I knew Carol was dying to ask about the pregnancy test even if she controlled her interest. Alexandru could barely contain himself. He constantly turned to me and asked questions that hinted at pregnancy.
Nicolae pulled over to the first diner we came across. It had only been an hour since we left, but I was starving. I didn't care what I ate.
We all exited the car. I didn't expect Nicolae to show any sort of affection towards me since he usually didn't in public, but he took my hand as we walked inside the busy diner. I couldn't deny that I liked it. I always liked it when he touched me, but it wasn't necessary.
I wondered if we would end up married like he said. I wasn't completely opposed to the idea, but I felt like I should be more hesitant. It was crazy to marry him just because we were having a baby, but I knew that wasn't the real reason I was actually considering it.
The hostess at the front eyed Nicolae as we walked inside. I was used to women looking at him, but that didn't mean I liked it.
"Hi," the blonde girl greeted warmly. "For four?"
"Yes," I answered. My tone was more clipped than I intended, but she shouldn't have looked him up and down.
She grabbed menus and led us back to the main part of the restaurant. As we all sat in our spots at the small table the hostess handed each of us a menu letting her gaze linger on Nicolae just a little too long.
"Let me know if you need anything. Jess will be over in a minute to take your orders," she said.
"Thanks," I shot back.
Carol started to stand. "I'll be right back," she said with a light smile.
I opened my menu, making it a point to ignore Nicolae's gaze. I knew everyone picked up on my tone, but I doubted anyone would say anything about it.
I felt a familiar arm wrap around my shoulders, tugging me a little closer. Nicolae leaned over and kissed my temple.
"I did not peg you as the jealous type," he whispered in my ear.
I shrugged, completely avoiding his eyes. "I'm not jealous."
"Oh, căpșună, you certainly are, but I love you regardless."
I could hear the smugness of his voice. Apparently my small amount of jealousy gave him quite the ego boost.
He placed another light kiss on my temple and picked up his menu. Alexandru tapped his finger on the table, calling my attention to him. I lifted my eyes to meet his anxious gaze. He was clearly asking even if it was silent.
I exhaled roughly and put my menu down. Nicolae glanced over at me confused by my irritation.
Carol sat back down at the table and picked up her menu, but Alexandru held my stare.
"Fine!" I almost shouted. Nicolae's attention shot back to me. "Yes, Alexandru, I'm pregnant."
"He knew?" Nicolae asked.
"Not officially. I made him go get me the tests."
"You should have asked me," Nicolae grumbled. I knew he wasn't mad, but I could see why he would be irritated.
"You weren't in the room."
"Are you excited?" Carol asked. She was holding back her own excitement, but I could see it. Carol loved kids. She watched her sister's kids any time she could. It always made me wonder why she and my father never had any.
I opened my mouth to respond when another fresh-out-of-high school girl cheerfully greeted our table.
"You're pregnant?" She asked, probably more excited than anyone at the table.
"Yes," I confirmed. Jesus, I didn't want it announced to the entire world. It was our business, no one else's.
"Congratulations! That's so exciting!"
I forced a smile. "Thanks."
"Are you ready to order?" She asked, her smile wide. She didn't seem to notice my standoffish tone.
"I think so," Alexandru answered.
Her eyes immediately left me and went to Alexandru. I could admit he was handsome, but Nicolae was still exceedingly better looking. I didn't know what it was. Maybe because Alexandru was lighter than Nicolae. His hair was a lighter brown verging on blonde. His skin was not as tan. I just liked Nicolae's personality better too. Alexandru was a nice guy, but I liked that Nicolae was a little more serious when he needed to be. He only showed his playful side with me. I knew he was genuinely having a good time with me.
I barely listened as Alexandru rattled off his order to the girl which was quite extensive. Alexandru was an extremely well-built man though. In my experience, men like Nicolae and Alexandru tended to eat far more than people that were overweight. They put in a ton of work at the gym and they needed the calories.
To be honest, everything Alexandru ordered sounded good. I was hungry enough to put down that much food, but I couldn't let pregnancy be my excuse for poor eating. I wasn't going to be one of those girls. I still wanted Nicolae to be attracted to me even if I was going to put on a ton of weight.
Nicolae's ordered rivaled Alexandru's which surprised me a little. He didn't typically eat that much even though I knew he could.
"And what about you, miss momma to be," the waitress asked.
I paused for a moment, taking in what she had called me. I hadn't thought of myself as a mother and honestly, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I could barely take care of myself. How the hell was I going to take care of a baby too?
"Um, I'll have two scrambled eggs and bacon," I said.
"That's all you want?" Nicolae asked.
I nodded. "And orange juice."
I thought for a second. It would probably be awhile before we stopped again.
"And a bowl of fruit. Actually, wait," I said as I searched the menu once more. "What kind of fruit is it?"
"Cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, bananas, and pineapple."
"Can you do it without the cantaloupe and watermelon?"
"For sure," she said as she wrote it down. "Anything else?"
"Oatmeal."
"You hate oatmeal," Carol said from across the table.
I shrugged. "It sounds good."
She shook her head softly. "Good luck, Nicolae."
He laughed as he handed over his menu to the girl. She thanked us and said she would be back with our drinks.
"So what do you think you're having?" Alexandru asked.
"I don't know. I don't really care as long as it's healthy."
"You should see a doctor soon," Carol suggested.
Yeah, like that was going to happen. We still needed to get half way around the world. I knew seeing a doctor was important, but women had gone much longer without seeing one. I couldn't have been more than five or so weeks along.
"Yeah, I'll go once everything settles down."
She tossed me a pointed look, but dropped the subject. There wasn't much I could do about it anyway. We were fugitives. It wasn't like I could stop at a doctor and use my insurance to get a check up when I was supposed to be dead.
I wasn't sure what pulled my attention to the front of the restaurant, but my eyes caught a girl walking in. I instantly recognized her and folded my arms in irritation.
I was still furious with Katerina for playing her stupid game with me. I wondered if she felt bad at all for it or if she thought it was funny to prey on a girl that actually did lose her mother. She was a special kind of twisted to find any humor in what she told me.
"What the hell is she doing her?" I demanded of Nicolae.
He glanced up to see Katerina quickly approaching.
"She is coming with us."
"I have to be around her?"
"I told you she's not a bad person," he tried.
"Holland," Katerina greeted warmly.
Looking at her now I couldn't imagine why I thought she was twelve. She certainly looked much younger than eighteen, but with her make up on she looked closer to her age.
I didn't bother responding. That little bitch used everything she knew against me for a fucking game. I had just lost my father and she didn't care. She still did whatever she thought would break up the monotony of this routine job.
Nicolae muttered something to her in Romanian. My guess was he told her to sit down and not talk to me. She certainly sat, but she was not giving up so easily.
"It seems my brother has a soft spot for you, căpșună," she taunted by using his nickname for me. I refused to give her the satisfaction.
"You can ignore me all you want, but I am not going away. We are going to be very cozy the rest of this trip."
Jess came back to the table with her familiar wide smile, carrying a tray full of drinks. She started setting drinks in front of people when she took notice of Katerina.
"Oh, we have another one to add to the celebration?" She asked cheerfully.
"Celebration?" Katerina inquired to Nicolae.
"What can I get you to drink, sweetheart?" Jess asked.
"Coffee."
"You got it. Anything to eat?"
"No."
Jess' smile fell just a little at how blunt Katerina was. Apparently she was just a bitch to everyone.
"Well, food should be out in a minute. I'll get that coffee for you."
Jess disappeared, but Katerina eyed Nicolae. She let out a string of Romanian, but he only motioned to me and gave a short response. She looked incredibly irritated with him, but turned her attention on me.
I was going to have fun with this.
"What are we celebrating?" She asked.
I turned my eyes on her as I sipped my orange juice. "A couple things."
"Such as?"
"Well, for starters, I'm pregnant."
She looked shocked for a moment, but quickly looked between me and Nicolae.
"Is it yours?" She asked Nicolae.
He nodded, confirming my story thus far.
"This is a celebration," she said cheerfully.
"What the waitress did not hear, is that we won't be keeping it," I said flatly.
"Nicolae! You would allow this?" She demanded to know, outraged by the fact that I claimed to be having an abortion.
"It's not my body. If she wants an abortion there is nothing I can do to stop her."
"I realized something, Katerina. The only reason Nicolae and I were together was because of you. We both loved you and cared about you. I thought that meant we had a connection, but when I found out you weren't his daughter . . . I don't know. The way I felt about him changed."
Her jaw could have hit the ground and I couldn't have been more satisfied with my lie.
"You . . . You fucking slut," she whispered.
I shrugged. "You can call me whatever you want. It doesn't change the fact that he doesn't love me either."
She glared at me, but pushed away from the table and stormed off in the direction of the bathroom. As soon as I heard the door slam shut a small smile crept on my lips.
"Holly, that was mean," Carol scolded.
"She used my parents' death to gain my sympathy all for a fucking game. I'll tell her later that it's not true."
Nicolae squeezed my hand under the table and gave me an appreciative smile. I think he enjoyed Katerina getting a taste of her own medicine.
"So you're maybe five weeks along?" Carol asked.
I nodded. "Probably. Maybe six."
"Let's hope you're not sick through the whole first trimester."
"God, I hope not. I don't think I could be sick like that for months."
"I doubt it. Make sure you're eating properly."
I nodded. Katerina's figure caught my eye as she stormed back to the table and shoved herself down to the seat.
"Explain this," she commanded me.
I raised my eyebrows at her tone. "I don't have to explain anything."
"You are killing my niece or nephew. I deserve to know why."
I rolled my eyes. "It's not even a baby yet. Besides, once this is over you're never going to see me again. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Don't be so fucking stupid, Holland," she snapped. Her eyes darted around to make sure she hadn't called attention to our table. "Nicolae loves you. If you kill his baby, I will kill you."
I leaned closer to her. I wasn't going to let her intimidate me. She might have been some sort of trained agent, but they had no idea who my parents actually were or how they raised me. "Not if I kill you first."
She scoffed. "Please, like you could kill anyone." She instantly switched to Romanian. I caught my name once, but other than that I had no idea what she was saying to her brother.
Nicolae only stayed silent as she droned on. It sounded like she was urging him. My guess was she wanted him to talk some sense into me.
When our food came, she stopped talking, but the second Jess left Katerina started again. Only now, she spoke in English. The more slurs she hurled at me, the more irritated I became. I wasn't usually quick to anger, or any emotion for that matter, but she was grating on my last nerve.
"You don't deserve to have his child anyway," she spat at me.
I dropped my fork and whipped my head to face her. I had enough of her talking shit to me. I wouldn't have even been mad at Nicolae in the first place if it wasn't for her. She started this stupid fucking game at my expense.
"You listen to me, you ungrateful bitch," I started.
"Holland-" Nicolae started.
"Don't interrupt me," I shot over my shoulder. "Are both of your parents alive, Katerina?" I asked bitterly.
"Yes."
"So you don't know what it's like to lose a parent, do you?"
Her eyes set in a harsh glare. "No."
"So explain to me why you thought it would be a good fucking idea to use my parents' deaths to play some stupid fucking game with me."
She looked shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered. She had never seen me mad before. It was a rare occurrence, but when it happened I didn't hold back. It took a lot to make me angry and she managed to do it in under ten minutes.
"That's what this is about? You're killing his baby because I wanted to have a little fun?" She demanded.
"You act like he's pregnant," I scoffed. "For someone so well trained, I would have thought you could figure this out on your own."
Confusion barely showed in her chocolate eyes, but it was definitely there. "Figure what out?"
"Do you honestly think what Nicolae and I have is based on you? How fucking egotistical can you be," I exclaimed.
"Wait. What are you talking about?"
"We aren't broken up. We're getting married."
As soon as I said it, I regretted it. I hadn't even officially agreed to marry him yet. I certainly hadn't told Carol. I felt Nicolae's arm rest on the back of my chair. Clearly he wasn't going to address it at the moment, but I could feel his smug grin. He knew I would cave eventually; I didn't expect it to be so soon though. Funny how finding out I was pregnant completely changed my view of life. I only wanted what was best for our baby and I believed having happily married parents was the best.
"Married," she trailed. "So, you're not having an abortion?"
I rolled my eyes and picked up my fork to continue eating. "No."
"But you said-"
"You also said your mother killed herself because of you. Don't play games with me again, Katerina."
I could feel her eyes on me, but I wasn't going to meet them. I was pleased with my acting skills and I thought Nicolae was too. I doubted he appreciated me calling his sister a bitch, but she had called me every name in the book while sitting there.
"Well played, Holland," she sharply replied. "When are you getting married?"
"I have one of the most powerful governments in the world trying to kill me. Probably some time after that's over."
"You're not usually this bitter."
"It's not every day I find out the family I fell in love with was a complete fucking lie. I knew something was off about you."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure."
"You didn't act like a twelve year old. Your expressions were too stoic and you picked up ballet too fast which could only mean that you've danced before. You had too much control."
"Then why didn't you call me out on it?"
"And sound completely insane?"
She shrugged as she sipped her coffee.
The table fell into an uncomfortable silence. I had a feeling that Katerina was going to make the rest of the weekend awkward. It was already hard enough, but the tension between Katerina and myself just made it worse. She knew damn well I didn't want her there and I didn't bother trying to hide it. I didn't want her there. I didn't want to be in the situation at all.
We finished eating and Nicolae paid the bill. I wondered if he was footing the entire bill of the trip. I knew he was extremely well off, but I didn't know exactly how much money he made. Or if it was even legal. That was something I should know about the man I was going to marry.
Our group made it to the car and shuffled inside. I really didn't want to be sandwiched in the backseat with Katerina right next to me. I didn't want to deal with her at all. She wasn't the type of person I associated with, but now she was someone I couldn't avoid. I hated that she was forever a part of my life just because of Nicolae. The little bitch was going to be an aunt to my kid and I wasn't so sure I liked that.