8 weeks later....

" Do you have your medicine?" Jae asks and I nodded. He brought rolls his suit case at the door and turned to me. " I will be back tomorrow night, do you think you will be able to last until then?" He asks me and I giggled. " Stop worrying, I'm not going to burst any time soon. I'm only thirteen weeks" I say bringing my hands to my now small hump.

He squats to his knees and placing his hands on my stomach. " Baby bear, Your daddy has to go for a little while, stay warm, I love you" I smiled shyly. Ever since we heard the baby's heart beat for the first time a few weeks back, Jae spoke to my belly as if our baby was right next to us.

We have not told anyone about the baby. Jae has been very defensive about this. He wanted me to wear his hoodie when we went out and or oversized clothing. He visits his mother, so that she doesn't come by often. Now that I am showing, it has become difficult to hide. It was not huge, my bump was noticeable but not very big quite yet.

Jae stands to his feet. He brings his lips to mine and rests his forehead against mine. " I love you, don't forget to take the medication. I will call you before I board, alright? I love you"

" You said that twice."

He pulls me into it him. Charming me with his broad smile. " I'll say it one hundred more times" He kisses me one more time. I hug him one more time. " I need to go now, the more I see you, the harder it gets to leave" He mutters. I nodded and pulled away. He smiles and finally makes his way through out of the door. I no longer smell his cinnamon scent, I possessed it. It made me a bit sad, my senses had become nullified, and have become used to it.

It left me with nothing to remind me of him. I missed him already.

Maybe 15 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Had he turn around? Did he forget something? I walk over to the door and there was a knock again. I grinned and swung the door open. " Is daddy back?" I turn and my eyes widened. Ms.Park eyes adverted to my stomach. She the basket of chocolate bars and goodies she usually gives her is shaking in her hand.

I take it from her and smile shyly. " Hey Ms.Park" I bow politely. She puts her hands over her mouth as she walks inside of the apartment staring at my exposed stomach. " Are you pregnant Athena? Or are you g—-

—-No I am not fat. I am pregnant" I say with a nervous chuckle. She gasps and takes my hand, her eyes wide. " How long? How come I didn't know about this?" She asks me and I bit my lips. " Jae thought we would keep it a secret, we would have surprised you" She blinks and places her hand on my tummy. " My grandchild? Am I really having a grandchild?" She gushed and I smile warmly.

" I am four months along, we still have five more weeks before we know if it is a boy or a girl" I explains and she goes to her bag of cookies and opens it up. " You know, I hadn't expected this right away. You two must be very busy" She says pulling out all of the almond chocolate bars. " Jae Eun does not deserve this, keeping a secret like this for so long. I understand why he is though" She assures me stuffing the candy in her bag.

" I mean it makes sense now, why you decided to resign as a teacher and work home. People of the board talks" This was true. The toxicity of the school I worked for within my circle, being Mrs.Kim and Ms.Oh. I would find work elsewhere but for the time being I stayed at home. " I have been waiting for this moment for so long, I am so happy. You know what comes next right?"

" What?"

" Marriage!"

I stiffen. " Well actually babies come after marriage, so we should probably get you two married in five months" She says clapping her hands excitedly. I bite my lips. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Baby steps, big baby steps" She giggles taking my hand and taking me to the sofa. " Ms.Park, don't you think getting married could be a bit too fast as of right now?" I asked her and she tilts her head.

" Well,What do you mean?"

" This baby wasn't planned Ms.Park. Jae and I had unprotected sex, and that is how our little one came to be we j——

—-I know how babies are made Athena" She says and I apologize ducking my head. " What I am trying to say is that, it is true that I love Jae, and I am sure Jae loves me. Jae seems to want to keep it that way, our way, him and I, this baby. I'm his partner that la——

—-That punk. What does he think he is doing?" She mutters and I blinked at him. " Sweetheart, everything will be alright. I want you to remember that, Jae loves you very much. He cares about you. Promise me that you will never forget that" I looked at her puzzled. What was wrong? Why did she speak in this manner?

" I promise" She looks me in my eye and closes her hands over mine. " Thank you. Thank you so much" She then pulls me into a hug and I frowned. Why did my bell of intuition go off so soundly? The mood suddenly became mournful. I could have cried for no reason at all. The look in Ms.Park's eyes and the lingering icy air all spoke to me in lips of whispers. It said that this is the calm before a storm.