....𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔.
𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏 : 𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏'𝒕. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 -
~𝑬𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒍~
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" 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔?"
" 𝑰 𝒅𝒖𝒏𝒏𝒐!!!! 𝑩𝒖𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚."
" 𝑩𝒖𝒕?"
"𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒆? 𝑾𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔. 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒘. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑."
" 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂. 𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆." 𝑷𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.
𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒁𝒂𝒓𝒂, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆. 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕.
𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒙𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒐 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔.
𝑰 𝒈𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔.
"𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆. 𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆."
"𝑺𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒐𝒌𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒆, 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆, 𝒘𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
"𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒅𝒐?" 𝑻𝒂𝒚𝒍𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔.
𝑰 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓.
" 𝑰'𝒎 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕. 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒈𝒐 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒐𝒏."
" 𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑯𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒉𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆."
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"𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒚."
" 𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕....𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒔."
"𝑵𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉. 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒖𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑰 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚."
"𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒊𝒔?"
"𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆. 𝑨𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒃.𝒔"
"𝑨𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕'𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔."
" 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒃𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚?"
"𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
"𝒀𝒐𝒖'𝒅 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚?" 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌 𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆.
"𝑰 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏, 𝑰 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒑𝒍𝒖𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕.....𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒐𝒕, 𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒇𝒆."
"𝑷𝒔𝒉𝒉𝒉𝒉, 𝒔𝒉𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑." 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒌𝒔. " 𝑨𝒏𝒅, 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕."
"𝑨 𝒈𝒊𝒇𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆? 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕."
"𝑯𝒎𝒎𝒎. 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒂𝒃𝒚."
"𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖."
¶¶¶¶¶¶¶¶
"Hello? Earth to Zara?" He snapped his freakishly long fingers in front me.
" Huh? What is it?"
"You've been spacing out more than usual. You want me to take you to bed?"
"No I'm fine. Just thinking about these couple weeks."
"I know. It's been a fucking rollercoaster ride for all of us." Wrapping his hands around me, "So, about that gift you promised me, can I see it?"
With a smile on my face, I took his hand and led him to his office.
"Sit down." He did as he was told and looked down at the medium sized box in front of him.
"Open it."
"You sure it doesn't bite?"
"Just open the box."
He opened the box as if awaiting a jump scare. And visibly calmed down when nothing popped out. He scrunched his eyebrows as he pulled out a small white pair of booties, then a bib, then a small diaper.
Don't judge me, I didn't know how else to plan this on short notice. Hopefully he'll catch on to what I'm about to tell him.
"I'm not sure what I should make out of this babe?"
I rolled my eyes,about to laugh at him for his dim-wittedness. How the hell is he still as clueless as ever about this?
" Open the envelope."
He opened the envelope and read through it with a calm expression on his face. But nearing the end of the letter, his eyes were the size of golf balls, and his hands started shaking.
" You're .....you, us.....baby-"
"Use your words baby, words."
He drew in a sharp, shaky breath. "You're pregnant. I'm gonna be a father."
"Yeah." I felt my own tears threatening to come out.
He stood up quickly causing his chair to fall over. "I'm gonna be a fucking dad!!!!!! Me!!!! " He took me from where I was standing and twirled me around, giving me the most sloppiest kisses that I happily accepted.
"How far along are you?"
"4 months today."
"I knew that your belly wasn't as flat as it normally is when I held you today."
"Mason!!!" I slapped his arm and tried walking away, to which he hastily grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to him
"Stop, I'm just playing with you baby. You're still as amazing as ever."
"Let's eat this cake now, shall we?"