BREAKING | rafe cameron

TWENTY FOUR

I'm now 18 weeks pregnant, definitely popped, my bump shows in just about everything. According to the app on my phone, the baby is about the size of an artichoke. I was definitely starting to feel the aches and pains, although I still haven't gotten that big, my body is reacting like I have. I can't sleep on my back, or my stomach, which is torture, I hate sleeping on my side, so I've been sleeping very poorly lately. Rafe on the other hand has been sleeping amazingly, he's been working extra jobs lately, business is really booming for him, which is great, and then when he's home we've been trying to find furniture for the baby. And trying to pick a name, which has been much much much harder than we thought it'd be.

"Hazel?"
"No."
"Peyton?"
"I don't think so."
"Eliana?"
"Okay we're done for the night."

It's turned into a bickering match more than anything.

I was currently getting ready for work, as was Rafe, I had an early shift which was kind of a plus because I got to see him before he left for work. But all I had were baby names going through my mind, "Rafe!" I shouted, I heard him running from the kitchen, whoops. "What, what's wrong?" He looked panicked, "Josephine Paige." He just stared at me, "what?" I rolled my eyes at his lack of thought. "Do you like the name, Josephine Paige Cameron?" I asked him, I had already fallen in love with it, we could call her Josie. "Josephine? I'm not sure." He answered truthfully, "Josie?" I raised a brow at him, he looked at me in thought. "Josie." He repeated, a smile coming upon his face. "I like it." He walked over to me, "I love it." I told him. He nodded, "did we just pick a name while we were getting ready for work?" Rafe laughed running a hand through his hair, fixing it slightly, not that it matters he wears a hat all day. "I think we did." I muttered, surprised that we really did this.

Work was just another normal day, feeling like an eternity as my feet were just killing me, I've entered the stage of pregnancy where people congratulate me, it's kind of annoying. I was walking to my car, when I saw Ward with some business pals, shit. I attempted to use my purse to cover my stomach, he had his back turned to me so I sprinted to my car but he turned at the last second. "Fuck." I muttered, he was walking towards me, "what do you want, Ward?" I quipped, hugging my bag to my stomach, "I just want to know how Rafe is?" I looked at him, he seemed genuine, I loosened my demeanor slightly. "He's good." I told him softly, digging for my keys in my bag, it slipped from my hand, shit. I rushed to pick it up but I could tell by the way he was looking at me he saw the bump. "You're pregnant?" He looked dumbfounded, I sighed, no point in hiding it now. "Yes, 18 weeks." I answered, finally getting keys out of my bag, "I have to go." I unlocked my car climbing in. "Can you just tell him I said congratulations." Ward grabbed the door before I could shut it, "fine."

The whole drive home his face was running through my mind, he seemed so genuine, so concerned, but I knew better, he might've been happy in this instance but he was still the same old Ward. I entered the empty house, a sigh pushing past my lips, I decided to be productive and walked into what would be Josie's room. I had a few pieces in there, some wall art, I had finally ordered the first pieces of furniture, the rocking chair and footstool. We were going to wait a couple more weeks before ordering the crib and such. It was adding up quickly, which is why both of us have been working so much lately, a part of me wished Ward wasn't such a dick, we could've had some more help with this. I know that sounds crazy, and selfish, but I was definitely stressed about money. As if someone was reading my mind, the doorbell rang, I sighed, trudging over to it. "Ward?" I gasped, "what are you doing here? Rafe will be home any minute." I told him, keeping him outside by shutting the door, I stood on the porch with him, my arms crossed. "I want to help, you guys should be able to buy nice things for the baby." He reached in his pocket, pulling out a check. Rafe was pulling up, fantastic. "What the hell are you doing here?" He called practically flying out of his truck, "Rafe, baby, calm down." I rushed down the stairs to him, meeting him in the driveway. "He hasn't done anything wrong, he's trying to help and I know you don't want to take it but look." I handed him the check, his eyes bulging out of his face. "Five thousand dollars?! We can't take this, we don't need this!" He whisper shouted, I gave him a pointed look, "Rafe, we could really use that, even just to save it for the future." I explained, grabbing his free hand gently, "just calm down, think for a minute, don't you want to be able to give Josie the best chance at life?" I regretted my words instantly, "are you saying I can't do that?" He snapped pulling away from me.

"You know that's not what I'm saying, Rafe! I'm saying that we can use this to actually spend time with her, I don't want us to leave her with a stranger all day for her whole childhood. This is just a safety net until we're able to live off of your business, it won't be too long until then." I forced him to meet my eyes, "look at me! You can do this, you're working so hard, and your business is growing so fast right?" He nodded at me, "then just let him help us, babe. Because I'm so worried about money and I just want to be able to buy her furniture and not worry about being able to make a car payment, or rent." I pleaded with him, my eyes watering over. Rafe looked to his father who was stood on the porch, not bothering us. "Please." I whispered, "fine, but we're paying him back as soon as we can, I don't want him hanging this over my head." I kissed him as soon as he stopped talking, "thank you."

We walked up to Ward, hand in hand, "uh, thank you, dad. We're going to pay you back." Rafe spoke hesitantly, I gave him a reassuring smile, he reached his hand out to shake his dads. Ward saw the rings on our fingers, well shit I forgot he didn't know that either. "You're married?" Ward whispered, "yeah, a little over a month." I answered, Rafe looked over at me. "Congratulations, I'll get going. Take care." Ward walked off, leaving us both in shock. "Did that just happen?" Rafe muttered, literally scratching the top of his head.