"Thanks," I say to Dylan as he hands me the cold bottle of water, his face beaming as he goes to sit down beside Adeline. His hands lay on top of hers, both palms resting on the sides of her stomach.
"No problem," he replies. "I'm going to be treating you just like this one." He rubs his nose along her neck, Adeline's eyes closing in content. As Adeline puts it, Dylan's been in a complete 'no stress for you' mode; trying to keep Adeline off her feet as much as possible.
He's not the fondest of her beginning her job and carrying Lily around so much, scared she's going to put too much strain on her body. "You don't need to be treating me any kind of way." Adeline mumbles while lacing her fingers with his.
He looks between the two of us with wide eyes, "the two of you are pregnant...together. If anything, I'm going to treat you better than I did before." I giggle under my breath, the cute interaction between them making me get a sense of relief for when I tell Aiden about the pregnancy.
Dylan's taking it well so far, and the glint in his eyes shows he's more excited than words could ever express. It's been three days now, and I feel I've worked all my extra nerves out to be able to tell Aiden.
Soft rustling sounds from the connecting room, it being a small bedroom for Lily. "She must be awake." Adeline says while trying to stand from the couch.
"I've got it," Dylan voices, his hands stopping her from moving an inch off the cushions. She tilts her head up at him as he smiles widely, acting as if he's oblivious to the reasoning behind her look.
"Dylan, honey, I'm pregnant not injured." Adeline states as Dylan begins walking towards the room, his hands stuffed deep in his front pockets.
"I know." He chirps before slipping past the frame of the bedroom door. Adeline shakes her head gently, a small grin on her face as I look over at her. "And since you're not injured, you should go do that thing you need to do today." Dylan voices, causing us to look over at his head peeking out before disappearing again.
Adeline keeps her eyes on the door, Dylan's voice faint as he gets Lily up. She turns her gaze to me, her hand moving up to play with the ends of her hair. "What?" I ask, her nervous tick making its presence known.
She shakes her head, her bottom lip poking out as she stands from the couch. "I just need to stop by my parents. You wanna come?"
"Mm hmm," I hum with water in my mouth, our feet carrying us towards the door of the apartment. Adeline grabs Dylan's keys, jingling them in the air as I look over my shoulder to see him holding Lily in the doorway. He mouths an 'okay', his hands running through Lily's hair as we exit the apartment.
Arriving at the James' household, Adeline let out a breath as we walk past the threshold. "Are you okay?" I ask as we ascend the stairs, my eyes looking her anxious frame up and down.
"Yeah, yeah," she replies quickly as we walk towards her room. Her lips are tucked inward, her eyes looking over at me but not making contact with my own.
"Adeline, what's-" I begin to ask, my words falling short as I scan over the large boxes littering her room. "What's all this?" I ask, my eyes glancing over at Adeline with her arms wrapped around herself.
"I..." she says while wiping her hands down her thighs, "Dylan asked me to move in with him."
"Oh." I say softly, her nervous state since the apartment finally making sense. I walk further in her room, my hands pulling on the closet handle to see majority of the clothes were gone. "This is good, Adeline. Why do you look so anxious?"
She picks up one of the boxes, Lily's toys filling it up halfway. "He actually asked after that double date we had, but you...I didn't want to up and leave you. And then you started not staying here as much at night so I stayed over at Dylan's, and then I find out about Aiden so..."
"You want me to move in with Aiden?" I ask, the whole concept of it making me skeptical. Sure, I'm pretty much there all the time, but moving in permanently is a lot, especially being he doesn't know about his kid yet.
She shrugs her shoulder gently. "By all means, you can still stay here-"
"I'm not staying in your parents house without you here," I voice over her, my head shaking gently. For one, it'd just be weird living her as if it was my home and two, I can't deal with her mother.
She nods her head, "I just figured he'd want you to move in, especially with the baby and all." Her eyes flick to mine, her lips parting slowly at the look on my face. "You haven't told him?"
"I was planning on it today, but that's a lot to tell him in one day. I'm knocked up and I need a place to stay, otherwise I'm homeless...I sound helpless and that I'm looking for some handout."
The last thing I need to do is overwhelm him with information. I pinch the skin between my brows, my mind overworking itself with thoughts. I feel a pair of hands guide me over before the cushion of the bed is under me.
"You're not looking for a handout," Adeline says while squeezing my shoulder. "It's like you already live there, I'm sure he'll take you in with open arms. What'd I tell you about thinking so negatively?"
"It's not easy to just not think that way." I mumble into my palms, my elbows perched up on my thighs as I hold me head in my hands. I pull my phone out, the time reading half past two. Aiden should be home by now, Friday being when he takes off early.
There's a silence between us as I remove my head from my hands, my eyes looking over to see Adeline with her hands in her lap. She gives me a weary smile while glancing around her room, our eyes both falling on her vanity. The pictures from high school are still around the frame of the mirror.
"You could've told me you didn't want to be roomies anymore," I joke while nudging her arm with my fist. She looks over at me, a goofy grin on her face as she lays her head on my shoulder.
"It felt like we were in college together, living in the dorms and stuff." She comments, our hands lacing together.
"Like we'd end up at the same college," I chuckle under my breath. "And this would've been one hell of a dorm room. Maybe more of an apartment than a dorm room."
Her soft laugh mixes with mine as I lay my head against the top of hers, her fruity shampoo filling my nose. "You know what I meant." I look over at the vanity again, the pictures looking like a mesh of colors but I know what I'm looking at exactly; the six of us at the roller rink the summer going into junior year.
~*~
Aiden's brows are knit together, his face deep in concentration as he looks at the papers in his hand. He didn't bother changing from his work clothes; his tie hanging loosely around the back of his neck, his sleeves rolled up just below his elbows with a few buttons undone.
"Hey," I say softly, not wanting to interrupt his work. His eyes flick up, almost as if he hasn't heard me come in through the door. He places the papers down on the couch mindlessly as I walk over to him, his hand pulling my down onto his lap once I was close enough.
He kisses the top of my head gently, his right hand resting against the side of my stomach as the other grabs his papers. "Hey, baby. How was your day?"
I run my hand through his hair, unintentionally messing it up a bit as he looks up at my actions. "Good," I reply quickly, a grin growing in his face at my fast reply. "How was yours? Doesn't look like you're done with work to me."
"It was fine," he sighs while moving the papers onto the coffee table, "people just can't get their shit together. I was just busying myself until you got home actually."
He pats my thigh gently, cueing for me to stand up. My stomach twists more into the knot it's in at the mention of home. I feel his fingers lace with mine as he leads us down the hall and into the bedroom. My eyes lock on the closet door until I feel his eyes on me.
"...what?" I mumble, my brows creased together as I try and think if he said anything. "Sorry, I don't know what you said."
"I was just asking if you want to go out tonight?" He repeats while shaking his head, a small small gracing his lips as he pulls me closer to him. "What're you thinking about?"
His chocolate eyes comfort me as I look into them, my conscious screaming at me to just spit it out. "Um, I-I need to tell you something." He looks at me warily, his expression morphing into one of concern. "Can you sit down, please?"
"What's wrong, baby?" He asks while walking backwards slowly, almost as if he doesn't want to sit down. I shake my head while urging him to sit down, his tall stature making me more nervous. "Cameron?"
"It's nothing bad, I swear. But I need you to sit down." I ask more confidently, his brow raising a bit as he keeps his eyes on mine. My eyes plea for him to sit, his eyes trained on mine as he apprehensively does. "And close your eyes."
"Cameron, what?" I sigh as I bring his hands up to his eyes, the action being a lot harder that I intended for it to be.
"It's a good surprise, just stay like that." I say, the words more directed towards myself than him. His expression softens a bit at the words as I walk into the closet, my palms getting jittery as I remove the sonogram and pregnancy test from the suitcase.
"Okay," I whisper to myself for support after letting out a breath, my jitters rising by the second. Aiden has his hands down from his face, his eyes thankfully still closed as I walk towards him.
"I'm not all that sure how to tell you..." I trail off as I grab one of his hands. I can tell he wants to open his hands, my shaking hand not really comforting him. I place the items in his hands and close my eyes momentarily for support. "O-Open your eyes."
Don't freak out, don't freak out.
Don't be mad.
The silence is unnerving, my bottom lip pulled in as I watch him look at the sonogram. I wrap my arms around myself as I try and stop my leg from bouncing and tears from falling. I just want him to say something—anything—but the minute he looks up at me, I don't want to hear anything.
His tongue darts out, wetting his lips as he places the sonogram down. He glances down at the pregnancy test as he stands from the bed, my head looking up at him expectantly.
"You're pregnant?" His voice is barely above a whisper as he looks down at me. One tear slips down as I nod my head stiffly. I can't read his expression and I can't get a single word to slip part my lips, it all feeling overwhelming.
"Fuck," he breathes out, my heart falling into the pit of my stomach. I want to apologize or something, I'm not entirely sure, his response just now only confirming my fears from when I found out.
I tighten my arms around myself as he walks agonizingly slow over to me, the barrier my eyes have up to hold back my tears about to break. "I-" My apology is caught in my throat as his hands palm the side of my face, his lips pressing against mine hard and passionately.
I feel the test pressed between his hand and my face, the tears spilling out fiercely as unravel my arms from around myself. "Mm fuck," Aiden mumbles as I feel his pick me up, my legs and arms wrapping around some part of him.
My hands move to cup his face, my lips moving against his as I feel my tears mix in. I pull away slowly, his eyes glossy as I rub the pad of my thumb against his cheek. He looks down in between us as he walks us into the bathroom, my butt placed down on the counter as he kneels before me.
He levels himself with my stomach, his palms gently pressing on both sides trying to cup the barely there bump. "Our baby? You and me?" He asks while looking up at me, my head nodding quickly.
"You and me, baby." I croak out, my emotions finally being something wholeheartedly positive towards the pregnancy. I brush my fingers through his hair, our smiles lopsided as we stare back at each other.
He stands up straighter, his hands still on my stomach as he kisses me again. "Um," I mumble next to his lips, "there's more."
"More?" He asks while wiping at my tears, something dawning in his head as he pauses his movements. "Like twins?"
I shake my head while letting out a breathy giggle, "no, no, no, not that." A subtle sense of relief washes over his face as we waits for me to continue. "I kinda need a place to stay..."
"You wanna move in, too?" He asks, his lips curled up in a smirk. I look down at my lap, trying to find the words to explain this as simple as possible. "You've been prancing around here like you already live here, you might as well make it official."
"The least I could do is ask you to move in with me better than I asked you to be my girlfriend." I snap my head up at his words, his lips spreading into a smile as I bite down on my bottom lip. His palms rest on the side of my face as I wrap my arms around his middle, pulling him closer to me.
"Who's to say I didn't like the way you asked me to be yours?" I ask, my goofy smile growing as I think back to that night. Aiden rolls his eyes playfully as I bring one of my hands up to my face to hold his.
"Just move in with me." He states before capturing my lips in his once more, the soft rumble in my chest from my chuckle being felt in the kiss.
"That's not asking...technically." I say smartly as he rests his forehead against mine, his eyes rolling despite the grin on his lips as he tells me to 'shut up'.
~*~
"So," I begin while hitting my palms against the kitchen counter, Aiden glancing over at me briefly as he continues cutting the onion. "What do you want to do for your birthday?"
"Really?" He asks amusedly. "Who says I want to do something?"
I gasp dramatically as I lean my forearms on the table, a small grin on his face at my dramatics. "Twenty eight is a big number, sexy even. Plus, I like birthdays so you're gonna do something regardless."
He places the knife down and lays his hands flatly against the counter, his eyes narrowed at me suspiciously. "Is that so?" He asks, my head nodding in a matter-of-fact way. He crosses his arms, his muscles flexing as he leans his backside against the counter. "So what is it you and Alex want to do for my birthday?"
I widen my eyes and part my lips, shocked he knew about that. "W-What?" I ask while trying to mask my shocked expression.
"You can drop this confused act you got going on," he says while laughing. "For real, what're you two doing? Planning a trip?"
I tilt my head back, an obnoxious groan leaving my lips as I close my eyes. "How'd you even know?" Footsteps fill my ears instead of a response, my body jumping slightly as I feel him leveled with my ear.
"I'm just that good," he says lowly in my ear before placing a kiss to my temple. I shake my head as I watch him walk away, his hand grasping the knife again. "So what is it?"
"Nothing much, really. Just going up to your parents for a party or something. I was supposed to convince you to go up there." I say, his lips pressed into a firm line as he continues cutting.
He juts his bottom lip out while turning towards the stove, "you're still going to have to convince me then."
"Don't act like you didn't enjoy being up there for the wedding." I reply, the sizzling of the pain filling the space. "And don't say something like you just enjoyed being with me." I add while pointing a finger at his back.
The look in his face as he turns around confirms that's along the lines of what he was going to say. "I'd be perfectly fine staying here with you...and little bit."
I smile softly at the nickname he's given the baby already, my head glancing down to my stomach as I place my hand on it. "Look! Even more reason to go. You can announce the pregnancy."
He stirs the vegetables in the pan before turning back to me, his lips contorted weirdly as he thinks. "You better be happy I like you," he says, letting in to the idea.
"Please, don't act like you-"
"I'm talking to little bit, not you. It's my birthday and he or she wants to make their big announcement...already spoiled." He cuts in, a satisfied smile on his face as my jaw drops.
"Whatever," I laugh while standing from the stool, "you're not funny." His laugh fills the air as I walk into the bedroom, my hands disconnecting my phone from the charger.
"Hello?" Alex answers, the soft sound of cars rushing down the streets being heard from her end.
"Hey, I'm not interrupting anything right?" I ask while taking a seat on the bed, my head resting against the headboard.
"No, not at all. We're heading home actually, but what's up?"
"Oh, I just called to say we'll be at your parents next weekend." I announce, a satisfied sigh escaping her lips. She happily mumbles a few words to Harrison I presume.
"Thank God! I mean we're already getting it together, so his ass was coming either way. How'd you get him to agree though?"
I pulled the pillow down, my hand patting it a couple times before I laid my head on it. A wave of tiredness washed through me as my eyes become heavy. "He...he knew something was up before I could even begin." I explain through a yawn.
"Of course he did," she says, her eyes more than likely rolling a bit. "At least his fat head is coming, thank you for getting him to come."
"Oh, it's nothing, I loved it up there."
I loved being with your family—with your brother.
I love your brother.
"I'm glad, they really enjoyed you. They'll be happy to have you back. What are y'all up to?"
"Aiden's cooking and I just got really tired, so I came back in the room." I explain vaguely, keeping the reason for my tiredness in the dark.
"Shit, how are you from Monday? It wasn't anything serious, right?" She asks, referring to when I threw up. I shake my head, as if she could see me, while adjusting my position on the bed.
I trace up and down my stomach, my lips turning up in a small smile. "Yeah, I'm good. Guess it just an off day or something. Trust me, Aiden made sure it wasn't anything serious." I half lie, the pregnancy news wanting to leave my mouth badly.
I bite down on my lip, the conversation Aiden and I had about Alex and Derek coming back to mind. I feel awkward just knowing about it, but I don't want to make her uncomfortable with bringing it up. She may not even remember Derek...
Maybe I can ask her when I see her, it sounding better as an in person conversation than over the phone. "Good. The fool kept blowing up my phone, as if I wanted you to get sick. Look at you, getting him all on my ass again." She jokes, erupting a soft laugh from the both of us. "I'm lying, he's forever on my ass. Now he's all about protecting you while still bothering me."
"Babe!" I hear Aiden call out, my mind assuming the food is done or near done.
"Speaking of the devil," Alex jokes afterwards. "I'll let you go, tell him we said hi."
"Okay," I force out through another yawn. "Oh, wait. Is that receptionist job still available?" I ask hopefully.
"Yeah," she says, the smile on her face being heard through her tone. "I'll talk with my boss when I get home or this weekend."
"Thank you." I mumble as I hear footsteps coming down the hall. "I'll talk to you later, and bye Harrison."
There's a small silence, the sound of the phone being moved around as Aiden appears in the doorway.
"—Goodbye, Cameron. Have a lovely evening."
"You two," I say as the phone moves around again. "Alex and Harry say hi." I say softly to Aiden as he takes a seat down by my feet, his hand resting on my lower leg. He holds his other hand out for the phone, a light giggle leaving me as I hand it to him.
He fake yawns as he holds the phone up to his ear. "This is fat head you're speaking yo right now, and I'd appreciate if you'd stop holding my girl hostage on the phone so she can come eat. Okay? Okay, love ya sis."
I hover my hand over my mouth, trying to not laugh at his words. He rolls his eyes playfully, Alex probably saying something back that he's half listening to as he squeezes my thigh. "Yeah, yeah, you're all bark with me. I'll see you next week, bye." He holds out the 'bye' unnecessarily before hanging up, Alex more than likely still talking.
"You didn't have to hang up on her," I say while giggling, my eyes becoming wearier.
"Says the one who looks like they were about to fall asleep on the phone." He smiles while forcing me to stand, his hands moving the sheets back before I lay back down. "You're feeling okay, right? Just tired?" He asks while sitting beside my legs.
I nod my head, my elbow perched up as I hold my head in my hand. "Okay. The food's done, I want you to eat. I'll be back."
"I can eat in there." I state while going to move the covers off my body, his large hand halting my movements as he places his on mine.
"If I wanted you eating in there, I wouldn't have put you in bed." He replies before placing a chaste kiss to my lips. I sigh as I watch him exit the room, it only being a couple of minutes until he came back.
He sits on top of the sheets as we eat, the time passing by us as we talked and laughed. The food woke me up a little, being we migrated to the living room to watch a movie.
Aiden's arms wrap around my middle gently, his hand tangle with mine my own as they lay against my stomach. The blanket covers our spooning position, our eyes fixated on the movie as it comes to an end.
"You wanna watch another?" Aiden asks from behind me as the credits roll on the screen.
"What happened to wanting to go out tonight?" I playfully ask as he skims through the movie options.
"I had something better to celebrate at home," he says before planting a kiss to the back of my head. I rub my thumb over his hand act the action. "You want to go out tomorrow?"
"Yeah," I say softly, "that'd be nice."
"We'll figure out something after we move your stuff here from your apartment." He says, my brows furrowing a bit as he clicks on some comedy, Adam Sandler's face showing on the cover.
"My apart-" I caught my question before I even finish it. "Oh, I um...I can get it myself, we don't need to do it tomorrow."
"I'm not letting you pack and move all that by yourself. We don't have anything to do tomorrow anyways."
"I really don't have a lot," I counter, that not being a lie at all. There's also the small inconvenience of me not having an apartment.
"That's alright, it'll just go by quicker then." He replies while squeezing my hand. I shake my head slowly while sitting up, his eyes looking at me confusedly.
"No, you don't get it." I say while squeezing his hand back. I feel I've opened up to him at such a past pace, and everything else is coming out like a domino effect. I can't even pin point why I can't tell him everything, other than the fact I'm scared. "I d-don't have an apartment."
His eyes become soft, despite the hard expression on his face as he slowly sits up. "Where have you been staying when you're not with me?" His voice full of concern and worry, his hands holding mind like he doesn't want to let me go. "Why didn't you say you needed a place-"
"I stayed with Adeline," I cut in before his mind races with too many ideas of where I could've been. "We've been living together for a while, and I wasn't going to ask you to stay here. Especially when we weren't anywhere near how we are now."
"W-We can pack it up, it's really not that much. She's packing too, so it'll be fine." I add as he doesn't say anything.
"You think I'm letting the two of you lift all that yourselves? Cameron, I'm more than certain her boyfriend will be there. What's his name, Dylan? Why are so against me helping?"
I shake my head gently, "I'm not, it's just..."
"Look at me," he says gently while forcing my chin up. "What is it?" I go to shrug my shoulders, but I know he won't drop it after that. If anything it'll make him ask more questions.
"...she never moved o-out her parents. That's where we live." I timidly say, my eyes burning to look away from his and just watch the movie.
"Okay," he says, almost as if he was expecting something else. I can see in his eyes he questions it, but he doesn't say anything.
"Okay?" I repeat, not really knowing how to react to his nonchalant reaction. He nods his head before pulling my body down with his, my head now laying on his chest as he holds me.
My gaze turns to the movie, not really knowing where to take the conversation. A part of me is glad he didn't ask follow up questions regarding why I'm there, but deep down I feel it's not the end of the conversation.
It's just put on pause.
~*~
- i hope you all liked this chapter ! it was fun to write, mainly because of the emotional vibes it oozed 🤷🏽♀️
- i hope you all are doing well, and have a great day ! xx ❤️