The Kings IV I

39

Alexis

My pregnant belly was like an inflating balloon. The only way I'd even managed to keep it covered was by living in Fred's hoodies, as they've always been baggy on me.

Keeping everyone in the dark about this hadn't been easy. Fred and I had even made a bet about which one of us would be first to open our mouths about our pregnancy. It was only a twenty dollar bet, which was like a penny to the Kings, but it's kept us both quiet. Neither of us likes to lose.

He was pretty confident in the fact that I would be the one to tell Lena, as I was the one carrying the two humans. We both thought she'd pick up quickly, and that I'd cave equally as quick.

But I'd gotten lucky in the sense that Lena and Jo had been trying to get onto the same page in their marriage. It'd caused them to trap themselves inside a bubble and be oblivious to everyone else around them.

"Earth to Alexis," Lena called, waving her hand in front of my face in an attempt to grab my attention.

"Sorry, zoned out again," I replied, as collectively as I could.

She lifted her eyebrow at me and smirked. She knew something was up, and although she hadn't clocked my pregnancy yet, she did with nearly everything else.

"Tonight's a big night."

Lena was in dire need of getting new lingerie, so she said, considering Mrs. Brown had finally given them the okay to get back in bed with each other.

I picked up a lacy red set. "Get this one."

She moved closer to me and inspected it very carefully. Lena was nowhere near the same girl that I'd been introduced to when we were nineteen. She'd changed quite a bit. She'd grown into quite the assertive woman.

We all knew it.

"Maybe I will," she said, grabbing it from my hand. She walked over to the other racks of lingerie, scanning them.

Breathlessly, I attempted to catch up to her. The pregnancy had taken a significant toll on my physical wellbeing, and I knew it would get worse as I went.

My head began to spin, and the next thing I knew, my head met the hardwood floor of the shop. A sharp pain raced through my head, and my vision was blurry.

Lena's iced coffee slipped out of her hands, and she immediately ran over to me. I didn't seem to have any clue of what was happening. I could hear shouting and a lot of fuss around me, but my mind wasn't processing a single thing.

My heavy eyelids covered my eyes, and the only thought in my mind was that I wanted one person, and that person was Freddy King.

~*~

Alexis

My eyes fluttered open, and I immediately noticed that we were no longer in the shopping mall, shopping for Lena's big night. Instead, I was on a hospital bed.

My pregnant belly was painfully evident, considering the hoodie I'd been wearing was draped over the end of the bed.

My eyes scanned the room and all I saw was a little Lena, sitting in the chair beside me. When our eyes met, she quickly jumped up.

"Lex, oh my God, thank God you're okay," she said, obviously extremely relieved.

The hurt was evident in her eyes. This was not the way I wanted my pregnancy to be revealed, not to my best friend.

"When were you going to tell me?" She softly asked.

I tried to form words, but nothing could escape my lips. Lena was quick to understand and grabbed the water from the table beside me, aiding me in drinking it.