Amara jolted upright. Something was weird. A few of the other girls were still hanging out in their room. Amara knew she had dozed off, but she was suddenly more awake then ever.

"Are you okay?" Kenzie asked.

"Did we wake you up?" Jana questioned.

"No, I'm not sure--" Amara cut herself off, when it happened again. "They're kicking."

"What?" Gabby leaned forward.

"Feel. They're kicking!"

The girls each leaned forward and placed a hand on her stomach. All of the sudden, another thump landed inside of Amara. And they all felt it.

"That's so cool!"

"How does it feel?"

"It's weird!" Amara admitted. "But--it kind of makes things more real. It's kind of--exciting. I've never really felt anything like that before."

"What did it feel like before they started kicking, if you don't mind my asking?" Jana asked.

Amara paused as she thought back. "Y'know when you get gas bubbles that kind of move around inside you before they, well, exit?" The girls nodded. "That's what it felt like. On top of the gas that I have."

"Is that what that was?" Kenzie said getting off the bed.

The girls erupted into giggles. That's what it was like for the rest of the weekend. The ladies practically laughed nonstop--and that's exactly what Amara and Gabby wanted.  They formed inside jokes, brought up old stories, and shared some new ones. This weekend had been exactly what Amara needed.

However, all wasn't quite as well as work. Amara wasn't ready to go back. In fact, she was so stressed about returning on the Tuesday, that she had a hard time sleeping the night before. She hoped it wasn't obvious as she walked into the office.

"Didn't you have fun this weekend?" Gabby asked as they punched in.

"I did, actually," Amara said. "It was just what I needed. I'm just sad we have to get back to reality."

"Yeah, I feel that."

Suddenly, Ethan hurried over to the front desk. "Hey, uh--have you put your stuff in your locker yet?"

"No, I just got here," Amara said slowly. "Why?"

"Okay, I'm not sure if I should tell you, show you, or just put your stuff away myself," Ethan admitted.

"What the heck?" Gabby asked. "What happened to her locker?"

Ethan took one last sympathetic glance at  Amara, then said, "Alright. Come with me."

Amara and Gabby glanced at each other, before leaving and following him. Hopefully, no one would call while they were gone, but Amara wasn't focused on that right now. She was actually a little worried about whatever it was that Ethan was so hesitant to show her. He seemed like he was torn between telling her for her own good, or sparing her feelings.

When they got to the locker room, Amara suddenly realized why he had been so hesitant. Her heart almost stopped. There was her locker, and there was a big word written on it in black spray paint. 

SLUT

"Oh my gosh," Gabby whispered, hands to her mouth.

Ethan looked at Amara, with sympathy, but she couldn't meet his eyes. She was speechless. How could this happen? Did someone at work hate her that much? Her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the word.

"I'm really sorry, Amara," Ethan said. "I didn't know what to do."

"Okay, if anyone around here is a slut, it's me," Gabby said. "Or Chantelle. But it's definitely not you, Amara. That had to have been meant for one of us."

"Unless someone knows that the babies are also Mr. Leonard's," Ethan suggested, watching Amara. 

"Ethan!" Gabby glared at him.

"No, he's right," Amara said. "If anyone found out--this is what they would do. Everyone around here has sex regularly, but I'm the one who got pregnant with the boss's baby."

"But--who found out?" Ethan asked. "I haven't told anyone."

"Neither have I," Gabby put in.

"It doesn't matter," Amara stated. "What matters is that someone knows. And whoever it is, is probably going to make my life miserable, until I have the babies. Or maybe longer."

That wasn't the thought Amara wanted to have after just coming back to work. But then a thought occurred to her.

"When did this happen?" she asked Ethan.

"I only saw it just this morning," Ethan admitted.

"Okay," Amara started to think aloud. "So whoever it was, probably knew that we were coming back today. Which means that they probably planned it so that no one could clean it off before I saw it."

"Hey."

All their heads turned toward the door, where Ethan's friend, James, was standing.

"You guys need to get to work before the bosses get out here--" he paused as his eyes went to Amara's locker.

"We're coming," Amara said. She squeezed past him and hurried to her desk. She didn't want anyone else to question her about this.

"Amara, you need to report this," Gabby said, running after her. "This is considered--workplace harassment."

"What's the point?" Amara sunk back in her chair. "Mr. Leonard practically hates me as it is. He wouldn't believe me anyway. He'd probably think I did it to myself or something."

The three of them didn't get the chance to talk about the situation again until after work, when their group went over to Gabby's house for dinner.

"So, what are you going to do?"Ethan asked.

"What can I do?" Amara said. "I mean, I talked to the janitor, and he's going to get it cleaned off by the end of the day tomorrow, but--I don't know. I still don't know who did it, or why."

"The only thing I can think is that someone knows," Gabby commented. "Maybe we talked about it too much around other people."

"Does someone in the office hate me that much?" Amara asked.

"The only people I can think of who hate you, are Chantelle, possibly Nicole Wimbleton, and Mr. Leonard," Gabby said. "Is there anyone else?"

"I hope not. I'm not sure I can handle anyone else hating me," Amara said.

"What if it wasn't someone that hates you?" Ethan suggested. "Maybe, it's just someone who reacted similarly to the way I did."

Amara looked at him. "Care to elaborate?"

"Maybe it's just someone who looks down on the fact that you guys slept together," Ethan said. "Hypothetically, it wouldn't matter who it was, just the fact that some girl slept with the boss, while he was still engaged, is enough to send random people into a total rage."

"By that logic, it could have been anyone," Gabby put in. She glanced at Amara. "We may never find out who did this, or if there's more coming."

"I almost wish they would," Amara admitted. "Then maybe we'd be closer to an answer."

"We'll have to keep an eye out," Ethan said.

Suddenly, Amara sat up quickly. "They're kicking again. The other one is this time."

"Wait, they're kicking?" Ethan sat up. "That's awesome."

"I know right? Feel."

He reached forward and placed his hand on her stomach. "Wow."

Their eyes met for a second, and it warmed Amara's heart. She was glad that they were friends again. Maybe there would be a chance of a relationship, once she got this whole parenting thing down.

Even after the events of the day, just the feeling of her kids inside of her was enough to make Amara smile. There was still a light at the end of the tunnel for her.