Chapter Twenty One – Ava.

“It says here for eleven weeks your baby is the size of a fig!” Ella looked up from her phone and laughed.

“You’re imagining my baby as a fig now, aren’t you?” She nodded and I laughed, enjoying the catch up with my friend.

“And it says that its head accounts for half of its body mass so far.”

I nodded myself. “I know.”

“Let me guess, you’ve already read this?”

“And three others. I checked in because I was struggling to get into my jeans yesterday and wondered if it is common this early on to need to get new clothes.”

“I’m all up for a shopping spree,” the strawberry blonde girl enthused and I nodded softly.

“I thought you might be. But can we go eat breakfast first? Taekwoon’s in preparation today for their upcoming showcase and I have taken the day off since I’m going with them this weekend.”

Ella was surprised. “You’re going where?”

“China. The boys have a showcase there on Saturday.”

“Wow, you’re so lucky. I wish I could come with you.” Ella sighed and then leaned forward again. “What are we going to eat?”

“I dunno what I feel like yet.” I pondered the idea and then jumped back as my friend approached me on my chair in our living room. “What are you doing?”

She crouched down and cupped her hands over . “What do you feel like eating today, baby? Do you feel like pancakes? Or a bagel? Or an English breakfast?”

“You seriously are weird,” I informed with a laugh and then winced. “And my growing pains are so annoying.”

“Better go get your fat pants on, so I can take you out.” Ella winked and I laughed again, getting up and going into my bedroom to change. I was picking out my outfit when my phone went off and I grabbed it to answer the call, panicking when I saw the name flashing across the screen. I did an awkward dance on the spot and then squealed, pressing talk as I composed myself the best I could.

“Taeyoung unni, hi!”

“Ava!” she greeted back and I waited for her to continue. “I just found out from my brother that you have today off.”

“I do, yes. Is there something you needed?”

“Your company, can I request it?”

I gulped. “Uh, what for?”

“Well as you know, it’s Mum’s birthday this weekend and we’re holding that dinner before you leave to celebrate it together as a family.”

“Oh yes that’s right, on Wednesday evening.”

“I don’t know if you know, but each year we take turns in choosing a large gift to purchase Mum from us all. It’s my turn this year and I was going to go and do it by myself, but then I thought to myself, hold on, wouldn’t Mum love it if Ava was involved this time around. You know she adores you.”

I nodded despite her being unable to see. “So everyone keeps saying.”

“Are you free to spend your afternoon with Jinwoon and I? You can make my brother absolutely jealous by spending time with his nephew without him.”

“Oh well, uh.” I clamped my eyes shut as I tried to think of a possible way out. I could hear the eagerness in the older girl’s tone though and relented to her requests. “How could I turn that down? Where should I meet you?”

After making arrangements with Taeyoung on a meeting spot, I ended the call and started to panic, dropping the phone on my bed and rushing back out into the living room. Ella looked at my frantic approach and frowned. “Uh, those aren’t clothes you can wear out in public, Avie.”

“Help me!”

“What’s wrong?!” Ella exclaimed and I bounced around agitatedly, not knowing what to do.

“Taekwoon’s sister just called and wants to meet up with me this afternoon to buy a present for his Mum. But they don’t know I’m pregnant yet!”

“Okay,” she said slowly, then gave me a look. “What’s the big deal exactly?”

“She has a baby herself! She’ll figure it out right away! Oh my god, what do I do?!”

Ella laughed and I threw a cushion at the girl. “Seriously Ava, if I didn’t know you were pregnant, I’d have literally no clue. Do you have any oversized shirts? Or a peplum top? Something that isn’t body hugging will be more than enough to disguise how you look. Seriously.”

I nodded slowly, praying that would be enough to cover up my secret.

After dropping Ella off at her apartment, I drove to the shopping complex in Gangnam that Taeyoung had called me to. I was early and raced inside to the nearest bathroom, going up to the full length mirror and looked at my appearance carefully. I had put on a pair of black shorts that had an elasticated band and teamed it with a summery embroidered top, which didn’t sit close to my body enough to show any outlines. All the same, I scrutinised myself for a few minutes, praying I could pull this off.

I turned around and walked more slowly to the spot I mentioned I would wait at, noticing the Korean five minutes later. I became anxious as soon as she spotted me and rushed the baby stroller she was pushing over. She hugged me before I could get the chance to step back and winced as she crus