Stunned from the sudden topic, it took a while for Sharon to respond. She didn’t know why but it felt like an attack towards them. There was nothing in her sister’s tone but she felt quite defensive. Maybe it was the effect of being in town the past few days but she couldn’t let it go.

“Yeah. What about it?”she asked belligerently. But the moment the words came out of the mouth, she wanted to take it back. Despite her best effort, the defensiveness came out.

“Nothing. Just didn’t think he’d fall for you. He’s always so obvious in his choices. Tall, big ass, big breasts-”

“So what are you trying to say?” That was a bit too much. As much as she wanted to hold back, her sister was making it quite difficult. And she couldn’t even tell whether Amelia was trying to pick a fight with her. There was no change in her expression. She looked as cool and collected as ever. Well, as cool and collected a pregnant woman could look while battling constant nausea.

“Nothing. I just want to know more about your life. You know, making conversations”

“Really. Then I have to say that you’re about as good at it as Mom. Which is great, of course, since you’re going to be spending so much time together. Now, excuse me while I immerse myself in some music for the rest of the flight.” There was no use getting mad with something she couldn’t change. She should just ignore it. About to put on her headphones, something stopped her. Or to be more accurate, someone.

“Wait.” Amelia had her hand on her, halting her from getting to her music. Glaring at the hand on her wrist, Sharon tried hard to hold back from lashing out. One reason was her pregnancy. Clearly in her early stages, this was a very fragile time for her. She shouldn’t give her any undue stress. Not that she should just give in but she should hold back.

But the most important factor was her pride. She had such high hopes. Back then, she thought they were finally getting closer. When Amelia had defended her and with the offer to return together, she thought they could patch it up. But this just made it clear how impossible that was. 

“I didn’t mean it that way-”

“Oh. And what did you mean?”

“I’m just surprised. The woman before were so trashy. I didn’t think he’d see what a great woman you are.”

“If you’re going to lie, at least pick a more believable one. Mom was much better than this. Not that she’s ever done said anything to me but I’ve seen her at work,”Sharon snorted while rolling her eyes.

“I-it’s not you. I mean, you’re a great. Wonderful. I was even going to introduce you to some guys. But he’s not the most discerning man,”Amelia said earnestly. A shuffle from across the aisle caught Sharon’s attention but she soon returned her eyes to Amelia. It was just Cameron shifting in his sleep.  

She couldn’t deny that a part of her felt charmed. This was the most anyone had ever praised her. And either her sister was a good actor or she was really sincere. And yet, her wariness held her back. Dumb as she had been, she wouldn’ t fall for the same tricks twice. Once was bad enough. There was no telling what Amelia was really aiming for.

“W-why are you crying?” Sharon was flabbergasted. Tears had suddenly gathered in her sister’s eyes and began flowing down her cheeks. Her mascara was streaming down her cheeks and snot was dripping out of her nose. But Amelia was relentless. She was still stubbornly holding onto her.

“I don’t know.”

“At least wipe your tears.”

“No! I need to make things clear between us. I’m not making fun of you when I talked about you and Cameron being together-”

“Wait. I’m coming over,”Sharon said through gritted teeth. As much as she had no interest in whatever she had to say, she couldn’t very well allow her pregnant sister strain herself over the table for prolonged periods of time. The best thing was to sit on the same side as her. After shifting, no one said a word. A tense moment ensued before Amelia finally sat down.

“So how are you?”she asked, turning to Sharon earnestly.

“Really? That’s what you want to talk about?” Sharon wanted to dig her ears. Had she really ask that?

“I don’t know. Things have been weird between us since-since Mom came to town. I mean, that lunch.”

“And who’s fault is that?”

“I know I did something dumb but you could be less stubborn? I really want to make up here but you’re making it really tough.”

“I could be easy. If I wanted to. But I don’t.” Sharon was done. She wanted to leave. But short of jumping off the plane, she had to sit here until it landed. Because, much to her chagrin, this wasn’t going anywhere. They were rehashing the same thing over and over again. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this anymore. This just makes me have heartburn. But you’re welcome to talk. I’ll just be there, beside Cameron-”

“What? No. I just- So you and Mom really can’t get along, huh? Since when?”

“Why does this sound like news to you? Didn’t you know? We’ve never gotten along. Since forever. It got worse when Dad died and then you left. She just hates me. Nothing much to it. Nothing I can do to change it. I’ve tried. God knows how much I’ve tried.”

“Then what about your friend? Jasmine? I thought she was your best friend. You guys were so close.”

“You’re a model. You have to know not all friends are good friends."

"I know that. I even told you she’s bad news."

"Well, life is always about living and learning." Glum at her monumental bad insight, Sharon suddenly thought of something and turned to Amelia. "If you know she's bad, why were you so accommodating when they visited? You were practically bending over backwards to make sure she had a good time."

"Its just- I thought having your friend there would help."

"Help how? She's the very reason I left. And mom too. Then you came along, acting like their bitch. Sit, fetch, roll over. You even threw me under the bus. At their behest, might I add. It was like, the moment they came, you forgot all your promise to help me."

"Look, it was a stressful time, alright. I made decisions I regret. But at that time, it made sense."

“Like how? I literally told you that my best friend stole by boyfriend. And if you hadn't gotten the message, she's that friend.”

"How was I supposed to know you had only one best friend?"

"You would if you listened instead of thinking you know everything."

“Well, I didn't know your life was so pathetic that you only have one bestt friend-”

“Compared to you who has none?”

“Well, with friends like her, do you blame me?”

“Alright, you two.”A hand suddenly appeared between them. Surprised, they had to stop, Unsatisfied by the abrupt disruption, Sharon turned to glare at the offender. She wasn’t surprised to see who it was. Lo and behold, it was her brother-in-law, Scott. He had a worried and stern expression, which as contradictory as it was, looked sweet on him. “Cool down. You look like you're going to punch each other.”

“If she isn’t pregnant, I’d lay one on her,””Sharon muttered.

“Hey,”Amelia cried, trying to rebuke but that must’ve been too much for him. He looked like was going to explode. And he did, making her feel like a kid who was caught doing something wrong.

“Stop!”he said harshly, slamming his hands on the table. The two of them prudently zipped their mouths and look up at him. “Enough with the fighting. Can’t you work things out calmly? I mean, the two of you are sisters, You have to get along-”

“I have to do shit. She started it-”

“Enough out of you. Now, apologize and make up.” 

Sharon couldn’t believe her worldly and sophisticated brother-in-law just said that. Treating them like kids. Was he practising for the real deal?

“Well, they would be making up now if you hadn’t stopped them,”Cameron called out from his seat. 

“What do you mean?”Scott demanded, turning to glare at his friend.

“This is just a simple fight between siblings. It’s not serious.”

“Not serious? Do you hear them? They were going at each other’s throats. I’m not surprised if they were going to punch each other.”

“Of course they won’t. They don’t look like the kind to do that.”

“Plus I won’t punch a pregnant woman,”Sharon chimed in. She thought it was an important distinction. 

“Yeah. They look like the type to scratch and pull each other’s hair.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“So what? Are you saying you’d lay one on me if I wasn’t? You? The biggest coward? I think not.”

“What? You want to go?”Sharon shouted, getting to her feet. 

“Fine. Get on with it,”Amelia returned, mirroring her and standing up. She wasn’t going to admit it but Sharon was surprised. Now that her bluff was called, she didn’t know what to do. Her hands fisting at her side, she had to hold back her frustration. Despite how much she wanted to do it, she couldn’t help recalling Amelia’s rush to the washroom earlier. And now that she was reminded of it, she lost the will to do so. Was this a good idea? Amelia wouldn’t have recovered from her nausea so soon.

“Listen to me,”Amelia cried, suddenly grabbing her upper arms. Sharon had to give her sister her full attention. She had no choice. Amelia had an intense, implacable look behind her tears-filled eyes. “Hit. Me.”

“What?”she asked in disbelief. The men echoed her, both showcasing varying degrees of shock. And both of them moved closer to the women. Sharon was briefly distracted at the way Scott was hovering at her back, ready to pull them apart if needed. But the tight, almost painful, grips on her arms reminded her of the real dangerous person. She was really caught between a rock and a hard place.. “Ames, think about it. I can’t do that. Putting aside that tough talk just now, I can’t hurt a fly, much less you.”

“B-but I did so many bad things. I mean, I know it’s bad but I didn’t know how bad it was until I got back. When I saw how bad the group treated you, I clearly stepped over a line back then.”

“W-well, yeah. But you didn’t know. Right?”

“But I still hurt you.”

“No sweat, sis. We can just ignore all of that. You need to rest until we touch down. Then we’ll go our separate ways-”

“No! I don’t want that. I want you in my life and I want to be in yours. I don’t want to fight anymore.”

“I mean, I’m not fighting with you-”

“Because you don’t care, right? You don’t care that I’m here. You just want to get off as soon as possible and we can just get out of each other’s lives, right?”

“Ames, that’s not what I’m talking about-”

“Alright. Then hit me. We’ll be even after this, right? I just have to serve some penance.”

“And I’m saying you don’t have to-”

“Just do it.” At this point, Sharon was willing to do anything to get out of this ridiculous situation. WIth her sister shaking her at every word, she was getting dizzy. And Scott’s menacing presence at her back made a headache develop on top of the nausea. But was hitting her a good idea? “I know it. You still hate me-”

“Fine. You asked for it,”she shouted. This farce had gone on long enough. Then without thinking much about it, she slapped her.

AN: Hey guys. Hope you're well.

What do you think of the chapter? I know Jasmine and their Mom are irredeemable but I want to patch things up between the sisters at least. We have another 3-4 chapters to go before the epilogue. Get ready for the kids

Anyways, please VOTE and COMMENT. Please support me. Accidental Babies is on Amazon. It was even made into a game on Chapters called "Beauty and the Billionaire".

THANKS.

P.S. if there are any ATINYs here, please support Ateez's new comeback, "Wonderland"