Trent stood over me and said, "Something is different about you. If you weren't already pregnant, I'd have suspected that you are now."

She passed me a cup of mango juice. We were all in a private beach. The girls had decided to arrange a beach party and I'd invited Dave along. I sipped my juice and pushed my sunglasses down to the bridge of my nose.

"Nothing is different," I said.

The girls were all looking at me now.

"Start talking," Trent demanded.

"Okay," I said and smiled. "Chike sleeps over now."

"What?" Dave asked and sat upright in his lounge chair. "You didn't tell me anything about a new development."

"That's because we are doing it for the baby. You guys are going to make a big deal out of it."

"So you're not back together?" Zola asked.

"No, he wants to be around the baby at all times. It's like he's obsessed," I said.

"With you," Bym finished.

"No, the baby," I corrected her.

"Why not make it work then? Make it real," Amaka said.

"I don't know about that."

"Do you have sex with him?" Dave was quick to ask.

"No. We sleep in the same bed and he connects with the baby, that's just it."

"If this isn't some kind of torture then I don't know what is," Trent said and rolled her eyes.

"You do know you need sex though, don't you?" Zola asked.

"I don't want to think about that right now," I said.

"Alright then." Bym said, "Who wants some diced pineapple?"

I got a bowl of diced pineapple as Dave passed one to me. His chair was beside mine and he moved closer to me.

"Is he trying to get you back or he's just there for the baby?" he asked.

"It's for the baby. Though, I don't know how things will be after I break up with Yah on Monday."

"The day of his photoshoot?"

"Yes."

"Is that a good timing?"

"I think it is. I'll be dressing him for the magazine cover and when he talks about our relationship in the interview, he'll let it slip that we broke up due to irreconcilable differences. He'll then end it with how we're still very good friends."

"That's good, at least that chapter is closed. It came with too much drama."

"Right?"

"Yea. Do you want Chike back?"

"If he wants me back."

"Don't you think it's time you told him how you feel? You should be back together by now, it's taking forever."

"He could take it the wrong way, since he might think I'm trying to get back with him because I broke up with Yah. There's a way his mind works, he always thinks the worse of me."

"He's a fool for that and he doesn't deserve you with that kind of mindset."

"Maybe I'm the one who doesn't deserve him."

"I don't know about that."

"What are you guys talking about? Dave, I need you to be my partner, we're having a tug of war," Zola said and took Dave's hand. He stood with her, and I watched them join Bym and Amaka at the other end of the rope.

Trent was building a sandcastle far from my chair and I went to join her. She passed me the bag of chips beside her and I munched on it as I watched her carve out a roof for the castle.

"How is the baby?" she asked, looking up from her work.

"Doing great."

"How far along are you now?" She squinted.

"Three months and some weeks."

"Wow, how time flies. Are you enjoying your first pregnancy, babe?"

"I am, way too much than I thought possible. No morning sickness, and everything always looks good when I go for checkups. It's like she's taking extra care to be good for me." I wiped a drop of tear that was about to leak from the corner of my eye.

"That's awesome. I'm glad you're not having morning sickness, it can be a real headache. You're so fucking lucky," she said and molded the castle fence. She looked up when she finished and asked, "Do you feel movement yet?"

"Not yet."

She smiled. "Right. Pregnancy suits you, you look so beautiful. I'm so happy for you."

I smiled back. "What are you doing about your situation?" I asked. Trent had talked about how she couldn't have a baby. She had only a boy and she'd been trying to multiply her family for years.

"We'll adopt, it's not a big deal. I just wanted to experience the joy that came with carrying my own child, but I won't let it not happening stop me from having more children."

I nodded and asked, "How's your husband taking it?"

"He actually suggested adoption. I could have kept trying, but he was tired of seeing me go through IVFs, the hormones I take mess me up so badly and I already had two procedures that weren't successful. At this point, adoption seems like the only reasonable alternative."

"I'm so sorry," I said and took her hands when she started destroying the beautiful castle.

"It's fine, I've gotten over it." She shook her head and her long weave bounced with the sudden movement.

"Have you guys started the adoption process?"

"Not really, we're still deciding what we want. Male or Female? Single or multiple kids? You know, all the important questions."

"You only have to reach out to me if you need help with anything," I said.

"You have a lot going on but I'll keep that in mind. How's he?"

"Fine."

"I heard his new album, he really loves you."

I sighed. Dave had printed out the lyrics to all the songs on Chike's new album, he'd dropped the file on my desk and labeled it a conspiracy theory. I noticed that the album cover was the more enhanced version of the sketch I drew of him. When I opened the file and saw several questions and lyrics attached together trying to conclude if Chike loved me or not, I'd thrown the whole file in the bin. I just wasn't ready to know exactly what his songs said about me.

Chike spent most times sleeping by my side so if I'd found a negative comment about me in his song, I'd have ruined the little friendship we had going on. It was better that I didn't know. I couldn't react negatively to what I was ignorant about.

"What are you thinking?" Trent asked already redoing her castle.

"It's so confusing. I don't know what to do."

"You'll figure it out, I know you will."

I nodded and asked what I had been meaning to ask one of the girls asides Bym, "Do you know what's going on with Bym and her husband? She said she didn't want to talk about it when I asked."

"She isn't saying anything to me either. Let's just hope everything works out fine in the end, we have to respect her boundaries and not pry."

"Okay," I drank my soda and went back under the shade of the large umbrella.

Dave was screaming with Zola when they won the tug of war, I smiled when Bym gave him the middle finger. I passed soda around when they joined me under the shade.

Dave took off his shirt and Zola said, "Wow, nice chest."

I was looking at Zola and studying her expression. I hoped she wasn't trying to flirt with Dave because if she was, it was going to be a total waste of time and energy. None of them actually knew he was gay because I never told them. It wasn't my place to divulge such information, especially in a country where a large percentage of the population was homophobic. My friends were all loving and accommodating but I didn't want them saying it to the wrong person.

"Thanks, sis," Dave said, "I'm going for a walk." He winked at me before leaving and I smiled.

"Have you guys ever been together?" Bym asked when Dave became merely a shadow as he strolled down the bank.

"Together how?" I asked and took a sip of my drink.

"There's just this weird closeness between you two."

"He can be her worker and still be her friend," Zola said.

"I know, but he's always around her."

"I asked if I could bring him and you guys said you were okay with it."

"I was only curious, I'm not mad that he's here," Bym said.

"We've never been together in the way you're suggesting, he's just a great person and a hard worker. I love him like a brother and I brought him along because he's a good sport."

"Alright."

"Why don't you like him, Bym?" Amaka asked.

"I like him."

"Uh-huh. I know it's because of the times he didn't direct your calls to me, but we were always busy." And I'd also told Dave not to tell them if I was in the office, at that time I was avoiding all my friends. I couldn't exactly tell her the reason because it would hurt her feelings.

"I think he's a great person. He's been with her for years now, of course they'll be close," Zola said.

"You like his chest, I'm not surprised you said that," Bym said and we all laughed.

I adjusted my bikini strap when it dug deeper into my skin. My bras and bikini tops had become tighter as my tummy grew, I needed to change them to bigger sizes to accommodate my growing bosom.

My phone rang and Chike spoke as I answered.

"Don't go near the water," he said without preamble.

"I'm not going near the water," I snapped and ended the call.

"Is everything okay with you guys?" Amaka asked.

I touched my warm forehead and folded my arms. "He's just weird."

"How so?" she asked.

"When I said he was obsessed, I wasn't joking. He doesn't make me eat certain things because of the baby, I'm practically a vegetarian in my own house. He makes me eat cucumbers and avocados, I don't even like those shit. I can't lift my own plate without him fussing."

The girls were all laughing, I didn't find it funny. Chike was always quoting things from one book or the other and it was annoying.

"He's a first time father, if he didn't do this it'd be weird. It's all normal, J," Amaka said, "I stopped eating rice during my first pregnancy because I didn't want my baby getting too much starch."

"It's just stifling," I said.

"I really like this guy," Zola said. "He cares that's why he's worried, don't let it get to you. You just have to explain to him that you care about your baby's health as much as he does."

"She's right. I used to do an ultrasound every time I visited the doctor during my first pregnancy. As a first timer, it's all normal. Thankfully, my husband was never that obsessive," Bym added.

"Someone has to be that way. If it's not you, I'd be him. Stop frowning," Trent said and she started laughing again.

"It's not funny, why are you guys laughing?" I asked when the girls joined Trent in laughing.

"I'd tickle you if you weren't pregnant," Trent said when I kept frowning.

I grimaced and said, "Don't even think about it, Chike might say it'll hurt the baby."

Bym was now laughing hysterically and I joined in when she rolled over and fell in the sand. Zola suddenly shot me with the water gun and I shrieked, the rest ran before she could direct the spray at them and I ended up taking one for the team as Zola kept spraying me.

"I hate you guys so much," I said and stood from the chair. My bikini was wet and clinging to my body.

"I love you, bitches," Trent said as everyone sat back in their chairs when they were no longer in danger of Zola's spray.

"You're lucky I'm pregnant," I directed at Zola.

"Guys, do you remember when we were all in the same hostel in school, and we'd play all through the weekend then later sleep like the dead only for this traitor to stay up reading at night?" Trent said pointing at me.

"She was so annoying," Bym replied.

I smiled and said, "Fuck you all."

We all became friends when we got the same room in our first year in university. They never really understood why I was so serious with my education even after I explained my parents' situation to them. It was hard to comprehend some things when you weren't in it, living and experiencing it.

"And we all made it out, look at God." Amaka said, "Life was so simple back then."

"This dude used to eat everything...like, I don't get it," Zola said, talking about Amaka.

I sucked in my cheeks trying to hold in my laughter as I thought about the time Amaka ate all the pasta meant for the five for us. Zola hadn't taken it lightly with her.

"Who brought this topic up?" Amaka asked. "Time to go home, bitches."

I finally laughed and couldn't stop for a while. The girls packed our things and I called Dave on my phone, he strolled back to our umbrella and helped fold it.

"My besty," Bym teased and put her arm around Dave as we walked to the bus. "Are we good?"

"We're good," Dave said.

I smiled and we all got into Trent's bus.