The fact that I seem to write only about worlds where illnesses aren't a big deal kind of amazes me. Even if it's a modern world like this, you can still randomly find a rich CEO to save the day - which kind of amazes me. Was I really this positive, ah?

* * * 

What we decide may haunt us because we made the wrong choice or we waited for too long . . . But mostly it's because we made that decision in the rush. That brings us forth circumstances. Then meeting with more circumstances. That's what "fate" actually is.

I woke up with . . . nothing. I actually woke up without soreness or pain in my back. I didn't feel like getting up at all. What day was it? Oh yeah, Saturday. I was sick if Ryan called. But then again, I needed money. My life officially sucked. I swear to everything there was, my life was hell.

Sighing, I tried to stand up, but something pinned me down. An arm. A strong muscular arm to be more precise. Wait, what?

Suddenly, the previous night came rushing in my head. Blake. That guy. He's the one living here, and I've been sleeping in his bed. He's sleeping next to me. No, no, no, no, no it couldn't be. How could I have let it happen? I had to get out of here, and fast!

I tried to move, but he wouldn't even budge. What the fudging cake was his arm made of? I groaned and elbowed him in his ribs, but to no avail. This thing that jumped at me from every single corner was toned like a whale. Maybe I exaggerated, not really a whale, but he was too heavy compared to my tiny body. Yes, I unwillingly admitted that my height was the size of a midget.

Seeing as I had no other options, I elbowed him even stronger. Please work. I was going to try and whisper something so it would seem like he was still dreaming and that I wasn't even real. Hopefully it would work, because right then I heard a groan and he soon started stirring. Finally! Okay, now my plan to—

"What the hell . . ." He rubbed the spot I previously hit and I realized that it maybe won't work as I planned. "Go back to sleep, it's not even"—he checked the clock on a night board which flashed 04:58—"five in the morning! What the hell woman? You better have a good damn excuse why you fucking woke me up this early."

I sighed. He had a really nice way with words. So much from my plan to hypnotize him and leave without a trace.

"Saturday, work, morning shift. Ring a bell?" I yawned and he groaned even louder than the previous time. For some reason, I was much calmer than I needed, but I was also feeling a bit lightheaded so I tried to finish my escape as soon as possible. At that moment, a single thought hit me and I prayed that the morning sickness hadn't kicked in yet.

"I will pay you twice the payment you get if you continue sleeping, now good night!" He snapped, burying his head in the pillow and this time it was my turn to protest. Didn't he have a job to do, as well? No wait, why are we even sharing the same bed?

My brain that still hadn't awakened properly began to ring bells of alarm. Was I taking this a bit too well? Were the pregnancy moods this scary?

"I can't just ditch my job to just lay in bed. I have responsibilities, you know? And what about you? Don't you have some work to do?" I told him and he just took that pillow from under his head and put it across his head so he couldn't listen to me anymore, I'd say. Just then, another wave of nausea hit me and I bit my lip as I laid down to calm my upsetting belly.

God help me with this.

I felt sorry for the mashed potatoes from yesterday.

I've read all about morning sickness, but to experience this myself was like a completely different story. It's like a doctor telling you that injection will just sting a little bit, but for you, it'll feel like someone penetrated your skin with the kind of nail you'd kill a vampire with.

"Your choice. I gave you my offer," he said with a muffled voice. "Besides, my job starts at 7:30, and I can take a free day whenever I want," he added and I groaned once again. Talk about being the lucky baboon. I am jealous.

Taking money from him was a big no-no, however my head really started to hurt like hell and I really liked the bed and pillow I was laying on. I also didn't want to see Betty from my workplace again today. Ah, I really had a complicated relationship with that woman. Why was she on my mind at five in the morning? Moreover, I didn't really need the money, I still had that savings in the bank from him.

So four versus one. The hell with it. One day won't kill me. Pillow and mattress, here I come. And so I prepared myself to fall in deep . . . and I couldn't take it anymore.

Jumping out of the bed with an arm across my mouth, I headed into his bathroom before throwing up my dinner in the toilet. It burned my throat and tears started falling from my eyes, but I couldn't stop. I suddenly remembered when I stuffed myself with more food than I could take back when I was a kid. At that time, I really loved those cakes, but having to throw them up in less than an hour also hurt me. I cried for an extra hour. That cake was expensive. I could have used that money to buy snacks for the entire week, but I wasted it just like that. Regret and remorse really come to you in the least expected ways. Like now. I really regretted getting pregnant.

Suddenly, I felt Blake's arm sneaking around my waist as he grabbed my hair and pulled it behind with his other one.

"It's okay, don't try to hold it in." He coaxed me as I threw up again. Wasn't he disgusted with me? "It's okay, breathe slowly. Try breathing in, then out," he said and I followed, refraining from cursing. "In and out." I followed again. It worked, and I soon found myself calmer and better as he lifted me up and placed me on the edge of the tub. Then he grabbed a towel, soaked it with water and used it to cool my face. I, on the other hand, remained passive, being too tired to do anything.

"Are you better now?" he asked and I weakly nodded. I actually kind of wanted to hit him. Why must I be the only one to suffer? This was going to be a long, long morning and I would enjoy it so much. Note the sarcasm.

He once again lifted me up before bringing me back to the bed as I curled myself in the covers because I suddenly found my surroundings too cold for my liking. What was wrong with my sense for temperature? Blake looked like he was in the middle of summer.

"What are you doing here? In bed?" I asked him, remembering his earlier presence by my side.

"This is my room, maybe? And my bed." he replied with a shrug. That smart jackass.

"You said that I can take the bed, and you'll take the couch." I protested as my eyes started closing. I was getting too tired to try and run away from him at the moment.

"I never said that I won't take it too. I told you that other rooms were being renovated."

I-I was going to kill him later, I swore. "You . . . you . . . you jerk!" I hit him with the pillow that was next to my head, but with such a weak throw, he managed to catch it while raising his eyebrows.

"I'm flattered. Why thank you for such a thoughtful compliment, however I've been called much worse." Arrogant prick.

I threw the pillow at him. "I wonder why."

Blake glared at the pillow that he caught midair before putting it back in its place. "Go to sleep woman, don't you have something else to do other than annoy me?" he asked.

"Yes actually. I was supposed to have a job to do at this time." Truth, all truth. At that moment, I was so sleepy that I already forgot where I was and what I've been talking about. Job. What job did I have anyway? Oh right, cafe.

"If you want a job so badly, go and clean the mess those three made, so good luck and enjoy, and leave me to sleep," he said and I just stared at him with my mouth open. Now that I thought of it, sleeping was a great thing at the moment.

"I'll bring you some water, hold on a second," he said as he exited the room. I didn't have enough strength to stay conscious, so I soon fell asleep. Naturally, I did not hear the words that followed afterwards.

"Heartless woman, grabbing me and pulling me into bed when you had a nightmare last night, but now you pretend like I'm the one to blame."

Later that day, I woke up again. Blake was nowhere in sight so I found that as a good sign. I needed to get out of that place as soon as possible. He offered me a place to live, but the price would be living with him and that's the price I was not sure I could pay. Not after all that happened, that is.

Groaning, I got up from bed but stopped when I saw a glass of water.

I decided to go and look for my clothes. Just as I was about to go out and look for the rucksacks with our spare clothes, I saw mine on the chair on the right. I really wanted to complain, but this saved me the time from rummaging the whole house to get it, so I kept my mouth shut. Now, to get done with this.

When I went downstairs, Ade and Amy were enjoying their breakfast that an elderly woman was cooking for them. Uncle Alfred followed after her with a bowl in his hands. As I recalled, it was probably Alfred's wife he told me about.

"Good morning Al, Ma'am. How are you?" I asked once I entered the kitchen.

"Perfect my dear. What happened after Mr. Blackburn found you?" Al said. I mentally facepalmed myself. It would be great if I knew how to explain that, but trust me Alfred, your boss is one really confusing man.

"Um, he . . . made me a chicken with mashed potatoes?" That sounded more like a question than a statement, but was also partly the truth and all he had to know for now.

"Ah, I see. That is so much like him," the woman added, chuckling. I smiled back at her. "I'm Bridget by the way. This man's wife for thirty years!" She proudly offered me her hand. I chuckled while taking it.

"And I'm Kaley"—I stood next to Ayden—"this little pest's sister." Her face brightened while Ayden glared at my way, but said nothing. He seemed to really have liked his food.

"Oh, is that so. He's the cutest little thing I ever saw. Alfred told me all about yesterday and I must say that this house really needed some action like that, honey!" she said. Yup, well, your boss is a dark freak who scared the children away, so I get you.

"I could guess," I said instead as she turned back to the kitchen marble.

"Would you like me to prepare breakfast for you?" she asked and I shook my head.

"Nah, I will wait for Ade to finish and leave then," I replied. The faster I get away from Blake, the better.

"Alright then, but I would feel much better if you ate something. Mr. Blackburn informed me of your nausea from this morning so I think that you should eat a snack at that. It's bad to walk on empty stomach."

I took a quick glance at Ade who still had a long way to eat. "Actually, make me a sandwich or two to take, I have time for it." I smiled and so did she as Al went somewhere with the box of dog food in his hand. I guess that he went to feed Alexander, wherever he was.

Once we finished our meals, Ade and I bid our farewells as we took off to our home. From a conversation I had with Bridget about my stay, I found out that Blake was actually telling the truth about the state of the other rooms. As she explained, he had moved in just a bit more than a month ago and was carefully dealing with the interior himself, so he left unused rooms for later.

As we were walking down the street together, he kept telling me about taking a bath in the huge bathroom with Blake yesterday as I listened to his every sound, trying to see if Blake somehow harmed my brother, but I heard nothing of sorts.

I bit my lip. Ever since I met him the previous day, I had gotten a completely different picture about him than that of a few weeks ago. How long has it been? Almost one or two months? I wasn't sure. It was almost the end of 2011, and I met him around the beginning of November, so a month and a half? It certainly didn't feel like that at all. It's like Ayden never got leukemia and I never had that one-night stand with Blake. I wasn't even pregnant at that matter. Only a weak reminder was there to tell me that what happened today was indeed all true, including my nausea and unrestrained mood swings.

By the time we came home, I had no idea what to do for the first time in my life. I always hoped to have some time with Ade instead of working but now that it actually did happen, I had no idea what to do next. I worked almost all the time every day, so I wasn't used to this much freedom. Two years ago, I found a job while taking care of Ayden and trying to graduate a year earlier. I lost my friends since I had no time for them, but as soon as I turned eighteen, I took Ayden under my wing and everything was simpler without me having to worry about anyone taking him away.

"Say, Ade, what do you want to do?" I asked him upon realizing that thinking was leading me nowhere.

"Ice cream!" He started chanting and running around and I sighed. What a lovely idea. If I recall correctly, ice creams during the winter should be good for the immune system or something. It wasn't really cold outside, but there was a shop that still sold ice creams at that time of year, but not as cold as it usually was. They would somehow make it cream-like, not frozen like your usual type, just a bit less cool. I used to love it so much when I was still a kid.

"In that case, let's go," I told him, grabbing his tiny hand in mine before checking if he was warm enough and putting the scarfs on both of us. You never know when it could get colder.

The clouds were a bit grayish outside, but much paler than usual. I remembered learning at school that if the clouds were dark and gray then they were bringing the rain, but if they were lighter and paler, then it meant that we'll be seeing some snow soon. I'd like to see that. It hasn't been much of a snowy place here in Seattle for the last few years, not enough to build a snowman at least.

It will be Christmas in a week, but I wasn't sure if we'd be able to celebrate it properly, especially if we were to move out. I was sorry for not being able to stay with Ade and have a proper Christmas, but I'd always send him over to Mel's. He deserved much better than this. Usually, my workplace helped the poor and homeless people on Christmas, so we were open the entire night for anyone that wanted a hot meal for free.

I sighed wondering as to how I had agreed to buy him an ice cream on the weather like that. Oh, you and your puppy eyes!

When we came to the place I had in mind, I ordered a chocolate one for him and a cup of hot chocolate for myself—our most favorite flavor. Just as I was about to take out the money for it, a hand brushed past my shoulder paying for me.

I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. The strong scent from his hand that invaded my senses told me the name of the one behind me. He wore that cologne the previous day and when we met, I wasn't sure which it was, but I liked it for some odd reason.

Blake.

He said nothing as I turned around to face him who wore a similar suit like the one when we first met. The only difference was that black scarf that by no means made him look less serious he wore around his neck and black winter coat.

"So, where to?" It was just a single question he asked me, but more than enough for me to remember that I've been trying to escape away from him as far as possible.

"Me and Ade, home. You, where the heck you want," I told him off, taking Ade's hand and turning away.

Run. Get away from him.

"Now, that's no way to talk to someone whose inventory worth thousands of dollars your brother destroyed the previous night," He chuckled and I gulped. I wasn't sure if he was just being sarcastic or plain serious. As for Ayden, the little heartless thing, he probably had no idea just what kind of a mess he left for me to deal with. I might have spoiled him too much.

"What do you want?" I asked him with a frustrated sigh. The sooner we got over it, the better.

Sighing, he pointed towards the playground next to us before he headed there with us following. Forgetting about him, I enjoyed my warm cup of hot chocolate while I still could.

Getting to the swings, Ayden went ahead and started playing with some other children while I contemplated going with him.

"So . . ."

"Would you move in instead? You know, there's no need to deal with the entire separation deal. Just move in," It was his voice that interrupted me as I merely raised my head to see him staring at Ayden.

"You mean, I move in and forget everything? That cannot be that simple," I replied, gulping once again before I heard him sigh.

"Figures, but it's the only option I can think of. I apologize if I sometimes sound possessive and demanding, it's just that I never really had someone I'd have to . . . you know, take care of. It's as if you're a fleeting snowflake on my palm; the moment I take my eyes away from you, you'd disappear."

That was . . . deep, coming from him. It was just then that I noticed him staring in the sky as I raised my head up to see what he was doing before I saw them too. Snowflakes. Ah. How unpleasant.

The steam from the hot chocolate mixed with the gust of air from our breaths, barely hiding the snowflakes in front of me. I relaxed. This was the third or so snow of this year, but it would always just faintly fall for an hour or two and then be gone. So it didn't bother me much.

"This is crazy and all, but . . ." he said again as I turned my head back to him. "Would you marry me?"

"What?" I all but screamed at him. "You're saying that I should just forget everything that ever happened and be what? Your ideal wife who'd stay home and raise our child?" I asked, not believing my ears. This man was impossible.

Insane.

"I never said anything like that," This time, it was him who turned his head to me. "I won't force on you anything you don't want, but think about the future for a second. How do you think our child is going to feel when he or she realizes that their parents live separated unlike any of their friends? When they grow up even more and start questioning why are we not married and how were they brought to this world? How could you explain it to them?"

Damn it, his words stung.

"It was all my mistake, when I reflect on it. I was the older one here and I didn't think of protection. However, I do not want my child to think that they were a mistake. Could you even"—he took a deep breath—"imagine the pain they would feel?" he asked and I shut my mouth. I hated to admit it, but he was right.

"I'm not sure I can forgive you," It's what I've been telling myself.

"You don't have to. You don't even have to try nor fall for me, but if you could somehow, anyhow try to get over it or I don't know, try to just be friends with me . . . I think that we could manage," he explained and my lips felt dry.

Why? Why was he so certain that it would end well? Why did he decide to stick close? Why was he so persistent?

"I . . ." Why was it that his words were so painfully honest? Understanding, even.

"I know it came out of the blue, but I want my kid to have what I never had." He said those words so quietly that I almost couldn't catch it and my eyes widened. Right then, I didn't know if I was possessed by a devil or something, but I said it without really thinking over it.

"Okay."

"What?" he asked with a frown glancing at my way and I bit my lip as I sighed for who knows what time that day.

"I will marry you."

Whether I regret that answer or mine or not, I'd let the time decide. But at that moment, I chose to give it a go.

My excuse is that I've gotten tired from being dragged down by my past while deep down it's because I knew why Blake's words were so understandable. It was actually himself who was that "mistake" that he strongly didn't want his child to know about.

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Hmm, and so the former scum male lead Blake is gone. Although there's less drama this way, at least their relationship is nice now. Or else, I'd write this novel into a BE where they separate in the end. To heck with scum male leads, right now - they're my danger zone