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4 DAYS LATER
There were no flights back to LA until after Christmas, so Leilani Morales had sucked it up and spent the holiday with Luke and his family. Liz and Andrew were very accommodating considering she'd only met them a few days prior. Since Luke's brothers Ben and Jack occupied the guest rooms, Luke allowed Leilani to take his bed while he slept on a futon. The Christmas dinner was excellent and succeeded in making her feel better for the time being, though when she laid awake during that night, the dark thoughts haunted her. She couldn't escape the look of betrayal on Calum's face when she left or the one he wore when he found out about the baby. All she wanted to do was get home and curl up in her bed until further notice. Luke may have been supportive about the whole pregnancy, congratulating her with the biggest hug she'd ever experienced, but he didn't fulfill the void of Calum's missing blessing.
When she finally managed to buy a ticket online, Luke was quick to purchase one for the same flight, insisting that she wasn't going back alone. Unable to protest, she relented and allowed him to accompany her despite the desperate need to be by herself. They flew first class and didn't talk much, lost in different versions of chaos in their minds. Each passing day, Leilani's voicemail and inbox flooded with desperate pleas from Calum, and she constantly thought about him, whether it be how much she missed him or how much she didn't. Her own feelings confused her. She needed time and space to decide how to move forward.
Her parents were devastated to know she wouldn't be making it for Christmas as originally planned but something in her voice when she spoke to them over the phone made Anesa and Dukagjin accept the excuse of an emergency without protest. They told her that she and Calum were welcome to come whenever, and when she hung up, Leilani had burst into tears for the millionth time within three days. She didn't want to disappoint her mum and dad by telling them that her relationship was currently on pause until further notice so instead she didn't say anything about it. In fact, she didn't tell anyone except Luke because saying the words out loud made the temporary split that much more real. Leilani knew it made no sense for her and Calum to take a break if it hurt her so much, but she realized in her last relationship that the best decisions weren't always the easiest. She needed to take care of herself first and foremost, especially considering she had another living being inside her that needed her to watch out for it.
Leilani stared at her bare stomach in the mirror, prodding her skin. It was the day of her monthly weigh-in and she only noticed a slight increase in weight compared to November before she knew about the pregnancy. The baby was there but it wasn't exactly very developed. Her abs were untouched, and she still looked physically normal from the neck down. The same thing couldn't be said for the area above. She sported undereye bags from lack of sleep, and her hair was an unruly mess atop her head after not being brushed for days. Her eyes lacked their usual shine. She looked... depressed. Sad. Upset. Stressed. Worried.
