k i w i

- 27 -

- arabella -

The room erupted into cheers, the two happy girls jumping out of their seats and coming around to congratulate their brother. Both of them smiling big, their hugs tight around Zayn.

I kept seated, staring at the other girl who just glared at me through glassy eyes. My heart broke as a tear fell down her cheek, which she quickly wiped away. The stare almost deadly.

Why was she crying? Is it happy or sad tears?

Without noticing, I was pulled up and into a hug, my eyes still on the girl who stood up and rushed off. All of us suddenly noticing her, but her siblings turning back to pretending like it never happened.

"Don't worry about her." Doniya said, shrugging her little sister off like it was no big deal. "Congratulations, Bella! How far along are you?"

Feeling their hands on my belly, I look down and then up at them. It felt weird, but when I had Hailey at home, I was growing familiar to the feeling. "Um, twelve weeks. Almost thirteen."

"And when are we gonna know if its a boy or girl?" Safaa asked, her face mushed on my belly. It was absolutely adorable. "Oh, I want a little boy!"

"Well, my ultrasound is next Friday." I say, resting my hands on the top of her head. They reacted very well. "We'll know by then."

"No! No, no, no. We can throw a gender reveal party!" Doniya exclaimed, gasping and clapping her hands excitedly. "Does mum know Zayn? I can plan it with her."

With widen eyes, Zayn shook his head. "No, so don't snitch."

"Are we the first to know!?" Safaa asked, she was pried off my body by her older sister. I look over at her, almost frowning at how hopeful she looked. "Are we!?"

"Well, family wise? Yes. Apart from my brother, Samuel." I say, picking my words as carefully as I could. "My friends know along with his."

"Those idiots knew before us!?" Doniya gasped and rolled her eyes, she returned to her seat and took a sip of her drink casually. "Wow. I'm hurt now."

"We didn't meant to tell them." Zayn says, also sitting and beginning to eat the chocolate cake. "They found out. Anyways, we'll probably tell mum and dad once we figure out the gender."

"And when we tell my family." I added in as well, digging right into the cake as well. Licking some chocolate off the spoon too. "I was supposed to be having dinner with them, but I didn't wanted to go."

"So you decided to to spend the evening here, Arabella." In a sarcastic tone, Waliyha appeared back into the dining room, heading straight to her plate. "I'm just here for my cake. Excuse me."

"Aren't you going to congratulate your brother, Waliyha?" Doniya asked in a motherly tone, raising an eyebrow and giving her a hard look. "The least you could do is take a look at the pictures."

"Why would I?" Waliyha scoffed back, she had disgust written all over her. "It's just a blob in a black and white mess."

Ouch, that hurt more than I expected it to.

Feeling my stomach swirl, I had suddenly loss my appetite. I also felt how tense Zayn had become, our chairs way too close to each other.

"Waliyha." With a frown forming and a sad expression, Doniya sighed. She looked over at me, giving me a small and pitiful smile. "I'm sorry about her."

Smiling back, I gave her a small nod. The sassy girl stomped out, the tension slowly clouding the room.

We sat quietly, Safaa not even bothered as she examined the ultrasound pictures. Her innocence clearly bringing easiness to the whole situation. "So when are we going to meet the baby?"

"Oh," I say, sitting up and trying to shrug off the incident. "June. My due date is the tenth." I gave my water one last sip before standing up from my chair. "I should get going now.

"No, no, I'm going to talk to her. Later though." Zayn stood up fast, shaking his head and resting a hand on my lower back. "Finish your cake, doll."

"Loss my appetite." I tell him, turning to the girls who came around. I gave them each a hug, trying not to flinch whenever they reached forward to rub my belly. "Maybe we could meet up some other time?"

I said my goodbyes to them, following Zayn back up to his room and getting my stuff. He quietly walked next to me, one of his hand on my lower back.

"Sorry about Waliyha. Don't know what has gotten into her." He apologizes, making small circles with his hand. He opened the door for me, taking the hand that was on my back to place it on my arm. "I'll pick you up for the ultrasound, okay?"

Nodding, I gave his cheek a peck. "It's okay."

Before I could go inside, he grabbed a hold of my face and examined me. My breathing becoming abnormal as his face hovered over mine, his eyes seemed lighter than usual.

"Thanks for coming." He whispers, his lips breaking into a small smile. "They seemed happy for our baby."

"I know." I breath out, closing my eyes. Feeling his breathing move around my face, his soft kissed finally left a kiss on my cheek.

"Bye, doll."

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