"Morning" Ethan peppered kisses on my neck.

"Morning." I yawned.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked.

"Alright. You?"

"Perfect." He smiled and got out of bed. "Eight month check up today. Hope you didn't forget." He said in a singsong way as he proceeded to the bathroom.

"Do we really have to?" I hollered at him.

"Yes we really have to. You forgetting that we were scheduled for last week but you were the sleeping dead and we couldn't make it?"

"Ugghhh." I groaned. I don't wanna leave the bed today.

I felt something vibrate under my pillow so I lifted it and saw that my phone was the source.

I checked the caller ID but it was a private number and my heart beat accelerated because only one person calls me using a private number.

"Hello?" I answered.

"I have to see you today." She demanded

"Why?" I deadpanned

"Because we have to talk."

"About what? Since when do we meet and talk?"

"Since I asked. So its either you agree to meet me or else I'll track down your location and come for a visit."

"Where and when?" I gave up.

I rather meet up with her outside so we can end this once and for all. I'm tired of this woman and her dirty tricks.

"The mall. 1 pm" She said

"I'll meet you at the food court." I hung up.

Oh goodness. What does she want now? Should I tell Ethan? But he's so excited about the baby and all, this would just spoil his mood.

Maybe I can just go and see what she wants then we can be done with all of this drama.

"What's wrong?" Ethan snapped me out of my reverie.

"Nothing. Just tired." I got off the bed.

"When are you not tired?" He chuckled.

"Try being eight months pregnant, with swollen feet, sore breasts, and constipated! And let's not forget the need to use the ladies room every twenty to thirty minutes." I glared.

"Aren't you extra saucy this morning." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes and entered the washroom.

...

"Good morning Barbara." Ethan smiled.

I gave Barbara a smile and moved to sit on the bed.

Ethan is extra smiles this doctors visit because it's our last one. The next time we see a doc is when I'll be in labor, and I don't think I've ever seen this guy any happier.

We've already purchased all needed baby equipment, from the baby carriers to the crib. The nursery hasn't been done yet, but Ethan and I plan on starting on it this week since I'm not working.

I'm not on maternity leave because I'm no longer a worker at Parker's&Co. Ethan had me quit after we'd gone to the judge for Stella's case. Poor Stella got 10 years in prison, which was the minimum sentence. The look on my face when I found that out.

So now Stella is serving a ten year sentence with no parole all because she wanted to portray me as lazy and not deserving to work in there corporation in the investor's eyes. And Sean mentioned her trying to flirt with Ethan so I bet she had something else planned.

What whoring gets you into sometimes.

"Why don't you ask her." I heard Ethan say.

I looked up to find him and Barbara staring at me.

"What?" I asked sheepishly, not understanding why they were giving me so much attention.

"Doc here was asking why we didn't show up last week." Ethan smiled and crossed his arms.

"I was tired." I mumbled.

Barbara let out a chuckle and came towards me so she could adjust the examining bed.

"It's pretty normal for you to be feeling extra... everything since you're in your last semester and got a pretty chubby baby." She smiled and got the gel.

I raised my blue sundress up so Barbara could apply the gel. Dresses were literally the only thing that still fit.

"I keep telling Ethan that." I glanced over at him and noticed that he was eagerly looking at the screen with a smile on his face.

I hissed when the gel was placed on my tummy and my attention was now on the screen as well.

Barbara moved the wand on my tummy and soon a loud and strong heart beat filled the room.

"That's one really strong heart beat. You've got yourself a very healthy baby I must say." Barbara said.

The baby was now pretty big and had already turned.

I felt something on my hand and realised that Ethan had held my hand unknowingly. His whole attention was on the screen. He has this look on his face that I just can't describe.

And a smile etched in my face knowing that we both created that little human that was going to bless us with their presence soon.

Ethan's eyes fell on me and he was looking at me as if he adores me, as if I was the most precious thing on Earth.

He smiled lovingly at me and mouthed 'thank you'. I don't why he's thanking me when I should be the one doing that because he literally is my world, along with baby.

I shook my head and mouthed 'thank you' at him.

"You guys still don't wanna know the gender?" Barbara asked.

"No!" I rushed out.

"Maybe I wanna know." Ethan smiled.

"He doesn't." I shook my head.

"It's really no problem if he wants to know, because I can tell him and hopefully he keeps it to himself." Barbara handed me tissue.

"Nope. We want to be surprised. Right babe?" I batted my eyelashes at Ethan and gave him my puppy dog eyes.

"Right." He said unsurely.

"See." I smiled at Barbara.

"Okay. Now.." She moved to her desk and was scribbling something down.

I wiped my tummy and fixed myself then sat up.

"Are you going to do a home birth?" She asked.

"No. Way too messy." I scrunched up my face.

"I agree." I looked over at Ethan when he spoke.

"That's all right. So judging from how big your tummy and your baby seem to be, you do stand a chance of giving birth before your due date, which is March 23. The date isn't a hundred percent accurate because sometimes women birth before or even after the given date, and it's not a problem if you give birth before the given date because obviously the baby will only come when it's ready so no need to be alarmed." She smiled

"Okay. Anything else we should know?" Ethan asked.

"Will you be having an epidural?" She directed at me.

"No. I want the birth to be completely natural. So I'll endure the pain." I said. Ethan stood next to me and was moving his hand up and down my back, which was very soothing.

"Okay. But since this is your last semester and you're big you have to be extra careful. Make sure you're always hydrated, eat healthy as well, make sure you're eating the right quantity of each food group. No crazy activities like jumping or running. You should be getting enough rest and since you're not supposed to be on your feet for too long, decrease your walk time from twenty to fifteen minutes since you might pop at any time." Barbara listed out.

"Anything else?" she asked.

Both Ethan and I shook our heads.

"Great. See you two on labor day." I let out a laugh as she sang that out.

"See your on 'labor' day as well." I chuckled and stood.

We said our goodbyes and Ethan held my hand as we made our way back to the car.

I got into the car and placed my phone on my lap as I started thinking of what I'm gonna say to convince him to drop me off at the mall.

"Ethan." I called out.

"Yeah." He glanced at me with the same smile from earlier still pasted on his face then back at the road.

"Could you maybe drop me off at the mall?"

"I thought you wanted to crawl back in bed after the appointment." He asked

"I do. I just wanted to get a few things."

"Okay, we can make a stop there." He nodded.

"You can pick me up after an hour." I said

"Pick you up? What are you going to do there alone?" He asked as the smile on his face was slowly disappearing.

"I just want to get a few stuff." I said with my voice low.

"Why can't we get it together?" He arched his eyebrow.

"Because i just thought that maybe I could go out by myself for once." My voice still came out low.

"But you heard what Barbara said. You're to be extra careful. Which in other words mean that you should always be with someone." He worriedly said.

"But I'm only asking to be alone for an hour and then you can come get me. And yet you're behaving as if I'm suicidal and should always be with someone so that I don't end my life at any second." My voice came out louder than intended.

"Babe, why don't you understand that I'm just saying that because I'm worried about you and our baby. I'm just obeying the doctors instructions." He said

"And I'm not going against it. All I ask for is an hour alone."

"But why do you want to be alone?"

"Because-because I'm always with someone and I'm starting to feel claustrophobic!" I lied. And it also came out sour harsher than I thought it would come out.

The look on Ethan's face changed. His jaw clenched, his brows were in one knot and he looked straight ahead at the road.

I could feel my eyes start to tear up but I tried my best to not let any tear fall.

My heart was clenching and unclenching. I can't believe I just said that to him.

I always enjoy the attention that he gives me and the fact that he can't be away from for too long, and here I am saying that it's making me claustrophobic.

A single tear fell and I quickly wiped the eye so that he wouldn't notice.

The car came to an abrupt stop in the malls parking lot.

Held out his card and asked, "Where will you be?"

"Food court." I muttered with my head looking at my lap.

"One hour." He said and put his card in my hand.

I opened the door and slid out, not having energy or courage to give him back his card.

As soon as I shut the door all the tears that I held back fell. My heart ached at the way I spoke to Ethan and my tears just continued flowing.

The car pulled out the parking lot and I just stood there like an idiot.

I could have told him the truth but I'm too much of a coward.

He'd told me that I could always tell anything and that he'd support me. He'd also always say that as long as we have trust and communication in the relationship we'd be alright, but here I am. Causing the conflict in the relationship.

I wiped my eyes and started making my way to the food court with Ethan's card in my hand. The quicker I can get this done the quicker I can go back home and apologize to Ethan.

I walked into the local food court in the mall and scanned the area for her. I look around for a short dark skinned medium sized lady with black curls, but I can't seem to find her anywhere.

Maybe she's late.

Just as I'm about to make my way to an empty booth, someone snaps their fingers in my face.

I yelp and take a step back.

"Where have you been?" The lady who's supposed to be my mother asks.

She looks so frail and slim compared to the last I'd seen her, which was a couple of years ago.

"I have a life unlike you. Now let's get this done and dusted so I can go home." I glared at her.

What has happened to this woman? Her body looks so lifeless. She's lost so much of weight compared to how she'd once been.

She turned and walked towards a booth then sat. I followed behind her and sat on the opposite side.

"I must say, you're stupid." She started. "When I heard the news that that billionaire had a girlfriend and that the girlfriend was you I thought that you'd finally understood the game and that you'd actually gotten something from my upbringing. Then I heard that he had a child on the way. I thought that you'd faked the news so you could secure yourself a spot in his life and fortune. But now that I'm seeing you and how stretched you are I can't help but think of how idiotic you are to actually make the mistake of falling pregnant. How could you be so foolish. Don't you know that after having the child you're gonna be looking way worse than you already do? Then who's gonna want you? Because I'm sure that a billionaire like him needs someone that's actually worth him and doesn't look like the mistake that you are. But there's nothing that I can do now is there? Because if you would've at least contacted me earlier when you'd found out that you were pregnant I would've advised you to abort, but look at you now, looking like you've swallowed two watermelons. You're a hopeless case now, you'll give birth to the child and who knows, maybe he'll abandon you and keep his child, or get rid of the both of y'all, or maybe even keep y'all on the side..." She ranted.

It's hard to believe that she brother me and yet she's saying such things to me.

"... I mean look at you. You've gotten fatter than you were when you were with me. I'd tell you countless times to eat like a lady and have salads, but no, you'd always been a pig and chose all the fatty foods, all the unhealthy shit is what you thought was good. Now look at you, you look even worse, it's almost as if you're gonna explode."

"Are you done?" I asked once she was quiet.

"I guess." She shrugged.

"Then I'll be on my way." I said. It's better I leave because I doubt I can take any more of her hurtful words.

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked when I was about to get up.

"I'm leaving. You said what you wanted to and you're done. So I'll be on my way now." I tiredly said.

"No. I want you to explain to me how you could've been so dumb and made the mistake of falli-"

"You know what?" I interrupted her

"I'm tired of all the shit that you keep saying. I don't know why you just can't leave me in peace. From my childhood, you've always been this annoying bitch, who's sad about the fact that her child understood life and grew up in a decent manner. You're not happy that I'm not whore like you, I'm sorry that I actually wanted to keep to one guy and settle down with him. I'm sorry that I wanted to study and not go open my legs for different guys like you do almost every single day. I'm sorry that I wanted to work and not be a home wrecker like you. I'm sorry that you're not happy about the fact your child is genuinely happy. I'm sick of enduring your sick insults and taunts. You know what you should do? Go deep throat on a cactus and die." I said and stood so I could leave.

And took two steps forward and I felt my hand being yanked backward.

I turned and saw her looking furious. Her hand stretched forward so she could slap me and I flinched back. My back bumped the chair and I lost balance. my heart beat accelerated as I could feel myself fall, Ethan's words played in my mind and I felt extremely guilty for not listening to him. I placed my hands down so I wouldn't hurt myself when I hit the floor but I felt hands wrap around me.

My head moved up so I could see my hero and I saw Ethan's furious eyes glaring at my supposed to be mother.