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Chapter 1: What To Expect When You're Not Expecting

Chapter 1: What To Expect When You're Not Expecting

It started again in June 2019.

It merely continued in January 2020.

There's something so profound about new life. You're carrying this little human inside of you for nine months and the bonding between mother and child already starts there. I mean, those nine months aren't exactly the easiest, trust me, but when that little soul comes into the world, it somehow makes it and everything else you've ever endured worth it. That's when you actually begin to 'glow'.

In other words, being pregnant is amazing -- not that I would know anything about that. I've literally just based the experience on what Emma has said. Bell has said the exact opposite – she doesn't like being fat. Anyway, I love being pregnant...so says Emma.

The baby's eyes stay glued on me as I gently rock her from side to side. "Hush little baby, don't you cry, Aunty Aqueela's never gonna die--"

"She says it like it's a good thing."

It's a comment I'd expect from Grey. I glance around the room to locate him and then suddenly remember that he's not here. He's been too 'busy' to hang out with his friends as of lately. It's been a month since I last saw him. I noticed the missing face that day – he wasn't there when Jay proposed to me on the cliff. Emma and Xavier obviously weren't there either, but their excuse in having a baby and all is semi-valid. Keagen, Mase and Lai were already back in New York so their excuse is also semi-valid. Grey, on the other hand, has no excuse.

Max, always able to read me like an open book, snaps his fingers in an attempt to capture my attention. My gaze drifts over to him. I arch an eyebrow at him in question.

"I said it," he tells me, sensing my thoughts. "It was me who said that," he concludes, looking somewhat concerned for me.

I nod and meet the baby's gaze again in an attempt to distract me from my invading thoughts. She's looking up at me with wide eyes, the light reflecting off of them. She's just staring, as if transfixed by me. If we had a staring competition, she'd win, hands-down.

"You guys..." I trail off in awe, meeting Emma and Xavier's smiles with a sincere smile of my own, "she's gorgeous," I tell them, truly meaning it.

"Thank you, Aqueela," Emma replies, her smile only widening upon hearing my words.

"Told you that she'd be beautiful like me," Xavier jokes.

Landon scoffs. "Yeah...okay," he replies in sarcasm, biting down on an apple.

Emma merely rolls her eyes at her husband, used to his behavior.

"What did you say her name was again?" I ask them, having forgotten already.

"Alexis," Emma answers, reminding me for the hundredth time.

"It's beautiful," I reply, smiling down at the baby. Unfortunately, it's then that the baby begins to cry her eyes out. "I'm over it," I say, panicked, and quickly hand the baby back to Emma.

Xavier chuckles. "You'd better get used to it. You could be next." He winks teasingly at me.

I slap a hand over his mouth. "Are you crazy?! Don't let Jay hear you saying things like that! You'll freak him out!"

"What will freak me out?" Jay asks, stepping back into the mansion, in search of another box to pack onto the moving truck.

It sucks. Emma and Xavier are moving out of Minnesota today. They wanted to give Alexis a month to settle before moving her. We've all, excluding Grey, spent the entire morning helping them pack in an attempt to catch up with them. They've been low-key ever since Alexis.