Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Nine

Cress stretched her arm beneath the pillow, turning her face to the window. Her eyes blinked open and she sighed. The clock said 3:30–good, she'd wanted to sleep for an hour and she went upstairs around 2. Outside she could hear everyone laughing and talking. She grinned to herself, thinking for just a moment how over ten years ago she was being imprisoned in a satellite. How she thought if only she could do the right thing she'd be set free and how quickly that dream died and she resolved herself to being alone with only fantasies and daydreams to keep her happy.

Here she was, almost 20 years old, happily married to her celebrity crush and the best man in the whole entire galaxy, pregnant with a baby girl, surrounded by more friends than she ever thought she'd have.

Cress's eyes welled up and she quickly wiped the tears away, almost laughing. The door creaked open and Carswell poked his head in.

"Oh good you're awake; sorry, I forgot to get you at the hour mark."

Cress grinned, pushing herself up. "It's all good."

"Are you okay? Your eyes are all red."

"Oh yeah, just thinking how different my life's turned out. In the best way possible."

Carswell's smile warmed and he ducked down to kiss her.

"I love you so much," she murmured.

"Oh good. Otherwise this," he rubbed her stomach, "would have been a bit awkward."

Cress laughed. She slid out from the blankets and tugged her dress over her head, walking with him back downstairs and outside. Wolf and Scarlet were lounging on the grass and Kai and Jacin were playing ping pong. Well, trying to. They kept missing, sending the ball bouncing all over the place.

"What's the score now? -4, -4?" Cinder asked.

"No one asked you," Jacin said without missing a beat.

Cinder smirked, tossing an M&M in the air and catching it in her mouth.

"Tie?"

Jacin nodded and they both tossed their paddles on the table.

"Anyone wanna go to dinner? Get out and do something fun?" Scarlet asked.

"I'd be down. I wanna see the sights—I love LA," Kai replied.

Cinder lightly frowned.

"What?"

"I don't know; I wouldn't have guessed that."

Kai shrugged.

Cress sank down on one of the outdoor sofa's, tucking a leg beneath her and resting a hand on her bump. It had only been a few weeks since finding out the baby was a girl but it felt like she'd grown considerably.

"How's baby?" Wolf asked as he sat down next to her and handed her a drink.

Cress grinned. "Good. Hungry."

"Same."

"Hey Captain when are we gonna eat?" Cress asked.

"I'm ready whenever. Anyone have any hankerings?"

There was a collective chorus of "no" so Carswell laid out a few options from restaurants in the area. A half hour later everyone was walking down the sidewalk to a burger place that overlooked the ocean.

Cress took Carswell's hand, leaning into him as they walked. She started to say something when a massive hover came to a sliding halt and half a dozen paparazzi flooded onto the sidewalk, followed immediately by another hover and more photographers and androids.

Cress instinctively shrank against Carswell, glad when his arm moved around her shoulders.

"Back up, guys; give us some space!" Iko shouted, shoving someone out of Cinder's face.

"Cress! Is Captain Thorne the father?"

"Are you having a boy or girl?"

"Your Majesty any plans to move to LA?"

Cress kept her head down, shielding her eyes from the blinding lights. It felt like the space around her was shrinking and she started to feel claustrophobic.

Thankfully the restaurant wasn't that far so they only had to put up with the insipid questions. She lost track of how many times someone asked her who the baby's father was or wanting to confirm if it was Carswell and more than once she was tempted to say something snarky. But of course she couldn't think of anything to say.

"You guys okay?" Wolf asked, ushering them all inside.

"Yeah, peachy," Scarlet huffed.

"I guess it's out for sure then," Cress said with a sigh.

"We can still take pictures tomorrow and post them. I mean neither one of us have confirmed anything."

"Well, not with words, but," Cress nodded to her stomach. Even given her small size it was fairly obvious she was pregnant. Either that or she was only gaining weight in her stomach in a perfectly round ball.

"Just ignore them. Or better yet, yell them you're not pregnant and have a medical condition. Let them spin that," Scarlet said with an annoyed snort. She turned to the hostess and asked for a table for nine.

Once they were seated, Cress scanned over the menu. Her stomach rumbled but was still wired from the paparazzi she wasn't sure she wanted to risk eating something.

"Hey, relax. It's okay. They're just paparazzi, they thought I was dating Cinder at first, remember?"

Cress nervously laughed. "Yeah, true."

A waitress brought around a few baskets of bread and butter, took everyone's drink orders, and then promised to be back in a few minutes.

By the time the Rampion Crew was finished with dinner, the sky had started to darken. Cress would have liked to take a walk on the beach but the paparazzi were still outside so it was out of the question.

"What would you say to a romantic picnic at the beach instead? Does tomorrow work? We can take a basket of lunch, do our little photo shoot and then eat," Carswell suggested as he and Cress started up the stairs to their bedroom.

Cress nodded, grinning. "That'd be fun!" She'd been nervous to take more professional photos until Carswell suggested they take them themselves and go for a more candid vibe. Which worked for Cress--he was always snapping quick pictures of her and somehow they turned out halfway decent.

"Great, you wanna go around nine or ten? Catch the morning light?"

Cress nodded again, pulling her dress over her head and then collapsing back onto the bed. Her eyes fluttered closed only to open again when Carswell sank down beside her and started kissing her face and neck.

"I am the father, right?"

Cress punched his arm, rolling her eyes. "Don't be gross."

Carswell grinned. He heaved a tired sigh, snaking an arm around her. "I love you."

"I love you too." Cress leaned over and kissed him, her heart thudding when his grip around her tightened.