Third Person
“Are you serious?” Annika asked. After the women’s prison ordeal, Kenzie returned to the clinic and told Annika what had happened to Sadie and her baby.
“Yeah, it’s pretty heartbreaking. I honestly felt bad for her. Sure, she’s a b***h, but she didn’t deserve to lose her baby that way. She seemed to have genuinely loved her baby.”
“I still can’t believe Jeff and his baby are gone. I mean, what are the odds of that?” Annika questioned the universe.
“I know what you mean. I don’t feel bad for Jeff. It was his actions that led to him taking his own life.”
“Be that as it may, this isn’t how I wanted things to end,” Annika replied solemnly. They remained silent momentarily before Annika peeked over at Kenzie. “Hey, speaking of babies, what do an ultrasound on me? Since we’re closed anyways?”
“Yes! That would make my day!” Kenzie exclaimed with joy. They got up and made their way to the ultrasound room. Annika knew the procedure and promptly removed her underwear and lay on the bed. Since she had worn a dress to the clinic, it was easier to prep for the ultrasound. “All right, girl, let’s see this bundle of joy,” Kenzie said as she slowly inserted the wand into Annika’s pelvis. She moved it around slowly and quickly located the fetus. “Aww, look, Anni.” Annika looked up at the monitor connected to the machine. Tears flooded her eyes instantaneously when she saw her baby, who wasn’t any more significant than a blueberry.
“Too early to tell the gender, right?” Annika asked.
“Yeah. We have to wait, at the minimum, until week 14. And you’re what? Like week 7 or 8?”
“Something along those lines. I will assume I got pregnant the first time Leon and I ever slept together.”
“Good call. Based on the size, I’d say the same anyway,” Kenzie said while taking measurements. “Do you want a printout?”
“Of course. What kind of stupid question is that?” Annika mocked. Kenzie was all smiles as she printed out copies for Annika.
As they packed their stuff for the night and got ready to head out, Kenzie asked, “So, have you and Leon thought of names for the baby?”
“No, not yet. With everything we’ve had going on, we just haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and talk about it,” Annika answered as she zipped up her bag and walked out of her office. As they made their way out, Kenzie inputted the alarm code while Annika waited at the door to lock it.
“Done for the night?” they heard someone ask. They both turned to see Leon waiting with his hands in his pockets.
“Hey! What are you doing here? I was going to catch a ride with Kenzie,” Annika stated as she walked over to him briskly. She kissed his cheek on her tippy toes, and he met her halfway.
“Why bother Doc Malloy when I can come get my future wife myself?”
“Awww, that is so sickeningly sweet!” Kenzie squealed. Annika rolled her eyes at her overly-exaggerating best friend.
“Oh, I have something for you,” Annika said as she dug through her purse.
“A gift? For me?” Leon asked, surprised.
“Well, not exactly a gift, but I still think you’ll love it,” she replied. She found the printouts from earlier and gave them to him. When Leon looked at the long printout of black and white photos, it took him a minute to realize what he was looking at.
“Are these of our baby?” he asked.
“Yup. That’s our little blueberry,” she stated with a smile and leaned on him to admire the photos with him.
“Blueberry?” he looked down at her.
“It’s because that’s about the size of the fetus,” Kenzie responded to his inquiry about the baby’s nickname.
“I see. Well, you’re right, baby; I do love this. Thank you.” Leon down and kissed the top of Annika’s head. “By the way, Doc Malloy, I heard you had a very eventful day?”
“You heard right. Today was very eventful indeed.”
“I heard that she was remorseful. And apologized for her wrongdoings?”
“I don’t know if I can say she was remorseful per se, but she did seem like she was genuinely apologetic and regretted her actions, at least the ones that led her to lose the baby,” Kenzie replied with a shrug.
“I guess we’ll see in a few days how regretful and apologetic she is,” Leon stated. The women nodded in understanding. “Before I forget, Janko called me.”
“For what?” Annika asked.
“This whole lawsuit against you,” Leon replied.
“Is Janko going to represent me?”
“Yes and no.” Annika furrowed her eyebrows. “Janko doesn’t believe that Jack Hollands has a case against you. There’s no evidence that indicates you were either directly or indirectly responsible for Hollands killing himself.”
“Good! So, I’m guessing Counselor Janko will get it dismissed?” Kenzie asked with confidence.
“He’s going to try.”
“Huh? But you just said—”
“Even though Janko believes that Jack has no case, it doesn’t mean that it can easily be dismissed. Janko says there are a lot of these kinds of cases that get sent to his office. Even if Jack can’t hold Annika responsible for Holland’s death, he can still sue her for emotional distress that her divorce case caused him.”
“But you didn’t mention anything about that,” Kenzie countered.
“Well, it’s on the docket now,” Leon replied.
“What!?” both women exclaimed.
“Does Jack have nothing better to do!?”
“Nope!” They heard another familiar voice. They turned to see Royce coming their way. “What’s up, Baby Bear?” Royce hugged Annika.
“Hi, Royce.”
“Royce, how does it feel to practically stalk your little sister?” Kenzie teased him.
“Ha-ha-ha, you’re so funny, Kenzie,” Royce retorted as he side-hugged her.
“I try.”
“Royce,” Leon greeted with a handshake.
“Leon.”
“See anything interesting today?” Annika questioned.
“Nah, not really. I was hoping that old fart would show up so I could kick his a*s for harassing you, but he didn’t. I just got off with Jorge, and he told me that Jack spent most of his day online trying to spread rumors about you guys.”
“What?” Annika asked.
“Are you serious!?” Kenzie exclaimed.
“I didn’t hear anything about this,” Leon said while checking his phone.
“Jorge had his hacker dude remove all of the posts before they could go viral,” Royce indicated as he stopped them from freaking out.
“What is wrong with Jack? Seriously? It’s not my fault that his family dynamics are all f****d up because of his life decisions and the choices that Jeff made,” Annika scowled in annoyance.
“He’s mad that the perfect little life he could obtain through Jeff’s status is gone. Not only that, but you tarnished his reputation,” Royce answered.
“But this kind of retaliation is so petty, even for Jack,” Kenzie expressed. The groups just shrugged and tabled the topic for later. Kenzie said her goodbyes and went to her own home, Annika went with Leon, and Royce found his own way home.
After they got back to the penthouse, dinner was already waiting for them. Annika and Leon quickly changed into more comfortable clothing and joined the rest of the family in the dining room. Annika told everyone what had happened to Sadie and her baby earlier in the day, and to say that the Silverton family was shocked would be an understatement. Although Sadie would never make their Christmas list, they never wanted anything so heinous to happen to her.
As they were discussing Sadie and her unfortunate loss, the doorbell sounded.
“Are you expecting anyone, Baby Bear?” Beau asked.
“No, Daddy. Are any of you?” Everyone shook their heads. “Hm, I’ll go see who it is,” she said and got up. Out of habit, Annika opened the door without looking through the peephole. “Can I help—!!”
*BANG*
