NOT HIS BABY?

I should have stayed home.

As I waddled towards the university president’s office, it reminded me of why Mitch insisted I take my maternity leave. I should have listened to him, but I wanted to add extra weeks to my time with the baby in my arms.

Hopefully, by then, I would have chosen a name for him. Mitch gave a couple of suggestions, but none of them screamed out to me.

The president requested to see me for some unknown reason. He’s made it a point to check on me throughout the day, but this felt different. Walking up to his secretary, I couldn’t help but smile. “Hi Jenna.”

Jenna was a middle-aged woman who had worked as the university secretary long before I came here. She was always so nice to me and gave me great tips to use as a first-time mother. Although I knew the experience would be different for everyone, I still appreciated her advice.

“Hey sweet pea, is he checking in on you again?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure what he wants, but I don’t think it’s just to check on me this time.”

She nodded. “How is the little munchkin?”

“He’s fine,” my lips split into a smile as I caressed my very pregnant belly. “He’s resting right now because he knows mommy needs it.”

Her smile widened, lighting up her entire face. “What a sweetheart already. I’ll see if Mr. Clarkson is ready for you. In the meantime, take a seat and rest.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem, dear.”

I walked over to the chairs lining the wall and slowly lowered myself into one. I wasn’t lying when I said the baby was resting. He was active earlier in the day, but ever since I came into work, he had given me a break. It was as if he was taking it easy on me.

“Anaya, dear, he’s ready to see you.”

“Oh, great,” I tried my best not to sound annoyed, but I just sat down, rather awkwardly, might I add, and now I had to get up again.

Luckily for me, Jenny was a mother to three beautiful children and understood what I was going through. She got out from around her desk and walked over to me. I breathed a sigh of relief as she extended a hand to me, helping me out of the chair.

“You should really take your maternity leave now.”

I laughed, despite feeling breathless. “I just might.”

With a shake of the head, I headed for Mr. Clarkson’s office. I eyed the mahogany door, firmly shut. Mr. Clarkson’s office was on the opposite side of it. I raised my hand, knocking softly on the hardwood.

“Come in.”

I slowly pushed open the door to reveal Mr. Clarkson sitting around his desk. Two chairs sat in front of his desk, one occupied by a beautiful blonde woman with a banging body and light brown eyes. The blonde added warmth to her smooth brown skin. Blonde wasn’t an easy color for women of color to pull off, so I applauded her for that.

Then she turned around.

I stopped so abruptly that the baby gave a small kick, almost as if he were equally offended by the shock.

No.

There was absolutely no way.

I stared at the woman sitting in front of Mr. Clarkson’s desk, my mouth threatening to fall open. I knew that face. I knew those light brown eyes, that ridiculously perfect smile, and the little lift of her eyebrow that appeared whenever she was waiting for me to catch up to something she already knew.

Sienna Hayes.

My best friend from college.

The same Sienna who had spent countless nights crammed into my dorm room with me, eating cheap takeout while we complained about professors. The same Sienna who knew almost every embarrassing thing I had done between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. The same Sienna who had been complaining for months about how much she hated living so far away from home.

And she was sitting in the president’s office.

What the hell was she doing here?

Her eyes met mine, and for half a second, the carefully composed expression on her face cracked. Her lips twitched, while her eyes widened with barely contained excitement.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to rush over and hug her. Realistically, with my current size, I couldn’t rush anywhere, but the desire was certainly there. Instead, I forced my face into something resembling polite curiosity.

Mr. Clarkson could not know we already knew each other. Not yet, anyway. If Sienna had gone through all this trouble to surprise me, I wasn’t going to ruin whatever game she was playing within the first five seconds.

“Ahh, Miss Johnson, please come in.”

I dragged my attention away from my traitorous best friend before my expression gave us away. “You wanted to see me.”

“Yes, this is Sienna Hayes. She will be your sub while you are on leave. She was supposed to start as the new physics teacher, but Mr. Norman is being difficult in accepting his retirement.”

Sienna.

My Sienna.

Was going to be working here.

I nearly broke character right then and there. She had mentioned wanting a change the last time we spoke, but she never once told me she was applying for a position at my university. Apparently, my so-called best friend had become exceptionally talented at keeping secrets.

“Oh, that’s sad to hear about Norman. I know how stubborn he can be.” I looked over at Sienna. She pressed her lips together, and I knew immediately she was trying not to laugh at the overly professional expression I had plastered across my face. Two could play this game. “It’s nice to hear that you’ll be joining us. I’ll make sure to introduce you to the students to watch out for before I go.”

She grinned widely, eyes twinkling with excitement. “That would be amazing.”

There was something mischievous beneath her words, something only I would recognize. I narrowed my eyes ever so slightly, and her smile widened in response.

Oh, I was going to kill her.

After I hugged her, of course.

Or possibly before. I hadn’t decided yet.

“I’m glad the two of you are getting along,” Mr. Clarkson spoke up. “Miss Johnson, could you please show Miss Hayes to the teachers’ lounge? Mr. Carpenter will show her around the school.”

“Oh yeah, no problem.” I lied through my teeth. My belly felt a lot heavier than it did this morning, and the discomfort that came with it was shocking. At least now there was one upside to coming in today. A very blonde, very irritating upside who was currently pretending she hadn’t known me for years. “Follow me, Miss Hayes.”

“Of course, Miss Johnson.”

I almost laughed.

She grabbed her bag and rose to her feet, revealing long legs hidden by her black pantsuit. Walking out of the room, I gave Jenna a small smile as I rounded the corner. She smiled in return and went back to whatever she was doing.

I kept walking.

Ten feet.

Then fifteen.

I glanced over my shoulder, making sure neither Mr. Clarkson nor Jenna could see us. Once I was certain we were safely out of sight, I stopped and slowly turned around only to find Sienna already grinning.

“You—”

“Surprise!” she whisper-shouted, throwing her arms out.

My mouth dropped open. “You lying little—”

“Pregnant women shouldn’t swear.”

“Pregnant women can do whatever they want.”

She laughed, and whatever restraint I’d been holding onto disappeared. I waddled the remaining distance between us and wrapped my arms around her. Sienna immediately hugged me back, careful not to put too much pressure on my stomach.

For several seconds, I couldn’t say anything.

God, I had missed her.

Phone calls and video chats weren’t the same as having my best friend standing right in front of me. College sometimes felt like a lifetime ago, especially with marriage, work, and a baby on the way changing my life so quickly. Sienna had remained one of the constants through all of it, even from miles away.

“Sienna!” I finally pulled back. “What are you doing here?”

“Shh!” She immediately pressed a finger to her lips, glancing toward the office. “Unless you want your president to know we just put on the worst first-meeting performance in history.”

I lowered my voice. “You moved back and didn’t tell me?”

“Because I wanted to surprise you.”

“You could have given me a heart attack.”

Her gaze dropped pointedly to my stomach. “I was more worried about sending you into labor.”

“Don’t even joke about that.”

Neither of us knew how badly those words were about to age. I took a breath, still fighting the urge to bombard her with questions. We’d have time for that later. Right now, something much more urgent was happening inside my body.

“Listen, Sienna. As much as I would love to interrogate you about secretly moving here, this baby is pushing down on my bladder, and I’m afraid the first place you’ll be seeing on this grand tour is the bathroom. I hope that’s not a problem.”

“Oh no, no,” she rushed to reassure me. “It’s no problem at all.” She looked down at my stomach, her expression softening. “And before you say anything, yes, you are somehow even more pregnant in person than you look over video call.”

I gasped. “That’s so rude.”

“I missed you too.”

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

Having Sienna here felt strangely natural, as if no time had passed since college and we were walking across campus together again. Except now, instead of carrying an overstuffed backpack and complaining about an assignment, I was carrying an entire human and trying not to pee on myself.

How times had changed.

“For the record, I’m eight and a half months pregnant, so thirty-two weeks.”

She looked me up and down dramatically. “I’m surprised you’re even walking right now.”

I laughed. “This is waddling. I haven’t walked normally in months. I want to say I wouldn’t have it any other way, but given the choice, I would.”

She burst out laughing. “There’s the Anaya I remember.”

“Please. You saw me three months ago.”

“On a screen. It doesn’t count.”

“You are never allowed to disappear on me again.”

“Deal.”

“And we’re discussing this secret move later.”

“I figured.”

“Good,” I huffed. “It’s funny. I don’t remember the bathroom being this far.”

Sienna’s smile faded slightly. “Do you need to sit down?”

“No, I’m fine. The little man is just determined to make his presence known today.”

My heart dropped as I felt a liquid substance run down the inner part of my leg and to the floor. My eyes remained frozen on the liquid that pooled at my feet. All I could think was that the need to pee had vanished; embarrassment crept in. Even with that thought, I knew that was not pee.

Sienna followed my gaze. Her face went completely blank. “Um Anaya—”

I cut her off. “Trust me, Sienna, that was not pee.”

“What was it?”

I stared at her. She stared at me.

“I think my water broke,” the words came out without me even realizing it.

Her eyes became impossibly wide. “Oh, my God! We have to get you to the hospital.”

“What? Why?”

She gave me a look. “Anaya, your water just broke. You’re in labor.”

I don’t know if it was the nervous look she gave me or her repeating the state I was in. Whatever it was, I reached out for her. The blinding pain that hit me at that exact moment definitely helped to jog me back to reality.

“Oh sweet Jesus, I’m in labor.”

“Well duh! What do I do? How do I help?”

“First, stop looking at me like I’m about to give birth right here in the hallway.”

“You might!”

“Sienna!”

“Sorry! Sorry.” She inhaled deeply, then exhaled. “I’m calm.”

“You don’t look calm.”

“My best friend just went into labor approximately five minutes after finding out I moved here. Forgive me if my emotions are a little overwhelmed right now.”

Despite the pain beginning to coil through my lower abdomen, a laugh escaped me. “You wanted to surprise me.”

“Not like this!”

“Okay, calm down. I’ve just gone into labor, so we have a bit of time. Luckily for us, the hospital is only fifteen minutes from here.”

“That’s comforting.”

“It is. First, you’re going to help me to the teacher’s lounge. I have a hospital bag packed and ready in there. After that, you’ll call my husband and let him know to meet us at the hospital. Don’t worry about Mr. Clarkson. He’ll be too worried about his next golf match to notice you’re gone.”

She chuckled at my last remark. “Secure the bag, secure the husband, and get to the hospital?”

“Exactly.”

“Okay, let’s do this.”

She slipped an arm around me, and I leaned into her gratefully. I spent the next couple of minutes exactly as I planned. Sienna got to see the teacher’s lounge even though it was only to pop in and get my hospital bag. While I did my breathing exercises, she called Mitch and told him to meet us at the hospital. My car already had a car seat installed, so it made sense to take it there.

“You know what all of this made me realize?”

“That you should have taken your maternity leave a lot sooner,” she joked as she turned off the road and onto the driveway of the hospital.

“You’re right,” I chuckled, the humor in the situation not lost on me. “But it made me realize that I really needed you here.”

“Luckily for you, I have nowhere else to be.”