Queen For A Day

“Cooper I’m fat.” I whined, staring at my reflection in the mirror.
“No you’re not. You’re pregnant, not fat.” Cooper walked up behind me and I couldn’t help but stare at his body.
“Damn you’re hot.” I smirked. He was wearing only a pair of black tracksuit pants that hung low on his hips. He’d stayed overnight at my house after we got back from celebrating our 2 month anniversary last night.
“Why thankyou Ms Hill, you’re not so bad yourself.” He teased gripping onto my waist from behind and kissing my cheek. I looked like shit compared to him. I was also only wearing tracksuit pants, which came up uncomfortably under my belly, and my new bra that I’d bought since my boobs were getting sore and bigger.
“Honey, you are beautiful ok. You’re six months pregnant and still look like a model. I’m so lucky to have you.” He turned me around and kissed me gently before squeezing my ass.
“C’mon we’re meant to be at your mother’s in 45 minutes.” He laughed and stalked off to get changed. I groaned in response. It was Easter Sunday, and my Mum decided to host a party and invite everyone. She had made a few surprise visits in the past two months, and I swear she loves Cooper more than I do. Well... Maybe that’s not the best thing to say. Cooper and I had yet to say the “L” word and I’m fairly sure he’s just waiting for me to say it first. But I wasn’t ready to. Or I didn’t love him like that… I wasn’t sure.
We arrived at my parent’s house to find so many cars in the driveway. Thankfully there was a marked out and designated parking space right near the front door for Cooper and I. I wasn’t too keen on walking all the way up the street like some people had to. He turned the engine off and ran around to my side of the car, opening the door and helping me out. Gotta look after the pregnant chick. We walked to the front door and I greeted Mason, the butler and doorman for today, as he let us through. The house was buzzing with activity and sound. There was classical music playing through the surround system throughout the living and dining rooms where most of the people were. I scanned the crowds for any trace of my Mum... with no luck. There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned around.
“Poppy!” I squealed, awkwardly hugging my seven-month-pregnant sister in law. “How are you? And the baby?”
“We’re good Cali, really good.” She replied just as excitedly. I hadn’t really seen her in a while. Her belly had grown so much. “Is this the famous boyfriend that your mother hasn’t stopped talking about?” she turned to Cooper. Oh jeeze Mum.
“Yep, this is Cooper, Cooper; Poppy.”
After the introduction Poppy pulled me aside. “Is he the father of your baby?” she hissed.
I swore I’d told her like three weeks earlier… “No, Vic is. Your cousin. Didn’t I tell you that?”
She looked at me surprised. “Yeah that’s what I thought. But your Mum is saying Cooper’s the father?”
I groaned, “To her he is. I told her Cooper was just so she wouldn’t be disappointed in me. Cooper’s all good with it too. But please don’t tell her the truth.”
“So what’s going to happen when your baby comes out looking super Mexican?” Ugh seriously Poppy?
“I don’t know, maybe the baby will be like me?”
“Let’s hope so.” The red head girl looked worried. We’d been able to pretend for 2 months easily, so it can’t be that hard to fake for like... ever... right?
“Hello!” Mum’s voice boomed through the room. I could hear her but I couldn’t see her.
“There she is!” Cooper grinned and held his arms out to my Mum who went straight up and hugged him.
“How are you going Cooper?” She asked him. Wow so my boyfriends the favourite now?
“I’m great thanks Ms Hill, you’re looking lovely as usual.” Typical. Cooper’s always been one to suck up to my mother.
“Hi Mum.” I waved awkwardly to her. That’s when she appeared to notice me.
“Hello Love, how is everything?” She kissed my cheek.
“I’m good Mum, you excited to be a grandmother in the next few months?” I smiled at her. We’d been getting closer as the time passed. When I first found out I was pregnant I had thought that it would push me further away from her, but in reality it had done the opposite. And also, for some reason she’d never tried to force Cooper and I to get married. In fact she’d never mentioned the idea.
“Oh I’m so excited! I’ll have two grandchildren within one month! Oh!” She grabbed my arm and dragged me across the room and stood me in front of a tall dark haired man. Oh shit.
“William, say hello to your daughter.” Mum scolded as the man just stared at me.
“Cali,” he breathed, unable to say anything else.
“Hey Dad.” I mumbled. I hadn’t seen him in two years. He’d moved to Florida when he and my mother had split up 15 years before. He’d been back on occasion but not in the past two years. He and my mother were still on speaking terms, but I didn’t imagine he’d be here for an Easter party.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered, suddenly realising Mum had disappeared but Cooper was now at my side.
“What? Am I not allowed to come and visit my family? I’ve decided to stay here until both my grandchildren are born, I didn’t want to risk missing this time in your lives.” He said solemnly.
“Thanks Dad.” I threw my arms around him and hugged him tight.
“Also Cali, I’ve met someone.” Dad looked at the ground, “I think I’m going to get remarried.”
“That’s great Dad!” I was truly happy for him, I knew he was lonely. Even though we hadn’t seen each other we still spoke on the phone on occasion. Mum had phoned him to reveal my pregnancy though. I would’ve probably forgotten otherwise.
He looked relieved to know I was ok with him getting married. “Now, hello young man, you must be Cooper!” he reached out to shake my boyfriend’s hand.
“Great to meet you Mr Hill.” Cooper smiled at my father and my heart fluttered. It was weird to see them meet, but both of them seemed happy. There was no tension. Which is weird. For my life, I mean.
“So what date is your baby due?” Dad asked, looking questioningly at Cooper.
“Umm...” shit he didn’t know.
“28th of July.” I quickly put in laughing, “As if you can’t remember Cooper!”
He faked a laugh.
“That’s getting close now. You two excited for your first child? It’s always hard with the first one, but you do get used to being a parents.”
“I’d like to hope so.” I smiled at Dad. Cooper didn’t reply. He was staring at the floor with a blank expression.
“Oh, hello Marge!” Dad turned around to say hi to my aunt who’d just appeared.
“Cali can we talk for a minute?” Cooper leaned down and said in my ear.
I looked up at him surprised, “Ok, do you want to go somewhere quiet?”
He nodded, so I lead him upstairs to my old bedroom. Walking in was like stepping back into my childhood. My white four poster bed and matching dressing table and couch were still the same as always. There was a bookshelf filled with all of my favourite childhood books and even a dolls house in one corner.
I sat on the bed and Cooper sat next to me. He was still expressionless and it scared me.
“So...” my voice cracked. What the hell is up?
“Cali I haven’t been completely truthful with you.” Cooper rushed his words and looked straight at me.
“W-what do you mean?” I wrung my hands together.
“It’s just – ugh – “ he stood up and started pacing. “I wanted to tell you from the start but it’s just been impossible. As soon as I actually knew you were pregnant I should’ve told you, but I didn’t and you’re going to hate me for it.”
What the fuck.
“Cali I have a kid.” He stopped pacing and gave me a pained expression. “I know what it’s like to be a single parent, I was going to tell you everything. But then I thought you might think of me differently. And I didn’t want that.”
“Hang on what... you have a child?” My voice was weak. I was not expecting this. “Since when?”
“Cali my son is ten years old.” He looked at the ground. Well shit.
“But you’re only 26.” I was so confused. How could he hide this from me?
“He was born when his mother and I were 16. She’s the woman I married when we were 20. But we didn’t raise him. My mother did, he thinks I’m his older brother. Anyways, it’s messed up. But I just needed to tell you.”
The thoughts were spinning around in my head. I felt dizzy. “You hid the fact that you had a 10 year old? Shit Cooper how long were you going to keep that one for? And what does that mean... what else are you possibly hiding from me?! If you were able to lie about a fucking kid then anything else would be easy to lie about!” I was screaming at him now. I’d managed to push him right back up against the wall in my rage.
“What the fuck Cali, you’re lying to your own parents about who the father of your child is! You can’t be mad at me for lying when you’re doing the same!” He yelled back, clearly getting angry.
“Piss off! You just said that your son thinks you’re his brother! I think that’s worse than lying about who’s the father. Look I don’t even know what to think right now. Don’t try and talk to me. I need some space.” I turned and half ran out the door, leaving Cooper alone. I couldn’t do this right now.
“Whoa is everything ok?” Poppy suddenly appeared out of a bathroom.
“I’m fine.” I hissed viciously.
“Cali you look super angry and you’re crying. You’re not fine.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the bathroom and sat me down on the edge of the bath.
“What’s happened?”
“Cooper’s been lying to me.” I told her, putting my face in my hands.
“Oh no Cali. What can I do for you?” What could she do? That’s a good question. I just wanted to know if Cooper was lying about anything else.. I also needed someone to comfort me...
“I don’t suppose you’d see if Mike could come here for me?” I sniffed, looking up at my sister in law.
She smiled kindly, “Of course.”

I was still in the bathroom twenty minutes later when there was a knock on the door.
“Cali? It’s Mike.” The soft voice said.
I walked over and opened it to find that Mike wasn’t alone.
“What is he doing here?” a fresh lot of tears suddenly came up. Vic was the last person I wanted to see right then.
“He was with me when Poppy called.” We all looked at each other for a few seconds before Vic stepped forward and pulled me into his arms.
“Oh Cali I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” He murmured and stroked my hair as he held me. I was surprised at first, but I started crying harder so I held onto his torso tightly, breathing in his sweet scent. He held me until I stopped crying, and by then Mike had left us alone.
“I think we need to talk,” he pulled back and watched me closely.
I nodded. This probably wasn’t going to help my situation at all. I still had feelings for Vic, I had to face the fact that I would never be able to love Cooper while there was still something there. So I either had to let Vic go, or let Cooper go. And I had no clue what to do.
Vic looked up and down the quiet hallway we were in. There was no one around but we could still hear the muffled sounds of music and laughter from downstairs. We needed somewhere more private. I waved for him to follow me and walked carefully to my old bedroom. I hope Cooper’s not still in there... To my luck the door was open and it appeared that my room was now empty. But where was Cooper? Had he gone home or just back downstairs?
I sat down on the little couch in the corner and Vic sat next to me, but we faced each other so we could talk.
“Cali I need to talk to you about Rayne.” He started quickly.
I growled, “You better not be coming to me for relationship advice.”
He looked at the ground and mumbled, “I sorta am... just listen to what I have to say ok?”
I sighed. Whatever.
“I don’t want to be with her. I don’t love her, I don’t like her company, I do not want to even know her.”
“Then fucking break up with her!” Seriously Vic!? I’m the one who was just crying over my messed up relationship then he starts telling me about this?!
“It’s not that easy!” He sounded like he was pleading with me. “She’s basically blackmailing me.”
“What?”
“I’ll start from the beginning,” he rubbed his eyes wearily. “She joined our crew as a merch girl a few weeks into the tour and started being a bitch straight away. All of us were so pissed off at her all the time, but she kept coming back to me, completely throwing herself at me. As all this was going on I was fighting myself, I was trying to ignore and get rid of some certain... feelings... that I had. Anyways one night I was drunk and she was being slutty and we ended up sleeping together. The next day she started accusing me of raping her, which is not what had happened. That’s when I found out her father is the manager of our record label. She threatened to tell him I’d raped her, which I knew would lead to us getting dumped by Fearless. Her bargain was that she wouldn’t tell him, as long as we started dating. So I agreed, only to save the band. But she’s horrible Cali, she’s emotionally abusive and a bitch to everyone and I’ve been pushing everyone away because she doesn’t like me being with anyone other than her. I just don’t know what to do anymore Cali, but I know one thing. I want to be with you.”
Well. That was a lot to take in.
“And that’s why she also doesn’t know you’re the baby’s father?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded, tears brimming his eyes. “I’m so sorry Cali.”
“Hey... no you don’t need to be sorry.” I murmured, moving in to cuddle up against him.
“I should’ve never let this happen though.”
“It’s not your fault.” I pointed out.
“Yes it is! I only slept with her because I was trying to forget you! I have feelings for you Cali! Fuck I want to be with you so badly, but I tried to ignore everything. It was never meant to lead to anything.”
I shrunk back into the couch at his sudden outburst. He was pulling at his hair and breathing hard, a few tears streaming down his cheeks and dripping onto the flannel shirt he was wearing.
“Ugh,” the baby suddenly kicked at my stomach. Oh! “Vic! Here!”
I grabbed his hand and put it on my belly. Please, please kick again! And it did.
Vic’s face immediately lit up as the baby moved and kicked against his hand.
“Wow.” He breathed in awe. I couldn’t help but smile at him. He was just so beautiful when he smiled.
“Vic, I’m sorry!” A male voice yelled from the hallway somewhere. Both Vic and I jumped and looked towards the door. A figure suddenly appeared and it took me a second to realise who it was.
“Victor. What the fuck are you doing?” the blonde haired woman growled lowly. “You were supposed to come straight home, I tracked your phone.”
“Piss off Rayne.” Vic stood up slowly and looked at her lethally. Mike appeared behind her and grabbed her arm. She shrugged him off without breaking her gaze from us.
“No, you need to get away from this whore. She’s already pregnant and managed to get you alone, if you leave her now I’ll forget about it. If not.” She cracked her knuckles and stared directly at me. She can’t actually be serious. Can she?
Both of us turned our gaze at Vic. Was he going to leave me or not?
“You can’t hurt Cali.” Vic said tightly, clenching his jaw.
“Just watch me.” She snarled, taking a step closer. “Vic, step away from her.”
“Rayne you need to stop!” Mike yelled right at her.
“Of fuck off, stop trying to protect her. I bet you don’t even want that bastard child anyways.” She turned to Mike. His face contorted into pure rage and he opened his mouth to say something.
“Fuck off Rayne. The baby’s mine!” Vic screamed at her. Oh fuck.
The small blonde girl froze then turned back to us slowly. “What?” she spat.
“I’m the father of Cali’s baby.” Vic now sounded so calm it was scary.
Then Rayne exploded. “You fucking bitch!” She ran towards me but Mike and Vic were quicker, Vic stepping in front of me protectively and Mike grabbing her from behind. She struggled in Mike’s grip and flailed her arms and legs around, yelling and screaming profanities towards the three of us.
My heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour and I started to feel light headed. I rested my head against the back of the couch and tried to regulate my heavy breathing.
“Shit Cali are you ok?” Vic sat down beside me and pulled me up against him, his hand holding my head against his chest desperately.
“Mike we need help here! Something’s wrong with Cali!” Vic screamed at his brother.
“What am I supposed to do with her?” Mike’s reply came sounding frantic. My head was spinning and my vision was burning. I somehow couldn’t manage to keep up with how many breaths I felt like I should be taking. I zoned out away from the boy’s yells and closed my eyes.
“Fuck Cali, stay with me, please stay with me.” I felt my body move but I could barely notice.
“What the fuck has happened?” A new male voice yelled off in the distance.
“We need to get her to a hospital.” Vic’s reply was even further away. “Stay with me baby, don’t leave me…” and everything went black.

Notes

............
Cliff hanger!

What's happened to Cali!?!

thanks for reading
Beth xx