One Day Too Late

The months have gone by slowly, and nothing much has happened. Zacky doesn't really like me leaving the house, and I can't blame him, I do feel safe in the house. There's no telling when or if Seth would come after me, or even if he got his friends to do something.

I was now about eight, almost nine months pregnant, and felt like a wale. I was not too happy about the weight gain. As soon as this baby is out, I am heading to the gym. Zack's kept an eye on me with my eating habits, but I'm not stupid. I want this baby to be healthy, so I need to eat regularly for that to happen. I've even taken extra precautions and vitamins like the doctor said. So, I'm pretty much on bed rest.

Zacky can't keep his hands off my fricken stomach. That's the only place you'll find his hands when he's around me. He even talks to the baby now. After I felt the first kick, he found that his voice was actually soothing. So, when the baby was over active at night, he would just sit and rub and talk to my belly. It was soothing for me too, I don't know why.

"Hey, Momma," Shawn said, sitting next to me on the couch. "How are we this morning?"

"Ugh, tired," I groaned. "I've been awake since four." I looked at the clock as saw that it was only nine.

"Why up so early?" She asked, frowning.

" 'Cause this little bugger," I said, poking my stomach.

She just laughed and ran her hand over my stomach. "I'm telling you, soccer player."

"Shut up, woman! He's going to be a baseball player!" Zacky said, coming into the living room and glaring at Shawn. Did I mention we found out it was a boy? Yeah, all the guys were ecstatic about that one...

"No, he's going to be whatever he wants to be," I said, giving Zack a pointed look.

He hung his head and pouted. "Yes, Momma." That's all he ever calls me anymore. I kind of miss him calling me Shenny...

"So, you ready for tonight?" Shawn asked.

I looked at her confused, then saw Zacky out of the corner of my eye, waving his arms like an idiot. "What do you mean?"

Shawn suddenly looked at Zacky and glared. "You haven't told her yet?!"

Zacky scratched the back of his neck. "Not exactly."

"Zachary!"

"What?! I didn't want her to stress out!"

"Can somebody please tell me what's going on?" I asked the two arguing children.

Zacky sighed. "The VMA's are tonight, and we're going. We're up for best new artist," he practically mumbled.

My eyes widened. "And you failed to tell me this, why?!"

"Because I didn't want you to stress over anything," he groaned, coming to sit on the other side of me, making sure to stay out of Shawn's reach.

"Why would I stress?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just didn't want to put that possibility out there, though."

I sighed, laying my head on his shoulder. "I'm glad you thought about that, but I still would have liked to know. I would have liked to go."

"Who said you aren't?" I looked up at him, confused.

"It's way too late for me to go get a dress, Zacky." A small smirk started to play on his lips. "What are you up to?" I asked cautiously.

"Well, let's just say that, being the good boy friend I am, went out and bought you a dress for tonight."

I looked at him shocked. "Really?"

He smiled, nodding. "Now, take a nap. You still have a while before we have to start getting ready."

"Have I told you how much I love you?" I mumbled against his lips.

"Not recently."

"Okay, I'm out of here before you two go on any further," Shawn said, jumping up and practically running out the front door.

A few hours later, I was being woken up by Zacky. He took my upstairs and showed me what he had picked out. "It's amazing!" I said, giving him a kiss.

"Didn't think I had any taste, did you?" He said, getting all cocky.

I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder. "Are you sure it isn't too dressy for tonight?"

"Hell no. Now, go put it on. If you need my help, let me know."

After the difficult task of getting the dress on, Zacky helped with getting ready the rest of the way. I was so ready for this kid to be out, it's not even funny. It seemed like doing the smallest things took away all my energy.

"There she is." Brian smiled as I walked down the stairs, to see everyone already here. "You look beautiful, Shen," he said, kissing my cheek.

"Zacky picked that out?" Val asked, disbelieving. I nodded, laughing at her shocked face. "Good, now he can go shopping with us now for your birthday and Christmas presents." She smirked as he groaned.

I hadn't realized how long this night was going to be, until it was almost over. The guys had ended up getting the award and were really proud of themselves. We were really proud of them, too. All their hard work had paid off.

"We have to do a few things. Are you going to be ok with the girls?" Zacky asked, stroking my hair.

I smiled softly. "I'll be fine."

"You looked tired," he said, frowning.

"I'm fine, go do what you need to do." He sighed, before kissing my forehead and walking off with the guys.

The girls and I had found a place to sit while the boys were busy. We just sat around, talking about the baby, and a few other things. Shawn was in the middle of talking about one of her tattoo clients, when I suddenly had to pee. I didn't want to interrupt her, so I just slipped away.

On my way back, I was stopped. Someone had pulled my back to their chest as they held me tightly. "Silly, little girl. You should know not to wonder off on your own."

I shivered as I recognized the voice. "What do you want?"

"That baby should be mine, not his," he hissed.

"Why so he could be abused like I was?" I spat, hatred filling me.

"No worries, what's about to happen will put a smile on my face for years to come."

"What are you-"

I was cut off by a sharp pain in my lower stomach. I looked down, and only saw blood, before everything turned dark.