I entered our apartment calling, “Blaire? Carrie?” But the space felt too empty, and I knew they weren’t here. Well, I was over an hour late. Fuck. My life was so jacked up right now. It seemed like the more time and energy I gave to Milan, the more she wanted, which left me with practically nothing left to give Blaire and Carrie. I felt like I was being torn into a thousand pieces, and no one was fucking happy, least of all me.

I had told Milan I had plans with Carrie when she asked me for help moving today, so she said she would just move everything herself. Then she started crying and telling me about how her sister had a miscarriage from lifting boxes while she was pregnant, and she just didn’t want to lose this baby. So, fuck. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? I honestly didn’t like Milan very much, especially now that I had spent more than a few hours with her, but the woman was carrying my baby. I had gotten myself into this, and I needed to step up and do the right thing.

So, I canceled my plans with Carrie to move approximately nine thousand boxes into Milan’s new apartment. Then she needed me to help her unpack the boxes and put things up on shelves for her. Just about the time I was ready to leave to pick up Carrie and Blaire, she came into the kitchen carrying a pizza. “Surprise, baby! I’m treating you to dinner since you’ve helped me so much today.”

I could have sworn that I told Milan I had plans for dinner, but she insisted that she didn’t know. Then she turned on the waterworks—again—crying because she didn’t know anyone here except me, and she had eaten dinner “all by herself” the night before.

I had heard about pregnancy hormones, but damn. Did all pregnant women cry this much? So, I sat and politely ate a couple of slices of pizza, after which Milan said her back was really hurting, and would it be too much trouble for me to carry her towels upstairs and put them in the master bathroom? She wanted to take a bath to help with her back pain, which should have been nonexistent based on the zero number of boxes she had carried today.

She came upstairs and started her bathwater while I was putting the towels in the cabinet and asked if I would pretty please go back downstairs and get her bath gel. Jesus, this woman was running me ragged. I hauled ass back downstairs and returned with the requested bath gel to find Milan naked in the tub, her full breasts floating in the water. I averted my eyes, and she laughed. “Don’t be shy, Axel. It’s nothing you haven’t seen before.”