"So, I've got a few agents noted down on the list. I did some research, along with my friend, who knows several agents in the business, and we were able to kind of narrow down a few things to help you get published. What about you? How's your query letter going?" Lara asks, as she flips through the guest list for her and Dom's wedding.

I rub my forehead with my fingers, and say, "Oh my gosh, it's such a pain in the neck. I've been rewriting it like a madman, and just having a really hard time overall. Is it going to be this bad always?"

Lara shrugs. "I mean, it's just the start. It's going to get worse. But, you're strong. I know you're going to get better. It's going to get better, and you're going to be fine. I assure you."

I smile, and look over at Lara's guest list. "You doing okay? You seem kind of stressed. Do you want some help?"

Lara shakes her head. "The guest list is the least of my worries. There's something else on my mind that's just bugging me for some reason."

I raise an eyebrow. "Wanna talk about it? I mean, it may help. Usually if we feel weird, we just need to talk about it."

Lara looks at me, with a raised eyebrow, and says, "You sure?"

I nod. "Come on. It's not the end of the world. Plus, if you talk about it, you'll probably let off what's bothering you so much. Been through that several times. But, of course, I'm not pressuring you. If you want to talk about it, do it. If not, I won't bug you for it."

Lara nods. "Yeah, I think I'll talk. Basically, I think Dom's changing. He's not around much, he's kind of iffy. I don't know what's going on."

I raise an eyebrow. "Give it some time, Lara. It's a pretty stressful time at his office right now. A huge project is going on right now. Once he's done, which will be in a few days, then he'll embrace you with open arms, thanking gosh that he's finally done with that hellhole. Plus, the last touches on your guys' wedding are another factor. Trust me, on your honeymoon, you guys will have lots of time for each other."

Lara chuckles. She checks off a few more gusts from her list and then flips the notebook page to the next one to see the extended list. Honestly, I don't even think my college essays were that long. She looks like she is writing an essay for English class that could screw her grade if she doesn't do well.

"How many guests are you inviting? Dang."

Lara snickers. She sets her pencil down, and looks back at me. She has the look on her face like one that a teacher has when she's about to tell a long, somewhat interesting story. "Well, Nicole, you see, my mother is Thai, and my dad is Cambodian. Asian families are humongous. Like, you're expected to know your mother's sister's cousin's dog's nephew's step-brother's rabbit's uncle, and act like it's normal. So, we have a bit of an extended guest list because my mom wants to invite my favorite cousins and aunts and uncles. Dom doesn't mind, partially because my parents are paying for the family part, and we're paying for the part where our own family and friends are coming. You know, the ones which we actually see regularly and know they exist. So, my guest list is longer than the wait time at an Apple store on Black Friday."

"And yet Dom refused to leave the line."

"I'm telling you, everyone wanted the IPhone since it was so cheap."

We just laugh some more, and then with that, she closes the notebook. "This is just our personal family and friends that Dom and i invited. My mom's got the large family."

I nod, and then say, "Have you had your coffee yet? You look a little bit woozy."

Lara nods. "Yeah, I had a cup ten minutes ago. By the way, that creamer you recommended is delicious. It tastes amazing. So, thanks for that."

I smile. "You're welcome. Hey, how are you not late yet to work?"

Lara raises an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same question. You should get moving." Pulling that card on me. I see you, Lara. She smiles, kind of evilly, and says, "Gotcha! No, seriously, get to work. Candice will be pissed if you're late. Trust me, she wasn't happy when Dom was late to work for a whole week."

I place the cups in the sink. "Blame his driving skills. How has he not gotten the car totaled yet?"

Lara shrugs. "Miracles happen, you know." We both laugh to that, as the truth in that statement is high.

*********

"Hey, Nicole, great work today. You can leave if you want," Candice tells me, to which I smile.

"Thanks, Candice! I'll stay back. Dom is my ride home, and I have some things to finish. Personal things."

Candice nods. "I totally get you! If you want to stay back, then that's fine. Or you can bug Ash. He's got most of his work done with as well."

I smirk. "Oooh, thanks for the idea! I'll finish this first, and then I'll go nag Ash."

Candice smirks. "I'm glad I gave you ideas. I'll see you later, okay? Don't cause to much trouble, okay?"

"No promises."

Candice chuckles, as I go back to writing my query letter for publishing. I'm almost there, just a few more things to write up. The only thing is, how do I finish this? I look down at the clock, and it reads 3:23. Great, not another 1.5 hours until Dom is done. This will be fun.

*********

Actually, it's not that bad. I'm able to get it done with about a half an hour, so I get my phone and text Lara that I'm done, knowing damn well that she probably won't respond within the next thirty minutes. I set my phone down, with a new sense of triumph flowing inside of me. I just finished another step that's getting me closer in finishing my new book. That's pretty awesome to me. Considering how much work I've put into my book, I know that Lara and I are going to try to make it the best possible book that it possibly allow.

So, with my letter done, the next best thing to do is to go bug someone who I know won't get bother. Ash it is! Dom's too drowned in work right now, so Ash it is. I lock my screen, and then walk over to the marketing department to find Ash. He's on his computer, staring at the screen, scrolling through something on there. I walk inside his cubicle, and then place my hands on his shoulders.

He looks over to find me standing there, and he smiles. "What brings you here, Nicole?" he asks, with a big smile.

I shrug. "I don't know. I just wanted to bug you. If you don't mind."

Ash chuckles. "Yeah, sure. You can bug me. I'm not doing much anyways. Just finishing up. What about you? How's work going? Like it here so far?" he asks, as he pulls up a chair for me to sit in.

I sit down, and say, "It's not bad. It could be worse. But, at least there's people I know. That's all that I'm really happy about. How about you? Have you been as swamped as Dom has been?"

Ash shakes his head. "Actually, I've been cruising. The only thing I'm worried about is Emily. She's been looking for jobs nonstop, because she wants to contribute. I've been telling her to calm down, because she's so young and fresh out of college. She's got a few offers, but it's stressing her out."

I nod. "Yeah, job hunting isn't easy. Dom was ripping up the market for one the second he was handed his diploma. My dad's fortune was dwindling as he got older, because of his multiple sclerosis, and Dom and Elena's college fees didn't help. He got it after searching. Elena got hers really quickly, because IT is a fast growing field, and there were so many offers. Ah, they made it through life like anything."

Ash smiles. "Oh yeah. Man, when I got my job, I knew that I wanted to take care of my sisters because I didn't want my father to try anything funny with them. I was afraid that my father would come to my house one day and take them away from me in one snap of his fingers. Yeah, stressful years."

I place a hand on his knee. "You're very brave person, Ash."

He smiles. "Takes one to know one."

Suddenly, I hear a loud, "SLAM!" come from the other end of the room. I hear someone scream, "YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Immediately, the memory rings in my mind. Out of all the places to have a PTSD flashback, it has to be with someone who I cherish more than anything. My breathing feels like it's suddenly cut off with the iron fist.

My fingers go to my temples and start to massage them to process everything. The door slamming, the shrill shrieking of Colin's voice, the infuriating look that was boiling on his face. Everything is overwhelming me, like I'm in the middle of a large wave that's going to drown me any second. Ash's eyes widen, and he says, "Oh my gosh, Nicole!" I squeeze my eyes shut, as tears start to fill them.

Everything feels like someone is trying to ball me up and throw me at a wall. "Nicole, deep breathing. Count with me. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven," Ash counts softly in my ear, as Colin raises his hand to start to do the unspeakable to me. My eyes pop open, and I see Ash with his hands on my shoulders. He's mouthing to me the numbers that I should take when it comes to breathing.

I count, mentally, with him, and take deep breaths so that the iron fist gets bored and lifts itself off. I feel so hot, all of a sudden. I feel like I was standing next to a heater for the past hour for no reason. My throat feels like someone blow dried it for the past hour on high. I try to regain the moisture to talk to Ash, but my saliva is just not cooperating. "Here. Drink some of this," Ash commands, as I take the bottle slowly and take a few sips of it.

The water running down my throat feels like lotion on dry legs. It's providing just what I need, for what I need to be comfortable. I look at Ash, who has a concerned look on his face, and I say, "When?"

Ash raises an eyebrow. "What?"

I hand the bottle back to him, and say, "When is this going to be over, Ash? I can't fight this battle forever, knowing what it's doing to me. I don't know if I can handle it."

Ash looks at me, with a determined look. "Nicole, it's not going to overtake you. You're going to have the upper hand, eventually. I know, it's hard, but giving up is the worst thing. You can't let them beat you. You have to show them who's boss. And, if you need some extra help, then I've got an army that's willing to help you fight."

I smile, as Ash moves some of my hair out of my face. You know, I may not be the best leader, but at least I know I've got a kick ass soldier who's always on my side.

*********

I take my stack of query letters that I typed up into the house. Dom follows behind, with his keys dangling in between his fingers, and he locks the door behind us. "We're home!" I call, as I take my coat and hang it up on the hook.

I hear Lara come through the hallway, and stop where Dom is standing. "Hey, hun! How was work?" she asks, with her usual beaming smile. Dom smiles, and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"It was fine. Kind of stressful. I don't know, I feel like I just want to call it a day and order some takeout."

Lara raises an eyebrow. "How about the next episode of Grey's Anatomy?"

I pipe up a little bit. "I can cook something. Dom, you take a breather. You both relax. I'll do it today." I head into the kitchen so I can grab some things to make some dinner. We're all hungry and tired, and I'm craving certain things today.

Lara and Dom smile. "Thanks, Nicole. I'll just go get changed," Dom thanks, as he goes into the bedroom to get changed. Lara follows me into the kitchen, and just kind of awkwardly hangs out there until I finish getting out all the pans and seasonings. I turn around after prepping, and then the awkwardness continues to layer.

Lara comes closer to me, with a smile on her face, and says, "How's the queries going?"

I smile. "Well, we've got all the letters right here. I think I'm ready to start sending them out." I'm excited for that, because it's a good chance to see how my story can be marketed and what it can be marketed as.

Lara nods. "That's perfect. We can start tomorrow. But, you remember how you said to tell you if something is bugging me?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah. Why? You're acting funny today."

Lara closes her eyes and relaxes. "No, it's not that bad. I-I just don't know how to tell Dom. I don't know what his reaction will be." She sounds like she ran over a rabbit with her car, and since Dom is a total animal lover, it would crush him. However, I feel like it's something more deep than that.

I tilt my head to the side, and say, "Unless you've been murdering our family, stealing money, kidnapping people, torturing random strangers, or have been doing something very blatantly against the law, then I don't think Dom will get mad. Tell me. What's going on?"

Lara exhales deeply. She tucks a lock of her almost straight black hair behind her ear. "Nicole, I'm pregnant."

It takes a few seconds for the words to sink in, and then it hits me. I'm going to be an aunt. I'm going to have a little niece or nephew to cherish and dote on. I look at Lara, with a look of disbelief. She bites her lip, and nods a little bit in confirmation.

My eyes widen out of pure happiness, and I put my hands on her shoulders. "Lara, that's amazing! I'm so happy for you! But, I have one question. Why are you assuming that Dom's not going to like this surprise? I mean, he's always wanted to have kids, and considering how much he loves you, then he's going to probably faint." It's true. Dom loves babies, and considering the amount of times he's babysat for some extra coin, then I'd be surprised if he DIDN'T love babies.

Lara snickers, and says, "I don't know. I think I was just kind of... nervous, I guess. How am I going to look on my wedding day almost 5 months pregnant with our child? It's going to be in June, which is only two and a half months away, where I'll start looking like a bowling ball. Will Dom still think I'm beautiful?"

"Absolutely. He thinks you're the most beautiful woman on the planet. Plus, he'll think the same about your child. Oh, and have you been taking your prenatals?"

Lara smiles, and places her hand on her baby bump. She looks back at me, with a smile. "Oh, yeah, I've been taking them. I got my prescription for them two weeks back. I just hid them from Dom. Oh, and I think the baby is a girl."

My eyes widen even more. A girl too? Wow, that's even more good news. "How do you know?"

"I've been having the same symptoms my mom and her sister had when they were pregnant with girls- with my mom pregnant with me. No morning sickness, light bloating, and kind of sluggishness. Also, a weird craving for condensed milk. Don't know why. So, I think I'm having a girl."

I laugh a little bit out of pure joy, and smile a little bit more. Condensed milk is really delicious, so I wouldn't be surprised that Lara's craving that. "Have you and Dom decided on a name if you were to have a daughter?"

"We were thinking Hayley Brianna. We loved how it sounded." I walk into the living room to grab something else, saying, "That's a great choice."

"What's a great choice?" Dom's standing there, with his old shirt on, looking like he just came back from the gym. I look back at Lara, who's walking towards us, with a slightly worried look on her face.

I say, "Tell him, Lara. Please. Or I will." I walk into the kitchen to start cooking dinner.

"Tell me what?" Dom asks.

Lara walks a little bit closer to him, and says, "Dom, I'm pregnant."

Silence follows. It's like someone decided to cut off all my hearing at that moment. Then, after that, he asks, "Are you serious?"

Lara clears her throat, and gives a sheepish nod. Dom's jaw is hanging open, like someone pulled it open with a string, and he says, "Tha-That's amazing! Oh my gosh, I'm going to be a father!" I hear him let out a grunt, and lift Lara up in the air.

I smile to myself, as Dom embraces Lara in his arms, as he's just sinking into the fact that he's going to be a father, to a possible daughter. You know, I may have not had a lot of happiness in my life for the past couple of years.

But today is more than enough to keep me distracted from that for a few hours.

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Yay, Lara's pregnant! Nicole and Elena are going to be aunties! And she's about to send out her query letters! This is going great! What do you guys think will happen next? Let me know in the comments.

Hey everyone! How are you all? Hello from my bed that has a mountain load of candy wrappers because everything is half priced right after Valentine's Day. Hey, it's worth it.

Also, how do you guys feel about epilogues? Asking for a friend.

But other than that, that's pretty much it. Hope you guys liked this chapter!

Please vote/comment/share/follow/message if you like my work! See you all next Saturday with a new chapter of Phoenix! Have a great week!

Love you guys,

Shree