Ever After New York

A Craving.

"Are you sure you don't want to do anything for your birthday?" I asked Hero.

"I just want to spend time with you, isn't that enough?" He responded.

That night kept replaying over and over again in my head as we drove to Vogue's Los Angeles headquarters for our photoshoot.

Hero and I spent his birthday doing absolutely nothing, at his request. He even told me not to get him anything, which was hard. But I didn't mind it, especially because at four months I was feeling overwhelmingly sore. I couldn't help the guilt that was consuming my entirety however. Hero had gone out of his way to make my birthday special, and I felt that this just added to the list of reasons of how I was letting Hero down.

Starting with my being pregnant as a whole.

I woke up this morning with a wave of anxiety swallowing me whole knowing that I would have to do a photoshoot for Vogue at four months pregnant. I was showing and I knew that no matter how hard we would try to hide it, there was no escaping the bump protruding from my stomach.

Hero has been amazing during this whole process, but I knew it was still hard for him. Seeing me upset made him just as upset, if not more.

"I think we should just cancel." I said to him before we left.

"Maybe we can explain our situation and they can work around it." He countered.

I didn't trust anyone when it came to this pregnancy aside from the ones who already knew. I've been cooped up in this apartment for majority of the time, unless I had to leave which was for appointments or to walk around the complex for fresh air. Even then, I did a pretty good job of hiding it.

Now that we were doing a photoshoot and knowing that I would be put in a vulnerable position, I was freaking out.

Hero parks as close to the entrance as possible, and I quickly stuff my hands into my sweatshirt pockets in attempt to conceal my stomach.

Once we're inside the building, we approach the receptionist's desk and give them our names.

"Justine will be right down." She informs us.

Justine... that name sounded familiar.

My suspicions were confirmed when I recognize the long black hair and high arched brows.

"Josephine!"

"Justine! What're you doing here?" I gasp before giving her a hug.

"Vogue loved our work together for Elle, so they requested that I do your shoot. I feel so honored." She turns to Hero and smiles. "This must be Hero. I'm Justine."

"Hello." He smiles before taking her hand.

A wave of relief floods over me as we follow Justine towards the elevators. She had such a creative outlook when it came to her pictures. Perhaps she could work with us when it came to me showing.

"I have so many ideas for today's shoot. I'm so excited." She gushes as the elevator shoots us up to the top floor.

I can see Hero looking at me from the corner of my eye and I could almost hear his thoughts being projected into my head.

Tell her. I trust her.

"Justine..." I say as we get off of the elevator.

"Yes?" She turns towards us and raises a brow.

"Um... I know this is kind of inconvenient, but I trust your ability to work around this... I'm four months pregnant." I whisper.

"Oh, my goodness!" Justine says excitedly. "That's wonderful."