Blake's car bumpily pulls into my parent's driveway with a slight bang. He slides the car into park and then turns towards me with a grim look. I grab ahold of his hand and gently squeeze it in mine. His warm fingers wrap around my cold shaking hand.

"Blakie, are you sure?" I pout.

"I'm sorry, but I promised the boy's I'd go out with them," he replies.

Blake gently lifts my hand to his parted lips and presses a soft kiss against my tender skin. My heart swoons at his lovingly delicate touch.

"Okay, if you're sure," I say.

"Have fun, baby." Blake tries to smile, but it doesn't reach his green eyes.

"I'll . . . try." I huff.

Hesitantly, I push open the car door and step out. The door slams shut as I send him a longing glance from my stance outside the car. Maybe he thought this was the best for me, a gentle shove in the right direction, but I really just feel alone.

Blake watches me walk towards the front door before reversing out of the driveway and speeding off. I knock against the rough wooden door and wait. A few seconds later, my mother yanks the door open.

"Hi, my babies." She smiles happily.

"Hey Mum." I grin.

"Come inside. Angela and I have everything covered, so just rest." Mum grabs my arm and pulls me through the door, then leads me into the already decorated living room. There's a huge banner with 'Ava's Baby Shower' hanging across the wall written in yellow.

"You know, I can help," I say.

"But hon, you need to rest." She plops me on the couch and then wanders back to the kitchen. I can hear Angela's loud voice booming from the room.

"I'm going to be too rested at this point," I grumble.

The floor is lightly littered with mixes of pink, white, and blue balloons. I pick one up and throw it into the air and then swat it away. I'm amused the five seconds it takes to falls onto the ground and bumps into another balloon.

"My party is such a rager." I try to laugh away the disappointment, but it still resides within me. I can't shake the feeling my party is going to be a flop.

Twenty minutes later, the doorbell rings. I attempt to leap off the couch but it ends up as a slow-motion movie of me struggling to get up. Somehow, I manage to waddle into the entry before Angela and my mother realise someone's here.

I open the door and find Tori with a small pink bag in hand.

"Hey, welcome." I happily smile.

"Congratulations!" I give Tori an awkward side hug and then she hands me the present.

"Wasn't sure what to get, but I hope you like it!" explains Tori.

"I'm sure I will, thank you for the present and for coming," I say. "I know it might be awkward but I'm really happy you're here." Otherwise, I might just be a part of three, four if you count the baby and honoured guest.

"No, I'm happy to be here."

Tori and I walk to the living room and take a seat. I place the present on the coffee table and then sink into the couch.

"How's London? Blake can't wait to see her," I say.

"She's great, actually. Jude is spending the day with her," replies Tori.

"Aw, that's nice," I coo. "Jude always said he'd never make a great father, but I did. You can see it in those eyes."

"I agree," says Tori.

Someone else knocks on the door, this time my mother makes it there before I can get my bottom an inch off the seat. She rips open the door and greets Eden and a few of the other women from the parent group.

"Thank you for coming," I call out.

"Thank you for inviting us," Eden replies for the group.

The ladies place their gifts on the coffee table and then take seats. Angela and my mother soon appear in the room with food, drinks, and the beginning of the games.

Angela puts the music on while my mother starts reading the instructions to our first game. Let it be known, I didn't pick this one.

"Since Ava and Blake have decided to keep the gender of the baby a secret, we're going to take turns guessing it," she explains.

"Oh boy, I don't like the sound of this!" Which earns me a room full of laughter.

I stand up and the girls each guess what they think. Eden guesses a boy, but the rest decide it's a girl because I'm carrying high . . . whatever that means. Looks like a swollen belly with a baby inside to me.

"I hope it's a girl, then London can have a sister to grow up with," says Tori.

"My poor sons are going to spend the rest of their lives chasing away boys." Angela laughs.

"Their boyfriends better watch out, these girls have double the parents to interrogate them," adds Mum.

"Oh, they're so screwed," pipes in Tori,

"Next game!" I cheer.

Mum pulls out nappies for the next game which includes guessing what melted chocolate is inside. This is the kind of game I'm up for. I'm craving chocolate right now.

After a few games, we decide to open presents. The women from the parent group hand me a medium sized bag with a collection of gifts inside. There's a few gender neutral jumpsuits, photo album, and a gift card to Eden's work place. Tori gives me a white and yellow jumpsuit with bumblebees on it.

"Thank you guys, I love the presents."

"Now, your father and I have a present for you." Mum gets up and walks out of the room. She soon returns with dad in tow. She forces me off the couch and outside to stand on the driveway.

Mum and Dad stand on either side of me while the rest of the group stand on the pathway watching. Their watching eyes make me utterly nervous. I hate surprises.

"Your mother and I wanted to get you something practical. Here's what we decided." Dad hits the garage button and the roller doors begin to groan as they slide up. Parked in the driveway is a huge shiny white car.

"Holy shit, that's not a, is it?" I scream.

"We got you a car," Mum yells excitedly.

"What the fuck, no!" I shake my head. "You can't give me a car,"

"We already paid for it and it's yours," replies Mum.

"I can't." Without realising it, I flick away the tears streaming down my cheeks. I can't believe my parents bought me a car for my baby shower! A new cot, or even some baby bottles would have been sufficient, but a car? That seems out of this world!

Logan and I were supposed to share a car until we got our own but in the crash . . . it left me dependent on Kyle to get me around. Now I could gain the freedom I needed.

"Thank you." I sniffle.

"You're welcome Ava." I give my parents a hug and then walk back inside the house. Their odd silence makes me hesitant to step inside the living room. But as I walk inside, I see a large cake by the doorway.

"That's a huge cake," I note.

"Angela and I were fighting over which flavour it should be. Vanilla is clearly the best," explains Mum.

"Strawberry and chocolate is," corrects Angela.

"It should just be chocolate and more chocolate." I laugh.

"So we got this huge cake thingy," says Mum.

"Okay, do we just cut it?" I ask.

"Yeah." Shrugs Angela.

Mum goes to grab the plates while I walk towards the cake. As I stand beside it, I wait for mum to hand me a plate. In the meantime, I scan over the detailing. Each layer seems to have a thick layer of frosting with a few flowers scattered around. My favourite part is my name written across the layers.

"What's the top layer?" I ask.

As I peer closer, the top layer springs open. I jump back screaming as I watch the top of the cake splatter against the side.

"Happy baby shower," shouts Blake, a huge smile plastered on his face. Jude, Kyle, and Ben walk out from the dining room and grab cake to throw at Blake. They all laugh while I'm left breathless.

"What the hell are you doing in the cake?" I shout.

"I don't know." Blake shrugs his shoulders. "I just wanted to surprise you." He cheekily smiles.

"Do you seriously want me to pop this baby out early?" I place my hand over my chest.

"I'm sorry but it was so worth it." Blake happily grins.

"I'm going to kill you," I retort.

With the help of Ben, Blake climbs out of the cake and comes around to hug me. I'm tempted to push him away, but I snuggle into his arms.

"I thought you were busy?" I ask.

With a smile, Blake responds with, "I wouldn't miss this in the world."

"Thank you for coming."

"My pleasure." He kisses the top of my head.

"Oi mate, drinks," shouts Ben.

Blake looks at me and I nod my head. "Have fun." I poke his side.

Jude changes the music and then turns the speaker up. The boys go into the kitchen and I can slightly hear Ben yelling orders at Blake to start drinking. Tori and one of the other mothers gets up and begin dancing to the catchy music pumping out the base.

I leave Angela and Mum to cut the cake. I'm not sure if I can afford any more surprises at this rate. I can see why they wanted me to rest so much over the last couple of weeks.

When Angela hands me a slice of chocolate cake, I take a seat on the couch and dig in. Kyle wanders out of the kitchen and takes a seat beside me.

"Can I talk with you?" he shouts into my ear.

"Yeah, sure." For the umptenth time this afternoon, I force myself out of the couch and into another room. Kyle and I end up wandering outside where it's quiet. It's too hard trying to yell over the speakers.

"I want to give you this first." Kyle hands me a small wrapped parcel.

"Thanks for the gift." I open the tissue paper and find a white jumpsuit with 'mummy's little angel' written in cursive font. This makes me aw with happiness.

"You're welcome, Ava baby."

"How come Charlotte bailed?" I ask.

"She's just busy today." Kyle's vague answer leaves me suspicious.

"What's happening? You've been weird ever since London's birthday party," I say.

"Just drop it Ava," grumbles Kyle.

"No, just tell me Kyle." I frown. "You've been weird, moody, and I can't take it. I need my best friend with me through this." Kyle shuffles on his feet, his brown eyes scattered and all over the place. He runs his fingers through his short brown hair.

"That's the thing Ava . . . I'm in love with you." He roughly grabs my face and plants his lips against mine. Tingles shoot through my body leaving my confused and shocked. How do I tell my best friend I'm not interested? He's been my best friend for years and I don't want to break his heart because I know I'll break.

"Shit," mutters Kyle.

"I -"

"I'll, um, I, bye." Kyle dashes out of my sight but somehow it feels like forever. 

What do you think about Kyle's confession?