After hearing about my grandmother passing away, it's hard knowing that all the family I know is gone. This is too much loss for one person. I make the arrangements for the memorial and decide to cremate her because I can't afford all the fees that go into burial arrangements. Dayna and Sasha have been so supportive. Noah has had a busy couple of weeks but checks in when he can. He says that he's working a lot now so he'll have more free time when the baby is born.
More weeks go by and I finally find myself happy. I've been spending a lot of time with Sasha. She treats me like family, like I'm her sister. It's nice. Noah's cooked for me a few times. Surprisingly, he's a very good cook.
Dayna's been a little jealous that I've been spending a lot of time with Sasha. I barely see her as much. In the day, I'm out and at night, she works.
"Don't forget, it's at 4 o'clock today,"I say to Dayna.
"What's at four?" She looks at her watch. "That's like in an hour and a half," she says.
"The baby shower that Sasha is having for me," I remind her. "We're going to find out the sex of the baby today."
"You're 24 weeks pregnant and you don't know the sex of your baby?"
"Sasha thought it would be a good idea to wait and surprise everyone."
"Of course, it's a good idea cause Sasha says it is." She rolls her eyes.
"Fine, I'll start getting ready."
I do too.
When we arrive at the baby shower, I'm greeted by people I've never met before. Grandparents, cousins and other family members I've never even heard of. I'm surprised by the amount of gifts I see stacked up in the living room. All these things wouldn't be able to fit in my apartment. It's so overwhelming. But all that doesn't compare to the devil being here herself. Devlin.
"Well, I see you have bloated." She looks at my stomach which has finally grown. I don't say anything.
"I have been awaiting your phone call for months."
"What phone call?" I ask in confusion.
"The one where you agree to give Noah and I your child," she says.
"I already told you, I wasn't giving you my baby."
"You must think you are really a part of the family now huh? Spending time with Sasha, trying to win over his friends and parents. Well of course not Nina. We've been planning this wedding for years, and there's no way that you, or anyone else for that matter, is going to ruin that."
She looks at my stomach in disgust, "Enjoy the attention while it lasts," she says before she walks off.
Eric is in the corner watching us. He's seen everything that has happened. The way he watches but never speaks is very creepy.
Someone calls me. It's Sasha.
"Time to find out the gender!" She says in excitement. She leads me to the kitchen where everyone is waiting. Noah and I stand in the middle of the room near the cake. I take the knife in my hand and Noah places his hand on top of mine. "You ready?" I ask him?
"Always," he replies.
We cut the cake and pink pours out. It's a girl. I look at Noah for his reaction. He smiles and hugs me tightly. He goes to kiss my forehead, but I lift my head up not knowing what he's about to do. He kisses my lips by accident. The whole crowd goes quiet. Sasha looks happy. Dayna looks surprised. Noah's mother looks angry and his father could care less. Eyes stare at Devlin. Some at me. Others at Noah. And this whole situation turns awkward.
Devlin storms out. Her high heels hit the floor with anger. Noah chases after her and I stay still in the room, in front of everyone, portrayed as the dirty pregnant mistress.
The party ends early. The atmosphere has shifted. It would be a mistake to continue on. It's been two hours since the kiss, and Noah and Devlin are nowhere to be found. Dayna left for work, and Sasha took the job of calming down her mother. This leaves me alone in the kitchen eating leftover cake.
Eric walks into the kitchen. For some reason, I get nervous around him. He has never really spoken directly to me. I don't know if he likes me or not. I don't know how he feels about any of the stuff that's been going on.
He cuts himself a piece of cake and grabs a fork and sits down facing me. For a few seconds, he just stares at me.
He takes a bite of cake and he speaks finally.
"I can't figure you out," he says pointing the fork at me. "I don't know if you really do want to help Noah or if you're just in it for the money."
I don't say anything. I don't know what to say.
"And the truth is," he continues. "I don't care." He drops his fork now. "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's driving Devlin and Noah apart."
"Why would you want that?" I ask without thinking.
"Isn't it obvious?" He asks. "I'm in love with Devlin. Ever since I was in middle school. But of course, she went after Noah. Because Noah gets everything. All the girls, the company. Even my family likes him better. He's the favourite." You can hear the jealousy in his voice.
"Devlin asked me to watch you. See what your intentions were. Of course, I accepted." He leans back on his chair.
"I accepted to make sure you kept doing whatever it is you were doing so they can break up and I could be with Devlin. But watching you the last couple of months, I have no idea what is it you want."
"I don't want anything," I tell him.
"Is what you say. Which can be easily believable. Because you seem nice and genuine. However, Devlin seems to think of you otherwise, which means I also think of you otherwise."
He finishes his cake.
"Either way, I have no problem with you. Unless, of course, you decide to tell anybody about what we talked about right now. If so," he gets up, "we will have a problem." He walks out the kitchen.
What is wrong with this family? What did I get myself into? There are so many after-effects because of that one-night stand. This family is too much for me to handle. Is this how families are? Because if so, I'm glad I don't have one.
Sasha walks in.
"Hey, I tried to calm my mother down but she's really angry. She's convinced you're the spawn of satan trying to ruin Noah's marriage and his life." She laughs. "Crazy huh?"
She looks at the kitchen window and her eyes sadden. "I understand why you bother her though." She hesitates, deciding if she should tell me what's on her mind or not. "My dad is having an affair with my mom's best friend Lydia. My mom knows. She doesn't know I know or that I know she knows. I'm glad she doesn't." She sits down. "At first I was mad at my dad, but then I realized, the affair was between him and my mother and had nothing to do with me. Plus I've always been a daddy's girl. I didn't want this to ruin our relationship."
She shrugs. "I figured there had to be a reason he cheated. My mom and dad have been fighting for years. They barely even talk to each other. They should just get a divorce."
I want to tell her that her dad is planning to, but I wasn't supposed to hear that conversation so I say nothing.
She takes out her keys from her pocket.
"Anyways, I should probably take you home. Noah is MIA, and you don't want to be in the same house as my mother, so we should go."
When we reach, she stops in front of my house. "Noah and I will drop the presents off later. Sorry about today," She says before she drives off.