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NOELANI BLINKED A COUPLE TIMES THEN MOVED HER CURLS OUT OF HER FACE.
The bright fluorescent lights in Erin's obstetrician's office was starting to bother Noelani's eyes.
She was sitting on the side of the room while Erin was laying down on the high rise medical chaise in the center of the room, her shirt already folded up to expose her still flat abdomen.
Alejandro was standing by her side, his hand glued to hers as the three waited for the doctor.
"You excited?" Alejandro asked, his gaze leveled at Noelani.
"I mean, I guess. I still don't know what I'm doing here. I feel like this should just be a y'all thing." Noelani responded, not looking up from her phone.
"No, we both wanted you here." Erin spoke up, "So did the whole roses and pizza thing work?"
Noelani lazily shot a look at Erin, "What?"
"That basketball boy you're always with. Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"
Noelani snorted a little, "That basketball boy has a name. And yeah he did."
"Why are you always so harsh to me?" Erin snapped.
At that, Noelani put her phone down, crossed her legs, and opened her mouth to unleash a flurry of insults.
Then she thought about the advice that Jalen had given her in early November.
Not to take out her revenge about Erin's and Alejandro's previous actions out on the baby, which meant laying off Erin for, at the very least, eight more months.
So instead Noelani plastered a fake smile on her skull, "Don't try me, Erin. I'm sparing you right now because you're pregnant with my little brother or sister but you keep trying me and I'll throw all this fake ass positivity out the window along with you at the end of these nine months."
"Noelani..." Alejandro warned, coming closer to her.
The door to the room the trio was in opened and an Asian woman dressed in blue scrubs, who looked to be in her early thirties, came in and closed the door.
"I'm Dr. Nguyen. Is this a bad time?" The doctor paused after seeing the tense expressions on Noelani's and Alejandro's faces.
"No," Alejandro said curtly, as he moved to stand next to Erin again.
At the grave look Alejandro gave her, Noelani simply looked at her nails and ignored him.
She hadn't lived with her father since she was six, it was much too late for him to act like an authority figure.
She figured she could deal with whatever punishment he decided to dish out.
"And that's your baby!" The doctor chirped.
Noelani immediately dropped her hand and looked at Erin, her father and the doctor.
The doctor was pressing a cream and blue ultrasound tool to the lower half of Erin's torso.
On the screen of the device next to the trio was a black and gray video of a womb on the screen.
"See that black spot? Bout as big as a lemon? That's your baby!" The doctor smiled as she pointed out the baby.
Noelani gazed at the screen then tucked both lips in as she dropped her eyes to the floor and discreetly wiped her eyes.
"I'm guessing you're the big sister?" Dr. Nguyen asked.
"Uh, yeah. You can say that." Noelani said in a blank tone.
"Look at what we did, Ale." Erin said in a tearful tone.
Noelani felt like she was intruding a little so she pointed her gaze back over to the sonogram.
As much as she didn't particularly like Erin, she was determined to use the advice she had been given and not blame the baby for other people's mistakes.
"We were thinking, if it's a girl, we could name her Tatiana after you." Alejandro said.
"You would do that?" Noelani asked in a disbelieving tone, raising her eyebrow.
"Yeah. Tatiana is a pretty name." Erin said in a cautious tone.
"Thanks." Noelani responded softly.
"Even though you just threatened to attack me." Erin continued.
"Yeah. I did." Noelani nodded, "You're not getting an apology out of me. You've done too much."
"Okay..." The doctor rose from the beige stool she was sitting on, "I know that this might be me overstepping but my husband's cousin is a therapist and I could leave the business card here..."
"You're overstepping." Noelani stated.
"Right," Dr. Nguyen said, rubbing her hands on the sides of her scrub pants, "Well, uh there's a dvd available with the first sonogram. I'm gonna go get that."
She slipped out of the room again, leaving the door open behind her.
"You can't threaten the mother of my child." Alejandro snapped.
"Clearly, I can because I just did." Noelani rose from her chair.
"Just apologize!"
"Has she ever apologized to me? Have you ever apologized to me? The both of you singlehandedly ruined my mother. She spends everything she has in trying to get back what you stole from her because you couldn't keep it in your pants! And then you have the nerve to bring me here when I was my happiest living apart from both of you! I don't trust most men because of you," Noelani pointed her finger at Alejandro.
"The room, the car, giving the baby my name... None of it really means shit to me. Y'all two were a match made in hell, put together by the devil himself!"
Noelani opened her phone and went to her text messages while walking to the door.
She quickly texted her boyfriend the words, Can you come get me?
Jalen texted back, after a few seconds, OMW.
"Where are you going?" Alejandro asked, despair in his tone.
"Outside. I just texted Jalen and he's already like two minutes away. Coming here was a mistake. Don't name that baby after me if you're just guilt trip me with it."
With that, Noelani turned and walked straight the front double doors, ignoring the wide eyed stares of those sitting down.
