Alisha tugged her over to the bed and pulled her down so they were sitting face to face. "Let's explore your options, shall we?" Maggie merely blinked owlishly back at her. "One, you can get back together with James and raise the baby with him. Two, you can raise this baby on your own. Three, you can have an ab—"
"No," Maggie adamantly said, shaking her head, tears spilling down her face again. "No, I want James and I want our baby." She held up a hand, "And I can see the next question on your mind, Alisha. I want to be with James…baby or no baby."
A smile curved slowly over her lips until she smiled so hard her face nearly hurt. "You're having a baby," she yelled, laughing exuberantly. "Just think of the outfits Russell will buy!"
Maggie burst out laughing and fell back against the bed, clutching her sides. She could just imagine how their other best friend would dress her baby. "Will he be Uncle Russell or Aunt Russell, do you think?" she asked playfully.
Alisha collapsed into peals of laughter and together the girls laughed until they couldn't breathe.
Maggie's cell phone rang and Alisha fumbled for it on the night stand. "It's your baby daddy," she told her, causing another outburst of hysterical laughing.
"You answer," Maggie said, her laughter subsiding.
"What do you want me to say?" Alisha asked, eyeing the phone like it was a ticking time bomb.
"Put it on speaker and I'll help you."
"Maggie!"
"Answer it," she snapped.
Alisha glared at her friend, but hit the answer button, putting the call on speaker. "Hi, James."
"Alisha?" he asked confused.
"Yes, it's me." She could hear Jake's Hey, baby in the background quickly followed by Don't fucking chicken out, Keller. Alisha bit her lip to keep from laughing again.
"Can I talk to Maggie?"
Maggie leaned in and whispered her answer to Alisha. "She said if you want to talk you can come over."
"Is she still super pissed?" James asked, worried.
Alisha looked at her friend who had pressed a hand to her heart and looked like she was going to cry again. "I think you two will be okay," Alisha offered kindly.
"Will you—" he cleared his throat. "Will you tell her that I'm sorry and that I love her?"
The look on Maggie's face told Alisha all she needed to know. And that was that these two (soon to be three) would be better than okay. "I will tell her." She heard the boys talking quietly on the other end of the line.
"Big told me to ask you about your new necklace," James said, clearly confused.
Her cheeks and neck flushed pink with embarrassment. Jake's laughter could be heard clear as day in the background.
"I don't even want to know," James said. "Tell Maggie I'll be over soon."
Alisha hung up the phone and handed it to Maggie, who was grinning wickedly at her. "Big Daddy's on his way over," she said hastily, scrambling to her feet. "I'll just be on my way."
"You and Big are dirty," Maggie teased, chuckling at the poor, embarrassed look on Alisha's face.
"Well, evidently so are you and James since you're now tin roof rusted," Alisha tossed back with a smirk that turned into a bright smile. "God, you're having a baby." She placed her hands on the sides of the blonde's face. "Mazel tov," she said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. "You'll be an amazing mother, Fabs."
"Thanks…Aunt Alisha."
Alisha beamed proudly.
A couple hours later, after Big had deemed him sober enough to not make an ass of himself, James stood outside Maggie's door, a bouquet of flowers in hand and apology on his lips. He rapped his knuckles on the door and nervously waited for her to answer. What felt like an eternity later, he heard the locks being undone and the door slowly swung open. "Hey," he said softly.
Maggie had spotted the flowers the moment she pulled the door open and her heart started racing. "Hey," she parroted.
James handed her the flowers. "These are for you," he told her. "I know they're your favorite, because you always stop and smell them whenever we pass a flower vendor."
She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and slowly lifted the flowers to her nose, inhaling deeply the sweet scent of the cheerful, pink gerbera daisies. "Thank you," she whispered, stepping towards him and throwing her arms around his neck. He lifted her effortlessly, hugged her close, breathing in the scent of her hair as her legs slinked around his waist.
"I'm sorry," they whispered at the same time.
"I don't want to fight with you," Maggie murmured against his neck.
"Baby, I don't want to fight with you either," James countered.
At the word baby, Maggie's nerves flapped wildly in her stomach like a thousand butterflies. She had to tell him. Leaning back, she ran her hand gently down the side of his boyishly handsome face before kissing him softly. James nipped and licked at her lips until she opened her mouth to him. He slipped inside and circled his tongue heatedly around hers, his fingers sliding into the waistband of her jeans to press against her warm skin. He kissed her long and hard until her head swam and they were both breathless. Pulling back again, she sucked in a ragged breath, her eyes slowly fluttering open.
James looked hotly back at her and her nerves dissipated instantly, quickly replaced by a warm, familiar ache between her thighs. She'd tell him later. It wasn't like she was going to be any less pregnant after they had make-up sex. "Bedroom," she ordered, threading her fingers through his hair and resting on the back of his neck. "Now."
His lips twitched into a crooked grin and he stepped further into her apartment, kicking the door closed behind them. "You got it, Q," he rasped.
After they made up (three times), they lay Beneath the cool sheets with their legs tangled together. She had her arm draped over his middle, tracing
