____________________...Eric and Gabby were back together. That was two down, one to go.Zoe and Kevin hadn't fought in the last two months and my wife was currently five months pregnant and showing.She had become emotional and stubborn and I had shifted to the couch in her bedroom because "I want to be with my children."I was also taking advantage of Rory's paranoia about something going wrong to stay at her place."What's that smell?"I turned around and my breath hitched in my throat at the sight of her. She was wearing yoga pants and a sports bra.She had gained weight over the last two months. Her face was fuller, so was her breasts and ass. Her body had moulded into such a beautiful form that I could not help the reaction of my body to her no matter how much I tried not to.There was only one thing I did not like about her right now. And that was her friendship with Derek Mathewson. Yes, it turned out the old obstetrician could not come back due to undisclosed reasons and
____________________________...If it had been any other club then I would have felt self-conscious going into it with a five-month pregnant with twins belly. But this was The Loft, this was my Frank's place. I had nothing to worry about. Besides, I had all my people. "Right this way, ladies and gentlemen!" Frank exclaimed as he himself escorted us to the private room, despite being the bartender. He stopped for a moment to glare at Rowan, showing his contempt openly before ushering us all in. I was going to enter with Rowan right behind me when Frank stopped me and said, "I thought you were leaving this piece of shit for good."I glanced over at Rowan who was scowling down at the shorter man. "How is that any of your business?" "I am as much closer to her as B is. I get to ask." Frank was not backing down. He never did. "We are in a civil relationship as co-parents, Frank. There is nothing more to it." I told him. "You better stay cautious of this little shit, princess. He
________________________...I sniffed as I cried into my handkerchief. The pregnancy hormones were making it impossible for me to keep in the waterworks.Zoe's wedding dress was her mother's. A gown of timeless elegance and grace with a fitted bodice and a sweetheart neck that cascade down the waistline onto a tulle skirt. The back of the dress was a work of art, with intricate lace detailing and a row of covered buttons trailing down to the hem. Completing the look was a sweeping train that trailed behind Zoe as she walked, adding a touch of drama to her ensemble.The girl said she was not going to wear a veil and let her hair out.She was the most beautiful bride in the world."You are the most beautiful bride in the world," I told her."That's what you say every time." Bianca rolled her eyes."You all keep on outdoing each other." I dabbed my eyes. Thank you for the makeup technology for the waterproof mascara."You can say whatever you want, but you remain the most beautiful br
________________________...4 months later..."Any day now." I woke up to my children doing gymnastics inside while their Dad traced their movements on my belly.This had not been the same since the wedding.And it was good. Things should not have been the way they were to begin with.It was funny how Rowan not recognizing the song was enough to put into perspective how bad it all was.I was alone in that relationship. Now, I did not want to be part of his relationship."You are up." He smiled at me. But his smile was guarded these days.The part of me who loved him missed his smile but the other part of me who hated him found solace in this newfound distance between us."I wanna stay in bed all day." I said honestly. I did not feel like doing anything today."I have a meeting at ten. I will be back after that."I didn't care."Okay." I was still polite.The door bell rang, swallowing the awkwardness. "I will see who it is." Rowan said as he made his way out.I sighed and looked d
_____________________...Rory hummed as she waddled through the pavement to the supermarket, two blocks down the road. As much as I was paranoid about her tagging along, watching her, it really seemed as though she needed this outdoor trip. Rowan was one paranoid father and he would not let her take a step out of the threshold of the house ever since she got diagnosed with preeclampsia. He was scared to death. But my sister had faired well and reached term safely. Any day now and I would become an aunt, though I already felt like one. I was going to be the fun aunt who was going to spoil my nieces and nephews rotten. My phone rang in my pocket. "Ten bucks say it is Eric Rogers the second." Rory pointed at my pocket. "Then I am not even going to bother to check it." I rolled my eyes. She gave me a flat look but Rory being Rory, did not bug me to take the call. She knew I wouldn't budge, that was one thing, but she was also the most understanding sister in the world who always t
____________________...You know how it is in the movies? Accidents occur in such slow motion, but in real life, it is not so. In real life, it happened in the blink of an eye. One second my heavily pregnant sister is waving at me and the next thing I know, she is lying ten feet away, bleeding out. "RORY!" I screamed as I dropped the bag in my hand and ran in her direction, brain-numbing fear taking over. "Rory!" I heard Eric's voice behind me as I reached my unconscious sister. "No, no, no, no!" I prayed as I cupped her face. "Rory, wake up! Please wake up!" "Someone call nine-one-one!" I screamed at the crowd. "They are on their way." Eric was at my side. God, I hated him but at this moment, I could not be more thankful that he was there. "She is going to be fine." He did not sound like he believed what he was saying. "If something happens to her, if something happens to the babies..." I cried. "Eric, Rory would die if something happened to the babies!" Eric had a hand r
____________________...Tears flowed like a river as I stared at the serene, cyanotic face of my beautiful baby girl. She was a ditto replica of her mother with her button nose and pouty lips. "I am sorry Dadda failed to protect you, my precious." I kissed her forehead as the nurse told me it was time to say goodbye. I placed another kiss on her forehead. "This one, on behalf of your Momma. She loves you so much." My voice broke as I said it, and the nurse took my dead infant away from me.I slid to the ground as grief racked through me. Tears spilled out even as I tried to be strong for my other daughter and my wife."Rowan..." Zoe sat down near me, leaning against the wall. She didn't say anything else. She knew there was nothing she could say that could fix this.Everything was over."Rory is going to wake up, you know." She finally said."The doctors say the chances are very less." I reminded her."Still, I know she is going to wake up." She decided."How am I going to tell h
_________________________...1 Month Later....One whole month and Rory still had not woken up. At least she was fully healed physically so her doctor, Dr. Rena Henkins had hopes for her to wake up any day. It was that or not at all. But I held on to the former hope that she would wake up any day now. I knocked on the door that was ajar and pushed it open. Rowan looked up from where he was feeding Ki and smiled softly.I smiled back at him and placed the package and bags I had brought on the coffee table and then moved to my sister, placing a kiss on her forehead. "You need to wake up soon, big sis, or else Ki is going to turn out to be Dadda's girl," I told her, laughing. "Oh, she is a Dadda's girl already." Rowan stuck his tongue out at me. "Not helping." I rolled my eyes at him and turned to my sister, taking her hand in mine, leaning closer to her with my elbows holding me up on the side of the bed. "Rory, Ki is turning one month old today. It would be awesome if you wou
_____________________...~~THREE YEARS LATER~~."Can you stay still?" I screamed at my hysterical sister as I fixed her veil. "All the daisies are going to fall off at this rate!""Who invented wedding gowns?" Gabby screeched as she tugged at the tulle of her wedding gown."Oh, the first documented wedding gown was worn in fourteen-o-six by-""No thanks, Miranda." I cut the overenthusiastic wedding planner off.Gabby rolled her eyes. "You know too much." She told the oblivious lady who just grinned as if it was a compliment. It probably is."You okay?" I whispered to her as I fixed the last daisy.Gabby took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I'm just... nervous.""You're going to marry the love of your life," I said, smiling at her through the mirror. "What's not to be happy about?"Gabby took a deep breath. "It's just... everything is happening so fast. And what if it's not enough?""What do you mean?" I asked, my hand on her shoulder. "You dated him three years before you are marr
____________________..."Oh well, I won't say I didn't see it coming," I murmured as I watched Gabby come out of Eric's room. She froze, trying to run back into the room and bumping into Eric's broad chest in the process. "but I also didn't think the day would come this fast.""What can I say?" Eric laughed as he wrapped his arms around my sister. "I know to woo my woman right.""Well, in my defense, it takes a lifetime of groveling to make up for the kind of mistakes I made." I shrugged, laughing even though I felt a pang in my chest. I had fucked up so bad.Gabby's eyes searched mine. "I know you're sorry.""But is that enough?" I asked, my voice low.Gabby looked at me, understanding in her eyes. "You know she loves you, right?"I nodded. "I know." But love was a fickle thing, and I had learned that the hard way. "But I hurt her, Gabby. Deeply.""And you're going to have to prove it to her," she said, her tone gentle but firm. "Every day. With every action, every word. You need
____________________...I was fixing myself a sandwich after putting Ki to bed when the doorbell rang.Rowan's mom was in the living room, watching TV. "I've got it," I called out as I made my way to the door.Opening it, I was surprised to find Eric standing outside. "What's going on?" I asked, my heart racing.He looked serious, his eyes darting around the hallway before he stepped inside. "We need to talk," he said, his voice low and urgent.Beth looked up from the TV, curiosity piqued. "Everything okay?""I'll handle it," I told her, guiding Eric into the kitchen. "What's going on?"He leaned against the counter, his eyes searching mine. "I found something out about Derek," he began, his tone serious. "It's... it's not good."My heart skipped a beat. "What is it?"Eric took a deep breath. "Derek isn't just obsessed with Rory. He's got a history of stalking and harassment. I found some old police reports."My stomach dropped. "What kind of history?""It goes back years," Eric sa
___________________________..."I still can't believe you didn't tell me about Eric being there in the UK all those weeks!" Gabby was ranting as she did my hair. She repeated the same tale of my betrayal at least once a day. Especially when she wanted something from me."Spit it out." I rolled my eyes. "What do you want from me?"Gabby took a deep breath, her hands stilling in my hair. "I want you to promise me that you'll always tell me the truth, no matter what."I looked at her weirdly in the mirror. "Okay.""And that you will get me an electric blue Porsche." She grinned in the mirror.I snorted. "That sounded like my sister.""You are taking over Dad's position soon. You will have money of your own then. Get with that." I told her as she twisted my hair into an elegant knot."But what about you, Rory?" Gabby's voice turned serious. "What do you want?"I took a deep breath. "I want peace," I said finally. "For all of us."Gabby nodded, her expression thoughtful. "That's all I w
_______________________..."This sucks!" I exclaimed as I watched the expressionless face of Eric Rogers.He looked at me with a glare. "Seriously, dude?""What? It's the truth!" I shot back, pacing the tiny cell. "I've never been in jail before! And now, because of Stacy and Charles, I'm going to have a record!""Charles has said that he will drop the charges." Eric said but I knew there was more to that story."Why?" I asked. "I am sure he would not have done it for free."Charles was never a good person. He was just amazing for me. And as someone who didn't really deserve a good person, I had decided to settle with him. But the dude had cheated even before the relationship had even started. That's what got on my nerves."Does it matter?" Eric sighed. "The procedures will be completed in a few moments and then we can leave."The door to the cell opened, and a female police officer stepped in. She was tall, with stern eyes that scanned me up and down. "Gabriella Lewis, you are fre
_____________________...I fell asleep in Rowan's arms. That much I remember.But when I opened my eyes, I was back in the van.Derek's crazed face loomed over me, the gun pointed directly at my forehead. "You shouldn't have done that, Rory," he whispered, his voice a chilling echo in the confined space.I jolted awake, my heart racing and my breath coming in shallow gasps. The room was dark, the only light coming from the night lamp, casting eerie shadows across the floor. I was in my own bed, in my own apartment, with Rowan sleeping peacefully beside me. But the fear lingered, clinging to me like a second skin.It was just a nightmare, I told myself, over and over again. But the cold sweat on my forehead and the pounding in my chest said otherwise. The image of Derek's furious face, the gun pointed at me, the sound of the shot ringing in my ears—it all felt too real.Rowan stirred beside me, his hand moving to rest on my back. "Rory, you okay?""It was just a bad dream," I whispe
________________________...I scrambled to my feet as soon as I heard the shot.Was it Ophelia? Was she shot trying to save me?I had to save Ophelia if she was still alive.Ignoring the pain in my shoulder, I rushed to open the van.I peeked inside. Derek was on the floor, his hand slack around the gun. Ophelia was kneeling beside him, her hands shaking as she tried to stem the flow of blood from his leg."Oh my God, Derek! Is he okay?" I rushed to Ophelia's side."He fainted on impact." Ophelia was crying. "Quick. My phone is in my car outside. Call 9-1-1."I nodded, the shock slowly wearing off. I rushed to the car and got in, using the phone I found in her purse to call the police and ambulance. I gave them Rowan's name and address for them to contact him as well because the phone was locked. When I got back to the van, Derek was regaining consciousness. "Aurora, I think it's better for you to leave now. Give me my phone and get in my car and leave before he wakes up." I sh
_____________________..."Derek?" I was still stumped by the revelation. "Derek, why are you doing this? Is this because of Ophelia?"Derek stepped into the light, his expression cold and unrecognizable. "This isn't about Ophelia, Rory. This is about what you took from me."I stared at him, confusion and fear mingling. "What are you talking about?""You. You took away yourself from me. I had the perfect life planned out for the both of us but you kept going back to that bastard who had the least respect for you.""What are you talking about, Derek? I never even knew you felt like that." I was more stumped by the latest revelation."How would you know?" He let out a humorless chuckle. "You were too wrapped up around Rowan Keller to actually notice other people's feelings.""I'm sorry," I whispered, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice. "But this isn't the way to deal with it. Let me go, and we can talk about this."Derek's eyes narrowed. "You don't get to tell me what to do an
__________________________..."I have a bad feeling about this!" Jake murmured as I tried Rory's number for the nth time."I'm going to the park. Something's off." I told him, my heart racing."Let's go together," Jake offered, his eyes sharp.I nodded, and we sprinted down the escalator of the mall. We had been looking for Ki and Mary here."What if they are not there?" I panted, my legs burning from the run."Then we widen the search," Jake said grimly.We dashed out of the mall into the blinding sunlight, our eyes scanning the bustling street. The park was only a few minutes away, and the tension grew with every second that ticked by."What could have happened?" I whispered to myself, fear for Ki gnawing at my insides. Now Rory was also not picking up the phone.I had a bad feeling about all of this.The park was eerily quiet, not a soul in sight.We reached the parking lot. Something glinting on the ground caught my sight.A phone.Rory's phone.My heart sank. "Jake, look." I p