"Devlin!"

The desperate calling of his name came from a distance. It felt like he was in a tunnel and someone was at its end, frantically calling for him. It came again and again and this time he was able to swim from the grip of unconsciousness to the surface.

He bolted to an upright position and listened. He glanced to his side and saw that Pamela was still asleep. Was it a dream? He asked himself and the answer came the next second as he heard his name again and this time, it was accompanied by the pounding on the door. Pamela woke with a start and gave him a worried glance. Devlin's quick eyes scanned the room for his gun. He and Pamela stood from the bed.

"Who is it?" He asked cautiously.

"It's Sarah, open up!"

Relief washed over him but it was soon replaced by annoyance when he glanced at the clock. What did she want at this time of night?

He marched angrily towards the door and yanked it open, almost removing it from its hinges. "What do you want?" He asked, ready to kill her then his anger melted into fear. "Is-is the baby coming already?"

She scoffed. "I wish. I'm so sick of looking like a balloon."

He let his breath escape in relief. "Is something wrong with the baby then?"

"No. It's me that something is wrong with. My back hurts. I need someone to massage it for me." Then she turned and walked away.

Devlin balled his fists. "She had no right."

Pamela chuckled dryly as she picked a sweater and wore it over her pajamas. "You brought this upon yourself."

Devlin followed her. "Don't, Pamela."

She stopped and turned. "What? Don't what?"

"I know you're mad at me."

"I'm not. I'm indifferent. But to that child, I am accepting with my whole heart. So we better go make her comfortable, you don't want anything happening to the child do you?"

Sarah was in the kitchen, making noise as she went through the cabinet.

"What do you need? I'll get it for you." Pamela offered.

She turned and smiled sweetly. "You're very kind, ma'am."

"Please, call me Pamela." Pamela said, smiling back. "What are you searching for?"

"Jam."

Pamela stopped. "Jam?"

"Yes. Hot pepper jam. I want to eat it with bread. That's all I crave right now," then she glanced at Devlin. "And the back massage too, please? Thank you." She took a kitchen stool and gingerly sat, one hand holding the chair and the other propped on her belly. When neither Pamela nor Devlin made a move, she asked, dividing a look between both of them. "What?"

"I don't know if we have hot pepper jam. I haven't lived here long and I do not handle the kitchen but I can help you check."

"You are very kind."

As Pamela started for the cabinets, Devlin took her arm. "You don't have to do this."

She yanked it free. "Do what?"

"Play nice. Answer to her every whim."

"I have to, Devlin. Remember, she's carrying your child. And I'm not playing nice. I'm trying to be nice for your sake. Don't upset me."

Devlin sighed and looked at Sarah who was watching him with quirky humor. "What now?"

"Your turn."

"To what?"

"To massage my back. I'd love deep-tissue massage. It can do wonders for your back, shoulders and feet but my doctor said to avoid it on the legs due to the risk of blood clots so you have to be gentle."

"I'm no masseur." He replied grudgingly.

"Even an idiot can be a masseur."

"Well I'm not!" He shouted. He shouted so loud that both Pamela and Sarah were startled. Pamela came back around holding the jar of jam while Sarah's eyes widened in shock. She placed both hands on her belly, as if trying to protect the child.

"Found it!" Pamela announced unnecessarily with a triumphant smile but it quickly disappeared when she saw the atmosphere had changed. It was laden with tension.

"You're mad at me aren't you?" Sarah asked with a whisper but loud enough for Devlin and Pamela to hear.

In reply, Devlin laughed scornfully. "Mad doesn't even begin to describe it." He stormed off, or at least wanted to when she stopped him by screaming a string of expletives.

"Is it my fault I'm carrying your child? You think I wanted a child that'll come between you and your perfect marriage? You think I wanted to tell you about the child at all? You think I want to be here?"

"Then why are you?!" He shouted back. "Why are you here? Inadvertently you have come between me and my wife so drop the act of innocence. If you wanted to help, you could have gotten rid of it or better still prevented it!"

"Devlin!" Pamela scolded, coming forward. "How can say such a thing?"

Devlin held her shoulders and shook her. "Don't you feel wronged? Don't you feel angry?"

"I would have taken post-sex pills if I had known at that time that something had happened between us. I woke up the next morning alone in my bed after that drunk night. How the hell would I have guessed that something had happened?"

"Don't ask me!"

"Enough! Both of you." Pamela walked up to Sarah and placed the bottle of jam before her. "There's bread in the pantry. I could serve you if you want." They ignored her to continue their shouting match.

"The only reason I'm accepting this kid is because of Art. That doesn't mean I won't have a DNA test as soon as the kid is born."

The room fell silent but the tension could be felt.

"You have insulted me and hurt my pride more than anyone ever has, since..." she trailed off and when she looked up at him again, her eyes was filled with tears. "I'm leaving."

"Sarah, you don't have to."

"First thing in the morning. I'm sorry for waking you up this late." She stood from the stool, took two steps and her eyes widened. She placed her hands on her stomach and gasped.

"Sarah? Are you alright?"

"Must be one of her schemes." Devlin muttered.

"Sarah? Oh my goodness!" Pamela exclaimed rushing towards her. "She's bleeding!"

~

Devlin was shocked at how much he could lie to himself. Of how good of a liar he was. He'd told himself over and over that he didn't care about the baby or Sarah and had only heard her out and let her stay because he respected Art. He also knew Sarah wouldn't waste her time lying to him, which was why he had involved himself at all. But the moment Sarah grabbed her stomach in obvious anguish and had started bleeding, he panicked, even more when she lost consciousness. He drove like a raving lunatic to the hospital and paced the floors till the doctor said it was okay to see her.

He'd been shocked to see how weak she looked when he saw her. She was breathing through a tube and others were poking from her hospital gown. Her face was ashen and her lips were devoid of color. Her stomach looked smaller than he remembered. His heart skipped. Was the doctor lying and she'd lost the baby already? She was awake and she smiled when she saw them. Despite the obvious pain she was going through, she still smiled. His eyes smarted with tears. Was it because of regret or because of pity?

He respected them both; Pamela and Sarah. He respected Sarah who could still be her old self despite the unfortunate situation and he respected Pamela who had put her personal feelings aside to take care of his child. He didn't deserve them.

"What's with the look? I feel sad enough that I couldn't have my bread and hot pepper jam so don't make it worse."

Pamela smiled, reached out and caressed her hand that wasn't swatted in tubes.

"Sarah, I'm -" He began to apologize but was interrupted.

"Don't apologize Devlin. It's not your fault."

"It is. I was a bastard."

"You still are and you always will," Sarah added with a chuckle. "but don't apologize. I understand your anger."

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you say that your pregnancy was high risk?"

"Why? What would it have changed? I didn't want you to treat me like Art has been for the past eight months. Confining me to a bed and stopping me from doing anything. It's a wonder he let me breath. If he could, he'd have taken over the responsibly. I barely escaped from him." She laughed and it resulted into fits of cough.

"I wasn't planning on telling you about the pregnancy because I know how much you love Pamela." She looked at Pamela and said in a stage whisper. "He couldn't stop yapping on and on about you. Once, I got close to braining him with anything that could inflict pain because he wouldn't stop being a blabbermouth. He loves you so much. So please, don't be mad at him." She rested her hand on Pamela's and sighed. "That night, we were both drunk so we didn't remember anything. Weeks later, I realized my period had stopped. That wasn't unusual because I have a very irregular period. It can come for three months and not come for the next three, so I wasn't worried but then my stomach started to grow bigger and bigger. I didn't have morning sicknesses or cravings - until the jam thing - it was just the weight. I decided to go for a test and boom! I'm four months gone. How in the hell?"

"It's a miracle." Pamela whispered.

She smiled. "Yes. I believe he is."

"It's a boy?" Devlin asked.

"No. I don't know his gender yet. I was waiting for you so we would go for the sex reveal like a loving couple, yes of course it's a boy you moron."

They all laughed.

"I was prepared to take care of the child alone because by the time I realized I was with child, you'd gone to stop her from getting married and so I made the solo decision to keep you out of it, despite the well ignored advices I got from my dad, until I stated having issues. It's a wonder I'm still alive. But I don't trust my dad enough to make the right decision. But I know you to will, Devlin."

"What decision?" He asked.

She looked away. "If anything happens, choose him."

"What?"

"Sarah -"

She divided a look between Pamela and Devlin. "It's high risk. Probably because I had Keely so long ago. It's usually risky for women who takes a long time between consecutive child births. It could get to a point that it would be either me or him. Choose him."

"No." Pamela said adamantly. "Nothing of the sort will happen. You both will survive."

Sarah shook her head. "I can't take chances. Three different doctors gave the same prognosis." She looked up at Devlin. "This why I had the courage to knock on your front door. This is why I dared to come between you and Pamela. So please, when the choice comes to saving me or my baby, choose my baby."

~

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading it. Have a nice day/night!