JUNIPER’S POV:
“Will you at least drop me off at school before you go to your art, whatever?” I ask Hiram as I put on my jacket, staring at myself in the mirror.
“Sure,” he says, leaning in to kiss my cheek.
“I am so glad we’re in winter, and I get to wear these large jackets. I can slowly feel the baby fat creeping in.” He grabs my hand, pulling me away from the mirror.
“That’s enough for today.” He wraps his arms around my waist. “You look more beautiful than ever, and there is no baby fat,” he says, then plants a brief kiss on my lips.
I adjust his tie, patting his shoulder briefly.
“You look so good, and I do not like it, because I will not be there.” He chuckles when I say this, then lets go of me. He grabs his wallet, takes my hand, and we leave the room.
“Finally,” Rhea groans as she sees us walking downstairs.
We have a quick breakfast, then head out.
**
The entire time I am in class, I find it difficult to concentrate. We only have about two days of school left before it closes for winter. As the lecturer speaks, nothing gets to my ears as my mind drifts off with a lot of thoughts. It ranges from wondering if Hiram has gotten to Boulder City to the fact I cannot catch a break with my bladder. I begin to wonder if I was just stressed that I didn’t notice all these signs until I was declared pregnant.
When I can no longer stand the pressure in my bladder, I put my hand up.
“Yes, Miss Miles,” the lecturer answers.
“I need to go to the bathroom, please,” I say, and he nods. I get up, walking away as fast as I can.
I get to the bathroom on time before I can pee on myself. Then I empty my bladder. When I am done, I wash my hands and attempt to head back to class when my stomach rumbles.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say out loud, then feel a sharp pain shoot through my abdomen. “Ouch! Okay, I’ll feed you. You do not need to kick me so hard,” I speak to the baby as though it can hear me.
Groaning, I take out my phone from my pocket and call Rhea.
“I am hungry, and I need something to eat.”
As soon as I walk out of the hallway that leads to the bathroom, I see Rhea standing in front of the class with my bag.
“So, what do you want to eat?” she asks as we walk toward the exit, and I let out a sigh because I have no clue what it is this baby wants.
It is bad enough it may rip open my belly, but it is so hungry that I’ve been eating three times my normal meal, so it eats twice as much as I do.
“Maybe we’ll figure it out when I get there,” I reply, and she rolls her eyes.
Practically everyone around me is tired of my mood swings.
“Also, I do not want to go to any of the shops within school. I think it wants something outside school.” Rhea pauses, glancing at me.
“You want to walk? You know I am not with my car because Hiram dropped us off, and…”
“It will be healthy for the baby,” I reply, and she groans.
“Sure it will.”
For a couple of minutes, we spend time traversing the entire street, and I do not find anything I want. Almost everything I see smells like barf. This goes on until we stop by a shop with cotton candy. My stomach rumbles again, and I grab Rhea’s hand.
“I think I know what I want,” I say, and she raises a brow.
“I came all the way to get cotton candy?” she asks, and I drag her into the store.
“I personally cannot wait to meet this child,” her words sound like a threat.
We get the cotton candy, and once I stick one into Rhea’s mouth, she stops whining. We walk back to school slowly as we enjoy our candy.
“Lyon texted me yesterday,” she says as we walk on the pavement.
“What did he say?” I pause to catch the expression on her face.
“I think he wants to get back with me, but then I cannot do long distance. He says he will visit once a month, and I can do that too, but it will never really feel the same.” I throw my hands across her shoulder at once.
“You are giving up without trying, and that is where you have it wrong. I am literally with a were-person, and I am having a were-baby. If I had believed I was crazy, I probably wouldn’t have found out,” I say to her, and she sighs.
“I guess you are right. I’ll give it another thought.”
“Good,” I say, then take a bite of my candy.
We are almost at the school when we hear a screech, causing us to turn to the left to see a black SUV pull up close to us. Before we can tell, we are both pulled into the car, and it drives off. There are four hefty men, all in masks, with two of them at the back of the car pressing their hands across our mouths to stop us from screaming. In front is the driver and another man on a call.
“We have two girls with us,” the man in the passenger seat says, then he turns back to the guys at the back. “He says he wants only the brunette.” My heart skips a beat as the car comes to a halt again. They open the door, pushing Rhea out of the car before zooming off.