The next day Kelsie and Chris went to The Dot for something to eat. When they walked in through the door they saw Craig, Jimmy and Marco at the table near the door. She soon had a bad feeling in her stomach, making her feel a little ill.

Craig didn’t see them though since his back was facing the door. However, he did notice a happy look come over both of his friends faces. He wanted to know what their sudden change in mood was.

“Hey Jimmy,” Kelsie says as she comes over to their table, hand in hand with Chris.

Craig swung around at the sound of her sweet voice, to notice her huge stomach. His eyes widened at the sight, surprised by it all; he didn’t know what to say. However, at the same time he felt a joy come over him, a joy that sent tingles through his body.

“How’s the mother to be?” Jimmy asked to cut the silence as he got up to give her a hug.

“Good, but I get tired a lot easier. It’s going much better then my last pregnancy, except I don’t remember having to use the washroom as much. Will you excuse me for a moment,” Turning to Chris, “Order me a cheese burger with extra pickles.”

“Alright,” giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Kelsie headed towards the bathroom while Chris went up to the front to order.

******

“Is it me or am I the only one who seemed surprised to find out that Kelsie was pregnant?” Craig asked looking from one to the other. Had they been keeping this from him, or was he just reading into something that wasn’t there.

“I sure didn’t know about it,” Marco replied, even though that was a lie; he just didn’t want Craig to feel like everyone had been trying to keep something from him, it would only make him feel worse.

At first, he wasn’t going to answer, but then he decided he didn’t want to lie. “Okay I knew only because Ashley told me. Kelsie didn’t want it to be spread around to everyone,” Jimmy replied.

“I’ve talked to her many times since our break up; I don’t know how something like this could slip her mind.” He was a little upset that a girl he once called his best friend, his love, didn’t tell him the happy news. He couldn’t figure out what the big deal was.

Jimmy wasn’t going to open his mouth because he knew exactly why she hadn’t told him a thing. By the look on Craig’s hurt face, he knew that this visit was definitely going to turn out just like he and Paige had predicted, especially once Craig found out the whole story.

Kelsie and Chris were eating their meal; Craig kept a close watch on them. He couldn’t handle it any longer; he had to know why she never told him. He walked up to their table, “Kelsie, I thought we were still friends, why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“Can we not get into this right now?” pleading with her eyes. She did not want to discuss it when everyone was around, and especially not here, not like this.

He gazed into her eyes, he could tell that she didn’t want to do this right now, but he didn’t care. “No, I want to know,” he said with hurt in his voice. He deserved to know.

“Fine!” annoyed at him. Getting up from her seat, and pointing to the door, “Let’s do this outside." Why did he have to be so difficult?

Craig followed her outside of The Dot. “How far along are you?”

She took a second to answer that, “Almost 8 months.”

“Wow,” not cluing in that the chance of him being the father was high because he never thought that she would keep it from him if that were the case.

Looking at him with sincerity, “Craig, I really didn’t want to get into it here. That’s why I phoned you last night.”

“That was you who called?” now wishing that he had taken the call.

Shaking her head, “Yeah, but you never got back to me.”

“Sorry about that.” He had totally forgotten to ask Joey about that this morning. He didn’t think that it could be anything too important; just it was one of the guys.

Walking down the street, “You know I would have rather done this somewhere…more private.” Somewhere they didn’t have people staring at them from inside the restaurant. She felt a little bit of anxiety run through her, as she thought of how this was going to go, especially since they were in the middle of the street instead of somewhere more private.

Craig stopped walking; he was a little confused by the whole situation. He really could be an idiot sometimes. “What’s the big deal where we do this?” It wasn’t as if everyone else was blind to her being pregnant.

“Because,” gazing at him, “I wanted to do this the right way.” She had planned how she was going to tell him and everything, but plans never seem to go the way you want them.

“What?” staring at her with uncertain look over his face, not cluing it on the hidden meaning. Why was she so worried about doing it right, he wondered. It’s not that big of a deal to tell your friends that you’re pregnant.

“Craig…this baby I’m carrying,” grabbing his hand and placing it on her stomach, “…it’s yours.” She just gazed at him waiting for a reaction.

At that moment, his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped. Did he just hear what he thought he just heard? “Are you sure?”

Nodding her head, “I found out I was pregnant before we even went to Sechelt, so it couldn’t be Chris’s.”

He began to back away from her, raising his voice, and snapping, “You’ve known all this time, yet you never told me! You left me out just like Manny! What is with everyone?”

This rage of his was beginning to scare her; she had never seen him like this, ever. “I didn’t want to tell you over the phone, I didn’t think that was the best way to do it,” she said, trying to make him understand why she did it this way. If she knew that he would react this way maybe then, she would have done it over the phone, but at the time she thought in person was the only way to go.

“Why did it take you so long to come here to tell me then?” crossing his arms, glaring darts at her, waiting for an explanation; he at least deserved that.

“You know what happened with Satine, she was premature,” she pleaded, feeling like she was on trial. “My doctor wanted me to be extra careful for my first two trimesters to prevent this from happening again, so I didn’t want to risk it by traveling so far from my doctor.”

“How can you be so cruel as not to find a way to tell me? You knew very well how I felt when Manny shut me out of it all, yet you did the exact thing to me,” he ranted feeling betrayed, feeling like he never really knew her. It was as she didn’t care about his feelings all of this.

“I’m sorry,” she bellowed, trying to put her hand on his arm, but he backed away. “I thought I was making the best decision.”

“You really are a HEARTLESS BITCH…just like some of my friends told me. I just never wanted to believe it before,” wanting her to feel the pain he was feeling right now. He wanted to hurt her as if she had just hurt him. He felt as if no one seemed to care about his feelings.

Kelsie starred at him with hurt written across her face, had he really just said that to her? “I can’t believe that you said that,” she sniveled. She never thought he would take it this bad, she really thought he would be overjoyed to know that he was going to become a father, but no, he turned it all around on her.

“Well it’s true, and it’s about time someone told you after all this time. I guess the picture I had in my head of you was just some fantasy. I kind of feel sorry for Chris now, having to put up with someone like YOU!” pointing his finger straight in her face. The hurt the he was feeling had really taken over him; he was saying things that he wouldn’t regularly say. It was far worse than any of the fights they had when they were dating.

It took all her strength not to slap him across the face; her face was turning red with rage. If he could indignant her so could she, “Paige was right about you, she told me this would turn out bad,” she roared. “I’m glad that I won’t be here too much longer, so that I never have to see YOUR face again.”

“Well you can just go to HELL,” he stormed off down the street towards his car.

Kelsie walked slowly back into The Dot with tears filled in her eyes. She was starring at the ground, not really watching where she was going, still in shock at what had just happened out there. They all noticed it; Chris walked up to her with great concern. “Hun what happened?”

“He basically thinks I’m the biggest bitch in the world for keeping this from him this long. He doesn’t believe the reason why I did it,” wrapping her arms around him. She was mad but also sad at the same time. However, after what just happened she knew their child was better off with Chris anyhow. Anyone who could treat her like that, she wasn’t sure she wanted them in her child’s life.

“Aw Hunny, I’m sorry. I know you wanted our daughter to have her father part of her life.” Lifting up her chin, to look at him, “But remember I’ll be there for both of you…always!”

“I know,” she said quietly, looking outside the window.

“Craig is being an idiot. He’ll regret his actions one day,” Jimmy said, trying to be nice. However, in the back of his mind he wasn’t sure if Craig would ever get over this, knowing that he never really forgave his father for what happened with him. He loved his friend, but he knew that sometimes he needed to forgive and forget.

“Why don’t you come and sit with us,” Marco suggested, thinking it would be nice to catch up with her. He hadn’t really had as much contact with her like some of his other friends.

“Okay.” Sitting down, deciding to change the subject, “So what are you guys doing after graduation?” Kelsie asked.

“Well I’m going to SFU, while Ashley will be nearby at UBC,” Jimmy replied. “We wanted to be near each other, but SFU didn’t offer the same things that UBC did so Ashley decided that she would go there. At least we’re not too far from each other, only a few hours.

“I’m staying here in Toronto to stay near Dylan,” Marco said. “We’re actually thinking about moving in together comes around September.

“Aw that’s sweet! Where’s Spinner going?” not knowing that he hated her. She never knew about the hurtful things he had said about her after she broke Craig’s heart. No one had the heart to tell her.

“I think Mal-U,” Marco answered, not able to look her in the face, otherwise he may confess to her the truth.

“Well that close to us, it’s about an hour and half from Victoria. Why there?” She knew that a lot international students went there, and a few from BC, but she had never really known anyone to come from Ontario to go to it.

“Not really sure,” Jimmy said, he hadn’t really thought to ask. He just that it was good that Spin had decided to go.

“At least I won’t have to deal with Craig being anywhere near me. He probably wants to stay here in town so he can be close to his precious little girlfriend,” she said rudely. “After today, I don’t want to ever lay eyes on him again,” she said with bitterness in her tone. In the back of her mind, all she could think about is how much it hurt have her best friend say so cruel words about her.

Jimmy and Marco glanced at each other, not sure what to say about that; wondering if they should tell her. Kelsie noticed this.

“What is it?” glancing from one to the other, “There’s something you’re not telling me…isn’t there?”

“Um…Craig’s actually going to be closer then you think,” Jimmy said.

“How close?” the thought just appalled her, after what just occurred.

“Craig’s going to UVIC.” He already knew that she was going to freak about this, he just waited to hear what she would say.

Kelsie’s face turned white, “Great, well at least I’m not going to be at UVIC his first year. I won’t have to bump into him.” Knowing that there was still a chance she would see him, but praying that she wouldn’t. She didn’t want to hear anymore-awful things being said about her.

Kelsie looks at her watch, and notices the time, “I’ve got to go meet the girls,” glad that she didn’t have to talk about him any longer. “Chris do you need a ride to the house?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” he could walk back to her place; he would love to see what this town has to offer, since he didn’t see much on his last visit.

“Why don’t you stay with us,” Jimmy suggested. It would give them time to get to know him more.

“Alright.” Looks at Kelsie, “See you later.”

She bent down and placed a kiss upon his lips. “Bye,” she heads towards the door, waving good-bye to them all.

After she left, “It looks like World War III has just started between her and Craig, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to let down anytime soon,” Marco said. He dreaded the thought of this happening. He knew that this should be a time for them to be talking about bringing their child into the world, not fighting.

“I hope it doesn’t because her getting worked up like this isn’t good for the baby,” Chris replied, worrying; he knew what it would do to her if she lost another child. He didn’t know if she'd recover from another loss, and he didn’t know if he could either. This child may not be his, but he would raise it as if it was his own, for the child was a part of the woman he loved.

“So tell us about you?” Jimmy said, thinking it was time that they change this awful subject that kept on coming up in the conversation.

“Well I was born and raised in Sechelt. I have an older sister named Jenna. I met Kelsie in gr. 8 through some mutual friends. We hung out together when with our friends, but didn’t really become friends with each other until gr. 9, when we had quite a few classes together. Once we started working on a play together, I was hooked on her, her beauty just shined through her work. By the end of the school year we were going out, and basically inseparable.”

“What was she like back then?” Marco asked.

“Real shy if she didn’t know you. She usually didn’t start up a conversation with you unless you came up to her first.”

“Well you wouldn’t be able to tell now,” Jimmy said thinking of how she was when she lived here. She had really come out of her shell that year; she had been a social butterfly, becoming friends with everyone.

******

Kelsie, Ashley and Paige walked through the mall. Kelsie was acting as if nothing was even bothering her. She didn’t even tell her friends about the big scene at The Dot. She didn’t want to put a damper on things.

“So you left Chris with the boys?” Paige asked.

“Yeah,” not thinking it was that big of a deal.

“They’re going to be asking lots of questions, trying to get information on you that they don’t already know.”

“There isn’t much that they don’t already know, I’m not that worried. And the stuff they don’t need to know anyways Chris won’t tell them.” She knew Chris would never tell them things that she didn’t want some others to know.

“I hope not,” knowing how persuasive they both could be.

“So what kind of colours are you planning on having for the nursery?” Ashley asked.

“Well I had Chris paint a real vibrant green in there; I just have to paint zoo animals on the wall,” she had seen this actually on a blanket, and it gave her the idea to do it in the room.

“That’s kewl,” Ashley said, thinking that it was different from most baby rooms.

“What do you already have?” Paige asked, wondering what they could buy for her.

“Crib, drawers and high chair. My parents just gave me money to get a car seat/buggy so I’m going to look around to see what I can find.”

Ashley noticed a pair of overalls with pink flowers and bright yellow shirt, “Look at this, it’s so precious.” She loved kids clothing here, they were all so cute, especially for girls.

“Look at this one,” Paige said holding up an outfit that was pink shirt with Capri pants.

“Aw,” Kelsie said. She loved shopping for her baby girl; it was a lot if fun to choose from all these adorable things.

Both girls bought her the items that they found while Kelsie bought the car seat/buggy that she saw, and liked. She knew she wouldn’t find anything like this back in Victoria, so she might as well get it now.

******

Craig sat at the bar, well more like leaning against it now, sipping down his fifth shot of vodka. He had been sitting here for hours trying to forget that this day had ever happened. He wanted to drown in his sorrows, and not feel the hurt he felt. It wasn’t like him to drink this much because it reminded him of how his dad was, but today he was making an exception. Pounding his fist on the table, “I hate you so much Kelsie, I’m never going to forgive you for doing this to me.” Of all the people he thought might betray him he never thought that she would be one of them.

His cell started to ring, but at the sound of the ringer he removed it out of his pocket and turned off his phone. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. She betrayed him, and so did some of his friends. It made him wonder who else was keeping things from him.

“Bartender, I want another shot of vodka,” he slurred.

“I don’t think so,” he shouted back, “I think you’ve had enough for tonight.”

He had forgotten that he even had a girlfriend to think of. What would she think if she knew he was in a place like this drinking?

Just then, a hot blond chick in a short black mini skirt, and a tight tube top, strolled over to Craig. “Hey good looking, what’s got you so down?”

“I hate my ex-girlfriend,” he stammered, not really looked at her. Not as if he really cared about whom this person right beside him was, he would have confessed that to anyone in his state.

Sitting down close to him, so close that there wasn’t much room to breath, “Maybe I can help with that.” Pulling him up and leading him into the backroom, where they kept the extra alcohol. He tried to pull away to go back to his table, but she only tightened her grip around his hand.

“I can’t do this,” Craig said, as she sat on the desk, pulling him closer to him.

“Why not? I can make you forget about all your troubles,” she said seductively.

Before he was able to answer her, she crushed her lips on his, getting very rough, placing her hands on his inner thighs, making him moan.

Craig really wanted to stop her, but was having a hard time for his hormones were running wild because of what she was doing with her hands. He didn’t really want to do what he did to Ashley, to Emma; she didn’t deserve that.