Fred

I rubbed my hands together, stepping out of the elevator. Meredith looked up from her desk and lifted an eyebrow. "You're late."

"Sorry," I said, "Lex and I felt the baby kick."

"And that took," she looked down at her watch, "an hour and a half?"

"Well, when you find a man to impregnate you, maybe you'll experience the same joy. Good morning to you, too."

I shrugged out of my jacket and she stood, hanging it up for me. "You missed a call."

"I'll get it," I said, walking into my office. "God."

Jo looked up from the papers he was looking down at, pulling his glasses off of his face. "You're late."

"I'm aware," I said, "why is she being such a bitch?"

He looked over his shoulder at Meredith, grinning. "She didn't get her morning view of Mr. King."

"What'd I miss?" I asked, falling back in my plushy chair.

"Just a call with Terrance, apparently. And the only reason I know that is because Meredith bitched to me about it."

"What is her problem?" I muttered, looking up at him.

He shrugged, standing up. "No clue. I heard you and Lex felt the baby kick?"

I nodded, covering my mouth with my hand. "It was insane, man. He's going to be a linebacker."

He chuckled, dropping his head. I knew kids had never been on Jo's to-do list, but I felt bad talking to him about the baby. Maybe deep down, he wanted children, and knew it wasn't something that he could have.

"Hey, I, uh, I wanted to keep this to myself," I said, looking up at him, "but Lex and I bought a house."

Josiah King and I hadn't spent a day apart in our lives- I thought I'd seen every emotion, every expression, everything he could ever do.

But I'd never seen this.

"You bought a house?" He asked, a look of shock still plastered on his face.

I nodded, staying on eggshells. I wasn't sure of his reaction, so I didn't want to say too much.

He scratched the nape of his neck. "Are you keeping the penthouse?"

I shook my head. "Lex and our realtor, they're showing it today. The couple seems really interested."

His face contorted a few ways in a matter of seconds. He looked away from me and blew out a breath, shaking his head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how you'd react," I said.

He knitted his brows together, his jaw taut. "And this was a better way to spring it upon me?"

I stood up, leaning against my desk. "Jo, we're starting a family."

"I'm not confused about why you got it," he said, shaking his head, "I'm confused as to why you didn't say something."

"Again, I didn't know how you'd react," I said, folding my arms over my chest.

"Well that's a shitty explanation," he muttered, gripping his hips.

"You might not admit it, but you get attached. Even you, Josiah King, like the thought of security."

"Don't flatter yourself," he said, walking towards the picture windows of my office.

"I'm just saying, Jo," I said, "you're used to having me around."

He looked back at me. "And again, springing it on me like that made matters better?"

I looked. "Okay, I can be honest and say I'm not sure what my train of thought on that part was."

He shook his head, leaning against the window. We stood in silence for a good few minutes.

"So, when are we moving?"

~*~

Alexis

I held the dress up to Lena, pouting my bottom lip out. "Okay, to be maternity, how cute is this?"

Lena giggled. "Why to be maternity? Can maternity clothes not be cute?"

"Most of them aren't," I muttered, throwing the dress over my forearm.

"This is cute," she commented, holding a shirt up for me to see.

"If we were still in the eighteen hundreds."

She frowned and placed the shirt on the rack. "Well, pregnancy's really getting it out of someone I know."

I sucked in a breath. "Sorry."

She smiled. "So, Josiah called me in obvious distress this morning."

"About?" I asked, "was it his slutty assistant?"

"Alexis," she muttered.

"Sorry, again."

"No," she laughed, "it was about the fact that you and Fred bought a house."

I looked over at her. "In my defense, I wanted to tell you guys before."

"Right," she giggled, taking a bite of her ice cream, "he was a little bit upset. You can't ever tell Fred this, but Jo most definitely likes the security that Fred provides."

"It's the same for Fred, really," I said, "he was a baby when I first mentioned it."

"Really?" She asked, smiling over at me.

"Yeah. He said that when they were young, they had plans to buy the same huge spot of land and build two identical mansions on them."

"Oh, what growing up rich does to the mind," Lena giggled.

"I think it's going to be an adjustment for both of them," I said, nodding over at her.

"For sure," she said, digging her spoon into her ice cream, "Jo will probably come home and pout all night."

"Do you think you guys will want kids?" I asked, looking over at her.

She sighed. "I think deep down, he'd like to be a dad."

"And you?"

"I just don't see myself as a mother," she said, shrugging. "I mean, yes. If I was to have kids, it'd be with Jo. He was the first person to make me even think about marriage and children."

"Well, I think you guys would be some pretty badass parents," I said, grinning over at her.

"Are you buying that dress?" She asked.

I sighed. "No. I'll bask in being able to fit into my standard sizes until I can't anymore."

I placed the dress on the rack, but stopped and gave it a second look.

"But how cute is my belly going to look?"

"It's going to look cute. Get it."

I grabbed it and she followed me to the checkout aisle. We stood next to a woman who was obviously far along.

"How far along are you?" I asked, a smile on my face.

She looked over at me. "Thirty-two weeks."

Lena subtly counted on her fingers. "Woah."

The lady looked down at my belly. "Are you even pregnant?"

I parted my lips, looking down at my belly that I, personally, thought had grown significantly.

"Yeah," I answered, my tone a bit more snappy than usual.

"You don't look it," she said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well, talk to the kid inside me who's been kicking me all morning."

"Don't even start with me-"

"Why are you shaming my bump?" I asked, my mouth agape.

"Why did you ask in the first place?"

"Okay," Lena laughed, stepping in between us, "this is obviously a m-"

"I was curious!" I screeched, "remind me not to ask next time!"

I sniffled and walked out of the checkout aisle, making Lena follow me. I placed the dress on the rack and stormed out of the store.

"Alexis," she softly said, jogging after me.

"Might as well not get it if I don't even look pregnant," I sobbed, wiping a tear from my cheek.

"Alexis," she said, grabbing my shoulders, "you have the cutest little bump, okay? Did you see her? She's so close to giving birth, so first off, she's extra touchy, and second, she couldn't see her toes. I don't think she meant it in a bad way."

"Are you being mean about her belly now? Is that what people are going to think of me?" I asked.

"No," Lena defended, wrapping her arms around my neck, "Lex. It's okay. You're cute and pregnant, she's cute and pregnant. Don't cry, okay?"

I sniffled, nodding. "So you don't think she was being mean?"

"Not at all," she said.

Oh, my God. Is this what pregnancy is doing to you?

~*~

Jo

"I want to get married now."

Lena smiled over at me. "And I thought I was the impatient one."

"Seriously," I muttered, wrapping my arms around her waist, "I'm ready to be able to call you my wife without people correcting me."

I rested my head in her lap, looking up at her. She raked her fingers through my hair, focused on something on her laptop.

"Who's been correcting you?" She asked, jotting something down on a notepad.

"Everyone," I muttered, "hey, what are you working on?"

"Finalizing Logan's game room plans," she muttered, "he is the hardest person to please."

"I wish Amanda would just move to Seattle with him. I'm tired of her."

Lena silently giggled. Of course Lena wasn't opposed to the idea, considering the past Amanda and I had.

"I'll be your assistant."

"I would die," I said, "getting to look at you all day? Sign me up."

I pressed kisses to her stomach, which was the nearest place I could reach. She giggled and closed her laptop. "What's up with you? You're never so clingy."

I sighed, burying my face in her chest.

"Is it because of Fred?"

"Lex told you?" I muttered, my voice muffled by her chest.

She nodded. "Yeah."

I sat upright. "He didn't tell me."

"And you have every right to be upset about that," she said.

"I'm happy for him," I said, "but Fred and I, the furthest away he's ever been from me is now. Five minutes."

"I think Fred has his reasoning," she cautiously said, nodding as her eyes met mine.

"Give it to me."

I propped myself up on my elbow, my eyes glued to hers.

"I think your parents, specifically, think Fred is reliant on you."

"What do you mean?"

"The way your mom speaks about you guys," she said, "I mean, she has to make him feel like he's got to be close by you. He's got to follow your every move. She doesn't think he can do anything on his own, and that upsets even me."

"Do you think that?" I asked, my brows knitted together.

"I don't," she said, shaking her head, "I think you guys agreed to do this together. I don't think his only reasoning for being in Chicago, being where he is now, doing what he's doing, is you."

I nodded, biting down on my bottom lip. "So, you think he's proving his independence?"

"I think so," she said, nodding.

I bit down on my bottom lip. I hadn't even thought of it that way. 

"Can we move the wedding up?" I asked, falling into her lap again.

"What do you mean?"

"To, like, tomorrow," I muttered.

She smiled, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose. "We still have lots of planning to do."

I sighed, tracing the length of her arm with my fingertip. "I was stupid."

She traced my jaw with her finger, down to my neck and chest. "You weren't, but you can explain why you thought you were."

"I should've married you as soon as I had the chance."

I leaned up and pressed a kiss to her lips, grasping her jaw. She sighed into the kiss, pulling away shortly after. "You weren't stupid."

"And I should've kissed you every time I had the chance," I whispered, pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

She pulled away from me, her hands resting on my neck. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I whispered, my eyes glued to her lips.

She nodded, softly biting down on her lip. "You're sure?"

I nodded, resting my hand on her neck. "I'm positive."

~*~

hellllllo guys! how's quarantine life treating you?

im going a little stir crazy, lol. i cant lie. but this is allowing me to really tap into my artistic side which means writing more! im so happy to finally have some inspiration again, as ive definitely been lacking over the past few months.

did you guys enjoy this chapter? i know the most recent ones haven't been the most eventful, but trust me, it's coming.. and im just putting it off :-)

im not ready to deal with it lmao

anyways.. i hope you guys enjoyed <3 please leave me a comment on what you'd like to see next! thank you guys so much for the continued support 💕

xo,
jay