LIV

I sat in my class, hardly focusing as I thought about all the work I had to get done that weekend. My English professor was going on and on about the importance of MLA, which a bunch of my classmates apparently didn't understand.

"If I don't see your name, my name, and the course name, you've done something wrong. This is the age of the internet, don't you-"

And blah, blah, blah.

Class was done at this point, so this felt more like an attempt to make us stay the whole time allotted. I could empathize with my professor, though. So if I were him, I'd just call out the students that didn't listen, and let the rest of us go about our days.

Yana, another one of my best friends, turned to me with a smirk on her face. "Let's just go. This man is turning red at this point, who knows how long he's gonna talk for?"

"You know he says that we have to stay the whole time, otherwise our attendance won't count," I reminded her, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Look," she nodded towards our professor, "he's not even looking at us right now. Let's dip."

I was about to protest again, but she was already pulling me up from my seat and pushing me out the back door. Yana closed the door softly behind us, "wow, perfect escape."

"Good job," I said, kind of giving her some credit for that. I could have waited, but I was glad to be finally leaving the lecture hall. Sometimes, I forgot that I was housing a growing human in my uterus. But my stomach, loud and angry, quickly reminded me. I hadn't eaten for hours, which was probably fine, but it didn't feel fine.

I was about to say something about eating for two, when I remembered I hadn't told Yana yet. I'd been so busy for the past months, we only saw each other at University. She didn't seem bothered, but that was only because she was so considerate. She was two years older than me at twenty-two, and we met when I was in grade 10. I didn't think we'd do all four years of Uni together, until she told me that she'd be taking two years off to make 'as much money as possible'. We talked all the time, and I had apologized for us not hanging out, but she said she understood that I had other things to do. Myra, on the other hand, was very much bothered even though she knew what was going on.

She texted me a few days earlier, immediately complaining and assumed I was with Rob. When I told her I was at home trying to finish one of my final essays, she called over and over to apologize. Meanwhile, I still haven't gotten an explanation about what she's been doing, and why she and Ryan disappeared at the club months ago.

Yana put her arm around my shoulder, "you okay?"

I nodded, quickly, "yeah, I'm completely fine. Why?"

She smiled at me, "you were frowning pretty intensely over there."

My hands went to my mouth. I didn't even know I was making any kind of face, which seemed to be a thing I did all the time. I kind of hated that people could tell what I was thinking just by looking at my face. It was like I was an open book, whether I liked it or not.

I was about to apologize to her when she spoke, "why don't you come to my place? We can get some boba and takeout, and I'll tell you about this guy I've been seeing."

"You've been seeing someone," I gasped, then immediately felt a pang of guilt.

'I've been seeing someone.'

Yana went on, not noticing my inner conflict, "yeah, I'll tell you everything."

******

I took a long sip of my honeydew boba tea, savoring the taste and texture of the bubbles. After stopping to get boba, getting takeout, and then swinging by the grocery store, we'd finally made it back to Yana's apartment. "Mm, okay, now spill the beans about this guy you're seeing."

She smiled, then tucked her loose curls behind her ear, "well, we met a few months ago when I was working, actually. I was basically checked out because it was almost time for me to go home. Then this guy comes up and orders this ridiculous drink. I actually started to get a little pissed. He then asked what I wanted. That's when I finally looked at him properly. He was smiling, then asked how much longer my shift would go for. We got some coffee at a different cafe after that, and now we're here."

"I'm assuming you have some pictures," I smirked, wiggling my eyebrows as I looked down at her phone. Without another word, she handed me her phone, open to show a selfie of her and this very good-looking man. He looked like he was taller than her, and he had dark brown, curly hair, and hazel eyes. He also had a really nice smile, and nice teeth. I looked at Yana in the photo. Her smile wasn't as bright as his, but there was a sparkle in her eyes. She looked so happy.

I gave her back her phone, "he's beautiful... So, you know I have to ask. Have you two...?"

Yana laughed, "no, we have not. I'm taking this slow. Lots of making out and heavy petting, though." She took a quick sip of her drink, "I'm still a proud member of our little 'Virgin club'."

She continued to look through her phone, smiling, probably at more photos of her and her new boyfriend. I watched as she did, and I couldn't help but the guilt that I felt. Yana and I told each other everything, and here I was keeping secrets from her.

My phone dinged, which pulled me from my thoughts. It was my pregnancy tracking app with a reminder to take my prenatal vitamins. Yana looked up, "what's up? You gotta go?"

I shook my head, "it's just a reminder." I knew I wanted to tell her, soon. As soon as possible. A big part of me wanted to do a big, extra reveal and make it a huge deal. But I also wanted to just get it out there. Soon enough, I would start showing, and I wanted my best friend to be shopping with me, and indulging in cravings with me. Or rewatching one of my favourite bad movies, just because it felt right.

"Yana."

She looked up, brows raised, "hmm?"

I was telling her, I knew that. But I felt like I needed to do something interesting. Some kind of reveal to make this moment even more memorable.

So, I stood up, turned to the side, and lifted my shirt so that my small bump was on display. "I'm not part of the club anymore. I'm pregnant."

For what felt like years, she sat there with her mouth wide open. Her eyes went from my face to my belly, then back again. Finally, she got up, then smiled wide as she moved to give me a big hug.

"I can't believe it! Wow! Wait," She pulled back and held me at arm's length, "are we happy about this?"

I nodded, "we are-"

She grabbed me again, tight, and squealed. "Congratulations! Sit, sit, I need details." Yana sat me down, a big grin plastered onto her face. "How are you going about this? Do you have a plan, do your parents know? Oh my God, they must've shit bricks! Who's the father? How far along are you-"

"Woah woah woah, slow down," I laughed, surprised at how excited she was about my pregnancy. Literally a sister in everything but blood. She was much more excited than Amanda, my actual sister.

"Well, I'm actually having twins."

Yana threw her hands over her mouth. I could tell she was about to freak out, but she visibly reigned it in for my sake, "go on."

"Uh, I'm still getting a handle on balancing work, school, and this. My parents do know. I hid in my room for hours right after I told them, but they're totally onboard and supportive now. I am fifteen weeks along, and my clothes are starting to feel tight." I sighed then, about to reveal the most shocking answer to her many questions.

I took out my phone, went to a picture of Rob and I as we smiled with a photo of our first ultrasound. "This is the father of my twins."

She whistled once she got a good look at the picture, "hello handsome. He looks familiar, do I know him?"

"Well," I nodded, "if you've ever seen the new Early Childhood professor then, yeah, you know him."

Yana turned her head to look at me, and almost dropped my phone in the process. "Olivia... You didn't!"

I held up a hand in protest, "listen, I didn't know he was my professor when I slept with him. It was a one-night stand at that party Myra and Manda convinced me to go to."

I didn't think Yana would be even more shocked, but I guess she really never expected me to sleep with a stranger. "A one-night stand?! OLIVIA!"

"My ears, Yana," I winced.

She apologized, and finally seemed to calm down. "Are you guys together?"

"I think so," I shrugged. "We spend most nights together, and we go on dates. It feels like we're official. But..." I trailed off, trying to remember when we ever put a label on our relationship. As I thought about it, though, I realized we hadn't. It might've felt like we were together, but technically we weren't. "We haven't officially said we're boyfriend and girlfriend."

She nodded slowly, "you probably wanna have that conversation... Anyway, let's have this food." Yana went to warm up or takeout, leaving me to think about the state of my 'almost' relationship.

******

I waved to Yana before I went into my house after she dropped me off. We had talked, laughed, and caught up on class work for hours after I told her about Rob and I. We also talked more about her and her boyfriend, Nick, who she said was a law student and worked as an intern at a law firm. He was busy, so it would be tricky to set up a double date, but I was determined to meet this guy before my twins came into the world.

My house, unsurprisingly, was empty once again. Amanda was off with Ryan somewhere, and my parents were out of the country for business. None of this was new, and I would've been much more surprised if anyone else had been at home. At least this way I wouldn't fight with my sister about her leaving dishes in the sink again. The TV was still on, which let me know Amanda had been in the house at some point that day. She must've been in a hurry, since she'd left her new favourite show playing. Considering she'd just started it a few days before, I highly doubted she was already halfway done with the second season.

"Hmm," I scrolled through Netflix in search of something else to watch. I was just about to plop down onto the couch when there was a knock at the door. There was no one I was expecting, so my best guess was that one of my online orders had arrived a day or two earlier than expected.

I was not expecting to see Robert at my door, holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and pizza in the other. He smiled as soon as he saw my face, and I felt a warm tingle in my chest. "This is a surprise," I told him. Rob nodded, "yeah, I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I just..." He trailed off as he gazed into my eyes, "I haven't seen you outside of class in the last few days, and I missed you. I thought we could have dinner and a movie at home. If that's okay?"

'Of course it's okay. It's perfect,' I thought to myself, trying not to stare at the pizza for too long. "What kinda pizza is it?"

"Pineapple, spinach, and tomato from this amazing vegan place."

I tipped my head to the side, pretending to think about whether or not I should let him in. When he looked slightly dejected, I figured I had teased him more than enough. "I would love to have dinner and a movie with you." I stepped to the side and let Rob come in. He gave me a quick kiss before he walked in, and I closed the door behind him.

It didn't take us long to pick a movie, especially since Rob was insistent on us watching whatever I wanted to. His only requirement was extremely vague; that I pick something good. In my eyes, all the stuff I liked to watch was good, so that didn't narrow down the list at all. Eventually, I settled on Set It Up. We were barely five minutes into the movie when Rob paused it. "What," I asked him, confused because he was still glued to my side.

"Did I tell you about how I had dinner with Aaron the other day," he asked. I shook my head. That question was definitely an opener to whatever he wanted to say, because it was unlikely he'd forget about us having that conversation, if we'd had that conversation. Still, I just waited for him to go on. "Well, even though he gave me a hard time at first, everything went well, and he's in support of us and the pregnancy."

I smiled up at Rob, glad that he could stop stressing about my uncle. I was well aware of the dinner and the result of their conversation, which my aunt had told me about over the phone. She left out some details, though, and I was glad. It was different to hear about their little dinner from Rob's point of view.

"That's great. I didn't think he'd stay mad at you for very long, anyway," I noted. As I looked up at him as I rested my head on his arm, my thoughts went to my conversation with Yana. I wondered what he called me if, and when, he mentioned me to other people. Was I his girlfriend? The mother of his children? Someone he was kinda seeing? I had no idea, even though we'd been doing whatever this was for months.

Rob leaned down and gave me a sweet kiss, "well, he's just going to have to get used to the fact his niece and my girlfriend are the same beautiful woman. You look amazing, by the way."

He must've noticed how shocked I was, because his smile fell, "I'm sorry, I never asked if you were okay with us being together-"

"No, that's not... I'm just surprised. I mean, I thought we were, but we never talked about labels," I explained. Hearing him refer to me as his girlfriend was a relief, especially since I wasn't sure what he was going to say when I brought it up later. Well, I wasn't going to anymore.

"You're right," he sighed, visibly more relaxed. "I also figured we were together, but we definitely should've talked about it. That's important to you?"

"Most of the time," I replied.

He looked down at me, "so, girlfriend, what should I call you?"

That confused me, and my eyebrows furrowed which made Rob smile. "Nicknames and pet names, I mean. Like, babe, honey, boo boo?"

I laughed, especially at the mention of boo boo, "definitely not the last one. Liv and Olivia are perfect, like you usually call me. Babe is so overused though, don't you think?"