"This is bullshit" I groaned, holding a flashlight as we walked through the fucking woods.

When my baby brother asked me if I wanted to hang out, this is not what I had in mind. This was the farthest thing on the list of things I thought my gay brother would drag me to.

I figured my baby would be okay if I was just walking through the woods. Now running, that I can't do. For starters, my stamina is shit, and second, I learned from my doctor that overly exercising is bad for the baby, she said, and I quote "You can't run any 5ks anytime soon"

Cute she thought I would even if I wasn't pregnant.

The baby is basically stealing my air, which means I have less air to use when I need it and it steals my energy, which means I get fatigued quicker.

And to think I'm only in the first trimester.

This baby better be fucking adorable for everything it's stealing from me.

"Leigh, calm down" Landon rolled his eyes and I was very close to punching him.

These woods looked like woods murderers on the run would hang out in!

Was my brother and his friends' murders?

They say one in seven people are, and I'm in a group of 6, counting myself...

"No, we are going to die!" I declared, extremely upset that I'm almost falling on my ass every two seconds.

"IT'S DAYLIGHT OUT!" Lexi yelled at me, quickly turning around to face me.

"Oh, fucking sorry! Excuse me! Murders only happen at night. How silly of me" I rolled my eyes, following them to god knows where. "I'm glad I dropped a pin to Logan because what the hell are we doing?" I asked, stepping over a gigantic log.

"Leighton stop acting like mom!" Lexi shouted from in front of me, and I rolled my eyes. "You guys are dumbasses, what are we doing?" I asked, looking around at our surroundings.

I felt insecure in the woods, but not only was I insecure in the woods but now I was responsible for all these children, and it wasn't even my idea.

"Why couldn't you have asked Logan to do this shit? I don't do this! Why are we in the fucking woods?"

"Logan was working" Landon explained, forcing all of us to follow him down some steep trail.

"God you're so fucking creepy. You act like you know where you're going. Are you a murderer? Do I need to call mom?" I quickly asked, trying to catch up with my little brother.

"I wish I would've said yes to bowling" I griped, stepping over another huge tree log and almost tripping, my hands catching my fall.

I heard his friend laugh at me, and I've never wanted to slap a child in the face as much as I did right now.

"Leighton get a grip! It's daytime!" Lexi was sounding mad now, and I didn't even care.

"You're getting murdered first. Whether it be by me or some stranger, you're going first!" I told Lexi, not appreciating her attitude.

"Leighton pull the stick out of your ass and have fun!" Lexi thrashed her arms outwards, and I wanted to slap her.

This was not what I had planned for today.

"Alexis Nicole Fox, shut your mouth before I shut it for you" I growled.

"You're being a bitch" Lexi grumbled, running up towards Macy and Molly.

"Lexi cut it out! You guys aren't thinking! I don't want to be that bitch who is controlling, but I'm literally in charge of you all! If you hurt yourself, it's my problem! I'm the only adult here! I swear you guys don't think before you do shit!" I yelled, watching them get farther away.

My pregnant ass was struggling to keep up. I was breathing heavily, trying my best not to fall on my ass or face.

Way to abandon the pregnant lady.

"LANDON AND LEXI I SWEAR TO GOD-" I yelled, not being able to finish before I heard an ear-piercing scream. "Fuck" I whispered to myself, hopping over logs as quickly as I could, so I could catch up. When I finally caught up, everyone was huddled around Macy who was sitting on the ground, holding her foot that was strapped in her heel.

These fucking idiots.

"What the hell happened?" I asked, shoving my siblings out of the way.

"I think I twisted my ankle" Macy whined.

No shit. You're in heels.

"Did you trip or?" I asked, crouching to examine her foot. We heard crunching from the distance, and everyone stood still, listening.

"It's probably an animal" Finn noted and I ignored him, trying to decide if I should take Macy's shoe off or not.

We heard more crunching get closer to us, and it didn't sound like an animal to me, making my heart race quicker.

"I'll carry Macy, you all get your asses back to the car. If you're not in the car and buckled by the time I get there, I'm punching you all" I stated, my arm wrapping under Macy's legs, and behind her back.

I was wobbling a little bit in my squatting position, but I closed my eyes and deep breathed, ignoring the pulling sensation in my back.

I wasn't exactly the fittest person on earth. I hated weightlifting, so I never did it and now I was regretting skipping all those gym sessions with both Aaliyah and Gabriel.

I watched them all walk in front of me, us all stopping to listen to the noises surrounding us.

People died in the woods daily.

I was definitely moving slower than before, now that I was carrying extra weight. I knew I couldn't fall. One, I was holding an injured person and two, I was pregnant.

Falling wasn't an option.

I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't deathly afraid I would be hurting my baby the more I carried on, but hearing the crunching sounds and having Macy with a twisted ankle, or worse, a broken ankle made me ignore the voices in my head and push through.

"Oh shit" I mumbled, stopping myself from swaying, and falling over.

"I'm so sorry!" Macy cried and I just ignored her for now, focusing on the task at hand.

I didn't care if I seemed like a bitch to my siblings and their friends. This was stupid.

"We'll be okay" I replied, trying my best not to fall on my face.

I could see the parking lot in the distance, and I saw the kids open the car doors.

I had never been more thankful than I was when I stepped onto the pavement and reached the car.

I got Macy in the car, and I traded spots with Landon, so I was now driving.

"Lexi, call Macy's parents so they know we are going to the hospital" I stated. I listened to her call her mom and no one said a word when she was done. It was completely silent as I drove to the hospital.

I arrived at the ER and groaned at the pain in my back as I twisted to get out of the car.

Landon grabbed Macy a wheelchair, Finn pushing it as the rest of us followed.

I held my hands on my back, trying to breathe through the aching pain.

We checked in Macy, telling them her mom was on the way.

I placed one hand on my lower back, pushing on the spot that was screaming at my nerve system. I ignored Lexi and Finn's stares, keeping my attention focused on my breathing. I felt a little dizzy, so I sat down in a chair, leaning my head against my hand. I could hear my siblings' voices getting fainter, and then I felt my head slip from my hand and my vision went dark. Next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital room and my dad, sister, and brother were all standing by my bed, talking.

I sighed, which caught their attention, and rubbed at my temples.

"Thank god you're up" My dad spoke, standing up and approaching my bed. "We need to talk little missy" He narrowed his eyes at me, and I gulped.

Fuck.

"Why didn't you tell us you were pregnant?!" He exasperated.

"I'm sorry! I was going to! I wanted to wait till the 2nd trimester!" I whined, already feeling the disappointment seep off of him.

"Leighton Rae Fox! What were you thinking!" He spoke loudly, my eyes widening.

"Why are you yelling at me! It wasn't my idea to walk through the woods!" I glared at my siblings who slunk towards the corner of the room.

"You're an adult! You should've known better!" My dad scolded me.

"I'm 20! I didn't know we were going in the first place!"

Before he could reply, the doctor came in and informed me that I was staying overnight, and I glared over at my siblings.

"You overexerted yourself, and you passed out from dehydration, with a mix of fatigue. I understand you were helping out the young girl, but you shouldn't lift weight like that whilst you're pregnant" He stated, and I mentally rolled my eyes.

I wasn't stupid.

I just nodded, biting my tongue.

I listened to him give me my states and explain the risks I could've caused by my actions, and I finally just tuned him out.

He finally left and I heard my dad ask quietly "Who's the father?"

"Gabe" I replied, leaning back against the hospital bed pillow.

I wanted nothing more than for California to have one of their infamous earthquakes right about now.

"Are you guys getting back together?" He asked and I shook my head, closing my eyes so I didn't have his disapproving gaze staring down at me. "Then how are you guys going to raise the kid? Clearly, you're keeping it. Is he involved? Does he know? Will he pay child support?" My dad rapidly fired questions, making my heartbeat quicker.

I was getting flashbacks to Logan finding out and it was laughable how similar yet different he and my dad were.

"Yes to everything"

"Then where is he?" He asked and I audibly groaned. "I haven't called him yet. Listen, can I get the third degree later?" I pleaded, my eyes burning from the tiredness I felt.

They all left the room and I ended up falling asleep for a while, until I was awakened by a nurse who had my prenatal vitamins and a small dosage of Tylenol.

I thanked her, taking the pills in front of her and handing the tray back, when my phone rang. I picked it up and saw Kat was facetiming me. I clicked the green button and prepared for the worst.

"Hey Leigh- ARE YOU IN THE HOSPITAL!?" She yelled, startling me.

"Wait what?" I heard Sam say from next to her and I noticed she was in the car, Colby asleep in the backseat behind her.

"Yeah. I'm alright though. I'll be here overnight though" I shrugged, setting my phone up against my thigh.

"Why are you in the hospital?"

"My idiot siblings"

"Oh?" Kat's face scrunched up, her eyes squinting a little bit.

"They took me into the woods for no reason, their friend got injured, I had to carry the friend back and take her here, then I passed out in the waiting area and here we are" I shrugged, trying not to spill about the whole pregnancy thing, because of Sam.

"Why'd you pass out?"

"Fatigue and dehydration"

"Oh. Damn Leigh! Are you alright?" She asked and I nodded, glancing towards my belly.

I chatted with Kat for a while before saying goodnight and wishing them a safe trip to the location they were planning on filming at.

That next evening, Gabe was sitting next to me on his phone and Landon was on my other side, staring at the muted TV.

The silence was killing me as I waited for my discharge papers, but thankfully Landon finally spoke up. "I'm so sorry Leigh. I wouldn't have brought us there in the first place if I knew you were pregnant" He reeked of guilt, and I sighed.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but why did we go there in the first place?"

"I found a cool shack thing with Finn one day, and I wanted to take you. You used to go exploring with Logan, I just wanted to share those same memories" Landon admitted in a sad tone at the end and I sighed.

"What Logan and I did was also stupid, but the woods looked like a murderer's safe haven" I grumbled, and Landon rolled his eyes. "I don't even like exploring. Logan and I would just do dumb shit in our backyard, or follow the paths that would lead to a creek. We didn't seek out murders shacks"

"Lexi said your new roommates are Sam and Colby, and so I googled them and saw what they did, and I figured if you liked them enough to live with them, that maybe you liked that stuff too... I just wanted to fit in, and not lose my big sister again, and instead I put you in the hospital. I'm so incredibly sorry Leighton"

"It's okay. I'm okay. Just next time, can we not go into the woods please?" I gave him a small smile and held out my hand that had an IV attached to it. Landon grabbed my hand and nodded. "Just because I live with someone, doesn't mean we have identical interests. I don't even hang out with them that much. They're always busy" I explained, hoping to wash away his worry.

"Let's take a picture of you in the hospital bed for memories" He smirked, and I glared at him. "Oh, what a fun memory this is!"

"Smile Leigh!" Landon had his IPhone pointed towards me, and I glared at him, making two thumbs down and he laughed, taking the photo.

Another hour passed and I was still waiting for my dad and the discharge papers.

"So, how far along are you?" Landon asked and much to my surprise, Gabe replied.

"9 weeks in a couple days"

"Oh, damn Gabriel! I didn't know you were pregnant too!" Landon faked a shocked expression, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

Gabe blankly stared at my brother and my brother raised an eyebrow.

Landon, Logan and Gabe never really got along. They just kind of had a mutual understanding that they all had to co-exist together in my life, but every once in a while, the true colors peek out.

"You guys are being children, stop it!" I scolded, not wanting to put up with their bickering.

"You guys find out the gender in the second trimester, right?" He asked and I nodded, rubbing my nonexistent bump.

I was honestly getting impatient, waiting for it to pop.

I just wanted to stare at it, and watch it grow, but instead I watched the bloating from what I ate that day slowly go away overnight.

"Are you going to find out?" He asked and I shrugged, looking over towards Gabe.

"We haven't discussed it. We haven't really discussed much to be honest, but then again not many people know I'm pregnant so"

"I want to know" Gabe stated, surprising me.

"Really?" I asked and he nodded. "I'm not sure if I want to. I kind of like the anticipation of waiting to find out and then hearing the doctor announce it when it's born" I smiled, thinking about how the scene would play out in my head.

"But I don't want to wait that long" Gabe argued, and I squinted my eyes at him. His blue eyes stared back at me, and uncomfortable silence filled the space between the four walls.

"Have you guys thought about names?" Landon asked, sitting down in a chair across from me.

"Landon, I've been just trying to keep this baby alive. We briefly talked names but I haven't thought about gender, or the nursery, or the god parents.'' I confessed.

Before anyone could get another word in, the door opened and the doctor walked in with my discharge papers, my dad not far behind him.

Gabe reached for my hand, but I snatched it back quickly. "Don't touch me. I can walk on my own" I grumbled, walking ahead of him.

"Jesus Leighton, I'm just trying to help. You passed out not too long ago! Take it easy" Gabriel groused and I rolled my eyes, feeling agitated that he was treating me like I didn't know what I was doing.

I walked into the empty house, much to my father's dismay, and I was finally in the comfort of my own sheets, reminding him countless times that I was a big girl now, and I could call him if he needed something.

It was like pulling teeth, trying to get him to let me stay in the comfort of my own new home, and not come back home with him.

Right before he left, I reminded him not to tell mom about the baby, since I wanted to tell her myself. I figured I'd tell her before her surgery next week.

She had Meningioma and was having the surgery to hopefully remove the full brain tumor.

She was diagnosed when she was 45, and she's been dealing with small scares throughout the years but it sadly came back full force in January, and they were finally going to attempt to take it all out and hopefully this would be the last time.

I grabbed my baby's journal, my favorite pen and cozied up in my blankets, flipping open to a fresh page.