Jay-jay's POV
"How many months again?" I asked while we were looking at baby clothes. "7 months." "Why?" I asked absentmindedly. Has time really passed that quickly? Her belly's been seven months along and I didn't even notice. With everything that's happened between us, I hadn't realized how fast the days had gone by.
She looked at me irritably. "What do you mean why? Did you expect my belly not to grow? What, stay a fetus forever?"
I scratched my head because of her sharp tone. I couldn't answer back since she's pregnant—what if she starts crying out of nowhere? Denzel would definitely come after me if that happened.
Better wait until she gives birth.
I glanced at Keifer, who was following us quietly. He was obviously bored and trying to entertain himself. I kind of felt sorry for him since he ended up being the designated carrier of Grace's purchases. And, well, I was carrying the things she hadn't even paid for yet.
"My belly was already two months along when you forced me and Denzel to make up," she said while checking out the baby clothes.
"Oh, you mean when you almost jumped off the bridge?" I asked innocently, and she immediately shot me a glare.
"Don't remind me of that!" she said, annoyed. "I still can't believe I did that."
"Why?"
"Because your boyfriend tricked me," she said, pointing at Keifer, who was looking at baby shoes.
I shook my head quickly. "Hey! He's not my boyfriend!"
She blinked at me, then kept looking back and forth between me and Keifer.
"You two flirt so much, and you're not together?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Just put a label on it already."
He's the one who's flirty. I'm just... weak.
Grace kept looking at baby clothes. Once she was satisfied with what she'd picked out, we headed to the cashier, with the King of All Serpents still trailing behind us.
I did a double take when I saw him holding a pair of baby shoes—one for a boy and one for a girl.
"What are you gonna do with those? A gift for a godchild?" I asked.
He shook his head. "For Caretaker and Watcher," he said with a mischievous grin.
He's completely insane!
I punched him on the arm, and he looked genuinely surprised. Even the people inside the boutique turned to look at us.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"What do you mean what for? Put those back!" I hissed, widening my eyes at him.
"No way. This is for our future baby."
I almost slapped him out of sheer frustration. He was really going to go through with buying those shoes.
"Those will be worn out by the time we even have a baby."
"Then let's make one early."
I heard people around us start laughing. Even Grace, who was talking to the cashier, started giggling despite not even looking at us.
I turned to face the infuriating King of All Serpents, my face burning with embarrassment. I wanted so badly to punch him, but I didn't want to cause a scene—especially not in front of a pregnant woman.
"Put those back. Or else I'll break yours and we'll see if you can even make a baby," I threatened.
He sighed before finally returning the shoes. Good thing Grace was done at the cashier, so we quickly left the store. I never want to go back to that shop again, and if possible, I'd like to never see the people who shopped there alongside us.
I couldn't take the embarrassment.
Once again, the idiot was the one carrying all our purchases. We only had one more store to go before we planned to head home. Grace looked tired—she was already pale. I asked her several times if she was okay, but she kept saying she was fine.
As we approached the mall exit, I finally spotted the store she was looking for. I wanted to complain to the mall owner—why was the baby store so far away? They're making life harder for pregnant women!
"Can I put these in the car first?" Keifer asked, clearly struggling with the bags.
Grace looked at him. "Go ahead."
He glanced at me and winked before walking off. I was about to curse at him, but he was already gone.
"You're blushing," Grace teased, having caught the wink.
I grimaced. "What's there to blush about?"
We kept walking while she kept teasing me about how flirty I supposedly was with Keifer. I kept denying it and rolling my eyes at her. She was obviously having fun messing with me.
"Keep this up, and next time, I'll make you come with me to buy baby clothes," she teased.
"You all have way too much faith that I'm gonna get pregnant," I shot back, annoyed, and she just laughed.
She suddenly stopped, clutching her belly tightly with a pained expression. I immediately held her up and looked around for a place for her to sit.
Oh no! Keifer! Help!
After a few minutes, she took a deep breath and seemed to recover.
"Are you okay? Do you want to go to the hospital?" I asked, worried.
She shook her head. "I'm fine. Just contractions."
"Contractions?"
She scowled. "Are you a comedian?"
We both ended up laughing. We continued walking with me supporting her, but because I was so focused on her condition, I didn't notice the person walking in front of us and bumped into them.
"The hell!" the person snapped.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to!" I said, moving closer to help, but froze when I finally saw who it was.
Wow, why now?
"Freya..." Grace said, her voice uncertain.
I stepped back and stayed close to Grace, even though she didn't really need my support anymore. I avoided Freya's gaze.
"Seriously?" Freya said sarcastically, looking at both of us.
"L-let's go, Grace," I urged, unable to stand facing her any longer.
Grace looked just as uncomfortable and quickly nodded.
"Why the rush, Grace? We haven't seen each other in so long," Freya said with a mocking smile.
But I was the one getting annoyed. I tried to stay calm, but this walking coloring book really knew how to push my buttons.
She kept smiling as she stared at Grace's belly. I couldn't tell if she was genuinely amazed or just being condescending.
"Look how huge your belly is. If you only knew how to control yourself—or that hopeless boyfriend of yours—you wouldn't have gotten pregnant so early," she said sweetly.
"Well, good for you for being so controlled," I muttered, but maybe a little too loudly.
Freya immediately glared at me. I met her gaze head-on—I wasn't about to back down.
"You're one to talk. Juggling two guys and still not getting pregnant," she snapped.
What does she take me for?
I let go of Grace to face her properly.
"It's hard to explain things to someone as close-minded as you. I wasn't juggling anyone—Yuri's just my friend. What about you? What are you to him?" I shot back.
I saw the anger flash in her eyes—like she was ready to tear me apart—but she still managed to keep her composure.
"Jay..." Grace tried to intervene, but I didn't listen.
"You're his friend, sure—but where were you when he really needed someone? I was always there for him, while you were busy crying over Keifer."
Is that why I didn't notice his problems?
"Yuri knows I'm always there for him. He just doesn't like bothering people," I said.
Freya clearly didn't want to accept that. She rolled her eyes repeatedly.
"Just admit it—you're so smitten with Keifer that Yuri doesn't matter to you at all," she spat.
"He matters to me, idiot."
Freya's fists clenched—she was ready to hit me, but I wasn't done.
"But what about you? Does it matter to you that you're together with him, even though he doesn't have feelings for you?"
I can speak English, too.
Freya was stunned. Even I was surprised when I heard people around us whispering.
We'd basically turned into a live drama.
SHe was clearly shocked by what I said. Even I was shocked, especially when I started hearing whispers. People passing by were already looking at us.
We've basically turned into a live movie.
"You know nothing. Why don't you go back to your Keifer and I will take care of Yuri."
"Oh, so now you're driving Keifer away? What, can't you ask him for money anymore? Then when you have nothing left, you'll go running back—"
I didn't get to finish what I was saying because of the slap she gave me. But because of that, I came to my senses. I shouldn't have said that.
"You know nothing!" she shouted at me, raising her hand for another slap, but Grace stepped in between us.
She grabbed both our hair. "I said, that's enough!" she said furiously.
"Let go of my hair!" Freya protested, while I couldn't even speak.
"Shame on you! Fighting here in public!" she scolded us, dragging us away from the crowd.
We just got lectured by a pregnant woman.
Grace was clearly furious — we could tell by how tightly she held our hair and how large her strides were. We were nearing the exit of the mall when she suddenly stopped, still clutching our hair.
"Let go of us, you might get stressed—Grace!" I screamed her name when I saw the water flowing down her legs.
Freya also looked at where I was staring and started cursing non-stop.
I tried to pull away from Grace's grip and immediately supported her.
"I-it hurts..." she whimpered, clutching her stomach and slowly crouching down.
"Grace, if you needed to pee, you should've just said so," I said worriedly.
"Idiot! That's her water bag!" Freya snapped angrily.
Why is she even here?
"What water bag? Bladder?"
Freya looked like she was about to slap me again.
"Can you be more dumb? The amniotic fluid! The water around the baby!" she explained, practically choking on her own frustration.
She looks so ugly right now. Hehe.
"Okay," I said, but I was obviously still confused.
I thought she was about to hit me again when she raised her hand, but then Grace screamed, making both of us panic.
"Call an ambulance!" an elderly woman shouted while watching us.
It looked like we had been the center of attention for a while now. We'd created way too much drama in this mall.
They should probably shut it down.
"We won't make it!" Freya said, looking at me. "I'll get my car. Wait here."
Did I hear that right?
"H-hey! W-wait, Freya!" I called after her, but she was already gone.
I glanced at the crowd of onlookers, some of whom were even taking videos and pictures of our situation.
"Hey! Have some shame! You're using someone else's suffering just to get likes and shares online!" I scolded them.
Some of them looked offended, some embarrassed, but others were just too shameless to lower their phones.
"You still won't stop?! I swear I'll make you eat that phone!" I threatened.
"Feisty," one of them replied with a laugh.
I was about to confront them when Freya snatched the phone and pressed something on it before handing it back.
"Reboot. You're welcome," she said snarkily before approaching us with some security guards.
They carried Grace out of the mall, and I immediately followed them. Freya's car was already waiting right by the exit.
"Get in," Freya ordered once Grace was settled.
I quickly obeyed, sitting next to Grace, who was clearly struggling.
"I-I can't take it anymore," she said, gripping my hand tightly.
Hang in there!
"Just hold on, Grace! We're almost at the hospital!" I shouted, as if I were the one in pain.
"Stop shouting!" Freya snapped at me.
"Then drive faster!" I complained.
"It huuuurrrtttsssssss!" Grace screamed.
"I'm going to give birth!"
"Not yet!" I insisted, earning a string of curses from Freya.
"Idiot! What do you mean not yet?!" she said angrily.
"You think you're smart just because you keep calling me an idiot?" I shot back sarcastically.
"No, you're just really an idiot!"
She clearly wasn't going to back down, so we ended up bickering the entire ride while Grace kept crying and screaming.
"Both of you, shut up! You two are the reason this is happening! If anything happens to my baby, I swear I'll skin you both alive!" Grace screamed with all her might before suddenly cursing again. "The baby's head!"
Freya immediately slammed on the brakes, glancing at Grace. She was clearly panicking too but tried to think of a solution.
"We're not going to make it," she said, restarting the car to find a place to stop.
She quickly parked the car and got out. I was shocked when she opened the door next to Grace, adjusted her position, and had her lean against me.
"Wait... what are you doing, Freya?"
"I'm delivering the baby," she replied.
I was about to argue when my phone rang from inside my bag. I scrambled to grab my bag, pulling out a few things — including a spare shirt — but Freya took it and used it for Grace. I just let it go and answered the call.
"H-hello?"
["Hey, where are you?"] Keifer's voice greeted me.
"U-uh... we're on our way to the hospital. Grace is about to give birth!" I said, and he was clearly shocked.
["Which hospital? I'll follow you. I'll call Denzel too."]
"Peralta Hospital!" I said and hung up.
When I turned back to Grace, she was already pushing. Freya was at her feet, helping her give birth.
"I-isn't this dangerous? The baby's only seven months," I said hesitantly, but no one paid attention to me.
Grace gripped my hand tightly, and when she pushed again, I swear she crushed my bones — I even ended up screaming louder than she did.
"Ouch..." I whispered, but the pain quickly disappeared when I heard the baby's cry.
When I looked at Freya, she was already holding the baby, wrapped in my spare shirt. I saw the sweet smile on her face as she looked at the baby, but it quickly faded when she looked back at Grace.
"Grace. Grace," she said, lightly tapping her face.
I felt fear creeping in, so I also tried to rouse Grace, gently shaking her. She was clearly fighting to stay conscious, her eyelids struggling to stay open. Freya started cursing again before handing me the baby.
So tiny. I barely noticed what Freya was doing until the car suddenly started moving again — much faster than before.
"S-slow down!" I complained when she overtook another vehicle and got honked at.
She didn't respond, and before I knew it, we were already at Peralta Hospital. She quickly called for nurses and doctors to help Grace and the baby.
I was completely out of it, just standing there uselessly while everyone else moved. Even Freya didn't stop coordinating with the doctors. I wanted to laugh at myself. I was so confident promising Denzel that I'd take care of Grace, and yet this still happened.
She gave birth prematurely. My thoughts were interrupted when a security guard tapped my shoulder.
"Miss, could you please move your car? It's blocking the emergency lane."
"H-huh?"
"Please move it — an ambulance might arrive."
I wanted to call Freya since it was her car, but the guard was already glaring at me, so I had no choice. I got into the driver's seat, relieved to find the keys still there. I didn't know how to drive, but I was at least familiar with some of the controls.
I turned the key to start the engine and smiled when it roared to life. Thankfully, it was an automatic — similar to Aries' car. I shifted the gear to what I remembered.
I turned the steering wheel so the tires faced the road. Fortunately, there was a straight path ahead, so I didn't have to reverse.
I tried pressing the gas, but my fear made me hit the brakes repeatedly, making the car lurch forward like a bucking horse. I noticed people outside watching me.
Sorry, I don't know how to drive.
I finally managed to move the car out of the emergency lane, but parking was my next problem. I followed the arrow that said parking. The car was moving jerkily again because I was more scared of the number of vehicles.
I might hit them, I would be more careful.
I looked far away just to find a spot. Luckily, I saw a car that had just left and there was room in its area because there were two spots on both sides that were not parked.
I immediately turned the steering wheel to turn and approach the parking spot I saw and since I don't know how to drive, I took the three spots I saw. I just scratched my head but there was nothing I could do. I got out of the car and imitated what Aries was doing with the key. I pressed my lock symbol and the car rang. Yesss, the wealth of the former.
I quickly ran back to the hospital to find Freya and return her car key. When I looked at them in the emergency room, they were no longer there, so I asked the nurse I saw Freya talking to earlier.
"Oh, the patient was transferred to a private room." She said and pointed to the floor.
I quickly went there, while I was walking down the hallway, I looked at the signage hanging on the wall. I was about to follow the nursing station when I saw Freya in front of a window. I approached her and was about to touch him when I noticed what she was looking at. Babies.
And suddenly I remembered the conversation she and Aries had.