January 3rd, 2020; 8:22AM.

Denise placed her empty mug in the sink and turned on the tap. The water began to wash away the residue from her honey and cinnamon tea. She moved her cup in gentle circles under the running water, blankly staring into nothingness as the water swished and swashed. Chris walked in on her and immediately, he could tell her mind was elsewhere.

January had arrived which meant she was going to start work with her first script. She'd found herself an agent- Paul Anders- with the help of Chris', and she was sharing his publicist. She'd passed her completed script to Paul who then forwarded it to all the production companies under an alias so they'd review it fairly. It didn't take long for Paul's inbox to be flooded with meeting requests, even New Line Cinema wanted her. Today was Denise's first pitch meeting, it was at Sony Pictures with Emilia as well as a few other members of the production board. And though Chris was going with her, she was still incredibly nervous.

Her materials may have been ready to go, but mentally, she wasn't. It wasn't like she had a lot of time to prepare herself for the pitch with everything that had been going on in her life. Since finding out there was an interest to turn her story into a movie, she'd been through a whirlwind of events. It wasn't going to be any easier now that she'd gotten through her wedding planning because now it was Sebastian and Luca's turn. What made the task more difficult was her full schedule, it also didn't help that the holidays were just around the corner when the couple decided to start planning. But Denise realized they didn't really have much of a choice when Luca was pregnant, they wanted to be married before the birth of their child.

When the holidays finally rolled around, it tied everyone up. Sebastian and Luca spent their Thanksgiving and the first two weeks of December in New York with his family, then the other two in Florida where her mother's side of the family was from. Chris and Denise were busy with their own, traveling between Los Angeles and Boston. And when it was said that the holidays tied everyone up, it tied everyone up.

There were no cake shops or caterers who had time for the bride and groom to taste anything, nor were there flower shops willing to hear them out because they already had orders upon orders for Thanksgiving dinner centerpieces and Christmas party arrangements. Venues were packed, entertainment booked, and stationery shops were done taking orders until after the holidays. Even the department stores were sold out so they couldn't even get their registry done.

To complicate things further, Denise was completing all of her duties from Los Angeles rather than New York, where the wedding was being held. If it had been her choice, she'd fly over and deal with everything in person. But she was pregnant, so nothing was her choice until she gave birth to her baby. She was still trying to work out how she was going to attend the wedding when she wasn't permitted to get on a plane, she figured she'd just cross that bridge when she came to it. And because she was grounded, she had to communicate over phone calls and emails which made it easy for the vendors to shoot her down. With the holiday rush, they didn't care whose wedding it was. All of them told her the same thing, that she had to revisit in January when things calmed down. It was not ideal to leave everything to January- the month she was meant to start work- because she would've been even busier with just a little over a month to get things in order, but it seemed like she had no choice.

Luca did find her dress on her way back from Florida, when she and Sebastian stopped over in New Orleans to visit Anthony and his family, taking a huge load off Denise's shoulders. She sent Denise a picture on Snapchat and Denise thought she looked breathtakingly beautiful in it. The top half had a very 1920s vibe with the beaded appliqué, delicate lace design, and belted waist; the lower half was the modern mermaid tail with a light trail in the same lace design on the chiffon overlaying the white under layer. The dress was as perfect for Luca as Denise's had been for her; Denise couldn't see her in anything else. The dress had been one of Denise's biggest concerns, everything else- she knew she'd be able to figure out with a little bit of help from the names she knew now that she was Chris Evans' wife. She assured Luca everything was going to work out in time for the wedding even though she wasn't completely sure.

Denise felt obligated to keep any and all stress, worries, and struggles from the couple as they'd done the same for her and Chris during their wedding. Sebastian and Luca figured as much which was why they'd been hesitant about giving her the Maid of Honor's duties. Luca may have wanted her best friend by her side but she didn't want her to take on more than she could handle. She even made Denise promise she'd say something if things got too much so she could hand off some of the jobs to someone else, but of course- Denise did no such thing. She even begged Chris to lie when Luca asked him how she was doing because unlike Denise, Luca knew Chris would tell the truth. So when he said "everything's fine, Denise is doing great," she believed him.

Even though Chris lied for Denise, it didn't stop him from worrying about her; his wife, who was fourteen weeks from her due date. Denise was really pregnant, which meant she needed to keep her stress levels low. She also needed to eat properly and sleep well, but with everything going on- she found herself doing the opposite. She was so focused on the wedding and her upcoming pitch that sometimes she'd forget to eat. Most nights, she'd spend fighting her tired eyes so she could stay up a little later to complete her list of things to do. She was terrible at looking after herself which was why it was good she had a man like Chris in her life. Not only did he take over some of her responsibilities as Maid of Honor and his responsibilities as one of Sebastian's groomsmen very calmly, he kept a very close eye on her. He cooked and made sure she ate, forced her to sleep by taking all her devices and notebooks away, and reminded her to take the vitamins her doctor recommended.

"I am not ready for this," Denise mumbled to herself, placing her mug upside down on the drying rack. She pumped some hand soap on her hands and spread it all around; she had a thing about washing her hands when she was stressed. "What if I fuck this up?" Chris sighed behind Denise, but she was in too deep to hear him. "I'm such an awkward turtle, I just know..." She trailed off, placing one hand on top of the other to transform her hands into a makeshift turtle. "Awkward turtle," she managed a smile as she wiggled her thumbs.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?" She glanced over her shoulder, washing off the soap so she could turn off the tap. "What am I doing?" She quizzed as she dried her hands on the tea towel sitting on the table. Chris nodded and she frowned confusedly, "I'm washing my hands?"

"But did you also just make a turtle with your hands?" He asked with a curious smile and she felt herself blush. Even though he was her husband now, she still occasionally let the fact that he was her celebrity crush create the tint in her cheeks. "Oh sweetheart," he cooed, wrapping his arms around her, "you're going to make such a good mom."

"Thanks," she mumbled half heartedly as she hugged him back.

Chris may have had a great deal of faith in Denise being a mother, but she didn't; she couldn't knowing she'd barely done anything to prepare for Jack. Chris had been responsible for everything: he read all the books, he baby proofed, he turned one of the guest rooms into a nursery, he did the shopping with their moms, and he hosted the baby shower. Anything that had to do with the baby, he did. Denise had been too busy with Sebastian and Luca's wedding, finalizing her script, and preparing the materials for her pitch that she hadn't had time for Jack. Jack, her son who she was already too busy for.

If she didn't even have time for him when he was inside her, she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen when he came out. Was she going to be a good mom? Did she even know how to be a mom? She was twenty-two, she was still a kid herself. What if she couldn't do it? What if she failed at being a mom? What if she failed at being a screen writer? Was she even being a good wife, or best friend? There were so many things running through her mind that she didn't hear what Chris said.

"Did you hear me?" Chris asked, pulling away from her. She shook her head and he repeated his previous statement, "you are going to be fine. I know you're nervous about the pitch, but you have nothing to worry about. The hard part is done, they all want you. Your job now is to meet with production companies to discuss what you want from them, and what they can do for you. So don't stress, okay?" He waited for her to nod before he continued. "I am going to be with you the whole time, you just gotta breathe."

She took a deep breath and felt her vision blur as she did.

"Hey," Chris cupped her face in his hands. "It's okay, baby." As soon as he said that, she broke down crying. "Hey, no." He took her in his arms again, holding her head against his shoulder. "Don't cry, sweetheart. It's going to be okay, you're going to be okay. C'mon, turtle," he whispered teasingly and successfully drew a light laugh from her. "Everything is going to be okay," he pulled away, taking her face in his hands, "okay?" He thumbed away her tears. "Don't worry, I'm going to be there and I'm going to hold your hand the whole time."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise," he nodded.