Check Yes Juliet

I stared at the phone for almost fifteen minutes, and yet, I never picked it up.

“Juju, you don’t have to do this if you’re not ready yet.”, Zack held my hand, trying to calm me down.

“No, I need to do this. My parents need to know where I am.”, I said stubbornly and picked the phone, dialed my house’s number. The dial tone drove me nuts for a moment, then, someone answered.

“Barakat residence.”

“May, it’s Juliet.”

“Juliet?!?!”, May squealed. “Where are you, baby sis?! We worried about you!”

I smiled a little, knowing that they still worried about me. “I’m in…California.”

“California?! Oh god, I thought you were already out from America!”

“No, May.”, I giggled. “Hey, is mom there?”

“Yeah, she actually next to me.”

the sound of the phone been moved around were heard. Then, someone cleared her throat on the other line.

“Juliet, is that you, baby?”

i could feel the warm tear welled up in the corner of my eye. I miss my mom. “Yes, mommy, it’s me.”

“Oh, Juju, I regretted everything we decided. Can you please tell me where you live so we can talk about this?”

I peeked to Zack from the corner of my eyes, trying to get some answer.

‘Mom wants to talk about this’, I mouthed.

His eyes widened. ‘let me talk to her’.

“Mom, can Zack talk to you about that?”

“Of course, honey. Let him.”

I handed him the phone and bit my lip as he stood up and walked out to the balcony. The only thing I could do was leaned back and wish that my mom won’t freak or anything.

“Juliet.”

I yelped of surprise. “Zack, you scare that shit out of me!”

“Sorry, love.”, he cooed as he leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Your mom told me that she’ll be here with the girls on Saturday.”

“Thank god. I missed them.”

He sat down beside me and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Everything will be alright.”

“It will.”
***********
I took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Juliet!”, my three best friends squealed and engulfed me in a hug. “We miss you!”

“I miss you guys too!”, I exclaimed as I hugged back. then, I saw my mom behind them. I pulled away and hugged my mom.

“Hey mom.”

“Juliet, I’m so worried about you.”

I smiled and pulled away from her. “Well, I’m here, you should worried about him.”, I gently rubbed my still flat belly.

Mom smiled as she looked at my belly. “I can’t believe I’ll have a grandchild soon.”

“Mom, you’ll love him.”

“I will. I bet he’ll be like you and Zack, put in together.”

“I hope so.”, Zack appeared behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist. “Hi Mrs. Barakat.”

“Zachary, I hope you took care of my little girl.”

“I will always will, and actually, we want to tell you something.”

Mom raised a brow and we lead them into the living room. they sat on the sofa across us, waiting for us to tell them what’s the big secret.

“Mom, Dana, Ash, Kara, we want to tell you that…We’re getting married.”

All of their expression was far off from what I expected. All of their faces lit up with happiness. The girls launched theirselves on me.

“Congratulation both of you!”, they squealed in unison.

“You better take care of her, or you’ll be dead.”, Kara pointed her finger to Zack.

“Cross my heart.”, he laughed and made a cross sign on his heart area.
**************
“There he is.”, the doctor pointed on the screen, showing us the little baby inside.

“Look, Juliet.”, mom whispered in amazement as she held my hand tighter.

“He looks…normal.”, Zack muttered.

I rolled my eyes. “Say something nice, Zackie.”

“Well, I cant see anything yet, love.”

“You can see the progress on the second month and your baby is healthy so far. Just keep it up, miss Barakat.”

I nodded and smiled. “Thank you, doctor.”

after we were done with everything, we went back to the apartment for tonight. Jack and the rest of the gang will be there. I was stoked to see my brother and tell him about his nephew.

When I opened the door, confetti burst on my face.

“Surprise, Juju!”
I opened my eyes and saw Joe, holding a birthday cake on a tray. “Happy birthday!”

“Wait, what?”

Mom and Zack laughed from behind, like I lost my mind. “Juliet, today’s your birthday, didn’t you remember?”, Zack placed his hands on my shoulders.

“No, I don’t. wow, thank you guys.”

“Juliet.”, a deep voice were heard from behind my friends. They made a path and at the end of it, there he was, my dad.

“Daddy!”, I ran and launched myself onto him. “I missed you, dad.”