The Legend of the Eight: The Hunted (Book 5)

20: Vivienne Rae

TWENTY: VIVIENNE RAE
MAY 27
CHLOE LAWSON

SHE STRETCHED BOTH ARMS TO her feet, holding a sensible pair of sandals that Wil lent her for the day. Just as she thought she might actually reach her foot and slip the shoe on, she came up too short—thanks to the basketball-shaped bump where her flat stomach used to be.

Eventually, she grew frustrated and let out a loud grunt, which could be heard all the way down the hall from their dorm. On the floor in front of a large mirror, applying her makeup, Wil snorted through a laugh.

"Having some trouble there, Juno?" she teased and Chloe replied with an elegant and efficient raise of her middle finger. Wil only laughed harder.

"Here," she said, rising from the floor and walking over to help. As she strapped the sandals around Chloe's surprisingly not swollen ankles, Chloe noticed the princess still hadn't changed into her white dress for the ceremony. She paraded around the room in a matching bra and panty set made of gray lace and not much else.

"You know we have to be at Main Hall in twenty minutes, right?" Chloe asked and Wil shrugged nonchalantly, causing Chloe to laugh. As she did, she felt a sharp pain shoot across her lower belly—almost like a period cramp but much, much worse. She inhaled sharp—the cramps were nothing new, she'd been feeling them all week now—and Wil made a face.

"You okay?"

Chloe nodded and after several deep breaths, the pain lessened. "Braxton Hicks," she said through a deep breath.

She'd spent much of her third trimester reading any and every book on childbirth. During that research, she read quite a bit about the false labor pains that many women experienced nearing their due dates. Levi showed her videos online of breathing techniques said to help (they were kicked out of their first childbirth class and hadn't had luck with any others) and for the most part, the breathing helped. But when a second cramp came moments later, breathing and tightening her fists did little to help.

"You sure?" Wil asked, still making that face. "You're..." She bit her lip while she calculated. "Forty-six weeks pregnant."

"Thirty..." Chloe corrected between sharp breaths. "...Eight." She took another deep breath and then told Wil, "...Carry the one."

Wil's eyes rolled up as she redid her calculations and then she nodded. "Regardless. The doctor said you should be prepared to go at any time and..." She looked at her wrist to check a watch she wasn't wearing. "...It's any time now."

Chloe shook her head and the cramp—rather, contraction—ended. "I'm fine," she insisted. "It's not time. I still have two weeks. We have to graduate today and I am not—" She took a seat and continued breathing. "I'm not missing graduation to have a baby."

Wil folded her arms over her bare chest and raised a brow. "Tell that to my little niece in there."

A knock on the door stopped Chloe from saying anything else and she was grateful for the distraction. Wil sauntered over, her tiny butt jiggling with each step, and opened it to see Levi and Damon there, dressed in suits and ties.

"Jesus, Diamond," chuckled Levi and Wil sped away from the door, desperate for anything to hide her half-nakedness. Had she not been in the middle of convincing her unborn daughter to stay unborn, Chloe probably would've laughed as Wil wrapped her satin bedsheet around her body and recollected herself.

Damon shut the door and leaned against it, every so often peeking over at Wil who tried to change into her dress while still wrapped in the sheet, and Levi walked over to Chloe.