Hey guys! Just a warning, there will be a few large time skips over the next few chapters because I wanted to make this book a little different. Nothing huge will be missed out, don't worry about that, all the exciting stuff happens after ❤️

8 months later

~ Madison's POV ~

Does the universe hate me?

Abso-freaking-lutely.

Pregnant.

Of course I would be the one to get pregnant from the one night stand with my ex bestfriend who can't seem to stand me.

"Maybe he doesn't like me because I'm fat?"

"You weren't fat then Maddie."

My eyes widened at Stevie's words as she spoke in a bored tone, keeping her eyes on the laptop in front of her.

"I'm not fat now either!"

When I said this she let out an annoyed sigh and nodded her head. "I've been freaking telling you that for the past fifteen minutes. Do you ever shut up?"

A frown formed on my face and I let out a sigh, picking up another two cookies off the plate - one for each of them, that was my rule.

It was a good rule too.

I forgot to mention I'm pregnant with twins. So I get two little bundles of joy to remind me of Santiago instead of just one.

The day he left me, and for pretty much the next few weeks, I was an emotional mess. I couldn't stop crying at all. Honestly at times I felt like I'd imagined it all, that he was never even there.

But then I found out I was pregnant when I could hardly keep any food down, but at least it told me I wasn't going crazy.

But then I couldn't stop crying at the fact I was 21 and pregnant, and that Santiago was the father.

So I pretty much spent the whole of my first trimester crying.

Once the initial shock had subsided and I'd gotten through the phase of believing that my life was over now that I was pregnant so young, I decided I needed to find Santiago.

So far the first three private investigators that I'd hired couldn't find anything. Absolutely nothing. They all told me the same thing, that if he wanted to be found they would have found him.

But this last one I had found, I had a feeling he would find something. He was a lot more expensive than the first three, but just by his confidence, I could tell he knew what he was doing. It gave me enough hope.

Stevie was really against me trying to find Santiago, which I understood since she was taking the stance of a bestfriend ready to kill anyone who hurt me.

But I also knew I wanted my babies to have a father. I also felt he had the right to know, then if he still wanted to disappear he could and I would know he's made his choice.

At least then I could confidently tell our babies that I did try to find their father and that he was the one who didn't care.

I wasn't going to stop until I found him.

"Shall we get some lunch soon? I think you could do with some fresh air." I nodded my head in response to Stevie's question as I rubbed my large baby bump.

She had been there for me throughout the whole thing and I would be forever grateful to her for that.

"Is it safe? I could literally pop at any moment."

Although I was eight months pregnant or more accurately 35 weeks, twins usually came four weeks earlier than a normal pregnancy. So, they come around 36 weeks which is why I've been staying home a lot more than I would usually. The last thing I needed was to go into labour in a public place.

"You'll be fine Maddie. Let's go and have one more lunch together before you become a mother of two and I never get to see you again."

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic response before giving her a reassuring smile.

"You know you will, I'm going to need you a lot. There's no way I'll be able to cope alone."

Stevie really was the only person I could ask. Both my parents were still very unhappy with my pregnancy, and especially with the fact I didn't get an abortion which my father so desperately wanted me to get. Even if I was also upset that was pregnant, that was something I would never be prepared to do.

But they would come around eventually. Especially when they finally meet the babies because who can stay mad at a baby? They're so cute.

"I can't wait till they're here! It's so exciting."

"Yeah? Well you're not the one who has to push them both out of your-"

"Okay, I think this conversation is over now." She waved her hand in my direction causing me to let out a laugh.

Stevie was extremely squeamish. She hated anything to do with pregnancy aswell, just the idea of having to grow a human and then push it out was enough to send her over the edge.

I wasn't even sure if she would be able to be in the delivery room with me, but she insisted she would get over her fear for a little while just so that she could be there for me.

"I can't believe this."

I let out a laugh as I watched Stevie look through all the cute baby clothes online with a sad expression on her face.

"Why can't they just move the top one so that they can see the bottom one?"

I rolled my eyes at the way she described the situation, rubbing a hand over my bump as I let out a sigh.

She was upset because we only knew the sex of baby number one. The second baby was at the back and the midwife could never get a clear image to be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"How am I supposed to buy matching outfits for them? I can't just assume they're both boys, because if the other one is a girl she'll be wearing blue clothes and that's not okay."

"Girls can wear blue Stevie." My bestfriend almost instantly turned her head to look at me with a glare on her face, before she pointed her finger at me.

"She will wear pink for the photo if she's a girl. The baby photos will be all wrong if she's wearing blue, she can wear it when she's older and once I have my pictures, then I don't care."

Once again I rolled my eyes at her dramatic response.

"I pity your future children."

"Well I pity yours if this is the shitty attitude you have towards their clothes." I turned my head away from the TV, narrowing my eyes in her direction as she continued scrolling through all the clothes.

"I'm almost full term with twins. Forgive me if I don't care about their clothes anymore."

I'd already been through a phase of buying cute baby things, before the last trimester started kicking my ass.

"Oh, someone's touchy."

Yeah and someone's freaking irritating.

Of course I didn't say that out loud because she brought me cookies when she came to visit me.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

"I feel like everyone is staring at me."

"They're not staring Maddie." Stevie spoke as she ate her chicken salad across from me, sending me an annoyed look when I spoke again.

"But my bump is huge."

"Because you have two babies in there, not that anyone else here gives a damn. So please, just be quiet." I rolled my eyes at her words as I took another bite of my pasta, letting out a moan when the creamy sauce touched my taste buds.

"Good?" She gave me an amused smile as I nodded my head, taking another bite.

"It's amazing but I would do anything for a glass of wine with this right now." Stevie let out a laugh, nodding her head in agreement. She'd stopped drinking around me ever since I found out I was pregnant, so that she didn't rub it in my face that I couldn't drink alcohol.

It was sweet at the time but then she continued to remind me that she'd made such a huge sacrifice for me.

"I wish we could go to a bar or something after this."

"Me too. We definitely will though, once I stop breastfeeding I promise we'll go and get drunk."

"I don't think that's very motherly or responsible, do you Madison Clarke?" She gave me an amused grin as she ate another bite of her lunch.

"I'm going to need it, like I said, you're not the one who has to push these two out of your-"

"Excuse me." Before I could say that word that made her cringe every time, a tall man stopped by our table, giving me a weird look when he heard what I was saying.

I turned my head to look at him, instantly recognising him as the latest private investigator that I'd hired to find Santiago. He was dressed in all black with a black leather jacket on and black sunglasses.

The fact he walked straight up to our table dressed like that was definitely drawing unnecessary attention to us.

"What are you doing here?" I looked around the restaurant we were in before turning to look at him again while he shrugged.

"I'm a private investigator ma'am. It wasn't hard to find you."

I don't know if I should feel more confident that he knew what he was doing or completely creeped out that he used his skills to find me.

"You're kind of interrupting our lunch." I turned to look at Stevie who was glaring at the man as she gestured to the table where our food was sitting.

"Ma'am I don't care. Here you go." Once he'd replied to Stevie in a politely rude fashion, he turned to me and handed me a manila file.

"I've already been payed, so there is nothing more for us to discuss on this matter. This is all I could find. If you need anything else, call me and we will discuss payment."

Before I could reply, he had walked away, leaving me holding the file in my hand with a surprised expression on my face.

Opening the file, I noticed there was only one piece of paper inside and all it had written on it was Santiago's full name which I told him, and an address.

"Is that his home address?" I lifted my head to look at Stevie who was looking at the words on the paper as she took another bite of her lunch clearly unfazed by this.

I on the other hand felt like I was going to throw up.

"I don't know. Maybe?"

"Well, I guess we'll find out. Hurry up and finish your food, LA is like half an hour away." She gestured towards my plate of pasta, ignoring my wide eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"Maddie we need to go today and get this over and done with so you can focus on them. You've wasted so much time and money trying to find him." She gestured towards my bump as she spoke before she took another bite of her food.

"I'm not going today Stevie, I'm not ready. I haven't even thought about what I'm going to say and I'm so fat."

I glanced down at the fitted black knitted dress that I was wearing which showed off my baby bump. I'd taken off my overcoat which I put on to cover up the bump so that I didn't look fat while I was walking from the car to the restaurant.

Of course Stevie had a lot to say about the coat.

"You look like a MILF, relax."

"I'm most definitely not a MILF. I'm twenty one years old, never call me that again."

She let out a loud laugh at my disgusted response before nodding her head.

"Fine, but you do look good today. That dress is perfect and you did your make up for the first time in ages. You don't look like a hermit anymore."

"You know I could kick you from under the table right?"

"But is that very motherly Madison? Is it?" I narrowed my eyes at her smug expression before I lifted my foot and kicked her shin.

"Mothertrucker!"

I had to cover my mouth to stop my laugh escaping when people turned to look at us.

"Sorry that was a bit too hard."

All she did was glare at me from across the table, holding eye contact with me as she stabbed her fork into her salad.

<<<<<<< >>>>>>> <<<<<<<

Once we got back to her car, without even waiting for me to agree she put in the address we were given and started the drive to LA. The drive to what I'm assuming was his house, took us half an hour like Stevie said, although to me it felt like five minutes.

I was a nervous wreck.

We drove up through the quiet roads as the houses got bigger and bigger until eventually we came to what looked like a toll gate in the road. It wasn't a toll gate though, the guards waiting inside the little room had to come out and inspect the car to make sure we weren't carrying anything dangerous before they let us carrying on driving down the road.

I'm guess whoever lives past that gate was extremely rich and famous. I suppose that was obvious by the sizes of the houses though.

The house we were going to was a few more minutes down the road and by the time we got there I was almost sure I was going to throw up.

Stevie drove through the huge gates which were already open and then parked alongside a black Lamborghini which was only one of the expensive cars parked outside.

If Santiago did live here, he definitely had a better three years than I did. I was over here scraping my pennies so that I could finally rent an apartment for myself and he's here deciding which of his supercars he wants to drive today.

"I can't do it." I shook my head, staring straight ahead through the windscreen.

"You'll be fine. Come on, it's 4pm, by the time we get home it'll be time for dinner and you promised me we'd order Chinese today." I turned to glare at my best friend who was standing next to the passengers side of the car with my door open trying to get me to get out.

"But-"

"Now." I let out a sigh when she glared at me and I eventually got out the car, with her help of course, before I followed her to the overly large front door.

"You ring the bell Stevie."

"What is this? Kindergarten?" She rolled her eyes at me as she put her hand out and rang the bell, ignoring the nervous expression on my face.

What was I supposed to say?

Hi Santiago, I know you hate me for some reason which is why you dropped me as a friend and then left me again when you accidentally slept with me but now I'm pregnant so I guess I'm going to be part of your life now forever even if you hate me?

Yeah I don't think so.

Moments later, the door opened revealing a tall, unfamiliar man. He was extremely tanned and tattooed, just like Santiago was, but he had even darker eyes than Santiago.

He was extremely attractive, I wasn't even going to try and deny it.

His eyes landed on Stevie first, lingering on her for a moment before he turned to look at me and then back at her.

"Who the hell are you?"

Oh wow. That was rude.

When neither of us responded to him, he rose an eyebrow at me, but before I could try to get a word out, my overly confident bestfriend spoke up.

"Who the hell are you bitch?"

This isn't going to end well.

"Stevie! Shut up." I turned to give her a glare, much like the man who also had his eyes focussed on her.

"Is Santiago here? I need to speak to him." When I spoke, he moved his attention to me and for the first time he seemed to notice I was pregnant. It wasn't hard since I accidentally forgot my coat in the car and my bump really was big.

I guess you could call me a whale.

Can you tell I'm insecure yet?

When he took in my pregnant bump, his eyes quickly showed amusement instead of the previous anger.

"Are you here to tell him that's his?" His words came out in a thick Spanish accent as he rose an eyebrow at me, and all I could do was shrug causing him to let out a sigh.

"This should be good. Fine, come in." He stepped aside, allowing us to enter the expensively decorated house, sending a glare in Stevie's direction as she walked past him giving him one of her own.

They weren't going to be friends any time soon.

"He's in there." He gestured to a door at the end of the hallway, and after sending an apprehensive glance to Stevie I started the walk down the hallway.

I could hear them walking behind me as I stopped by the door and nervously pushed it open since it was already ajar.

The moment the door opened a sharp smell invaded my senses and I almost immediately started coughing. Before I stepped away I managed to make out a few figures sitting inside but I couldn't see much so I couldn't make out who they were.

"What the hell is wrong with you? She's pregnant you idiot!" Stevie quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the door while the man just let out a laugh.

"Damn, sorry. I forgot about the weed. I'll call him, just wait in here."

This time he opened another door and thankfully it was an empty living room with no marijuana in sight. Stevie let out another few profanities under her breath as she guided me into the room and helped me to sit down on one of the couches.

"Are you okay?" I nodded my head, clearing my throat from all the coughing. I could hear voices from the room next door and all of a sudden a wave of panic came over me.

"I don't know if I can do this Stevie, maybe we should just go-"

"Yes you can, I'm right here Maddie. Don't worry, just think of your little babies. They're all that matter." She rubbed my arm as she sat down next to me, giving me a reassuring smile.

I let out a nervous breath just as the door opened and the guy came back in, this time with Santiago following behind him.

"¿qué demonios?" (What the hell?)

I refused to look him in the eye as he suddenly stopped in the doorway his eyes probably focusing on me. Eventually he came forward and the other guy closed the door before he sat down on the couch across from us while Santiago remained standing up. I knew he was staring at me, but I still refused to look at him.

"I'm Arturo by the way." I nodded my head, unsure of what I was supposed to say to Santiago's friend in response. Of course Stevie had something to say though.

"No one cares, be quiet."

Before Arturo could argue with Stevie, Santiago cleared his throat before he spoke.

"How did you find me?" His tone was a lot colder than I expected it to be. Not that I expected him to be happy to see me but still, he didn't need to be that cold.

Finally I met his eyes and he kept his expression neutral as he folded his arms, standing near the door of the living room.

"A private investigator, well, four of them actually. You owe me the money back for that, by the way."

He didn't say anything in response instead he just clenched his jaw and looked away from me so I decided to do the talking.

"You've done well for yourself, I see." He turned to look at me again, this time holding eye contact with me as he spoke, pretty much forcing his words out.

"Hard work pays off." I nodded my head in response before I spoke. "For some people."

Some of us had to work night shifts even up until we were 30 weeks pregnant, just to pay the rent.

Both Stevie and Arturo just sat and watched the tense dialogue between Santiago and I. It was definitely awkward to say the least.

"So you're pregnant?" I nodded my head, watching his expression closely to see if I could gauge his reaction but he kept his face neutral.

He always did have a good poker face.

"I am, I'm 35 weeks." He seemed to be doing the calculations in his head, but before he could reply, Arturo beat him to it.

"Do you know how many women come to him and tell him that they're pregnant with his baby?"

I turned my attention away from Santiago who was still digesting the news and back to Arturo.

"I'm guessing a lot."

Deciding to ignore the snarky tone I used, Arturo continued speaking with a hard edge to his voice.

"They come for the money. So, if you want him to believe that the baby is his, you're going to need to do as we say to every single other money grabber that comes here. When it's born, take a paternity test."

I can't lie and say his words didn't hurt because they freaking did. But I wasn't going to let him see that so easily.

Even if he did call me a money grabber.

"If you think I would lie about something like this, then I guess you never really knew me very well Santiago." I aimed my response at Santiago who looked at me when I said his name.

His full name sounded so foreign coming out of my mouth since for years I was the only one who called him Santi.

Arturo looked between Santiago and I with a confused expression, clearly trying to figure out what the connection was between us.
Santiago let out a sigh as he dropped down on the couch next to where he was standing, running a hand over his face.

"Damn." He let out a frustrated breath as he bounced his leg up and down like he was nervous or something. He looked up at me again as if he was checking I was still there and that this was still real before he mumbled something.

"Esto no puede estar sucediendo en este momento." (This can't be happening right now.)

Arturo looked over at Santiago with a concerned frown on his face before he responded to him in Spanish.

"¿Estás seguro de que podemos confiar en ella? Con todo lo que está sucediendo en este momento, debemos tener cuidado." (Are you sure we can trust her? With everything going on right now, we need to be careful.)

Whatever Arturo said caused Santiago to lift his head to look at me again. Then, he turned his attention back to his friend.

"Ella no miente. Probablemente ni siquiera sabe, si lo supiera, entonces no estaría aquí." (She doesn't lie. She probably doesn't even know, if she did, then she wouldn't be here.)

They both kept glancing in my direction as their conversation went on a little longer, and then eventually Santiago turned his attention back to me.

"So you're here to tell me about the baby. I'm guessing you want some money aswell?"

His words honestly felt like a slap to the face. I'd never once even thought about taking money from him, apart from when I told him to pay me back for the private investigators.

He was making it a lot easier for me to hate him, which I was grateful for because I'd already decided I would never forgive him for leaving me the second time, even if he apologised.

"I'm not here for your damn money. I'm only here to tell you about them, if you want to be in their lives-"

"Wait, them?"

"Yes. I'm having twins, but they're non-identical." I tried to keep my tone void of any emotion as I spoke, although on the inside I was a complete mess.

"Twins?"

"She just said that, didn't she?" Santiago's eyes snapped over to Stevie for the first time and if it was possible they became even colder as he glared at her.

"I wasn't freaking talking to you."

While he glared at her and I'm sure she was glaring back, all I could do was stare at him, wondering how on Earth it was possible for someone to change so much.

He was so...angry.

"Don't speak to her like that Santiago. As I was saying, it's up to you. I've done my job by telling you about them."

My words caused him to let out a humourless laugh before he said another word in Spanish which I'm assuming was a curse word.

"So what happens now then Madison? You seem to have this all thought out."

It fell silent for a moment as I tried to think of what to say, that was until Arturo spoke.

"Woah, wait a second. You're Madison?" I shifted my attention away from Santiago and over to Arturo who was now staring at me with wide eyes.

"Yeah..."

"Holy crap." I frowned at the shocked expression on his face, but Santiago quickly shot Arturo a look, clearly telling him to shut up.

Unfortunately I know his expressions very well. He used to give me that look a lot too.

"I don't know what happens next. I guess I'll just go home and then when I go into labour, Stevie will call you."

"What about afterwards?" I frowned at his words. "What about it?"

"You live in Santa Ana, I live in LA. I can't drive that far everyday to see them. I have other things to do aswell."

"I'm not moving Santiago, my life is still in Santa Ana, even if you've moved on." He narrowed his eyes at me in response to what I said but before he could argue or at least try to defend himself I continued.

"Eventually when they're old enough they can start staying over with you here, maybe when they're around four years old. As long as there's no drugs. Until then, just come and see them whenever you want. I won't stop you."

Once again he just shook his head, clearly overwhelmed by everything I was saying. Too bad I had very little sympathy for him. I've had to deal with this for the last eight months on my own while he was here, living a life of luxury.

"Do you want to be in their lives?"

"If they're my children then yes."

"If?" I rose an eyebrow at him and he quickly shook his head again.

"I didn't mean it like that-"

I cut him off with a scoff as I shook my head. "I'm sure you didn't."

"Maddie-"

"Call me Madison. Only my friends call me Maddie."

Maybe it was harsh, maybe it made me sound like a bitch to say that to him. But I didn't care, because hearing that name come out of his mouth brought up to much pain for me even just for a split second.

He didn't respond to me, instead he just gave me that same glare that had been on his face for the last few minutes.

"Shall we go then?" I turned to look at Stevie who was still glaring at Santiago and Arturo.

"Yeah but I...I need to pee." I whispered the last part to her and she finally looked at me, amusement shining her eyes.

She always found it funny how I would need to pee so often. Even at the most inopportune times, like right now.

I couldn't help it though, I had two babies pushing on my bladder.

"Can she use your bathroom quickly before we go?" I had to hold back my smile when she spoke in such a harsh tone, as if she was daring either of them to say no to her.

She really was my bestfriend.

"Sure...it's two doors down on the right."

I nodded my head, thanking Stevie when she helped me to stand up. I quickly left the room, following the directions that Santiago had given me as I went into the bathroom.

The very luxurious bathroom.

I rolled my eyes as I closed the door, noticing the number of framed autographed sports shirts that were on the wall.

Once I'd done my business and washed my hands, I fluffed my hair, giving myself a once over in the mirror.

I guess we do kind of look good today.

That's the power of make up and some hair straighteners my friend.

Yes I was having an internal dialogue and no I'm not embarrassed.

As I walked the short walk back to the living room, my eyes landed on the door we originally went to which was now slightly more open. The sounds of multiple voices came from the room and I could see someone facing away from me, holding a blunt in his hand as he laughed at something someone had said to him.

Santiago must have a lot of friends.

Going back into the room, I gestured for Stevie to stand up so that we could leave.

"I've got his number so you don't need to worry about that." I gave her a grateful smile, thanking her as she picked up her purse.

Just as we turned to walk to the door to leave, it suddenly opened.

Both Santiago and Arturo turned to look at the blonde woman who stepped inside, turning her attention to Santiago instantly.

"Santi, baby? When are you coming back?"

Santi.

Instead of replying to her, Santiago's eyes flashed over to mine and I'm sure he saw the pain in my eyes even though I tried to hide it.

The woman turned her head to follow his gaze and when her eyes landed on me, they instantly became cold.

I watched as she stared at me for a second, taking in my appearance before she spoke.

"Oh wow you're huge." Her eyes widened and a laugh escaped her lips before she quickly put a hand to her mouth. "Sorry I didn't mean to say that out loud."

I know it's pathetic but I couldn't help it.

Almost instantly my eyes filled with tears.

"What the hell?" I was vaguely aware of Stevie walking past me and towards the woman but all I could do was just stand there staring at her.

She might have been a bitch, but she was so beautiful.

Exactly the kind of girl Santiago should have been with.

"I should take those freaking extensions and wrap them around your neck."

I watched as she stepped away from Stevie and towards Santiago who was now standing up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"You didn't mean to say it? I don't give a damn, thats my best friend you just called fat. My pregnant bestfriend." The woman once again stepped away from Stevie and this time she turned to look at Santiago, putting a hand on his arm.

"Santi, don't let her speak to me like that."

I watched as she looked between Stevie and Santiago for a moment, clearly expecting him to defend her, until Santiago took her hand from his arm and held it in his own. He stepped closer to her, his eyes flashing over at me for a moment before he turned his attention back to the woman.

"Tienes unos tres segundos para salir de mi casa antes de que haga algo de lo que te arrepientas." (You have about three seconds to get out of my house before I do something that you'll regret.)

"¿La estás defendiendo? De Verdad? ¿Estás eligiendo eso sobre mí?" (You're defending her? Really? You're choosing that over me?)

"La elegiría a ella sobre cualquiera. Sal de mi casa antes de que te meta una bala en la cabeza." (I'd choose her over anyone. Get out of my house before I put a bullet in your head.)

Whatever Santiago said to her seemed to be enough and she quickly pulled her hand out of his grip before leaving the room without looking back.

"Maddie..." I turned to look at Stevie who was giving me a concerned frown as she stepped towards me.

"Let's go, please." Stevie nodded her head, taking my hand as I wiped my tears away from my cheeks. We started walking towards the door when Santiago quickly stepped in front of us to block our exit.

"Madison, wait."

"You've done enough Santiago. Move out the way." Once again he glared at Stevie but she wasn't going to stand down.

"I just need to speak to her."

"If you ever try to speak to her about anything but those two children, I promise you Santiago Hernández, I will cut your balls off and wear them as earrings. You got it?"

My eyes widened at her words, and so did Santiago's. It fell silent for a moment until Arturo broke it.

"Damn, that's uncomfortably graphic."

All she did was roll her eyes before stepping past Santiago, pretty much dragging me out of the room. I followed her out the house as she slammed the door loudly behind us, before we started walking to the car.

"Stevie wait." The tears were still leaking out of my eyes as we stopped in the middle of the driveway and she turned back to face me.

"She really said that, in front of everyone. The one thing I hate about myself right now, she just..."

At the mention of that silly blonde woman, her jaw clenched as she stepped closer to me again.

"Madison Clarke listen to me. I know you're self conscious and I know you don't like your bump, but you are so beautiful. They're your babies, they're yours, okay? You're making two humans inside you right now, do you know how crazy that is? And they're going to love you so much. Don't listen to Goldilocks, you're perfect just the way you are and it's not going to last forever. They'll be out soon and I'm telling you, you'll miss your bump."

"But..."

"No buts. You're beautiful." She gave me smile as a small sob escaped my lips before she pulled me in for a hug.

"You're beautiful and hormonal."

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