Imagine you're Mort Rainey's girlfriend and you're confronted by John Shooter.

"And they lived happily ever after. The end." Your boyfriend, Mort Rainey, finished the last sentence in a storybook close to your swollen abdomen, while he rubbed it with his other hand, in slow, gentle circles. After he closed the book, he leaned down and kissed your abdomen, twice, and said, "I hope you loved the story I read to you, sweetheart. Your mother and I can't wait to see you very soon." You giggled as you ran your fingers through his blonde hair.

"That was very nice of you to do that for our little girl, Mort. I'm sure she was very happy to hear your voice while you were reading to her." You said. Mort sat up and looked at you, with a smile on his face. "I'm sure she loved it, (y/n). I can't wait to read more books to her when she's born. Three more weeks until the due day." He said, while he stroked your abdomen with his thumb. You smiled as you placed your hand on top of Mort's and said, "You're gonna be a wonderful father, Mort." "And you're gonna be a wonderful mother, (y/n)." He said, and, then, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against yours and you both kissed each other.

Moments later, you both pulled away from the kiss and, then, you looked down at your watch and saw that it was 4:59 pm. "I should get dinner started." You said. "But, (y/n), I don't want you to do that. You're close to having our baby girl very soon." Mort said, sounding concerned. "Mort, I'll be fine. I promise. I don't want to order take out, I wanna cook. Now what do you want for dinner?" "Hm. How about spaghetti?" Mort answered. "Perfect! I'll get right to it." You said. Then, you, slowly, sat up, trying not to strain your back, while Mort helped you stand up. "Thank you, Mort." You said. "You're welcome, (y/n). I'm gonna call my publisher to see how my new novel is coming along. Yell for me if you need anything." He said. "Okay, Mort." You said. Then, he went upstairs to your shared bedroom, while you went to the kitchen to get everything ready for dinner.

***

A year ago, you reunited with Mort, your high school friend, when you both met each other for the first time in years at a local Tashmore Lake market. You both haven't seen each other since high school graduation day because you both went off to different colleges. Throughout the years, after graduating from college, you've been following up on Mort when he became a well-known mystery writer. After reuniting with him, you both have been going out to catch up on how things are going with each other. When he told you about the recent divorce with his ex-wife, Amy, you felt bad for him. But he was happy to have you back in his life since he had a crush on you in high school. You were surprised that he had a crush on you back from high school because you had a crush on him as well. It felt like you both were meant to be together.

Six months after you and Mort had reunited, you've found that you're pregnant. It was shocking at first when you and Mort found out, but you both were instantly excited to have a baby together. Mort was happy to finally become a father and have a baby with you since he and his ex-wife suffered a miscarriage years ago. Right now, you were nine months pregnant with a baby girl and you were due any day.

***

As you were preparing all the ingredients to make for the spaghetti, there was a knock at the front door. You turned towards the door, with furrowed eyebrows, wondering who it could be since you and Mort weren't expecting anyone. Then, there was another knock at the door, with a pounding sound this time. You were confused and scared of who it could be at the door. You walked out of the kitchen and headed to the door to see who it was. When you opened the door, there was a man standing there, with a black hat and a serious expression on his face.

"Can I help you, sir?" You asked. "I'm here to see Mr. Rainey, little lady. Wasn't expecting to see a lady here besides Mr. Rainey. Who are you?" The man said, with a southern accent. "I'm (y/n), Mort's girlfriend. Who are you and what are you doing here?" You asked. "The name's John Shooter, little lady, and I'm on official business with Mr. Rainey." The man, John Shooter, said. For some reason, you were getting creepy vibes coming from him and you didn't trust him one bit by the way he's talking "Well, I'm sorry. He's currently busy at the moment and we have other stuff to do after he's finished. I'll tell him you stopped by." You said, and, then, you were about to shut the door.

But John held the door open with his foot to prevent you from shutting it. "Now don't you be rude to me. Don't you have any manners to anyone who's at the door?" He said, rudely. "What do you want from Mort if it's really that important?" You asked. "That's none of your business. It's between him and me." "Then, I'm not gonna let you inside if you aren't gonna tell me. Now you get out of here or I'll call the sheriff." You said, as you tried to shut the door again, but he, suddenly, grabbed your wrist, causing you to yelp, in shock.

"Don't you get anyone, especially the sheriff, involved in this here situation, Miss (y/n). Mr. Rainey has stolen my story and like him to fix it for me." John said. "Let go of me!" You said, as you wrapped your other arm around your abdomen, protecting your baby, as you struggled to get out of his grip. "I don't think so. I've warned Mr. Rainey about this if anyone stepped in between our situation. If he won't fix the story he stole from me, I will take away anything or anyone he loves, including you with child." He said, threateningly. This was starting to scare you even more.

"Mort!" You yelled, as you continued to get out of John's grip. "Mort! Help me!" You yelled again. Then, the bedroom door opened and Mort rushed out of the room and saw what was happening as he, quickly, walked down the stairs. Once he got down to the bottom, he rushed over and grabbed John's hand and pulled it away from you. "Don't you touch (y/n)! What are you doing here, Shooter?!" Mort demanded, as he got in between you and John, with an angry expression on his face. You stepped away as you watched Mort confronting John, while you rubbed your wrist, gently. "I'm here to see if you have fixed my story, Mr. Rainey, but you're pregnant girlfriend got in the way." John said, in a 'not caring' tone.

Then, Mort, angrily, grabbed the lapels of John's dark gray blazer and pulled the deranged man, closely, towards him. "Let me give this to you, Shooter. For the very last time, I did not steal your story and I don't appreciate you coming to my cabin and laying a hand on my pregnant girlfriend!" Mort said, angrily, while gritting his teeth. "If you ever come back here or if you ever touch (y/n) again, I will make you disappear so fast before you know it." He threatened John. "I recommend you go turn yourself in to the sheriff before you make things worse. So get off my porch and get the hell out of here." He added, and, then, he, roughly, released John, who quickly ran off, got inside his car, and drove off.

After John Shooter drove off, Mort quickly closed the door and locked it before turning back to you. He walked over to you and wrapped his arms around you, protectively. "Are you okay, (y/n)?" He asked, sounding concerned. "I'm okay, Mort." You answered, still feeling a little scared. Then, Mort pulled away from the hug and he placed both of his hands on your abdomen. "Is our little girl alright?" He asked, while he rubbed your abdomen. "She's alright, Mort. He didn't touch my abdomen. Mort, who was he? Who was that man?" You asked. "He's a farmer from Mississippi that kept accusing me of plagiarizing his story. But I didn't. He threatened me if I didn't admit to stealing it and to fix it for him." Mort explained.

"But why didn't you tell me about him, Mort?" "Because I was protecting you and our baby girl from him. He threatened to harm anyone I love if I didn't do what he told me to do and if I get the police involved. I didn't want to scare you, (y/n), and put all the stress on our baby." Mort explained. "I wish you'd told me about him, Mort. I was so scared what he was gonna do to me when he grabbed my wrist." You said. Mort took your wrist and he started rubbing it, with a guilty expression on his face. "I'm so sorry, (y/n). I should've told you about him, but I was so concerned about you and our baby. I didn't want anything to happen to my family. I didn't want to lose my girls. I should never have left you out of my sight." He said.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and embraced him in warm hug. "You're not gonna lose us and it's not your fault, Mort. You didn't know that man was gonna be here and what he was gonna do to me. I'm sure he will never come back and bother us again." You said, next to his ear. He wrapped his arms around you and he held you close to him. "I hope he never comes back, (y/n). I don't ever want anything to happen to you or to our little girl. I love you very much, (y/n)." Mort said. "And I love you too, Mort." You said back. Mort, then, pulled slightly away from the hug and pressed his lips against yours. You closed your eyes and kissed him back.

Then, you pulled away from the kiss after you felt a kick in your abdomen. You chuckled as you looked down and said, "She's kicking, Mort." When you said that, Mort placed his hand on your abdomen and you moved it to the spot where the baby kicked from before. Then, the baby kicked again and Mort gasped, in excitement. "She is, (y/n). She's kicking." He said. He kneeled down in front of your abdomen, lifted your shirt up, and said, softly, "Hi, baby girl. It's your daddy. I wanna let you know that no matter what happens, I'll protect you and your mother from anyone who tries to hurt you both. I love you so much, sweetheart." He, then, leaned forward and kissed your abdomen multiple times. You smiled as you watch what he was doing, while you ran your fingers through his hair.

Moments later, he stood up and asked, "You still want to cook or do you want to order something instead?" You thought about it for a second and said, "I'll still cook us some spaghetti." Mort nodded and said, "Alright. But I'm gonna help you." You chuckled and said, "You're so protective. But that's what I love about you. Now let's go cook some dinner. Our little girl is probably hungry." Then, you and Mort headed to the kitchen to cook dinner.