I remember how I needed the password for WIFI  from my Internet café in order to publish those chapters that I wrote on my phone offline. Ah, the good old days when I had no internet nor PC QAQ

P.S. Spicy chicken Chicklit movies that ruined my youth and made me have prejudice against blondes! I'm never letting my kids watch them.

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Future is everlasting, but the past . . . past is never ending.

We composed ourselves by the time Blake's mother, Grace, came to call us for dinner. She also brought me some spare clothes to wear as well as a bag for my dress which I was really grateful for. Grace surprisingly took my existence well, never complaining nor asking about my identity. To my surprise, Ayden had become best friends with George or so others told me, as they even went to venture those labyrinths together.

Almost everyone left the party except for the two of us and Ayden; Max and Melissa already long gone, we were left with Blake's family, Lucas excluded. He wasn't around and I was honestly glad for it, I was not sure how my second meeting with him would go. Blake, on the other hand, seemed overjoyed by the fact that that man wasn't with us and gladly ate with his family wearing a smile almost all the time. His grandpa, Mel and Grace seemed to be touched by his mood.

I, however, thought that he was creepy, anyone would if they had Blake, who was usually frowning all the time, now smiling for almost half an hour. That simply didn't go well with me.

My mind, on the other hand, did what it knew the best—forget everything or push it aside until it came back at me ten times worse. Shaking my head, I focused on the conversation going on in front of the mansion, as Blake's mother tried to make us stay.

"Is it truly necessary to leave, you could've stayed for a few more days?" Grace asked, and I understood that it was because she missed her son so much. Apparently he rarely visited them and stayed the night. I studied his mother, she didn't look older than thirty-something, yet I knew she was in her fifties. Her hair black like Blake's, but he didn't get his looks from her but from his father. I wondered if he didn't like that, why did he hate his father? Would he ever tell me?

"I know, but Kaley's been feeling rather ill in the last few days, so we have to go home and make sure she's taking her medicines," Blake replied, throwing her an apologetic look and she sighed, I almost elbowed him for putting the blame on me.

"Jesus, Blake. You can't forget something so important. You should know better than anything how serious even an ordinary flu can get if left unattended," Her smaller frame scolding him seemed funny, and he frowned before shifting his gaze to me, avoiding his mother's eyes. My ears perked in interest, I could feel that her words had some deeper meaning, but wouldn't dare to ask.

"I know, mother. I know, but she's okay. We already went to check on her and it's nothing too serious, just some stomach ache," he mumbled and she gasped.

"Blake!" he closed his eyes, knowing that he made a mistake, I regarded them with interest. Ayden became impatient next to me from waiting, sad that George had to leave earlier to return Amy to Melissa who stayed up late all night in order to keep Ayden company. I was really happy that she cared for him, and that Blake's grandfather so easily accepted my little brother and I.

"I know, I know mother. Which reminds me, we might need your help, the wedding is going to be in one month and we might not be able to pull it off ourselves." Blake gave her a boyish grin, her lips parted in surprise and I wasn't sure if it's because he said that the wedding was going to take place in a month or because he asked for help. I didn't mind, I had no idea how to plan a wedding myself and his mother seemed like a real lady and like she knew everything I didn't.

Planning a wedding included.

"Isn't that too soon?" she asked and I could understand where that came from. Up until yesterday, they haven't even known about my relationship with Blake, and even I myself wasn't sure of where we stood. And the first time they saw us together they were suddenly faced with our plans for marriage—Blake's actually—and now asked to assist.

Even I wondered if we're going too fast and still couldn't get a proper answer. If my child was about to go through that, I would have been just as terrified and surprised. Guilt consumed me, what would she think if she found out that I was pregnant? I knew the first thought that would probably come up in her mind is that I was using the baby as an excuse to make him marry me.

"Not really, I've known her for quite some time now. Also, didn't you always say that it's best to just marry first, then come to know them later?" Yeah, right. "And I have already decided that she's the one I'll ever want to spent the rest of my life with." He shrugged and glanced at me with admiration, but with a hint of sadness as well.

I gulped, I knew that look I used to look at Ayden with, he was still blaming himself for what happened. I was not Ayden, Ayden almost never saw me look like that and when he did, he comforted me instead of blaming me. And I was not sure if I could handle his look of pity whenever he took a glance at me, it would kill me all over again.

So just ignore him.

Listening to my inner self, I simply smiled at him as confusion passed through his eyes for an instant before it changed to relief. I could try and copy Ayden, he might've stopped if he came to believe that I didn't blame him.

Did I? I was not sure if I actually blamed him or not. My mind was chaos of conflicts whenever I was with Blake. Run or stay, everlasting ebb and flow I could not catch up to. Not until I managed to realize my true feelings and what I need to adapt.

Shaking my head from those thoughts, I took his hand in mine before I got on my tiptoes, then kissed his cheek which made him blush a bit, too stunned to say a word. My eyes widened.

Holly fucking cake, he just blushed! Tug on my lips soon turned to a giggle I couldn't help, which made him land his usual and gentle flicker on my head.

"Sorry, I just couldn't resist, it was so cute," I managed to blurt out and, not knowing what else to do, he stuck out his tongue at me making his mother gasp. We both turned to her, his eyes looking already defeated for the scolding he was about to face.

"How dare you Blake, that's so barbaric!" Grace began another round of education. What did I do? It was his fault, not mine. "I did not teach you to act like that towards this poor girl. Immediately apologize to Kaley," she ordered and he obeyed with a scowl on his face.

"Sorry for flicking your head . . . Again." He grinned. I nodded as a sign of accepting his apology, a quiet sigh leaving my lips. Leave it to Blake not apologizing properly.

"Now if you don't mind, we shall get going," he said, hugging his mother as she awkwardly patted his back, eyes wide, lips ready to continue scowling, but stopped midair. I could already say that he never acted this way towards her, poor Grace looked like she hadn't hugged her son in years.

"Have you also caught that flu?" she asked him with a frown before she touched his forehead as he heartwarmingly laughed. He still wore the tuxedo from yesterday, making the sight of a full-grown businessman laughing without a care in the world seem even odder. You never knew when the Child Blake was going to pop out from.

"From love, maybe," he replied and then started hugging me out of nowhere. Talk about crazy hormones, I was the one that should've been an emotional wreck. Not like I was actually not. I couldn't even sort out my own feelings.

"Kaley." She moved Blake aside who only lifted Ayden before going to the cars. Grace came closer to me and hugged me. I didn't know what else to do, so I allowed my arms to wrap around her as well. "Take care of my son."

I could feel boundless love from that one sentence. She truly cared for Blake. I appreciated this woman. I didn't know much of Blake's relationship with his father, but his mother was something he should really be proud to have by his side.

"I will," I replied in return. As long as I am by his side, I'll take care of him.

"Thank you. It's been a while since I saw him smiling like this. You're a good influence on him," she confessed as I glanced at a smiling Blake that was bidding his goodbyes to everyone with Ayden on his shoulders. That was not true. If someone was leaving a good influence on someone, then it's definitely Blake, not me. He changed me, I did nothing.

By the time I was about to enter the car, night had already fallen. Blake waited inside, Ayden tried his best to stay awake on the back seat but failed miserably as his eyes closed and opened all over again and I smiled. We're we going to be like that with our own kid?

He glared at me, I frowned wanting to torture him. Wait, where have those thoughts come from?

"It's all your fault!" I said once I entered the car and put the safety belt on. Better safe than sorry. I bit my lip, my brain really had a way of toying with me.

"What?"

"You're an evil creature. Now I started thinking of all those evil and mean things like torturing you and—"

"How is that my fault?" He started the ignition.

"You're taking out my evil alter ego!" I threw back. He raised his eyebrow for a second before his eyes turned forward.

"How? Wait, what?" he asked in confusion as he took off, his eyes never leaving the road, he automatically locked the doors and I frowned. His driving paranoia . . .

"I was a good kid thinking about rainbows and the same cra-cake, and now all I think about is how to kill you!" I exclaimed, his lips trying to sustain a smile as he tried not to avert eyes from the road. He seemed somewhat bothered, and it was then that I started assuming that something involving a car accident happened to him in the past.

Same. We were so different, yet so similar.

"There's nothing wrong with it, I think of killing you all the time when I'm with you, except for this night. You were comfortable to sleep with. Want to join me tonight?" He shrugged it off while I only stared at him with my lips parted. Did he just do that?

"You, you . . . Well you're not bad yourself, you're the cuddliest creature ever," I grinned as he raised his eyebrow, not even taking a glance at my way, yet I knew that he was killing me silently in his head.

"Next time I'm going to tickle you to death and then we'll see if I'm still the cuddliest creature ever," The bright smile on his face somehow seemed a bit evil and I gulped, Child Blake knew to hit where it hurt.

"But you won't prove your point if you kill me." I fought back, not really sure if that it was going to work, but Blake usually went along with everything I said which was confirmed when he pretended to gasp in surprise, but then turned to ponder in silence.

"I'll think of something when the time comes." He glanced to his left before taking a turn, I only leaned back in my seat with a comfortable sigh. How could he focus on driving and maintaining this crazy conversation of ours at the same time? I didn't mind it though. Conversations with him were pleasant and easygoing.

"You're mean," I mumbled, yawning.

"And you already said that," I heard him say as I closed my eyes. I always thought that driving again was going to be scary, but with Blake and his ability to keep the conversation rolling, it was no longer like that. The first time I got closer to the car, I ran for miles. With Blake, I was so concentrated on him that the accident with my parents never crossed my mind.

"And evil."

"That too," His voice was almost singing those comebacks to me, I didn't open my eyes. Just enjoyed the moment.

"And—"

"Not a gentleman at all. Think of something better, munchkin."

"Shut up," he laughed, I copied.

"Aye, aye Sir. I mean, Madam." Opening my eyes, I saw him wiggle his eyebrows and I couldn't help but honestly laugh at his childish behavior. Only Blake. Only Blake. He did those things to me, he made me feel real. I couldn't succumb to numbness anymore, I did things with joy, because I actually wanted to do them.

"We should visit the convenience store, uncle Alfred went to visit his daughter because of the wedding, so no one was home for the last two days. We need to get some food, I'll cook," he said and I nodded.

Pulling the car to the parking zone, he unlocked the doors before turning off the car. "Which reminds me, we should start getting ready with preparations for the baby, room and all, I want us both to pick everything on our own," he smiled as he turned back to Ayden who was snoring silently. I wasn't able to be with him for Christmas as I planned, but I think that he had so much fun to compensate for it. I felt guilty for abandoning my little brother like that. I needed to be more around him, it was what I wanted, after all.

Free time to spend with my little brother.

"Sure, I'll paint the room," I said. I used to love painting but stopped long ago, lacking the tools because I had no money. But this was my chance to start all over again. As my attention was on those old happy days, I suddenly noticed Blake's hand on my belly.

"Hurry up kiddo, we can't wait to meet you," he gently whispered and I placed my hands on top of his, getting comfortable and closing my eyes. It was the first time I closed my eyes after what happened that I didn't even bother to think about the past, instead I focused my mind on our little family, on the future.

"What do you think it's going to be, a boy or a girl?" I asked him as he leaned down to kiss my belly, there were no changes, not even a slight bump so far, nothing that would indicate that I was pregnant.

"I don't know, but I don't care either. I'm going to love them whatever they end up being, though having a boy wouldn't be so bad, I'd have someone to take on my business and take care of you and the rest of them when I'm not at home. Having a girl might make her life troublesome, business is harsh on women nowadays, too many judgmental eyes," he mumbled and I fought the urge to gasp. How far in the future did he set his sights on? He was ready to accept our child. He wasn't going to mistreat it or something.

He cared. He genuinely cared.

"The rest of them?" I asked about his first statement, what did he mean by that?

"Well, if you ask me, one is definitely not enough, but the choice is on you, it's not like we're a normal couple," he added weakly and I nodded. Little by little, I came to warm up to this man. I always wanted a big family now that I thought of it, but with Blake? Was I really ready for it to be with Blake? It's just like he said, we're trying to start as friends.

Some friends we are, we kissed. Twice!

"That was pretty fast," he suddenly said and I followed his gaze to see him looking at sleeping Ayden. Our conversation was already in the past, I knew that it was going to happen again, but then I'll hopefully be prepared to answer properly.

"He can fall asleep anywhere. It's quite convenient actually," I mumbled, he nodded before gripping his chin where beard started appearing, three or four days old, I'd say.

"Do we leave or wake him up?" I asked and he shrugged.

"I don't have a heart, let's just lock the car. It's pretty safe inside," he spoke, more to himself than me, and I nodded. I trusted Blake, at that moment I realized that I trusted Blake enough to leave my little brother in his car, alone. That wasn't my way of adapting, it was a genuine feeling.

A real trust.

It was nice having someone like that in my life. Ayden was one. I wouldn't even think of doubting him, but Blake is someone I didn't know until recently. He was someone I suddenly met and someone I decided to trust, someone I bonded with. Did it even make sense?

However, what I found out that night was that shopping with Blake could be oddly interesting and fun, and nothing to repeat under normal circumstances.

"Come to think of it, you'll need some necessities for yourself," he said and moved me to the part where I could find all I needed.

"I'll buy what I need next time," I told him but he was already looking at some razors for girls and took a few before I could even say anything. Only Blake could do that nonchalantly, even though I had problems buying razors and napkins for myself, especially if it was a guy who was the cashier. Blake, on the other hand, simply threw in the casket whatever he deemed necessary and moved on like it was a completely normal thing. Except he was the only person in a tuxedo in the entire convenience store. And it was a normal thing to shop, it was my problem for being shy, I needed to grow a pair.

Shopping ironically took longer than intended, and after some half an hour later, we got all we needed and went to pay, while elderly couples passing by were gawking at us and talking about how cute we looked. I blushed, Blake would hug me or kiss my head giving them a show to watch while I could only shake my head at him.

He and his need to show off. And a few minutes later, we were finally on our way back home.

It was so strange to know that I now had a home I no longer had to worry about, the one I shared with someone other than Ayden. We were always having problems with rent, I won't lie, and I was always afraid that we'd get kicked out, but now I could enjoy knowing that we're safe. But back to the shopping deal, Blake was impossible.

"I'm never going with you to shop for my necessities again, Blake! Ever!" I desperately sighed, he once again kept his eyes on the road as he drove, Ayden still didn't wake even after all this time.

"Why?" confusion lacing his words, he had a cute frown on his face I was already too familiar with when I replied.

"Why? That old woman was glaring at us for all the commotion we made. You wanted to attack her for a single deodorant!" Seriously, no over-exaggerating here.

"She could've picked any other, I liked the smell of that one for you," Blake shrugged, I slammed my head in the seat, already giving up.

"Child Blake." I sighed, there's no point in arguing with him. I was not really angry at him or something, but he was such a child. To make the thing worse, there was only one of those deodorants left. I had to apologize to the old lady, drag Blake away and make him shut up and not complain for the rest of our shopping. Which was hard with us meeting that woman again after every two minutes!

"Child? Seriously? You won't win this one and you know I'm right. We picked it up first!" Actually, we reached for it at the same time. "She didn't want to let go of it on purpose!" he unreasonably exclaimed, raising one of his arms which somehow made me believe that he raised both of them which further ended up terrifying me, seeing as he was still driving the car.

"Hands on the wheel Blake! Both," I said gripping my chest and he chuckled, taking it calmly. He was always careful about driving, why was I even doubting him?

"It's okay, sweetheart, I know what I'm doing. I would never be careless when driving." The second time he said that word, I gulped. I couldn't, it was too much.

"Blake, can you please not use that word," I weakly mumbled, shying away my gaze from him, my hands suddenly becoming an interesting thing to stare at.

"Which one?"

I opened my mouth to say, but couldn't. Gulping, I tried again, knowing I had to, we wouldn't be able to make any progress if I didn't try as well. He was trying, he even apologized, asked me to move in, marry him, took me to the doctor, and brought me to meet his family. I need to try to be comfortable around him, he needed to know what I didn't like about him.

"Swee-sweetheart . . . It's giving me chills," I mumbled as his eyes widened, he realized. He thought fast, I learned this about him. He was good at analyzing and had a way with words the way only he knew of.

"I'm sorry. I won't use it again," he said and I nodded leaning on the window, closing my eyes, sighing in relief. Good, I could live with that, I was grateful he figured it out on his own, I don't think that I would've been able to explain it myself.

"Munchkin?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Is 'munchkin' alright with you?"

"Sure," I nodded blushing. How the hell did he come up with that nickname anyway?

"Then it's a deal," Blake reached out to me with his pinky finger, eyes always on the road, and I couldn't help but laugh at his naive behavior before locking it with my own. Child Blake was my favorite. With him, I could live.

When we came home, Blake gave me paper bags with what we bought to take inside and keys of the house as he went out to the back seat.

"Go inside, I'll take care of him." He picked up Ayden. I nodded before heading inside first. "Let's go buddy," he mumbled as Ade curled into a ball in his arms.

"Thanks," I told him as he nodded.

"It's fine, you go to the kitchen and I'll come after I put him on his bed, okay?" Blake went with a smile as we parted our ways.

"Sure." The two of them disappeared shortly after they climbed up the stairs as I headed to the kitchen. However, nothing could've prepared me for the next thing I saw as I slowly entered inside.

A half-naked blonde was sitting on his kitchen counter and her horrible voice rung in my ears.

"Blake, honey! I've come home, shall we have some fun tonight?" She then turned around. Who the fudge was this crazy witch?

Surprises are meant to be part of our lives. They weren't really different from the future we know nothing about. Both can be pleasing and painful. But there was something so wrong and terrible upon stumbling and messing with a surprise set for another person.

And fuck my bad luck for letting me face it unprepared.