The weeks crawled by slowly.

Everything seemed as though they were happening in slow motion. Devlin spent half of his time buried in work. He and Cody were working on a new agenda - going legit and so they started to make negotiations to sell off the business and buy legal ones that would accommodate the back flow of cash. The other half was spent with Sarah. He visited her every evening and never missed a visit. Pamela understood, who wouldn't?

She on the other hand spent time reading books and lounging around the house and also visiting Sarah as often as she could. When five weeks came and went and Sarah who was supposed to be due in two weeks hadn't even winced from labor, they all panicked.

She was fine, the doctor said, and the delay was because the due date had been miscalculated by her family doctor. "But if there's one thing he got right," Pamela remembered the doctor twisting the cap of his pen as he spoke. "It's that having the baby is highly risky."

And so, Sarah stayed in the hospital the whole time bed ridden. Art came over with a very pretty young girl whom Pamela later knew to be Sarah's first child. It was the most emotional reunion. Despite the pain she was going through, Sarah had been cheerful and full of life for her girl. It made Pamela wonder that if she loved Keely so much, why would she want the baby's life to be saved instead of hers? She asked Sarah just that when she had a chance to be alone with her.

Sarah's face became etched with anguish and her eyes welled up with tears. Guilt washed over Pamela.

"You don't need to answer that," She said in a hurry. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"It's alright Pamela. I have also asked myself that numerous times, 'what are you doing Sarah?' 'why are you leaving Keely behind?'" She smiled a teary smile. "But I don't know the answers. My first instinct is to protect this life growing inside of me. I find it selfish to save myself and let this baby die. He hasn't even experienced life yet, but I have. And about Keely, she'll miss me, but she'll be fine. She has wonderful people around her. She has Devlin. She has you." She looked up and locked gazes with Pamela. "I'm sure you'll understand this when you start having babies."

Pamela's throat tightened. As she left the room, it was all she could do to keep herself from weeping. Would she, now? And about Sarah saying that Keely had her, could she trust herself to love Keely whole heartedly? She recalled the way Keely had run into Devlin arms, and how Devlin had played and laughed till he teared up. She recalled how tightly she'd held unto Devlin's hands and had giggled excitedly when Devlin had suggested they go get ice-cream. Could she trust herself not to feel animosity towards her for the simple fact that Devlin was so good with her and kids in general but he wanted none from her? What was the certainty that she wouldn't grow to be an old, bitter woman?

The baby finally came on a stormy night, two days later. The thunders clapped angrily, lightening flashed ferociously. She was home alone because Devlin had per usual gone to see Sarah. She'd excused herself from going by saying she was feeling feverish, which wasn't a total lie. She was feeling feverish, and then nauseous. Nauseous of all the love and attention that was being showered on Sarah. Tried as she might have, she couldn't stop the jealousy that crept up in her each time she saw Devlin with her. The way he wiped the oil spills from her mouth. The way he caressed her belly. Pamela had willed herself, numerous times to be better, to understand the woman's plight, because Sarah was suffering. And so while her brain was understanding, her heart was shrinking in hurt. But she'd gladly said yes when she was politely, even slightly embarrassedly asked to baby sit Keely for that day.

Keely had warmed up to her almost immediately and had kept her company for the rest of the evening, which had been good company because Keely was so full of life. She was unguarded, unafraid and sweet. They had eaten together and when it was bed-time, Pamela had taken her to bed. As part of her sleep-over bags, Art had put Keely's bedtime stories inside but as Pamela tried reading her a story, Keely had whined aloud.

"I don't want these stories, they're boring!"

"Oh, what do you want then? I don't have any books that'd interest you."

Keely grinned conspiratorially. Missing front tooth and all and it was heart tugging. "You can tell me one. Just like Dev does."

"Devlin reads you bedtime stories?"

"No, he tells me bedtime stories from his experiences."

"Really? Like what?"

"Stories of how he fought a crocodile and won, and how he has a baby elephant. He promised to introduce her to me someday."

"Right. The thing is, my stories aren't as... what's the word? Uh, adventurous as Devlin's but I can try."

Keely clapped excitedly as Pamela cleared her throat and settled herself comfortably in the love seat. "Once upon a time, there was a girl who lived in a castle with her daddy. Her life was boring, just like these books."

Keely giggled.

"Then along came a prince who wore suits. He was so handsome and so dreamy that he took her breath away. I think he was in love with her but instead of him to ask her to be his princess, he kidnapped her!"

Keely gasped. "What happened then? Was she scared?"

"That's the surprising part. She wasn't at all. She felt safe with him and fell in love with him. But she was too scared to tell him, until one day, they confessed their love and got married."

Pamela was sensing that Keely was already feeling drowsy because her dark lashes were drooping.

"And they..." She mumbled drowsily. "...lived happily ever after?"

Keely was asleep before Pamela could reply. Her soft breathing was like the whisper of an angel. She understood why Devlin loved her. She was a beautiful girl.

"I don't know, Keely. I don't know."

Pamela covered her properly with the blankets, turned out the lights and dragged herself to bed. She saw Cody from the top of the stairs, looking through the window. She went down to meet him.

"Looks like rain." He said when she was within hearing shot.

"What exactly are you worried about Cody?"

He clenched his jaw. "It'll be hard to hear suspicious footsteps. It's the perfect opportunity to get attacked."

Pamela chuckled. "This place is like a goddamned fortress. I'm sure we'll be fine. Goodnight." She touched his shoulder and turned to leave.

"Ma'am?"

She stopped. "Yes?"

"I think you're strongest woman I've ever met."

She gave him a wobbly smile and dragged herself to bed. The second her body touched the sheets, she started to cry. The tears just came, without any resistance or opposition. She was tired of it all. Of the rollercoaster ride she'd had. Was she going to live happily ever after? Not likely with a baby involved. And Devlin cheated, despite the fact that it was unintentional. Was it right for her to keep mute about it all? Take it all in? Her head started to swim with myriad thoughts, thoughts that scared her.

That was when the call came.

"Hey." She said. "What's the news?"

"She's in labor."

For one torturous, split second, an evil thought flashed through her but she shook it off. "They'll both be fine."

"I hope. I feel bad for Art."

What about me? Do you feel bad for me? "Me too."

There was a comfortable pause. A low rumble of thunder echoed through the room, as if announcing the start of the rain. Pamela got up, the phone held to her ears, to pull the drapes.

"Will you be okay? Given the storm and all?" He asked.

"I think that question should be directed to you. You didn't even take a sweater along."

"Luckily, Art's hotel is nearby. He'll get us supplies."

"That reminds me, have you asked him why he didn't want to stay here and got a hotel instead?"

"He said something about wanting to be close to the hospital."

"Understandable."

"Yeah. I'll give you update in the morning. Right now, they're prepping to operate and it might take hours."

"Operate?"

"Yes. They wanted to opt for labour induction but she's too weak to push and so surgery is the best option."

"Call me if anything happens."

"I will. How's Keely?"

"She's a sweetheart. Went out like a light the moment her head hit the pillow." Pamela suddenly felt like a stupid mistress that was taking care of the husbands kids in the hopes he would leave his wife for her.

"She must have worn you out. She's a chatterbox, just like her mother." As if sensing how insensitive and awkward the statement must have sounded, Devlin hurriedly muttered a few rushed words about wanting to get somewhere, said he loved her and hung up.

As she lay, watching the rain spattering angrily against the window, Pamela prayed with all her heart that Sarah and her son would survive, if not for Art's sake, then for Devlin, because she, sadly, loved him and love was unfair. She wished she was strong enough to walk away from him, but love was so unfair that she couldn't. With that thought, she drifted into a dreamless slumber and awoke with a start when she heard the door handle twisting open and approaching footsteps. Her eyes cleared of sleep and her heart skipped. Did Devlin come back to spend the night with her? The thought made her extremely happy but she made a decision that instant that she would send him back. She was not going to let him miss the birth of his first child.

But it wasn't Devlin with a tear stained face coming towards her, it was Keely. "Keely?"

"I'm scared of the storm."

"Oh honey, come here."

And so, instead of nursing her own fears and worries, she took away someone else's. When Keely finally fell asleep and the rain had eased up, Pamela carried her back to the room that was temporarily made for her. Thankfully, Keely didn't stir through the whole trip. Pamela went back to her room and checked the time. It was ten to two. She laid in bed, expecting Devlin's call.

The call came a while later, bringing her out from a restless sleep, but it wasn't her phone. The sound was coming from downstairs. It was dawn and the sun was slowly rearing its orange-yellow head in the eastern horizon. Pamela sat up and reached for her phone. She had no missed call notification. Was Devlin holding back on purpose? Had something happened? After struggling with the decision to call and accepting that she would most likely sound like a desperate wife, Pamela put the call through. He answered on the first ring. Before she heard his excited hello, she heard the cry of a baby. Her heart sank. She should be happy, but her heart sank.

"He came around 4am, weighing seven pounds and six ounces. Pamela, I am a father!"

She swam through her tears, came up for air and said, mustering as much warmth as she could into her voice, "I'm happy for you." She began to ask of Sarah but Devlin spoke first.

"I have to go." Pamela could literarily hear him say daddy duties in the silence.

"Okay talk to you later." She hung up.

It wasn't a day yet and he was too busy? Was she selfish? She accepted she was and hated herself for it, but everything was making her sick. The bitterness was so much it tasted like bile. No one would believe she was the same person who had been so loving and caring when Sarah was still in the house. She just never expected that Devlin who had sworn he hated children - or at least hated having one, was so gassed up and busy over his lovechild. She's seen lesser and lesser of him in those five weeks and it was because of Sarah. If only she'd -

Pamela stopped in shock. What was she doing? She looked at herself in the mirror and saw a bitter woman. How did she become like this? How could she wish that for a human? Tears of regret welled up in her and her stomach churned in disgust at how low she'd sunk. Her head swarm and she rushed to the toilet and threw up. After that, she sank to the floor and wept, silently begging Sarah for forgiveness.

She thought she'd puked because of the terrible things she'd let her train of thoughts lead her to think of. But the nausea didn't stop minutes after she'd cried to her heart content and made peace with her soul. The dizziness didn't go away either. As she was returning from the third bathroom trip, a realization struck Pamela so hard that she went breathless for seconds. Was she...? Could it be...?

Not wanting to form the thoughts in her head for fear that it would evaporate even before it becomes whole, Pamela went under the hot shower and stood there until the dizziness faded and then threw some clothes on and headed for the closest drug store. Cody insisted someone go with her. She didn't argue. It wasn't important as what she sought. At the store, she bought five pregnancy test kits and went back home. When she got back, Keely was up and bless the housemaid, she'd bathed and dressed her already.

She smiled a thank you to Cody who was preparing breakfast and heard only half of what he said about Susan saying hi over the phone. After she sat with them till it was polite enough to leave, she headed straight for the bathroom. She was patient enough to take all five of the tests. By the time she got to the third, she was weeping. She barely got through the fifth because they had the same outcome. All five were positive. She was with child.

After crying to her heart's content, a new energy came over her. She went and took a soak in the bath, washed her hair, saved her legs, put makeup on and complemented her look with sunglasses. She then went down the stairs. When Keely saw her, she exclaimed,

"You look like a movie star."

"I do, don't I?" She smiled with confidence. "Come on honey, let's go say hi to your little brother."

Everything was different now. She had a reason to fight, a reason to live, a reason to be happy. She'd made a decision and she was going to follow it through.

~

Guysss! Thank you for reading! School work has been hectic but any window of opportunity I have, I use it to write. I hope you loved this chapter and oh, few chapters to go! Please vote, comment your thoughts, add to your library and reading lists and share. Thanks!