"Hold on! You made us wait almost three months to tell us this, and that's all you're telling us?"

I shrugged. "There's nothing to tell. I had a one night stand and that's it."

"And you don't know his name?" Pearl asked. I shook my head.

"London, this is a big deal. This guy is a big deal. You swore that you would never ever have a one night stand, and the one guy who gets you to do it is the one you abandon in a hotel room? What is wrong with you?" Connie asked.

I rolled my eyes. "You're just exaggerating."

"Call it whatever you want, but if Fifi was here, she'd definitely agree with me," she pointed out.

Connie is my closest friend after Refilwe. We met in primary school, and she, Fifi and I went to the same high school where we met Pearl. Claudia is the last to join our group, having met Connie at varsity.

Life happened and we'd postponed our girl's night out, until finally a free night came up for all of us. My best friend was still MIA, and it hurt to not have her around, but I had to keep reminding myself that she needed the time away.

"I have to agree with Con here. You cut your hair, you learnt a new language and you had a one night stand. That's just the three things that really stand out amongst the million other things you did. It's like you're a different person," Pearl commented.

"Maybe I am," I replied.

"So are we going to address who Laz is?" Claudia asked.

I glared at her. "Laz is no one."

"Laz?" Pearl and Connie asked.

Claudia nodded. "Every day for the past two weeks, when she thinks no one is looking, she goes to her contacts and contemplates calling whoever Laz is, but she never does."

She would only know this because we work in the same place.

"Spill," Connie told me.

"There's nothing to tell. Like I said, Laz is no one," I replied.

"If he's no one, then delete his number right now in front of us," Pearl dared.

My eyes widened. I could never be able to do that. As it is, I've had to live with guilt for almost three months at the last conversation we had. I was a bitch, and he's called me once every day, but I've never bothered to answer the phone.

I don't even know what I'm afraid of.

Even I know that the excuse I gave him was complete nonsense, but honestly, only Fifi would understand. I've been in a relationship that started out much like this one, where everything was going really well.

Until we met.

I don't want things between Cuba and I to change. He's one of the few people who I can talk to without having to watch what I say. Involving the physical aspects might just change everything, so we're safer apart.

Even if safer so far means not talking at all.

"You can't even stomach the thought can you? Who's Laz?" Connie asked me

"Laz is no one," I stressed.

"Hmm, so you won't mind if we call him now?" Claudia asked.

I was wondering why she asked until I realized that she had my phone. I must've zoned out and given her the opportunity to grab it from the table. "You don't know my password."

"Everyone knows your password," the three of them said concurrently.

"What? How?" I asked, only to be ignored.

"Ooooh, this is an international number. Is Laz your one night stand?" Claudia asked.

I scowled. "What? No!"

"So you met two guys who rocked your world in one way or the other?" Connie asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I have never even met Laz," I defended.

"But you have his number?" Pearl asked in confusion.

"Can we just drop this please?" I requested.

But of course my request fell upon deaf ears.

"London?"

I jumped at the sound of his voice, until my eyes landed on the devious smirk Claudia was sending my way.

She called him and put him on speaker.

"London?" he called out again.

"Hi," I barely managed to say through my rapidly beating heart. I felt like I'd swallowed rocks.

"Am I imagining this?" he asked.

I glared at my friends and grabbed my phone, taking him off of speaker, before getting up and heading outside. "No, you're not, though I'm not the one who called you."

"Because that's comforting to hear after I've tried to reach you for almost three months," he said sarcastically.

I sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah no, you don't get to say stuff like that. You don't get to ignore me for so long and have to talk to me because you claim that someone else called me. You don't get to do that and I won't let you. Call me when you're the one who's really calling me and you actually want to talk to me," he said before the line went dead.

I guess I deserved that.

I stood outside for a while, tears rushing to my eyes. I've been really emotional lately, and not having my best friend to talk to is not making me feel the least bit better. The worst part is that I know for a fact that talking to Cuba would make me feel better.

I just don't know if he wants to talk to me.

I headed back inside and my friends instantly looked worried. "Are you ok? Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing," I said, wiping away the few fallen tears.

"It's not nothing. I wouldn't have called him if I knew it would get you so emotional," Claudia panicked.

"Calm down would you? I'm not crying because of him. I'm just feeling really overwhelmed for some reason," I admitted.

"Why would you feel overwhelmed?" Connie asked as our food arrived.

I was about to reply when the most horrid smell hit my nose. I could feel my insides disagreeing with it and I managed to grab the ice bucket and hurl my vomit into it. Luckily Connie had already taken the bottle out, and the coolness from the ice was helping a little.

"Babe, are you sure you're ok? You're looking a little off," Pearl asked me.

"I'm fine. Something just didn't sit well with my stomach," I said, sitting up, only to smell it again and head back down.

"I think it's your food, which is weird since you love seafood," Claudia commented.

"Somebody please take it away and get me a salad or something," I requested mid-hurl.

"Hi, please can we have a Greek salad instead," I heard Connie order as I continued to hurl. Claudia took the almost full bucket and handed me an empty one.

"Oh God, that was horrid," I said once I was done.

"Hun, when was the last time you were on your period?" Connie asked me.

I frowned for the longest time, until my eyes widened. "A few days before I left for Europe."

Silence settled at the table since I'm pretty sure we all knew what I was possibly saying. I was denying it a million times over in my head, but at the same time, the possibility was seriously taunting me.

And my best friend wasn't even here for me to freak out with.

"I think we need to take this back to my place," Connie suggested. Out of all of us, she's the only one who stays in her own house.

"I can't be pregnant," I whispered.

"Maybe you're not. It happens," Claudia commented.

"My parents will kill me, let alone JR. I can't be pregnant guys," I panicked.

"I'm going to pay the bill and have them bag our food. Con, you go with her and we'll meet you guys there," Pearl told our friend.

I wasn't even in the right space of mind as I barely registered myself being ushered out of the restaurant. I was blank, numb even. I couldn't pinpoint a single thought, let alone say anything coherent.

My mind was buzzing. There was a strong possibility that I was pregnant by a guy whose name I don't even know. Who was I going to raise this child with? Alone? I barely have my life together as it is.

We arrived at Connie's place and she led me to the couch before saying something about getting me water. I was blankly staring at her TV, until true anxiety settled in me and I could feel the beginnings of a panic attack.

I was struggling to breathe.

"London? London hun you need to breathe," Connie pleaded with me, but I just couldn't. My eyes widened as tears filled them.

She grabbed my phone, visibly panicked. "Shit! Come on, come on!"

I was curious about who she was calling to begin with.

"Oh thank goodness! Hi! My name is Connie and I'm London's friend. I don't know who you are to her, but I've gathered enough to know that you mean something to her. Anyway, she's in the middle of a panic attack and she's struggling to breathe and I just really need your help," she said rapidly. There was silence for a while.

"Mhmm. Ok hold on," she said before putting the phone to my ear.

"Dori, breathe," he said softly.

"Can't," I barely got out.

"Whatever it is, we're going to deal with it, so please just breathe. I'm mad at you, but I don't want you to die. Imagine how Nemo's going to feel," he said.

I managed to laugh a little, causing me to cough. Connie handed me water as I held the phone. "I hate you."

"I know you do, but right now I'm the only one of us two who should really hate the other more," he argued.

"Fair enough," I replied.

"Now, I know I was probably harsh, but that doesn't warrant a panic attack on your part. What's going on?" he asked.

"Uh..." I trailed off.

Where do I even begin?

He sighed. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

"I don't even know where I would start," I admitted.

"Alright fine. I have an all night meeting with some people concerning a new project I have in mind for the company, so I'm unavailable for the next ten hours, but I'll call you tomorrow. Do you think you'll be able to tell me then?" he asked.

"I'll definitely try," I replied.

"Ok, I'll hold you to that. I need to go now, but please don't do any dying while I'm gone. I already missed seeing my grandfather before he died. Despite your stupid reason, I don't want to miss having the chance to see you ok?" he said.

"Ok. I promise not to die," I replied.

"Good! Cuba's mad at London, but Laz is happy to have Dori back," he said.

I laughed. "Dori's happy to have Laz back too. Now go to your meeting. You don't want to be late."

"Ever the demanding one Dori," he said, laughing, before hanging up.

I put my phone on the table and faced Connie. "Thank you for that."

"I don't know who he is, but I do know that I've never seen you smile like that before," she commented.

"You can't tell Pearl and Claudia," I told her.

"I promise I won't," she said.

"Laz is Cuba," I replied.

"The grandson to the old man you were taking care of? Your father mentioned him," she informed.

I nodded. "I was being honest when I said I've never met him."

"So how do you know each other?" she asked in confusion.

"I tried to reach him many times on Mr Diaz' behalf, but I just never could. I left Paris without meeting him, but I did manage to meet his best friend and PR manager, so I left my number with them and asked them to extend it to him as a courtesy on my behalf. Just after you dropped me off, I switched on my phone to find a voicemail from him. He was thanking me for everything that I did for his grandfather, and before I could chicken out, I called him back. We've only spoken on the phone twice before tonight, but both conversations were amazing. We both don't know what the other looks like. He wants to meet me in person, but I told him no, and that was the last time we spoke before tonight. He's not happy with me given the reason I gave him for not wanting to talk to him," I replied.

"Is it because of Leon?" she asked.

"What?" I whispered.

She shot me a sympathetic smile, holding my hand. "Hun, I know about what he did to you, and no, Fifi didn't tell me. I overheard him bragging to his friends about it, and I kicked him where the sun don't shine before giving him a nice shiner."

A tear slipped down my cheek. "You didn't have to do that."

"Oh, I wanted to and I enjoyed it. Now, since you just said that you and Cuba don't know what you each look like, I'm guessing you don't know anything else about him?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I only know what he's told me about himself."

"Fair enough, but you should know that the man is sex on legs. Like, I don't think normal people should be allowed to look that hot," she said, making me laugh.

"Don't tempt me here," I said, poking her.

She laughed. "I don't mean to, but damn woman, I'm just saying. Secondly, I don't think he's anything like Leon. The man I just spoke to would never do to you what Leon did to you. He answered the phone in the middle of a meeting and when I'd finished saying my piece, he told me to take care of you as soon as he's done talking to you until the next time he talks to you."

"He did?" I asked, surprised.

She nodded. "It's clear to me that he cares about you, a lot, so do me a favour and just rethink the whole not meeting each other in person thing ok?"

"I will after I speak to him tomorrow. I've missed speaking to him, and I guess my decision will be made after our conversation tomorrow," I replied.

"As long as you're considering it. Also, I know that you and Fifi have always had this unbreakable bond, but I want you to know that I consider you my best friend as well. We've been friends since we were six, which is only three years short of your friendship with Fifi, so your happiness means everything to me too," she added.

I scowled, thinking about her words. Until that moment, I hadn't really looked at our friendship from that point of view. She's been with us to a lot of places too, especially when we were younger, but I guess Fifi and I must've isolated her because she pulled back a little in high school.

"I'm so sorry Con," I said, tears in my eyes.

If I didn't believe I was pregnant, all this crying might be enough to convince me.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. Like I said, I understand your bond with Fifi, and you're a great friend," she responded.

"But I could've definitely been a better friend, especially the kind of friend you've been to me over the years. You were always there if Fifi, JR or my mum weren't around, and I've never thanked you for that. I'm sorry and I promise to be a better friend," I told her as the tears rolled down my cheeks.

She was crying too as she laughed, reaching out to wipe away my tears. "You do realize that you're probably pregnant right? All this crying is so abnormal for you."

"I'm so dead," I said, laughing and crying at the same time.

"You also look mad," Pearl commented as they walked into the house.

"What am I going to do guys? I'm not ready to have a child. Hell, I'm not ready to bring a child into this world without their father," I pointed out, laying my head on Connie's lap.

"I don't have any answers for you, but the most obvious thing I know is that we'll be here with you every step of the way," Connie told me.

"Your baby may not have a father yet, but they already have five amazing mothers," Pearl added.

"I third that," Claudia commented, making us laugh.

"This is why I don't do risky things. It always ends badly for me," I pointed out.

"Or, maybe this is the best thing to ever happen to you. Besides, you're always doing adventurous things," Pearl argued.

"There's a difference between adventurous and risky," I countered.

Claudia snorted. "Not really, but alright, we'll roll with it."

"Can I ask you guys for a favour?" I said lowly.

"You have our absolute discretion," Pearl said quickly.

I shook my head. "It's not that. I can't hide a pregnancy forever, but I do need to confirm that I am in fact pregnant. Can you please come to the doctor with me tomorrow?"

"I'll even set up the appointment myself. I'll have Trish move my meetings," Connie said.

"You can count us in. Just text us the details," Claudia said, to which Pearl nodded.

I didn't have Fifi with me, but at least I had my other girl friends.

I suddenly became glass because that's the only thing I can think of to explain why I was being handled with care. They wouldn't even let me go back to my apartment, and very soon they got into an argument about who would be staying with me.

"No one is staying with me. I will continue staying by myself, thank you very much," I told them.

"As if we're going to let that happen. What if you trip and fall and you can't reach your phone?" Claudia asked.

"You watch too much TV," I told her.

"And you're too relaxed. We need to prepare London. If you're going to be a single mum, which I'm secretly praying that you don't, then we need to make sure that you're ready," Pearl added.

I raised an eyebrow. "If I'm going to be a single mother, then shouldn't I technically practice being alone?"

"Huh, she's got you there," Connie commented.

"Fine, so my reasoning was off, but you still can't be alone. What if you have weird cravings? What if you need to reach something in a high cupboard? What if you have swollen feet and you can't drive? What if you need help peeing?" Pearl asked swiftly.

"Woman, calm down! I don't even think you know how pregnancy works anymore. Firstly, you are dead in your sleep, so I wouldn't even be able to wake you up if I had a weird craving in the first place. Secondly, I'll move everything while I still can so that I can reach it later. Thirdly, Uber exists. Lastly, I think I'll be fine peeing on my own thanks," I replied, making Connie and Claudia laugh.

Pearl huffed. "Well now you can't accuse us of being bad friends. We've offered our services and you've turned them down. It's your move from here on."

Pearl can definitely be the most dramatic one of us all, but it makes sense given that she's an actress. Claudia owns a boutique and is an intern, Connie owns a marketing and advertising agency, and Fifi, before she left, was designing clothing.

I'm also interning with Claudia at a high profile magazine. I don't even like the internship because the people I work with generally don't like me. I also don't like it because while I'm a literary major, this world isn't one I see myself being in full time.

We all slept over at Connie's house. They felt that I shouldn't be alone so they agreed that they'd leave in the morning to get ready at their places (well Pearl and Claudia), and Connie would drive me to my place. I'd taken an Uber to the restaurant.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as we drove to my apartment the following morning.

"I'm anxious. Some part of me has come to terms with it, but a bigger part of me is hoping that it's not true you know? This was just never a part of my plans," I pointed out.

"I know, and you must be terrified," she commented.

I sighed. "You have no idea. What scares me the most is how my family is going to react. I think I would feel better if the father was in the picture. How do I tell them that I'm pregnant by a man whose name I don't even know?"

"We're here for you the whole way, and I'm sure Fifi will also be there. Your family may be upset at the beginning, but they'll eventually accept it," she replied.

"I can only hope so. I don't even want to know how Wyatt is going to react," I said.

"Is he still trying to get you back?" she asked.

"Not exactly. He's not as much of a pest anymore, but he tries to talk to me every single time he sees me, especially since we've run in the same circles for such a long time. He's going to lose it when he finds out I'm pregnant by another man," I responded.

"Especially since you never slept with him, so the baby can't be his for sure," she added.

Wyatt never wanted to take our relationship to that level before marriage. He always used to joke about how he would finally rock my world after we said our 'I dos'. It wasn't something religious, but rather something he was sure was worth trying out.

"You know what, one thing at a time," I said, making her laugh and nod in agreement.

We got to my apartment and she let me go and get ready. It was eight in the morning, and she'd managed to get me an appointment for ten o'clock. I showered and got dressed in a cute summer dress and styled my hair.

By the time I left my room, she was finishing up with making us breakfast. She figured that I needed to eat something, as nervous as I was. Unfortunately, I hurled everything back halfway into the meal. She was rubbing my back the whole way through as I sat on the bathroom floor.

"I don't think I'm going to like this part," I commented.

"It should only last through the first trimester, which I'm going to guess you're almost done with," she said.

"I really hope so because the room is spinning and so are my insides," I said before turning back to the toilet bowl.

Yeah, I'm not going to be a fan of this part.

We left as soon as I was no longer vomiting, and she stopped by the fuel station to get me a packet of salted crackers. They helped a little in terms of filling my stomach without nauseating me completely.

"You look like you want to kill someone," Pearl commented when we arrived.

"Yeah, my three month's past self," I replied, making them laugh.

"We've got you London, no matter what the doctor says," Connie reminded.

And the doctor confirmed our suspicions for sure.

I was officially nine weeks pregnant with a job I hate and no clue how I was going to bring a child into this world. My friends took me out for brunch, but I think they could tell that I didn't really want to socialize.

I still wasn't dealing with my new situation.

It hadn't settled in, and Connie eventually took me back to my apartment. I went to my bedroom and lay on my bed after locking the door, curling into a ball. I wanted to be alone, and before I knew it, I was crying endlessly.

I cried for hours, and when my phone started ringing, I remembered that Cuba had said he'd call. "Dori? What's wrong? Are you crying?"

"Yes," I hiccupped.

"First a panic attack and now you're crying? Are you trying to kill me? What's going on?" he asked, sounding panicked himself.

"I'm pregnant and I don't know who the father of my baby is, or at least I don't know what his name is. I had an amazing one night stand in Paris, but now my entire life is about to change. I feel so alone, so confused and so angry. What am I going to do Laz?" I sobbed.

I was met by silence for the longest while. "Cuba?"

Dialling tone.

That was enough to send me into an even deeper depression. I cried myself to sleep, and when I woke up, I hoped it was all a dream, until my insides churned. I ran to the bathroom and threw up violently.

When I was eventually done, I went back to bed. I had no intentions of going anywhere, and Connie, Pearl and Claudia would knock every now and then, but I just wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. I just wanted to sulk and be depressed for a while.

"London," Connie called me. I frowned and checked the time since it was dark out- 02:43am.

What is she doing up?

"What?" I managed to croak.

"I need you to come outside right now," she said.

"I don't want to," I replied.

"Not even for me?"

My already swollen eyes widened. I would know that voice from anywhere, and my heart took off as I finally put the pieces together in my head. It couldn't be, right? I slowly got up and walked to the door without unlocking or opening it.

"Laz?" I said unsurely.

"Dori," he replied.

I unlocked the door and slowly turned the doorknob, only for my eyes to widen more than they ever have as I looked at the man I had an amazing night with. "I'm the father."

And that's when I blacked out.