𝗞𝗮𝗰𝗶 𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘀 was in trouble. She had kept her pregnancy hidden from everybody in the world for over seven months, and her family were pissed. Not because their underage daughter had unprotected sex, not because she could've died from how unhealthy her pregnancy had been, not even because she was pregnant — they were pissed because she cheated on her assigned future husband, Rafe Cameron.
Naturally, Kaci was grounded. She had her phone taken away, and any contact she had outside the penthouse was perished. JJ was also fired from his job after a strangely calm talking to from Mikel, and both parents had completely iced their daughter out for the last few days. Kaci was panicking every morning, sure that she'd end up like Luis. Gone and forgotten, never to be seen again. Jordan, however, was loving the situation, spending every day going baby shopping with the girls he liked.
Tonight was different, though. Tonight, Kaci had to leave her bedroom. Because tonight was Midsummers, hosted by ʼThe River Palaceʼ. And as the hostess, Kaci was expected to be there.
Not having been in public for days, Kaci wasn't sure what the other people on the island were told, what her friends thought, if she even had friends anymore. Her parents, Rafe and JJ could've gone out to say anything — they all had a reason to be mad now, they all had a reason to resent her.
Midsummers was an annual event around the North side of the island; it was an event thrown for the rich to shit on the poor. The girls wore the finest dresses and the men wore black tie — pouges scattered around and served for them. Kaci never used to care about the other side; she used to drink away and mess around with her friends, but this time all she could think about were the pouges. Her babyʼs family — she'd have to speak to them often, soon.
Kaci wore a long, laced, crimson, v-neck appliques tulle dress, which was tight around her waist and showed the clear, round, beautiful, baby bump that sat on her stomach. She stood in front of the mirror for a moment, her hands rubbing it gently as she admired the look of herself.
For months, her pregnancy made her feel ugly, sick even, but now she had embraced the magic of it, the whole thing made her feel powerful; majestic. She loved being pregnant, she loved carrying a life inside of her. The glow of her pregnancy made her skin shine and her smile brighter, everything seeming a lot more wonderful than it did before.
"It's time to come downstairs now, Mija, the guests will be arriving shortly," a voice spoke behind her.
Kaci froze, spine straightening, at the sound of her father. He hadn't said much over the last few days — Marie was the one doing all the shouting, especially when she called her family and told them the outrageous news. But Mikel stayed quiet, observant, and Kaci wasn't sure if he had even told anyone about his soon grandchild. She was cautious of her father, scared of him. She always had been.
Mikel was a proud man, his words were always firm and final, and nobody on the island ever wanted to upset him. Growing up, he sometimes felt more like Kaciʼs boss than her father; they never had the bond a daughter and dad should have, the kind of bond JJ would have with their child. So Kaci didn't ever want to upset him, either, frightened of the consequences. And ever since she found that note from Luis, her fears grew even more.
"Okay," she said with a nod, looking at him through the mirror, waiting for him to do something, preparing for something to happen. Tension filled the air wherever this man went, but when he was with his own children, the atmosphere was always thicker. Because nobody wanted to please than man more than his own kids, nobody was more scared of this man than his own kids. He was never their dad. Never. "I'll be down in a minute."
Mikel nodded, but he didn't move from his confident stance at the girlʼs doorway. "Do what Marie says tonight, Kaci," he told her. "There's no point in causing any more problems." He sighed. "We just want what's best for you. Really."
Kaci didn't respond and waited for him to leave before she quickly pushed in a golden nose ring. As she touched her septum, it reminded her of the night she spent with JJ Maybank. She couldn't quite remember what happened after he pierced her nose, but she did remember the smile he put on her face. The way her neutral, bored look always disappeared when he spoke and teased her. JJ made her happy in a way that not many people did. He was going to be a great dad, and she trusted him to raise their baby.
And that meant a lot to her. Because whatever happened tonight, whatever anybody said, she still had her baby, and she still had the perfect father for it. Nobody could take that pride away from her.
𖧷
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 Palace hotelʼs yard felt like stepping into another universe. It was magic, really, and Kaci was beyond grateful to all the people that took their time to make this into a reality. She took a long moment to stare at everything around.
Guests hadn't even started arriving yet, but the place felt full by all the workers lounging at their stations. The first person Kaci spotted was Pope Heyward, who was standing by a barbecue with his dad, and she rushed over to embrace him with a tight hug, taking the boy by surprise and causing him to flinch.
"Thank you for keeping the secret," she said gratefully, pulling back to look at him with a bright smile.
Pope nodded, not returning the grin, and not returning the hug, either. "You look good," he said instead, dismissing her as though she was any normal kook.
Kaci furrowed her brows, taking a step back from the boy, and looking around them. Maybe he was being like this so nobody thought he was slacking on the job — this event was very big, afterall, and usually at least ten people get fired during the evening. But Pope didn't seem like he was ignoring her; he looked like he was pissed at her. Kaci decided to leave him alone, anyway, he wasn't going to speak again anytime soon.
"Kaci!" Jordan called, jogging towards his older sister, dressed in a fitted black suit and waving his phone in the air. "Can I take a pic with your bump?"
Kaci looked at the younger boy like he was a total idiot and shrugged. "Sure, why?"
"Because it scores me points with the girls at the beach club," he answered simply, crouching down and aiming his camera at himself and the baby.
"You're such a freak," Kaci commented dryly, her usual bored face falling back onto her, as the night had already kicked off with a bad start.
"And you're such a fatty," Jordan retorted, which provoked his sister to knee him in the back, causing him to tip over and hit his head off the pavement.
"No, I'm pregnant."
"Yeah, that's kind of obvious now," he said, rubbing his forehead in pain.
Kaci shrugged and looked back up to watch the first few guests arrive. It was Kelceʼs family — they owned the golf court and were a big part of the kook community. He was also one of Kaciʼs first friends, and grew to be kind of like a brother to her.
"Thank you for inviting us again, Marie," his mom greeted Mrs Flores at the entrance.
"Of course, we love having you here," Marie faked her voice, forcing on a pleasant smile. She was lying, obviously. All she cared about was her reputation and their money.
"Is Kaci here? We brought a gift."
Maria pursed her lips, and gestured behind her, where her two children were bickering back and forth, one of them with a huge lump on their stomach. "She's right over there, with Jordan."
Kelceʼs mom smiled and made her way towards the girl, wrapped box in her hand, as the two men in her family followed behind. "Kaci," she expressed kindly, pulling the young girl into a warm embrace.
Kaci smiled back at the woman as they each pulled away, scared to make eye contact with her son, scared to face his reaction.
"Congratulations," she said, handing Kaci the box, to which the girl nodded gratefully.
"Thank you."
"I bet you're getting excited now," the woman went on with a grin, pointing back at her son. "He was a pain in my ass about this time — all I wanted was to rip him out of me myself."
Kaci chuckled lightly, feeling her baby kick a little as if they heard the womanʼs words. She hadn't yet gotten to that part of pregnancy, but the women online spoke about it a lot. Plus, she grew up watching Keeping up with the Kardashians, so she basically knew every stage that was coming her way. The ending was the part she was looking forward to the least — the part where you're in so much pain, you're hormones are so bad, that you just want to scream and push it out early. Kaci wasn't ready for that; she was already moody enough without that kind of pain and stress.
However, she did have to look up at Kelce when the mother pointed to him. Kelce was Rafeʼs best friend before he was Kaciʼs; he was kook before he was open-minded. If any of her friends were going to be pissed about this, it was going to be him. But he didn't look angry at all. He looked...almost happy?
"Uncle Kelce has a ring to it, I think," he finally said with a chuckle.
Kaci nodded, relief washing over her anxiety right away. "I mean, it could be Grandpa Kelce if you preferred, old man."
"Hey, if anyoneʼs old now, it's you, Mama."
Kaci smiled.
Thing went like that for hours later. Greeting came and went, congratulations and presents were received. It almost felt as though this was her baby shower, but Kaci didn't care. The more gifts, the better — baby shit was expensive, and that word was rare to come from a kook as kooky as Kaci. It was strange to her how kind they were being about it. Kaci had known most of these people all her life, and they all had one thing in common: they hated pouges. They probably were judgemental on the inside, but they were faking their compassion and excitement for her pretty good. It almost seemed real.
At last, the Carreras strolled into the yard. Kaci was standing beside Olivia Lewiss, one of her school friends, when they came through. Like most families, there was also a gift in their reach. But that wasn't the surprising part. The surprising part was that Kiara Carrera was holding the present.
"Holy shit," said Olivia behind Kaci. "Have you spoken to her since...?"
Kaci shrugged. "We've argued a couple of times since then, but not properly — no."
She elegantly brushed the hair off her shoulder and took a step forward to greet the family of three, a bitchy on her face.
"Oh, Kaci, you look beautiful," Mrs Carrera said kindly, not hugging the girl like all the others did. They weren't on friendly terms after what the girl did to her Kie.
"Thanks," said Kaci, not meeting the womanʼs eye, as she was too busy looking her daughter up and down.
Kiara handed Kaci the present, a cold glare on her face. "Well done, Pineapple," her voice was bitter, "You've officially trapped yourself. Have fun with your shitty life."
"Kie," her mother hissed, pulling her away by the arm to give out a lecture.
"Don't worry, Tomato!" Kaci called out to the girl rudely. "I'll have some fucking fun when I'm beating your ass again!"
Kiara pulled herself away from her mom, turning around to face Kaci as she walked backwards. "I'm hearing you talk a lot of shit, but I'm not actually seeing you do anything!"
Kaci raised a single brow, and the world went silent for a moment. She suddenly lunged forward, only to be pulled back by Olivia. "Don't hurt the baby for her, Kace," the girl said soothingly. "That bitch isn't worth it."
Kaci rolled her eyes. "I could still drag her, pregnant 'n' all."
"I don't doubt it for a second, babe, but it takes one little disturbance to ruin a life." Olivia rubbed Kaci on the back with a kind smile, trying to calm her down.
Other than all the fake congratulations and secretly judgemental looks she received, the one thing Kaci Flores hated most about that night was all the touching she was getting. It's been said before — Kaci did not like physical affection. It was okay when it was somebody she wanted to hug, like Pope earlier, for an example, or when it was somebody she was comfortable with, like Sarah, but she hated it from everyone else; she was two hugs away from slapping someone in the face. And if one more person asked to touch her stomach, she was going to commit murder.
The next and final family to walk through the doors leading to the yard were the royalty of the kooks — the Camerons. Rose and Ward strided through first, a loud round of applause greeting them outside. And followed in their three children, Wheezie, Sarah and Rafe.
The second their eyes locked, Sarah sprinted towards her best friend, throwing her arms around the girl. "Holy crap, you bitch!" she exclaimed, voice giddy as she pushed Kaci back slightly. "I can't believe you kept this secret from me for so long."
"I know, I'm sorry, Blueberry," Kaci apologised with a small pout.
Sarah, as bubbly as she always was, shook her head and spun them both around. "Ah! We're having a grape!"
Kaci chuckled lightly. "A grape?" she asked.
"Yes!" The blonde girl shook her. "Blue and yellow makes green! We're having a grape!"
The brunette of the duo nodded with a great big smile. For months, she had been waiting for this moment. For her sister to figure out the truth. It went a lot better than expected. Kaci probably should've expected this exact reaction, actually — Sarah always did make things a lot brighter than they actually were.
"All seriousness, though, I really thought you were done with my brother," she went on, holding both of Kaciʼs hands. "Guess you're stuck with him forever now, though, huh?"
Kaci furrowed her eyebrows. "Your brother?" she questioned.
"Yeah!" Sarah was still smiling, not yet understanding what was going on. "You and Rafe are having a baby!"
Kaciʼs whole face dropped. Before she could say anything, Topper interrupted their conversation. "Hey, can I steal my girlfriend for a moment?"
The couple swiftly left the scene, and Kaci was left with dread. The whole party thought she was carrying Rafeʼs baby — that was why they were so kind, that was why Pope was pissed, that was why Kie made that comment. The only people that knew the truth were the Flores family, Ward, Rafe and Rose Cameron and Pope Heyward; everybody else was fooled by the lie. Kaci was back to square one, and she was pissed.
"Hey, Kace —"
The sound of his voice made her want to scream. Kaci did not want to hear him out this time; she was far too gone for his shit now. She had taken way too much over the years, and this truly was the icing on top of the cake.
Feeling the boyʼs presence right behind her, Kaci threw her elbow back, causing Rafe Cameron to groan and double over, holding a hand to his bloody nose. He already looked beaten up, and was clearly wearing concealer to try and hide it. Kaci didn't need to guess to know who put the damage to his face; the clear answer put a light smile on her face. The baby wasn't even born yet and JJ was already protecting it with his life.
"What the fuck, Rafe?" she hissed furiously. "Why would you tell everyone that?"
Palm over his nose, the boy shook his head. "No, no — don't pin this on me, Kaci. It was your momʼs idea."
Kaci looked up and down, eyes filled with rage. She wasn't sure if it was her hormones of if she was genuinely just angry, but the girl was pretty sure somebody was leaving the party in a body bag.
Rafe shook his head anyway. "No, but this is a good thing, Kace," he assured her with a confident nod, clearly coked up out of his head before the party had even begun. "This means we can try again, I can be good." He reached out to touch her hand. "Give me a second chance, babe, please."
Kaci looked at him for a moment. He smiled lightly, knowing he had her back in his loop, knowing for sure that he was going to have her back.
Then her fist went flying into his eye, causing him to stumble back again. "What the actual fuck?!" he cried. He stared at her, eyes softening. "I need you, Kaci. My sisters, my dad, Rose — they don't get it, they don't understand me. You're the only one that gets it, and I don't know what I'd do without you."
Kaci shrugged simply. "I'm not your mom, Rafe," she told him. "If you wanted help, I'd help you get it in a heartbeat. But I'm not wasting my time trying to help somebody who isn't ready for it."
At that, she began to walk away. She saw his face change, watched him fight off the anger, and it hurt her. She did feel sorry for him. She wasted so many years of her life trying with him — it wasn't that easy to throw it all away so fast.
He grabbed her arm tightly. Really tight. She snapped.
Kaci punched him across the face again. "Don't fucking touch me," she warned furiously, steeping over his body as he fell to the ground, and escaped to the hotel toilets.
After a few minutes of fixing herself up in the bathroom, Kaci was ready to join the party again. She still looked beautiful, but the anger behind her eyes was still evident. People on the island knew what she was like when she blew up — the day she beat the living crap out of Kiara Carrera would never be forgotten — but although she talked a big game, Kaci wasn't proud of herself for the chaos she caused.
Sometimes, all it took was for her to hear one thing and she'd lose her mind. She'd snap. Sometimes it was for silly reasons, sometimes it was for good ones. Either way, she snapped. And she never, ever thought of what to say before she said it. She never proof-read her words before they came out. She often sounded rude, but she never meant to — she just said what she said, and that was that. Kaci was worried that she might say something stupid tonight, that she might not watch what she's saying and get herself into trouble. She needed to put her baby first. That was the motive. That was the thing that held her back from starting a fight.
When she joined the party again, Sarah was back on the dance floor, sneakily sipping wine she stole from Rose. Kaci needed to tell her the truth first. No more secrets.
However, that task swiftly turned into a struggle when she watched JJ Maybank — who no longer worked for the hotel — sneak into the circle of dancing teens to hand Sarah a note. There were cuts on his face. Deep ones. He turned around and caught Kaciʼs eye, the smile on his face fading. He never frowned around Kaci. He always grinned. Always. But now his face only held resentment.
Before she could say anything, before she could explain the messy rumour that spread around the island, Rafe grabbed the boy by the shoulders, the blood on his face gone dry. Dread filled Kaciʼs stomach and she rubbed her bump in search for some comfort. "I'm wonderin' if you could get me a mai tai, my friend," said Rafe, sounding somehow even more stoned than he was five minutes ago.
"Yeah, Pouge, how about you make that two?" Kelce chirped up from beside him.
"Yeah, well, I'm on the clock right now," the blonde excused, dressed as a waiter. "You guys look spiffy. You know, uh, I gotta couple orders ahead of you, so why don't you guys just go ahead and wait at the bar?"
A sudden hand grabbed Kaciʼs wrist, forbidding her to listen to anymore of the conversation. She was already pissed enough, so when she turned around to see Topper, she had to force herself not the slap him over the face.
"What's up with Sarah?" he asked her, a questionable look on his face.
Kaci shrugged, letting out an annoyed huff. "What the fuck do you mean?" she shot back, glancing behind them to find that the boys weren't there any longer. "Shit," she muttered under her breath.
But Topper wasn't about to just let her leave, his had still on her wrist. "Listen, Kaci, I've known you for years, and I get that you're her best friend or whatever, but I think I deserve enough respect for you to tell me the truth.
The girl looked at him like he was dumb. "I honestly have no idea what you're going on about right now," she told him honestly, voice cold and harsh. "This is the first time I've seen Sarah in literally forever, so, please, shut the fuck up and sort her brother out before I actually murder him."
Topperʼs face morphed into confusion. "Rafe?" he asked. "What's Rafe done?"
"What hasn't he done?" Kaci shot back. "If he so much as touches a hair on JJʼs head, I will stab him to death with a spoon."
The boy in front of her was more than confused by now, and wasn't sure on which part of her statement he should've picked up on. "A spoon?"
Kaci huffed and stormed off without anymore context, leaving Topper to come up with his own assumptions of what was going on with his girlfriend. She searched the whole yard for JJ, or Rafe, or literally any of the guys, but had no luck.
Then she saw the last people she wanted to see that night. Her parents. Kaci seriously wanted to kill somebody.
Instead of letting the girl avoid them and successfully supress her fury, Marie called her daughter over to the circular table. "Kaci!"
"Look — look, man, I can walk myself."
The boys were back. Or, JJ was, at least. He was being dragged away by security. Everyone at the party turned around to watch the scene. A pouge boy ruining an event — what was new?
"I got legs," he went on to the security man. "Can you see that, brother?"
"Come on." The man continued to use force to drag the boy out.
"I really appreciate what you did back there." JJ struggled against his hard grip. "Let me just walk out by myself."
He was guided towards the exit of the party, taking JJ past the bar, where old men stood and caught up on their interesting lives as rich cunts. "Oh, Mr Dunleavy, I see you good your drink," JJ said, patting the man on the chest, and took his drink. "Good, that's really nice of you. I'm actually gonna down that." He was true to his word.
"What the hell's the matter with him?" the man asked.
"Sorry, sir," apologised Security, pulling JJ away with all his force now.
"Ah, whoo! I really appreciate the discretion, Daryl, you know?" He raised his arms in the air, not caring for the pain and hard grip the man had on him. "It's okay, everybody! Don't panic! Leave it to the men and women in uniform!" He began to clap his hands together as he was taken further away from everybody. "Huh? Let's hear it from them. Rose!" He pointed to Sarahʼs step-mom, who took a judgemental sip of wine, ignoring the pouge as if he was a bag in the garbage. "You look like Lady Liberty. It's good to see you again." This time, he pointed to another bottle of alcohol. "Ooh. Buddy, can I have one of those?"
Jordan watched it go on with an entertained grin, phone out and waiting for a fight. Mikel stared at it, face as neutral as ever, not revealing much about his feelings. Marie looked away and acted as though it wasn't her problem.
Kaci glared. She was furious.
"Get off him!" she called out, stepping onto the table so that she was heard, also to piss her parents off.
JJ paused at the sudden sound of her voice, refusing to let the man drag him any further. He had to listen. He had to hear what she said. He couldn't believe it when the secret spread around town. Kaci Flores was pregnant. With the baby of Rafe Cameron. He was betrayed; a cold and hard stab to the chest. After the conversation he had with Kaci, after what Rafe did to her, JJ couldn't believe she could do that to him.
"Kaci," her mother warned slowly.
Jordan smirked, leaning back in his seat to watch the drama go on. He loved it.
"You can't just boot him!" the girl went on.
"Kaci, stop it," Marie warned once again, temper rising as her daughter continued.
"No, because that's my baby daddy, not Rafe Cameron!" Her words sent gasps around the yard, stares and eyes falling onto the teen girl and her embarrassed family. "And y'all can't kick him out, because he'll be right here next year, standing next to me and our child — as a fucking guest, too, not somebody serving your shit on a silver platter!" she called out instead, the whole audience around them now going silent.
Still struggling by security, JJ kept his eyes focused on Kaci, that usual grin back on his lips, eyes glistening as he watched his girl speak her mind.
Marie glared at Kaci, shaking her head with a fury almost as firery as her daughterʼs.
Kaci turned away from the audience and looked at the foot of the table to face her parents, both angrier than ever. "What do you want me to do, un-fuck him?" she asked, tilting her head in consideration. "It's a bit too late for that, don't you think?"
A loud whoop jumped out of JJʼs lips as he spun around and clapped his hands together for the girl.
"Don't bother coming home," Marie told her daughter at last.
"Fine by me, perra." She stuck her middle finger up at her hispanic parents and walked away like it was nothing. Fearless.
"Whoa, what the fuck?" Jordan commented, eyes wide in disbelief, ending his recording.
"Watch your language, both of you," Marie shot back, furious and mortified by her daughterʼs behaviour.
Kaci shrugged, a smirk on her face, as she continued to walk away.
Glass smashed as JJ finally got himself away from Daryl the security guard. "Sorry about that," he said quickly, spinning around to face the crowd.
"Hey, mandatory power hour at Rixenʼs, Kie!" he called out and pointed at his best friend, who could barely move, she was so shocked. The boy knew he was probably going to get screamed at for sleeping with Kaci, but like Kaci herself said, it was a little too late for that now. "Pope, you aswell, alright? Rixenʼs Cove. Let's roll."
"And Princess?" He looked up to meet the stunning, brown eyes of his baby mama, grin back on his face this time. "I'll see you at our appointment tomorrow, yeah?"
Kaci grinned back at him. "Don't be late, asshat!"
"Course not, gorgeous."
She shook her head and walked back through the doors of her hotel, leaving the party as JJ rounded up the pouges. Kaci wasn't going to crash their meeting; she needed to sort out her shit upstairs.
Kaci Flores was pregnant, angry and carrying the baby of the greatest boy alive. There was no doubt in her mind that JJ Maybank was going to be the best dad she had ever seen; she couldn't have been prouder to be holding up his baby in her stomach.
But she was also now homeless, which surprisingly didn't outweigh her positives in the slightest. She was too happy to think of the bad in that moment. Things were good. Really good.
Authorʼs Note
yo so this is a pretty long chapter and there's a lot to unpack here. ig kaciʼs homeless now? and we love a bitch that defends herself and her bd. idk i feel like she's one of my favourite ocs rn. like it goes tatum, kaci, antonia, montana — i fucking hate montana idc, she made my mental health so bad lmao. baby gender reveal in two chapters, so be ready for that shit and if you haven't voted yet, go back to the last chapter and cast your last vote (give me some names, too). also, i realise i'm not the best at describing things so this is the dress i had in mind for kaci (just imagine the baby bump, too)
(sorry if it's not your style, you can always imagine something different)
love, tay </3