Ah, mistakes.

It was obvious in the morning that Casper and I made a mistake.

Most evident by him not being there in the morning.

I didn't blame him. I just hummed tiredly and got up, going about my day. I woke up late, meaning that I should get ready to go out.

So that's what I did.

I showered, cleaned up any remnants of the previous night, and went downstairs to eat, finding food ready for me.

At least he was nice enough to get food ready for me.

He made me a healthy salad, like... fresh salad with ingredients I didn't have.

That warmed my heart a bit since he probably went out to get ingredients just so I had something healthy to eat.

He also got me Starbucks tea.

So, yeah, he's a dumbass but I loved him.

I sat down and watched the news while eating and even found myself flicking to celebrity interviews, getting a live one with...

Casper?

Is that the reason he left.

"So, Casper, twenty eight years old and no one has ever seen you dating? Got a secret side piece?" The interviewer asked him.

He laughed and shook his head, "no. I've had one person on my mind since high school and I've been willing to stay by their side as a friend."

"That's... isn't that painful?"

"No... sorta. They've got things they still want to keep to themselves. I know they love me, and I love them... they just, they aren't ready. I'll wait for that day, however long."

"What's holding them back?"

"They're a single parent, and they've chosen to keep the baby dad out of the equation. I sorta get why, but not everything."

"Ah, she must always be exhausted."

"They've had help. We've been helping since they've let us all back in. And well, it really reflects in how much their kids care for their parent. Though, one of their kids hates me for no reason. Always have and I'm determined to figure out why."

The interviewer laughed softly, "they sound lovely. Hope things end up working out."

"I hope so too," Casper said fondly, "I half wish I was the father. I know it's impossible, but, it's a nice thought."

"It is. Now-"

I wanted to watch more, but felt overly nauseous, despite barely touching my food. I off course, ran to the toilet only to spill my guts out.

Oh fuck

FUCK

I knew it was ridiculous to think that it was anything other than me being sick, but I was taking no chances.

Still, I decided to go to the hospital.

"Congratulations! You're pregnant!"

"How? The last time I had sex was last night."

My doctor looked at me quizzically, "i don't know. You should talk to your partner about what to do. I know that five year gap between this one and your youngest child could cause problems."

"Yeah. It should be fine."

My doctor smiled, "while you're here, I'd like to do a check up."

"That's fine."

I sat in that office as the doctor gave me a check up.

It gave me time to think.

There was no way out of it.

I had to tell Casper.

There was no way around it.

"So, how long have you been together with your partner?" My doctor asked as he held the stethoscope to my chest.

"I've been single my entire life."

"You couldn't have kids if Th- oh." He realized it rather quickly, "does the father know you can have kids, that you have kids? Or that they're his?"

"He knows they exist and I can have kids. Not that they're his."

My doctor sighed, "you should tell your partner. Nothing good comes from keeping such a large secret from them."

"I know. I have to tell them. With how quickly I got pregnant, there's no way to go around it."

"Well, that's good. It would be nice to see the father come to one of these sessions."

That would be nice. Having his sitting beside me, holding my hand, laughing and making jokes to calm me down...

I really denied myself a lot of joy for the sake of his career.

That....

Hearing that made me feel like shit.

I was done with the checkup soon enough and given some medicine. So I headed home.

When I got there, I was met with my friends who... well, we're wondering why I wasn't home.

"Guys?"

They all turned around, worry evident.

"Where have you been?" Casper asked.

I sighed heavily, "forgot I had a checkup today. Just go back. Everything's normal, so no need to worry."

They all visibly relaxed.

Almost made me feel bad that I did that to them.

"I thought we weren't leaving for another hour anyways?"

"Thought we'd come early," Jeremy said.

"That so? Well, come in, I need to change to something not frumpy looking."

They all relaxed in my living room as I got changed. It didn't take me long, but... it gave me time to collect everything I needed. Particularly my children's birth certificates.

Copies of them.

No way was I going to bring the actual thing where I could loose it!

I headed back downstairs to see everyone talking avidly. I hid a bit to listen in.

"So we need to make this stress free, alright?" Tyler suggest softly.

"Yeah. He doesn't get enough days off and we made him clean up yesterday," Tina said in a sorry tone.

"Let's not make him worry, okay, we can do that."

Well, that was... going down the drain.

"You guys ready to go?" I said loudly, making my presence known.

"Yes!" They all exclaimed.

We all pooled into Tyler's van, all of us squished together, but not really minding.

"So, you like your birthday so far?" Jeremey asked, resting the waters of what would make me stressed.

"Of course I've liked it!" I laughed, "I've had my best friends by my side for almost all of it. The greatest gift I could get."

"Great, because most of us are to broke to buy you anything."

"You have jobs."

"We have debt!"

"Fair!"

We all laughed at nonsense, most unaware to the clusterfuck of drama that was yet to come.