😭

It's the next morning and my body is taking it's sweet time waking up from my slumber. You'd think I haven't slept for years. Well, it sure feels like it. It seems as though I get quite tired and fatigued a lot lately.

I roll over in bed onto Romeo's side and smile contentedly as my hand aimlessly shoots out to find him. When I hear the soft thump of my hand patting the mattress, I lift my head up from my pillow, my hair flying everywhere, just to see the space beside me empty.

I frown as I begin to sit up, looking around our room whilst rubbing my eyes trying to get the sleep out of my system, when all of a sudden a loud gasp/scream leaves my mouth.

"C'est quoi ce bordel [What the fuck]! You scared me asshole!" I shout at Romeo who's casually leaning against the doorframe with a happy smile on his face and an adoring glint in his eye.

His head drops and I see his shoulders shake as a muffled sound comes out of his mouth.

I feign a gasp and pick up his pillow and throw it at him "Are you laughing at me?" I say as I try to keep my smile at bay.

The pillow hits him with with a pathetic thud and drops to the floor. He bends down to pick up the pillow and makes his way towards me with an evil look in his eyes, I grab the pillow behind me and lift it up "Oohhh no you don't. Romeo. Rome!" I playfully shout at him as he begins to lightly hit me with the pillow.

I hit him back a couple times and we begin to get more serious about the game as we chase each other around our bedroom - aimlessly whacking the pillows about.

I run around the bed but apparently I'm too slow as Romeo catches up to me and shoots one of his strong arms around my waist, holding me in place in his arms.

Our chests lightly heave from running about and I can feel Romeo's naked chest against my back "I'm never letting you get away from me mia belleza. I'd be a lost man in a world without you." He whispers against the shell of my ear making me shiver.

He playfully throws me on the bed and climbs on top of me, leaving a knee between my legs. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull his face down towards mine, crashing our lips together.

When we part I look at him lovingly as I stroke his hair away from his face "You'll never be in a world without me. I'd never leave you, my love." I tell him softly, leaving 3 kisses on his temple, his cheek and then the corner of his lips.

A shy smile blooms on his face as he says in French "Je t'aime [I love you]." Shoving his face into the crook of my neck.

I push my hand into his curls, playing with his hair as I whisper to him in Italian "Ti amerò per sempre [I'll love you forever]."

Our moment is cut off by a sharp knock on the door.

Romeo groans and wraps his arms around me crushing me in a hug "I swear to God, if it's Christos, I will fucking deliver him to lucifer myself." He complains as he pushes his face into the crook of my neck again.

"Come in!" I yell out to whoever is at the door.

The door opens slowly and reveals a slightly panicking, Amara and a very distraught, Liyana.

My brows furrow as a tear runs down Liyana's face "What's wrong?" I ask worriedly as my eyes dart to Amara.

Romeo slightly lifts his head out of the crook of my neck to see what's going on "I'll... ummm- I'm just gonna go.." Romeo says awkwardly as he untangles himself from me leaving 3 kisses on my forehead.

Once he leaves, the girls scurry into the room and Liyana bursts out into tears the moment Romeo shuts the door behind him.

Amara and I quickly suffocate her with a hug as her shoulders slightly shake. I look to Amara and all she does is shrug her shoulders as she mouths 'she hasn't told me.'

We pull away and I hold Liyana's face in my hands as I gently wipe her tears. Amara rubs her back whilst occasionally stroking her hair too, leaving a peck on her temple.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" I ask her gently.

"I- I thi- I'm-." She hiccups whilst she cries and tries to answer me.

All of a sudden, there's another knock on the door and Liyana shoots up off of the bed and runs to the door. She retrieves something from Christos.. I think?

What could Christos possibly bring her?

She quietly thanks him and closes the door gently, returning to us with a black plastic bag in her hand.

My brows furrow as I look over to Amara to gage whether she knows what's going on, but all I see, is my own expression mirrored on her face.

Liyana takes - what seems to be - a fortifying breath and begins to speak to us "So. Recently, I've realised a couple of things about me that have changed. I thought nothing of it at first, but then I began dwelling on little things, like food cravings, the weight I was gaining.. the two missed periods." My eyes slightly widen at her insinuation and I steal a glance at Amara, to see if she's caught on and I see her mouth shaped in an 'o' shape as one of her hands form a fist to cover her mouth.

"Shit, does that mean you're pregnant?" Amara asks curiously.

"Well," Liyana says nervously as she wipes the remainder of her tears off of her cheeks, "that's what this is for." She holds the black plastic bag up "I asked Christos to go and buy a couple tests for me because he was the first person I saw who I knew I could trust, and it seems as though he bought me a whole aisle of pregnancy tests." She lets out a watery chuckle as she looks inside the bag.

There also seems to be Liyana's favourite chocolates in there too. That's sweet of Christos.

Amara and I get up and follow Liyana to the bathroom, she empties the contents of the bag onto the bathroom counter.

A couple of the tests fall onto the ground and I pick them up for her, but when I extend the tests out to her, she looks at me and says "Hell fucking no. I don't want to take the test alone. Take one too, for fun at least. I just don't want to be the only one to take it." Her hands come up in a playfully defensive manner.

"That makes absolutely no sense. Why would I take one 'just for fun'?" I laugh out.

"I don't know. Just do it, and then Amara can look at it for us. Please." Liyana pleads.

Amara decides to join in too "Why not take one. There's no harm in taking one, and I mean you're married now, sooo..." She says with a shrug of her shoulders.

With a heavy sigh, I open a box that contains one of those digital pregnancy tests and take it out "This is so fucking pointless. I already know what the result is going to be." I grumble with a roll of my eyes.

The girls turn around and I quickly pee on the end of the stick. I finish up and wash my hands, placing the test on the counter "Go on then," I wave my hand about at liyana "It's your turn." I tell her.

She takes 2 of the pregnancy tests and pees on each one of them whilst Amara and I have turned around. I look down at my test that I took and see that the results are still loading but Amara must have seen me peeking, so she grabs the test and hides it in her hand as a cheeky smile spreads across her face.

I kiss her cheek and pat it "Funny. But it's not like I'm pregnant, so there's no need for you to hide it from me." I chuckle out, but my heartbeat seems to increase slightly at the off-chance that I am pregnant.

She rolls her eyes at me playfully as Liyana comes back to us and puts all the tests face-down on the counter, washing her shaking hands. Amara sets a 3 minute timer on her phone so we will remember when to check.

We sit around in silence for a bit before a question pops into my head "So if you are pregnant," I begin, catching both of their attention "Does that mean you know who the father is?" I ask her gently.

She slowly nods her head, indicating that she's not comfortable telling us who he is "Okayy.. will you tell him, at least? Is this something he wants? Something you both want?" I ask as we all sit on the tiled bathroom floor.

Liyana brings her knees up to her chest and rests her chin on them "If I'm pregnant, I would like to keep the child. I don't think I feel comfortable with any other options. As for him," she sighs, her eyes tearing up "I would like to tell him, but everytime I've tried to talk to him, he purposely either ignores me or says something shitty and spiteful. I doubt he'd want anything to do with a baby. He barely wants anything to do with me now." Liyana answers with an exhausted groan falling from her lips.

Liyana has come to us a few times to tell us about this mystery guy - never mentioning who he is - but filling us in about the things he's said and done. He's, by far, the shittiest person ever. He's horrible and disrespectful and definitely doesn't deserve Liyana. I just hope that if she's pregnant, this will be her wake up call, because she truly deserves better.

"Liyana, trust me when I say this, but if he doesn't realise how truly amazing you are, then you should have dropped him a veeery long time ago. He should be worshipping the ground you walk on, not using you as his tension-releaser and verbally abusing you. He's absolutely fucking shit and you know better than to let a man undermine and belittle you. You're an intelligent woman, so please don't act like you can't see how damaging this is on you. It pains us to see you hurt and mistreated, because you have such a bright soul. If you are pregnant, please understand that it's no longer just you that will be dealing and facing with the consequences of you staying, it'll be your child too." Amara says softly with a hint of sternness in her voice "And if the stupid guy decides that he doesn't want to be in the baby's life, then Mél and I will always be here for you."

By the end of her mini speech, Liyana is a crying mess, my vision is blurry as fuck, and Amara is smiling widely as us. She opens her arms out wide for us and we don't waste time crawling into a group hug "I told you she's wiser than her age let's off." I let out on a watery chuckle.

We all laugh and I let out a contented sigh. No matter what the results are on Liyana's tests, I know that these girls are what I've been wishing for my whole life. They're the sisters I wish I had growing up. I finally have sisters that I can rely on through thick and thin. I know for a fact that those results won't mean a damn thing for our relationship - if anything, we'll probably grow more protective of one another if it's positive. But all I know is, my life is finally coming together.

All of a sudden, the blaring of Amara's phone alarm goes off, scaring the shit out of all of us. Amara turns the alarm off and takes a glance at us before standing up and making her way to the counter.

She picks up the tests and takes a look at both of ours. Liyana and I hold onto one another anxiously as Amara's face drops and she looks up at us slowly "Shut the actual fuck up." She says bewildered.

"What? What does it say!" I slightly shout nervously.

"I think I'm going to be sick. What does it say Amara?" Liyana says shakily.

"You're both pregnant! Oh. My. God! I think I'm going to shit myself out of excitement! I'm going to be an aunt to both of your children." Amara says fanning herself dramatically.

My face drops as I freeze "What?" I say breathlessly.

Liyana and I stand up and take the tests out of Amara's hands. It says 4 weeks pregnant. Oh my God, she was being serious.

"We're pregnant Liyana." I say shocked as a small smile makes its way onto my face. I lift my hand and rest it on my stomach.

I look up at Liyana as the tears trek down her face. Amara is quick to wrap her up in a hug and I swiftly join "You're going to be okay. I promise." I whisper to her as I stroke her hair gently.

"Like I said, you'll never be alone Liya. We'll always be here for you." Amara says leaving a peck in Liyana's hair.

Liyana lets out a watery chuckle as she wipes her tears "Is it bad that I'm only 6 weeks pregnant and I want to buy a load of baby clothes." We all laugh at that.

"Definitely not, because I think I might buy a whole store at this point." I say as we all untangle from our hug.

After we all calm down, we make our way back out into Romeo and I's bedroom when we hear a knock on the door "Come in!" I yell out.

I quickly hide the test behind my back on the bed as Christos enters the room "Is everything okay?" He asks awkwardly.

"God, could you be anymore awkward Chrissy. Everything's fine, what's up?" Amara says jokingly.

He playfully rolls his eyes at her before looking at me "You, Mrs Basilio, need to get ready." He tells me.

"Ready? For what?" I ask cluelessly.

Christos looks at the girls for help and they just shrug "Umm.. I guess we'll never know. Just get ready!" He shouts as he backs away from the door.

I look at the girls and they just quickly get up and go out of the room.

Before I can even process what's happening, Amara and Liyana return with 2 racks of clothing/outfits as well as huge bags of skincare and makeup.

"What is going on..?" I ask confusedly.

"Don't worry about it, just come sit here!" Amara says cheerfully, patting a stool that she got from God knows where.

I am so confused. What's happening?

I just shrug my shoulders at this point and sit on the stool. I'm putting my trust in them.

As Liyana gets started on skincare prep for my makeup, Amara sets everything up for her and then moves to the racks of clothing.

"Hmmm" Amara hums her approval of a couple of outfits "So, you have the choice betweeeen.. These 5"

She sets the 5 outfit choices on the bed and turns to me, waiting for my answer. Wow. These all look really good.

"This is a hard decision. Mayyybe if you tell me where we're going, then I'll know which outfit to pick." I shrug cheekily.

Can you blame me? I don't like surprises.

Amara scoffs "Yeah, nice try Mél. Now pick." She claps her hands excitedly.

I roll my eyes playfully and I chose the fourth outfit.

Amara nods happily and says "Good pick, I was hoping you'd chose it."

Liyana finishes my makeup and they both begin to curl my hair into loose waves. Once they're done, they rush me into the bathroom and give me my outfit. I quickly put it on and come out.

When they see me, they turn around from the makeup table which they're getting ready at and smile at me "You look so pretty" Amara says in awe as Liyana nods in agreement.

I wave my hand in the air carelessly "Hurry up and finish getting ready, I can't wait anymore." I walk to the bed and tuck the pregnancy test into my bag.

Once they've finish getting ready and we've all hyped each other up, they tell me to put a blindfold on - carefully making sure not to ruin my lashes.

I put it on loosely but I made sure I couldn't see. They take a hand each. They guide me down the stairs and into a car. Once the three of us are settled in the car, Liyana begins driving us to the mystery destination.

About 15 minutes later, the door next to me opens and a fresh breeze makes its way into the car. A hand softly lifts my arm and undoes my seatbelt sending goosebumps up my arm "Romeo?" I say gently.

"I missed you mia belleza. You look beautiful baby." He says tenderly, leaving 3 kisses on my hand.

I lightly laugh at that "Rome, we literally saw each other a couple of hours ago." I say as he helps me step out of the car and onto - what I'm guessing is - a grassy surface.

I wobble on my feet a bit and Rome must notice as his hands which were planted firmly on my waist a second ago were now wrapping around the back of my knees and my torso. I let out a gasp at the sudden change in positions and my hands quickly shoot up and around Romeo's neck.

"Don't worry, I've got you mia belleza." Romeo gently whispers against the shell of my ear, sending a warm and familiar fuzzy feeling throughout my body - one that he often gives me. "And as for the fact that we saw each other a couple of hours ago" he begins "Any time spent away from you is torture. Pure, utter terror. Whenever I'm without you, it's- it's like- I don't know how to say it." Romeo huffs frustratedly.

I gently stroke the skin of his neck as my fingertips slightly thread the curls at the nape of his neck "You can tell me anything Angelo. I'll always be here." I tell him soothingly, meaning every word. Because it's true. I'll always be here for him, even at times he thinks it'd be best if I wasn't. I want to return the favour of what he's done for me.

I want to be his anchor. I want to be his rock. I want to be the first person he shares his good news with. I want him to see something and immediately text or call me to tell me how it reminds him of me. I want him to feel safe in my arms. I want him to find comfort in my embrace. I want to be the person he comes to when he feels he's stuck, hurt, angry, confused, upset and happy. I just want to be his person. His world. His everything.

With a fortifying breath, Romeo begins "Whenever I'm without you" he says carefully, as if the idea of being apart from me physically pains him "It feels like I'm drowning. Like there's a heavy weight on my chest that's constricting my lungs. Like my heart slows down to the point that only your soft voice can bring me back to life. Which is why I often find myself in my office listening to your voicemail that I recorded and saved. It's just- I want you to know that, without you, I never would have been saved. I never would have experienced life, love and happiness. I never thought I would. But I'm glad I have, because I can't return to my old ways, seen as they don't include my favourite person." As he finishes, I realise that he's been walking with me in his arms the whole time and he has finally reached the 'surprise'.

My heart surges at his words and I couldn't be more grateful for a man like him in my life.

Romeo gently sets me down and leaves 3 kisses in my hair. He's right, it's been too long since I've seen him. "Je t'aime [I love you]" I whisper to him in my mother tongue.

"Ti amerò per sempre [I'll love you forever]." He replies in his own mother tongue. Just as he finishes talking, the blindfold is stripped away from my eyes gently and the light floods my eyes, making me slightly wince. But before I can get a joking complaint in, I take in our surroundings and suck in a deep breath.

He remembered.

A familiar pressure rushes through my body and lays heavily behind my eyes as I try to keep my tears at bay. All that is running through my head a million times over is 'He remembered.'