After Tonight

“So are you ready to be the most hated woman in this country…actually, we’re international—I meant the world?” Taylor Lautner flashed a toothy smile at me as the limousine pulled up to the theatre.
“What are you, five? Jesus, Taylor.” Nikki smacked his arm.
“Actually I’m twenty-two, thank you very much.”
I gulped, but Rob shook his head.
“None of that, alright?” He shot Taylor, who wore a sheepish smile, a disapproving glance. “They don’t hate you.”
As I closed my eyes and took a breath, I felt the baby kick. I smiled slightly, patting my stomach in return. …
I’d never seen a bigger crowd in my entire life, and I was a New Yorker. The sight terrified me, to say the least. I watched from inside the car as flashbulbs lit up the carpet. Everybody was there.
“Onward!” Kellan Lutz shouted as the car came to a stop.
I exhaled deeply and followed Rob out in my equivalent of Hell. It didn’t take long for the screaming to commence. Rob blushed crimson as we began walking down the carpet. Several hundred people shouted his name, some of the members of the media. I desperately hoped they wouldn’t stop him for an interview.
But alas, they did. As an E! correspondent snagged Rob, I awkwardly shuffled behind him.
“We’ve got Rob Pattinson here,” the man spoke eagerly. “So what do you think of the turnout, Rob?”
However, Rob did not hear the question. He was too preoccupied trying to figure out what the hell I was doing behind him. He whispered something to me, chuckling a little, as he turned back around to answer the question.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it appears we have a case of stage fright here. So are you going to give the movie a thumbs up, Rob?”
“Of course!” Rob smiled. “I’ll give it two! But really, it was fun to make and I think the fans are going to enjoy it.”
“Three down, one to go. Are you looking forward to Breaking Dawn?”
“I suppose. It’s definitely one of the more interesting books, to say the least, and I know there was quite a controversy amongst fans when it first came out, so yeah I am excited about it.”
“Well you’ll have some practice with children by then. Won’t that be fun?”
“Yes, we’re looking forward to it.” A somewhat forced smile appeared on Rob’s lips. I knew he was dreading this part of the interview.
“One last question—when are you due?” This was directed at me, and I was quite taken aback.
“December,” I spit out nervously.
“I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the arrival. Congratulations!”
With the worst behind us, Rob and I caught up to Kristen Stewart and her boyfriend. The world wanted their Edward and Bella side by side—constantly.
“You look beautiful.” Rob wrapped an arm securely around my waist and whispered in my ear.
From the hotel to the theatre, all I could think about was how incredibly hot I was. And I don’t mean good looking, I mean sweating like a pig. Five pigs maybe. I tried to pick a dress that would be a little breezy, but due to my size my choices were severely limited. This time I ended up in a black dress, but my chances of going unnoticed had vanished. Everyone wanted to know when I was due. Fans that had snagged Rob for autographs couldn’t resist shouting out questions about the baby.
“You have shattered their hearts.” Kristen smirked as she watched Rob place a protective hand on my stomach when the fans went wild. I chuckled, looking up at Rob as he waved awkwardly to the hoards of teenagers.
“What are you going to name it?” Rob was stopped against the red rope again. This time it was a younger girl, maybe around thirteen.
“Er, we don’t know.” He smiled uncertainly as he scribbled his name across her movie poster.
“You should name it Bella, if it’s a girl of course.”
“Erm, probably not.” Rob shook his head and led me further down the carpet. At this, I started laughing.
“Are you going to get married now?” Another girl reached out to grab his arm.
Rob countered with, “Are you excited to see the movie?”
“When are you due? You’re huge!”
“Do you know what it is yet?”
It went on and on. All night.

Rob’s P.O.V.
I’d been distracted all afternoon, jumpy even. It was as if we weren’t even at the premier of Eclipse. Instead, we were at the premier of The Rob and Abbey Show—or as the fans had christened us, “Robbey”. Everyone wanted a piece of us. I was so relieved once the theater doors closed behind us. Abbey had made several comments about how I’d been running my free hand through my hair since we’d arrived. But I couldn’t help it. Things had gotten out of hand—we couldn’t have a single detail about our baby to ourselves. I thought I was going to be alright doing that People interview—it was only one—but I was quickly finding out that I wasn’t keen on all of these questions directed at my family.
“Are you sure you want to do that interview?” It was as if she read my thoughts.
We had stopped inside the theatre, planning our escape to the limousine out back. I knew Abbey wanted to watch the film—she’d gotten into them a few weeks ago—but I wasn’t about to ruin my record of never watching a screening of my movies. My fingers itched for a cigarette as we looked around at all of the people.
“Rob?” Abbey gave my hand a squeeze. “Are you alright babe?”
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” I smiled nervously and fidgeted with the hem of my sleeve. “I need a smoke.”
She placed her hand on my cheek and smiled softly, her radiance lighting up the darkness of my tunnel vision.
“I’ll wait in here. You’re going to have to give those up, you know?”
…
It was a night of endless questioning. The only time that my personal life wasn’t being discussed was during the ride to the after-party, when Abbey and I were alone. When we got there, it all started up again. All anyone at our table could talk about was the baby, which I would never have minded if there weren’t reporters lurking around. The girls talked with Abbey about what sex she hoped the baby would be. The guys joked about how I was going to be a bad influence and though I laughed along, I was more concerned with the young red-haired woman at the next table.
I noticed an audio recorder discreetly tucked inside her handbag and a small digital camera beside her drinking glass. She casually kept glancing at our table, adjusting her bag and poising her camera. I watched Abbey as she sat beside me, smiling graciously at passerbyers who congratulated her. She had no idea. I was supposed to keep her safe. I was supposed to keep the baby safe. But how could I do that with everyone prying?
Abbey grabbed my arm, shaking me out of my thoughts. When I looked at her, she was smiling. She was absolutely beautiful, glowing.
“Feel.” She whispered to me, nodding at her stomach. I looked around and saw that for the first time, nobody was watching us. The redhead had turned her attention to the director of the film instead.
Abbey pulled my hand to her stomach, still grinning. The music pulsed in my ear, the Eclipse soundtrack. All I heard was noise that seemed so far away. I felt a steady thumping against my hand. My baby was kicking. For a split second, everything stopped. Sure, I’d felt the baby kick before that night but the way it happened…it was like a sign.
“Maybe the babe is dancing.” Abbey was still holding on to my hand as she looked up at me.
“Maybe.” I smiled at her, relieved to see that all of this didn’t matter to Abbey. She could find a moment for the three of us in anything.
When we looked up, eleven pairs of eyes were watching us. Everyone at our table was silent, smiling softly at the two of us. Some emotion I couldn’t place was in their eyes.
“You guys are going to be great parents.” Ashley reached across the table and squeezed Abbey’s hand. In return, Abbey blushed.