THE NORD BROTHERS

CHAPTER 17

"Ohh. This is so cute!" 

Mariana frowned when Natalie shoved a Winnie Pooh onesie in her face. "Don't wave that around like a flag, much appreciated." She grumbled. 

When Natalie said 'shopping' baby store was the least thing on her mind. Now the bored woman had all but slumped across a rack of toddler clothing, pouting. 

"Oh, don't be like that." Natalie scolded, patting her baby bump. "The little one needs new clothes. Besides, they're all so adorable!" 

"So you just went to town with Max's credit card, huh?" 

"Rude." 

Mariana sighed as the mom of soon to be three fixed her the infamous motherly glare. A whole month had rolled by with her living with the Nords and she was yet to buy a phone. Sure, she did call her sister and Samuel from Logan's phone, but after two days of being bombarded with texts from Sophia, he blocked her number. 

So, there she was, on a mission to get a new phone which eventually turned into a mission to escort a pregnant woman around baby stores.

"You're hopeless. Come on, do you actually mean to tell me you don't find that cute?" Natalie pointed towards a toddler slobbering all over his toy, her eyes shining like she was looking at precious treasure. 

Her face scrunched up. "Not until they hit twenty and pay rent." 

"There's nothing adorable about a twenty year old with a beer can." The blonde retorted. "Besides, there's nothing that beats the smell of your newborn." 

"What...you mean diapers?" 

"No! I don't mean diapers." Natalie deadpanned, finally giving up on trying to impress the other woman with motherhood and turning back to inspect yet another onesie. 

Slightly relieved, Mariana cast a glance around the store. The relief was short lived. With a corner of her eye she caught a sight of something that stood out from the crowd of mothers and bored fathers just as much as she did. 

A man dressed in black stood on the corner, pretending to inspect feeding bottles. His gaze was sharp and a single paw-like hand rested on his thick beard. But all that aside, there was a name tag stuck to his burly chest that clearly said 'Betty'. 

That's one hairy Betty. 

Her danger rider beeped. 

She averted her gaze, only to meet another pair eyeballing her from across the store. A woman that hardly looked motherly was giving her a stink eye. 

Shit. 

They were hardly subtle about it. Why the hell didn't she notice sooner?! They were being tailed. 

"What do you think of this one?" Natalie chirped, presenting yet another piece of merchandise. "Hm? What's-" 

Before she could finish the sentence, Mariana had grasped her hand tightly. "Can you run?"

"Run? Why?" The blonde's eyes widened when Mariana tugged her by the hand out of the store. "Hey-Mari!" 

"We're being followed." 

"Followed? By who!?" 

The second the two women exited the store, 'Betty' and the suspicious woman in black set after them. Mariana felt the short hair on the back of her neck raise. Of all the days to be hunted, this had to be the worst one. She could escape, sure. But she wasn't so confident about a certain blonde that could go into labor any given day. 

"Mari..." Natalie's voice was strained with anxiety. "Who is following us?" She had gone pale as a sheet. 

"Don't worry. We'll get rid of them. Just follow me." 

Just follow me. Sure, like you know what to do. 

She struggled to push those thoughts from her head. Focus damn it!

Her pace quickened. Natalie did her best to keep up. The second the smooth tiles of supermarket were replaced by bitumen, Mariana broke into a run. "Over here!" She tugged her slower companion along into a narrow alleyway, just narrowly avoiding crashing into a pile of disregarded trash. 

Rusty old door was like ray of hope. They could wait it out. Betty and his companion didn't look like the president type. At least not until they regrouped with the missing half of bunch. Hunter's never acted in pairs or solo. There had to be more of them littering the streets. If they kept going, they risked to bump into them. 

Mariana slammed into the door shoulder-first. The hinges gave a moan of protest before they gave in. Ignoring the sharp sting of metal meeting her bone, she guided Natalie inside a building besides the store. It was run down and dusty, one of few slums in midst of the town that were meant to be torn down and rebuilt. 

"We'll wait them out. If they'll find us, I'll fight them off..." Mariana spoke after closing the door. Her thoughts were rushing a mile a minute. She should call someone. Anyone. Caleb? Logan? Both!? 

Things were still awkward between her and Caleb. Neither had talked about the Vivian incident. In fact they hadn't talked much at all aside from "Good morning" "Hello" and "Bye."  God, woman! Not the time for debating your relationship! This is an emergency!

"Mariana...I think..." 

"I said, don't worry. We'll be fine." 

"Mariana...." 

"I will call Caleb. No, Logan. We'll figure this-" 

"Mariana!" 

Mariana whipped around for the first time since entering the lorn building. Natalie was leaning against the wall, panting and clutching her stomach. Her cheeks were rosy and a small puddle had appeared on the floor between her legs. And that definitely wasn't a leak in the roof. 

"My water just broke."