Today was Leighton's 21st birthday, and I had the fun task of keeping her out of the house whilst her family prepared.

I was currently sitting in Melissa's car, waiting for the birthday girl herself to walk out the front door, and after a couple minutes, I watched the front door open, and she walked out looking stunning.

Her long dark hair was in beach waves down her back, jewelry littering her wrists and fingers. A dainty necklace was resting on the middle of her upper chest and she had a couple earrings going up her ears.

a/n: her bump is NOT this big lol

a/n: Colby's look cus I gave you Leighs lol

"Happy Birthday!" I cheered when she opened her car door.

"Thank you!" She had a big smile on her face, taking a seat.

"You look gorgeous Leigh!" I complimented and her cheeks got a little pink.

"Thank you! I actually tried today" She giggled, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"You don't have to try Leigh. You're beautiful, don't let anyone tell you any differently!" I lectured and she rolled her eyes.

"Reel it in Romeo. I'm not your Juliet" She snickered.

"You're not going to notice my fit? I'm wearing fancy clothes for you!" I fake offense, motioning towards my more dressy attire.

"You look good Brock, what are our plans for today? I didn't know we were going fancy or I would've worn something different. I'm not even in heels! I'm wearing fucking sandals! What are we doing?" She asked

"Well, for starters, we are going to go get breakfast! What do you want?" I asked her, putting the car into reverse.

"Cinnamon rolls sound so good! I know a good bakery around here! Let me go to Google Maps!" She grabbed her phone. "Cinnamon rolls sound good to you too right?" She asked and I shook my head in disbelief that she was considering what I wanted on her birthday.

"Yes absolutely! Let's go!"

I started the drive, following the GPS when Leighton spoke up. "I can't believe I'm 21. Time flies when you're pregnant" She joked and I rolled my eyes, a smile on my face.

"I can't believe you're 21 either. Once that baby is out, we are going drinking!" I grinned, slightly excited at the idea of partying with her.

"I can't wait to do a shot! Oh my god! I wish I could" She frowned and I chuckled again, also kind of wishing she could.

"I'm telling you! The second that baby pops out, I'm handing you tequila" I laughed and she grinned.

"I'm sure the doctors would love that. I literally woke up to a text from Sam that read "happy big two one the second you're home we're doing apple juice shots" so you guys really are the same person" Leighton laughed.

"Okay but like apple juice shots sound like the shit right now" I admitted and she laughed.

"Don't mind me, just going to take my annual birthday selfie" She spoke, extending her arm out to take the photo.

"I still can't believe you don't have an Instagram, yet you take selfies like a social media addict"

"No I don't! I don't take them that often! I take photos to remember events or looks. I don't just wake up every morning and take a selfie. It's a big day, plus I love my outfit and my makeup. If I remember correctly, your whole Instagram feed is photoshoots. You don't see me calling over a photographer because my look is good" She raised an eyebrow.

"You literally don't even have an Instagram, how do you know that?" I laughed.

"I might've googled your Instagram" She admitted and I smirked.

"Ah! Who's the stalker now?!" I called out and I saw her roll her eyes.

"Please. If you don't want people to look at it, don't have it public!"

"Maybe I wanted you to look at it. You can see how famous I am and how good I look. Those professional shoots got me a mill!" I teased and she scoffed, "Ah yes. They follow you to see your professional photoshoots, not because they drool over your Instagram photos"

"Oh? You drool over my Instagram pics huh?" I asked and I turned to look at her and saw her narrow her eyes at me, before turning to look back at the road.

"I didn't say that! I said your followers do! I will admit, your feed is good, but that isn't enough for me to have one. I don't need that stress in my life. I don't like what it does to peoples mental health, or the ideas it puts into their head, let alone people think they can say whatever the fuck they want. It's toxic as hell, and isn't for me" She ranted, turning to look outside her window.

"But you're not looking at the pros of it! You're only focusing on it's flaws!" I defended and she shook her head.

"Those flaws killed people" She grumbled, playing with her rings.

I decided to drop the social media conversation and Leighton and I arrived at the bakery, the scent of fresh bread and cakes hit our noses the second we opened the door.

Honestly if Heaven had a smell, it probably smelt like this bakery.

"Welcome to my secret getaway Colby!" Leighton grinned and I saw an older woman's head quickly turn around.

"Is that Leighton I hear?" She called out and I saw Leigh nod.

"It is! Hi Betty!" She grinned, walking towards the counter.

Betty?

"Hey sugar plum!" She met Leighton at the counter.

Sugar plum?

I felt like I had one too many weed brownies and now I'm in a bakery.

"Colby, this is Betty! I used to work here when I visited for the summer awhile back!" She explained and I nodded, things starting to make a little more sense.

"What can I do for you two?" The older woman asked and Leighton rested her hands on the counter top.

"Two cinnamon rolls please!" She spoke in a cheery tone and we watched Betty put them on plates and warm them up a little bit.

"Anything for the birthday girl! Don't think I forgot! You look good sweetheart" She complimented Leighton and Leigh smiled.

"Thank you! I'm happy to be home! I've missed being here" she confessed.

"We've missed having you around honey! So, who is this handsome boy you brought with you?" Betty asked and I smirked to myself, already knowing what Betty was thinking.

"This is my friend Colby" Leighton said again and Betty gave her a look.

"Just a friend?" She asked, sounding suspicious. I couldn't hold back my smile as I laughed a little to myself when Leighton nodded. "Just a friend"

"What happened to the other boy you were with?" Betty asked and I saw Leighton's shoulder blades tense a little.

"We broke up, but he's still in my life. He's actually my baby's father" She backed up a little to show off her bump and Betty's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh my! Well, here are your rolls kids! Don't be shy, and come back anytime!" Betty handed us our cinnamon rolls in a tiny pastel purple box, dropping the subject which was surprising.

Leighton and I sat down with our cinnamon rolls, talking about who Betty was, how Leighton knew her and Leigh's history with the bakery.

Leigh apparently met Betty from working here, but she's been coming to this bakery since she was a little kid, and apparently had a lot of good memories here.

"Oh my god their donuts are to die for!" She moaned and I cocked an eyebrow.

"Would you have rather gotten a donut?" I asked and she gave it some serious thought before shaking her head no.

Which if you know any pregnant woman, that meant we were stopping to get her a donut before we left the bakery.

"I can't wait to come back here with my little one and let them have the same experiences." She sighed with a small smile on her face, leaning her cheek on her knuckles.

"I still don't get why you don't move back" I muttered, finishing my gooey cinnamon roll.

"I told you. I got to stay back in Califro-"

"For your mother I know, I know" I cut her off and she shook her head.

"More than just my mom" She gave a soft smile and I scrunched up my nose a little bit.

"What else is in California besides your mom that's keeping you there?"

She still had a small smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye as she shrugged, almost like she was keeping a secret to herself. "I'm learning to adapt to being there, even though I love being here"

~

"What's next!" I asked and Leighton gave me a funny look.

"Aren't you supposed to have this planned?" She asked and I scoffed.

"I'm the chauffeur, not your tour guide!" I told her and she rolled her eyes, smiling. "Fine, Let's go to Target!"

Walking through Target in semi fancy clothes felt weird. We definitely got quite a few looks.

"OH MY GOD ADULT ONESIES!" She gasped, clutching an Eeyore one. "PLEASE CAN WE GET ONE AND TAKE IT BACK TO CALI?!" She begged and I laughed when she handed me a Tigger one.

"What should we get Sam and Kat?" She looked through the different onesies, pulling a couple out. "We could get these" She held up some safari onesies in her hand.

"Well I have a koala one back home, we could go for like the giraffe, elephant and something else and be kind of matching?" I suggested, now looking through them as well.

"Oh my god we can get a baby one too! Wait! Oh my god!" She squealed, putting the onesies back and booking it to the baby aisle. "OH MY GOD! Colby, what should I buy for my baby? Is a fox onesie dumb? Cause like, Fox is our last name" She asked, grabbing the fox onesie and holding it up.

"Your baby is taking your last name?" I asked and her lips formed into a tight line.

"Um, yeah" She said in an unsure tone.

"What is Gabe's last name?" I questioned and she huffed.

"Bennett. I'm not buying my baby a crow onesie"

"What's his full name? If you're having a boy, are you doing the cliché named after a family member route?" I questioned and she shrugged.

"I'd love to name my baby after someone. I have some ideas, so does Gabe but Gabe's names are stupid so the likeness of me picking one of his is slim. I kind of like the idea of my baby carrying out a legacy. Well, continuing one. Giving the name a new meaning. I don't know. I kind of wish I was named after someone. I think it's cool to have someone so important to your mother or father, that they gave you their name" Leighton expressed and I nodded, understanding where she was coming from.

"What's his full name?" I asked again and she put the onesie back.

"Gabriel Roan Bennett. What about a Lilo and stitch onesie?" She held up the blue onesie

"Think of how cute though! Like them crawling around like Stitch! Please we have to!" She grinned, clutching it to her chest.

"It's your birthday, I'll buy whatever you want. You can't fight me! You paid yesterday" I gave her a knowing look and she glared but didn't argue.

"What size? Do I do a smaller one so they can wear it sooner or a larger one?" She asked, looking through the sizes.

She ended up grabbing a 6 to 8 month old one and she also grabbed an elephant one for herself.

When we left Target, she decided she wanted to go play mini golf for a little while, but Cynthia was going to be joining us which meant we had some time to kill.

"Do you want to go to Caribou?" She asked and I turned to look at her.

"What is that?"

"It's Minnesota's Starbucks" She grinned.

When we arrived, I held the door open for her and she thanked me, walking in.

"Should I get a frap?" She asked, scanning their menu.

"You can do whatever you'd like Leighton" I chuckled, standing behind her as we both figured out what we wanted.

Leighton ended up getting some sort of Strawberry Mango drink, and I got a Cookies and Cream frap.

We sat at a high table and I couldn't help but laugh when I had to help her step up to sit on the stool.

"My bump is in the way!" She frowned, pushing up off my hand to sit on the stool.

"Your bump isn't even that big! You can't already be blaming your baby for your problems" I chuckled.

"Yes I can! It's my baby, I can do whatever I may wish" She cocked an eyebrow, getting situated in the seat.

I sat across from her, sipping my drink, watching her pull out of her phone and she sighed, starting to type.

"I'm starting to regret having his baby" She muttered, turning her phone off.

"Hm?"

"Gabe's being annoying about me being over in Minnesota for my birthday. He wanted me to come and see his mom this week, and I don't get home till the 18th, not to mention he isn't coming to the appointment on the 19th. It's just a shit show trying to make shit work. I try to be accommodating to his life, but he's hard to get a hold of sometimes. He was never like this when we were dating. Then again, he got home late at night from school, so I usually saw him in the mornings or afternoon. I don't know. Feeling frustrated. I don't want to see his side of the family. I know they're my baby's family too, but I feel like a stranger now" She admitted, taking a sip of her drink.

"Why do they feel like strangers?" I decide to ask, thinking that if she was openly telling me stuff, I might as well ride the wave before she shuts down again.

"Um, we were never best friends. His mother always said I was bad for him. She knew my issues, and thought I should leave him. I can't imagine her taking the news well when she learns I have his baby. I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't scared she'd try to get custody because of my background. I already know if she could, she'd use it against me somehow. I just don't feel like dealing with it. I'm not the same girl I used to be, but I don't think she will think I can change nor believe me if I told her I have" Leighton shrugged, and I watched her posture drop as she played with her straw mindlessly.

"Do you really think she'd be able to take your baby away?" I asked and Leighton frowned.

"I don't know. I have a history of being unstable I guess. I think it's unfair that shit I did in my teen years will forever be held against me until the day I die. I get it, it was my choice, I could've made better choices.. But I think holding someone's past against them is vicious of humanity."

"What do you mean vicious?"

"I think if someone still has their claws on your neck after you did your time, it's inhumane. It's different depending on what you did, but like.. If you fucked up, and then did everything in your power to correct your wronging's, and you've proven to yourself and to others that you can do it. That you won't make that mistake again, to have someone think your words don't hold any weight can be quite tortuous" Leighton explained "I think all she'd have to do is come up with some sort of proof that I'm a shitty mom, and then say I'm back on like coke or something and that will be the end of it" She muttered and my eyes widened a little.

I could see something was being hidden deep down, and I wanted so badly to know what she was truly afraid of. What she was thinking about at this moment, but all that would come out of my mouth was "You did coke?"

She shrugged and turned to look outside the window. "When do we have to meet up with Cynthia?" She changed the subject and I looked down to see what time it was.

"We are picking her up from Walmart at 3:20, so in about, 15 minutes?" I said and she nodded, glancing down at my screen saver which was our XPLR logo.

"I'm glad you have something to be proud of" Leighton said out of nowhere, causing me to look up at her.

"What do you mean?" I asked and she smiled a little.

"When you nod your head yes, but you wanna say no" She did a little dance in her seat, and my shoulders scrunched up towards my face a little when I chuckled, leaning forward to rest my arms on the table as I drank the Cookies and Cream cooler. "You're a dork"

"I try" She smiled, leaning her cheek on her shoulder before relaxing again.

~

"You're so going down!" Cynthia told Leighton as Leighton picked out her golf ball color.

"That's what she said" Leighton grinned and we all shook our heads, chuckling a little.

Leighton grabbed a light purple ball, Cynthia grabbed a green ball and I grabbed a baby blue ball.

"Lawl you got blue balls" Leighton giggled, eyeing the ball in my hand.

"Hold on, did you just say L O L out loud, and pronounce it like a word and not letters?" I asked, ignoring her joke.

"Yes I did, hope your blue ball finds a hole" She winked, grabbing her putter and walking out the door to enter the course, leaving me stunned.

Today was going to be a long day...

"Do you want the easy or hard course?" Cynthia asked without a beat Leighton made eye contact with me and said "hard" before walking towards the left, acting like she didn't do anything.

I honestly glanced down at my jeans to see if I was erect or not, because I was feeling extremely confused as to why she kept making dick jokes towards me.

Everything was fine down there making me glance around at my surroundings, trying to shake her words out of my head. Cynthia raised her eyebrow at me and I held my hands up in surrender, having no idea what was happening.

"Who's going first?" Leighton asked, stopping at the green turf.

"You're the birthday girl" Cynthia said and Leighton smirked, she dropped her ball and went "least my ball drops" and my eyes widened as I tried to hold back a laugh.

"Leighton do you need to be laid?" Cynthia laughed, and I thanked God there weren't children around.

"Honestly wish I was back in Cali, maybe Silas could help a girl out" She faked pain, holding her hand to her chest.

"Leighton I didn't know mini golf made you so horny" Cynthia laughed and I felt my own cheeks warm up in embarrassment.