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- arabella -

I smile over at my mom, for the first time since I could remember, I was feeling some sort of happiness. With her—and the rest of my family.

Sitting on a stool in an island, I watch mom and Sammy cook the brunch, giving me any slices of fruit that weren't cut perfectly to the right size.

Sammy threw more jicama in my plate, making me smile at him even more. "Thanks, bud."

"Who's your plus one today?" He asks while continuing to fix his cut fruit, "Bill? Fai? You can't say your baby cause its not born yet."

I roll my eyes, our mother going to stand besides him to examine the food. "Did I forget to say that Bill is your plus one?"

Spitting the piece of jicama that I had in my mouth, I stare at her in disbelief while my brother broke down laughing. He clutched his belly, dramatically laughing out loud.

"And his brother is coming too!" She exclaims excitedly as Regina announces her presence. "Thank you for getting here on time for once, Gina."

"I'm always on time." Regina answers back a little confused, setting down her cupcakes and rubbing my belly. "And whose brother is coming?"

"Your baby daddy."  Sammy smirks, crossing his arms across his chest and watches Regina's face reddened and snap towards mom. "Ah-ah, you can't be saying snarky comments during brunch hour!"

We all looked at the clock hanging by the door, reading the time to be eleven thirty. We were going to be late.

"¡Mierda!" Mother cussed, throwing her apron off of her and beginning her run around the house. "Get the food in the fucking car! ¿Donde esta tu padre?"

Regina took her cupcakes and walked in front of us, Sammy had the fruit while I took the bread. They fought all the way to the car, Julian sleeping on the passengers side making me slightly jealous.

I wished I could sleep through this brunch, that way I could avoid any baby daddy questions that would lead me to awkward situations.

"Arabella!" Snapping fingers appeared in front of me, Regina's old mans fingers adorned a ring—one that I hadn't seen. "What the hell is wrong with you!?"

"Who gave you this?" I ask not really listening to she question, instead, more amazed by the beautiful ring. Taking her finger in my hand, I pull it up to my eyes, trying to see if there was any clue if this ring was an old restored ring or a new one. "Its so beautiful."

"Let go!" Regina gasps snatching her hand from me, hiding her hand while walking backwards. "I found it in grandmas old jewelry box and restored it."

I hum, not convinced by her lie while Samuel laughed obnoxiously again. He made fun of her finding a lover while I silently thought about my old lover—if I could even call him that.

Going to sit inside Regina's car, I buckled myself in and looked out the window, thinking about Zayn. It was like he disappeared.

Since the shower, I hadn't heard anything from him. Not a call, or a text message, or anything else. Every time I talked to his mom I get too embarrassed to ask her if she knows anything about him, I also get sad.

I hadn't had much time to think about him, I had been busy having Sammy help me with my nursery and also working on the company to even sit and think about him and his whereabouts throughly.

Seeing the big house come to sight, we drove down to their driveway and saw the guests arriving as well. I unbuckled myself and thanked the valet for helping me down.

Getting in formation with the rest of the family, I pushed every thought about Zayn away and smiled, heading up the stairs to the foyer where the hosts were waiting for us.

I smiled and waited patiently to be noticed, finally she was noticed by the daughter, Claire. "Oh my! Arabella, you are glowing!"

"Thank you, Claire." I beam, giving her a brief hug and then turning to her father, shaking his hand firmly. "Mr. Rhodes."

He gave her a nod, serious as always, and slowly congratulated her. "Congratulations. You'll be a wonderful mother."

I smiled back, muttering a thank you before being dismissed to a side. My mom almost yelped, a small squeal leaving her at the sight of her friends by the food tables, "Vamos, Samuel."

She dragged Sammy over, taking the bread from me and beginning to gush about him and how single he was. Regina groaned and followed them, already complaining about wanting to leave.

Looking besides me, my father was no where in sight and Julian was texting away. "Are you leaving me too?"

He shrugs, putting his phone in his pocket and looking over me, eyes lighting up and a big smile breaking on his face. "Dad!"

Following his gaze, I saw how happy he was to his father, the handsome blonde man hugging him tightly while his brother looked at me, eyebrows raised.

"Geez, Ara." He gasps, an arm around his sons shoulders while the other gave my forearm a squeeze. "When Bill said you were pregnant, I didn't think he meant this pregnant!"

"Ha ha ha." I roll my eyes, accepting his side hug. Letting him touch the belly, he commented about when Julian was unborn, then began to tell the story of when Regina gave birth. I gagged at my imagination, his very detailed story scaring me slightly. "Can you just shut up?"

He laughed, "Child birth is very traumatic for the father as well!" Slapping a hand on his brothers shoulder, he raises an eyebrow. "Right, Billy? Tell her how much blood you saw during Miracle's birth."

Feeling my heart squeeze and a kick from Zoe, I swallowed the ridiculously high amount of saliva that had suddenly formed.

Staring awkwardly at each other, I clear my throat, Julian being the only one to read the circle. "Hey, dad, why don't we go try mom's cupcakes? They're gluten free!"

Alexander spoke out loud his thoughts about gluten free food while following Julian, leaving us with an awkward tension.

"You have a daughter?" I ask, clearing my throat, somehow feeling slightly mad. "Bill?"

"I do." He nods, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She's a year old—"

"And that wasn't important enough to tell me!?" I scoff, thinking back at the shower a couple weeks ago where I had shared the situation between me and Zayn with him. "And don't tell me you forgot. How could you forget you have a one year old!?"

"Would you lower your voice?" He asks stepping forward after looking around, his bright eyes stared through me. "Why would it matter either way?"

Holding myself back from slapping him across the face, I stepped closer to him. "Because we kissed the whole night! I let you sleep in my bed!"

Seeing him stand there with nothing to say back, I scoff again and backed up, feeling betrayed. I had let three men ruin me now.

"Fuck you, Bill!" I hiss at him, feeling my legs begin to shake and the knot in my throat begin to form.

I'm an idiot. An idiot for letting Younes ruin a friendship, Zayn running away, and Bill for using me.

Locking myself in the bathroom, I put a hand in my mouth and cried. I was so naive and hormonal that I wasn't thinking straight, which gave me many problems and made me do many mistakes.

After sitting pathetically in the toilet crying my foundation and mascara off, I fixed myself as best as I could and headed out, opening the door to find Bill outside.

"I'm sorry." He said as soon as I realized he was there, walking inside and closing the door behind him, holding my face gently. "I'm really sorry, Bella. I just want us to work out."

Before I could reply and swallow everything in, his lips were on mine and soon, I kissed back, feeling warm at the soft touch his hands felt on my face.

Here we go again.

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