Two months later...

I'm home relaxing finishing up a bubble bath. As I was getting out of the tub, I couldn't help but notice how pregnant I've become.

"Babygirl, you're getting so big. I can't believe I'm seven months now, only a little while longer." I spoke softly while letting the water out.

I grabbed my robe and made my way over to the full-length mirror gazing at my reflection. I am for sure showing now, if people couldn't tell before they can now.

I felt a bit of a draft, so I securely wrapped the robe around me.

These past two months have been good and bad, I guess. Nelsons been the absolute worst. He missed my last two appointments since my five-month check-up. Well, technically three because I had a little bit of a scare.

I looked down at my stomach, thinking back on the day I thought I was going to lose the baby. It was one of the weeks I stayed over at Kenzo's new house last month.

"Diri get up!" Kenzo shook me panicking. He had just got in from practice like he normally would. Usually, he'll shower then get back in bed with me.

He shook me once more with his cold hands. I got up and felt a sharp pain. I rushed and sat up straight pulling the covers off of me. The sheets were covered. There was so much blood, and it was fresh. Being a nurse and soon to be doctor, I initially wanted to panic. I thought better of it because that would only cause more harm.

"Come on, let's get you to the hospital." Kenzo stared at me. I had a blank expression. He wanted to panic, too, but he was trying to stay sane for my sake.

He lifted me and carried me to sit on the shower bench. He took off my shirt and pulled my underwear off.

"Ima' get you cleaned quickly then we can head over to the hospital. You want me to call your family? Maybe Char?"

I shook my head. "No, but Char is already there. She's working. I can see her when we get there. I don't want to alert my family until I know whats going on."

"Ok, stand up real quick." He moved quickly to get me cleaned up.

"Do you have anything you can wear to hold the bleeding until we get there?"

"No."

"I'll grab some towels, come on." We went into his bedroom and quickly got dressed. He carried me downstairs and out the door.

"Hey, Ben call Bo and Tyson and get over to the hospital near Lincoln, now." He said into the phone while getting me in his car.

"Aight, we'll be there shortly." He ended the call.

"They'll be there before we will. Ima' drive a little fast so fasten your seat belt. Try to lean back and relax."

I followed his instructions. We rode in silence. The closer I got to the hospital, all the more nervous I suddenly became.

We got there and met up with Benjamin, Bo and Tyson. After we made it inside, I called Nelson; he surprisingly picked up.

"What up?" He spoke into the phone.

"I'm at the hospital. I'm bleeding. Can you come?" I rushed while looking at Kenzo, staring at me.

"Keep me posted Adira I'm sure everything will be fine. I'm a little busy right now."

"Too busy to check on your daughter? Are you kidding me right now? I might be losing the baby.—You've only been to one appointment."

"Aight I'll see if I can make it over there. Keep me posted in the meantime." He said calmly. I could hear a girl moaning in the background.

"You're so fucking stupid." I gritted, slightly yelling in the phone. Kenzo grabbed the phone from my ear and ended the call.

My breathing was heavy from how pissed off I became. Kenzo put his arms around me, rubbing my back. My doctor came out with a wheelchair to take me back. Kenzo followed as well as Bo. Tyson and Benjamin went to sit in the closest waiting area.

Once I was settled in the room, and out of my clothes, I noticed the bleeding stopped. Also, the little pain I had was no longer there, so I was starting to feel a bit optimistic.

"The bleeding stopped," I told Kenzo, I placed my hand on my stomach rubbing it. We were waiting for my doctor to come back in. The nurse left, of course, she was fangirling' seeing Kenzo. He scooted closer to me in the seat by the bed and placed his hands over mine. I guess that was his way of telling her he didn't want to be bothered right now.

"Babygirl is fine. I know she is. So don't even worry, she's strong. Her mother is strong, and everything will be alright." He kissed my hands, removing them so he could rub my stomach.

"Thank you for being here with me."

He brought one of his hands up to my face wiping a tear. I didn't realize I was crying.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now."

We stayed quiet until Dr. Jansen came in to check on the baby. He used the Doppler to check her heartbeat. We remained silent. Bo left out to guard the door.

"Hold on, try turning to your side slightly, and I'm going to tilt you back a little." Dr. Jansen said after trying to get to baby's heartbeat but wasn't getting anything.

"Ok, "I replied softly as more tears fell down my face. I turned to my side, and Kenzo stood up as Dr. Jansen pressed the button to adjust the bed.

He placed the Doppler back on my stomach and moved it around. I was holding my breath.

"There she is, you hear it?" The doctor finally said after many moments of silence.

"Yes, I hear her," I stated loudly filled with relief. I grabbed Kenzos hand and smiled up at him. His eyes were glossy, he exhaled.

Dr. Jansen readjusted the bed. "Ok, now let's do an ultrasound to see the cause of this bleeder."

He went on to do an ultrasound and Kenzo took back his seat.

"Ok, the baby is doing fine, and it's looking like a placenta abruption."

"What's that?" Kenzo asked.

"It's when the placenta detaches from the wall of the uterus prematurely, which causes blood pockets in between the placenta and the uterus."

"Well this is relieving, I had so many thoughts going through my head." I breathed out.

"So this isn't something major? Is the baby going to be ok?" Kenzo asked.

"Yes, the baby will be ok, and she's not under any stress. The bleeding has stopped, I'll have to take it easier. Right, Dr. Jansen?"

"Adira, you'll need to go ahead and stop working for the duration of the pregnancy. I think school will be fine just take it easy, but I'm not clearing you to go back to work at this point."He grabbed some paper towel to remove the gel.

"So while you're here I'll go ahead and put that in for you, you can call and talk to Human Resources.—We're going to keep you overnight so no class tomorrow." He added.

I nodded, I'm not about to put up a fight. I could've lost my daughter. "Ok."

"Ima' go get some clothes and come back, call Char," Kenzo stated.

I nodded, then pulled out my phone.

"It's nice to meet you. I wasn't going to say anything to you. I'm a big fan." Dr. Jansen smiled at Kenzo.

"Oh no, you're good, its good to meet you too. I wish it were under better circumstances, but this is still good news."

"Yes, it is. Well, I'll leave you two alone." He exited out, smiling.

"Thank God everything worked out to be ok." He placed his forehead against mine. We closed our eyes, taking a deep breath.

Things could've gone differently, relief filled in the room.

After our moment, he finally landed his lip on to mine.

That was a stressful day, but my baby girl is still kicking.

I went ahead and got ready for my seven-month check-up. I pick out something casual, but not too casual.

Kenzo was coming in on his flight so he could join me for this appointment. He didn't want me going by myself, just in case, Nelson doesn't show up yet again. My mother went with me to my last two. Kenzo said since he was coming back in town today he wanted to go with me.

Kenzo and I are still just friends. I don't want the backlash from the everybody, especially while I'm pregnant. So I'm ok with us just being friends, well kissing friends.

He has yet to meet my family other than my brother, but he's been wanting to. He also wants me to talk to his mom, and I guess I should, but not right now. I decided to push it back because it's all too much and I'm a little intimidated. It would mean we would officially meet and I'm not ready yet.

We've been photoed together, but they didn't get a clear shot of me on the internet yet. He's now rumored to be with a mystery woman. Bo, Tyson, and Ben have been doing good with hiding me.

When Kenzo's home I spend the week with him, and when I'm home Chars been spending her free nights with me.

I heard a knock at the door. It's probably Char because she only uses her key for emergency.

"Hey." She said as I opened the door. She seemed a little off.

"Hey come in, everything ok?" We walked in, closing the door. I gestured for us to have a seat over on the couch.

"I need to talk to you about something, it's important." She confessed.

"Ok Char whatever it is I'm sure it's not that bad."

She sighed. "So you know you're brother, and I have been going strong, and we're now together, right?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Well, he had to decide on going back to Europe." She looked at me, taking her time to tell what she needed to say.

"Yeah, I know—" I was interrupted by the door. I heard a key turning. Kenzo was back.

"Hold on." I paused the conversation because I can tell just by looking at her, it's serious.

"Hey, baby." Kenzo came in out of breath, with his hoodie and shades on. He snuck in the building. He had his bags with him. He dropped it to the door.

"How was your flight?"

"Everything was good." He leaned in and kissed me softly rubbing my now extra plumped butt. I started giggling. He pulled apart and bent down to talk to babygirl.

"I missed you too, little girl." He pulled up my shirt, rubbed my growing belly, and planted soft kisses all over it.

"The two of you," Char cleared her throat dramatically while playfully smirking. She watched us from the couch. "I swear, I don't know what to do with you two."

"I've been away from my two girls for a whole week Char, let me live," Kenzo whined making a pouty face.

We laughed.

"What's going on? Am I interrupting something?" He asked me.

"I was in the middle of talking to Char before you walked in. Can you give us a minute?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure, I'll be in the room. I need to shower and get ready for your appointment. —Good to see you Char."

"You too." She waved him off before

he went in the room, closing the door.

I went back to the couch, joining Char so she could tell me what's bothering her.

"Ok so like I was saying Jr. had to make a decision. I don't know if he told you yet, but he's going back to finish out his contract. He already told them."

"Yes he told me. I was bummed about it. I wanted him to be here after I had the baby. I know it's going to hurt you with the distance. What are you going to do? The relationship's still relatively new."

"That's the thing, see I wanted to talk to you about maybe me going with him." She hid her face so she couldn't see my expression.

"Wait, you're going with him?"

She took her hands down from her face. "I want to, but Di if you need me to stay then I won't go. I would never want to leave you."

I sat quietly for a moment before I spoke. Never in a million years would I have ever thought this would happen.

"When are you leaving exactly?" I looked at her, worried.

"Nothing set in stone, the offer is still on the table. I haven't made a decision yet. It would be shortly after the baby's born, hopefully."

I leaned back trying to take it all in.

"I won't go. Forget I said anything. I'll send them an email tonight." She came in to hug me. She noticed my eyes were getting watery. "I can do two years away from him. I'll visit him, and when baby girl is big enough, we can visit together."

"No Char, you're going. My brother needs this. He's been going at it alone for a while now. He needs this. You need this." I broke away from her so she could see my face.

"Char for the longest time my family has been your family and will always be. I will always be your sister. I hate that this was even hard for you to tell me. As much as you're rooting for me, I am rooting for you all the same."

She smiled and now had a few tears forming. "You sure?"

"Very, I'm going to miss you. Having you next door to me. What are you going to do about your condo?"

"I think I'll rent it out. Then maybe sell it when I get back. Gia from work was looking to move so. Hopefully, I can rent it to her for two years."

"Yeah Gia's good, she would be a good neighbor. Plus she has a daughter."

"I'll come home to visit."

"I know, and I will be blowing your phone up every chance I get." I laughed. She then pulled me in for another hug.

"Oh, and don't be mad at Jr. I told him I wanted to tell you. —He's been worried about how you would take it."

"I'll call him after my appointment. —My best friend is expanding her resume." I grabbed her hands, holding them up, shaking them. We both laughed. "This is good Char."

We hugged each other once more then said our goodbyes because I had to get to my appointment.

As I straightened things up a little, I sent a text to Nelson.

Sending another reminder, the appointment is at 12:30 pm. I'll be leaving shortly.

I headed back down the hall to my room, where I found Kenzo lying on the bed, scrolling through his social media. I went to sit next to him.

"Did he call or say anything about coming yet?" He asked regarding Nelson.

"Nope, I just sent him another text. I haven't heard anything from him. He has been on social media, though. He's back at it again with his post."

"He's posting about you?"

"Yes and I almost fed into it with a response. I had a whole essay written out, but I didn't send it. He's not worth it, so I deleted it."

"I should respond and shock his ass. —The crazy thing is I looked him up, and he's following me." He laughed.

"No, don't do that, and I'm not surprise he follows you everybody does. —If he found out I was friends with you, it definitely wouldn't be a secret anymore."

"Well if he shows up today, he'll know. I don't care about that. He needs to focused on being a dad." He replied, and I agreed.

He opened his page to make a post. I read along as he typed.

Listen up followers. This is a public announcement: Fathers, Mothers take care of YOUR kids. There is always someone out there waiting to take your spot. STAY WOKE... If you're not present in their lives, please UNFOLLOW ME. I don't want any parts of you. Any negative commenters regarding this post are getting blocked. I got time today.

It took everything in me to keep from smiling.

"Let me see your phone real quick?" He asked me, and I dug it out of my pocket and handed it over.

"What are you about to do?"

"Repost my post on your page so I can like it." He said with ease as he went on to do so. I smiled at his petty antics. I still have yet to post anything regarding my baby or any new photos.

He handed me back my phone. "Alright, let's go. Maybe that'll put a little fire under his ass. —He might show up today."

I shrugged getting up. "Not holding my breath."

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