Right after Esther was Mignon who was running just like her daughter, her hands wide open. Shikera broke into a smile and quickened her steps to et them halfway.
"How are you doing, baby?" she asked, lowering to a squat so she could be on the sa level as Esther.
"Fine!" Esther gushed, "Are you finally back, Mummy?"
Shikera cast a quick glance at Mignon who shrugged, mouthing an, "Answer her".
"Mummy?" Esther called with pouted lips.
"Yes Esther, I’m back and I won’t be going anywhere else. I also won’t go anywhere by myself again," Shikera replied. "Will you go tell Grandma I’m here?"
With a smile on her face, Shikera watched Esther run away. She rose to her feet and turned to Mignon.
"I’m back, Leah," she chuckled.
"Yeah, it’s about ti you ca back, Kera Cooper," Mignon responded. She pulled Shikera into her embrace and the two burst into laughter. Just then, Raymond and Cyprian walked past them.
"Isn’t Ethan coming back yet?" Mignon asked, directing her question at Raymond.
A quick glance at Shikera, he replied, "He’s expected to be back by evening. Expect him today."
"Oh really?" Mignon sighed. She added, "I had thought there would be a preliminary baby shower."
Shikera’s eyes widened as her gaze flew from Mignon to Raymond. He didn’t catch that, right? But...it sure looked like he did.
"Baby shower? Who’s expecting a baby?" Raymond asked, his brows raised in surprise.
"No one!"
"Kera is."
Mignon and Shikera chorused their answers at once and all of their eyes descended on the latter. Raymond’s was shocked and Cyprian’s confused. Her eyes trailed down to Shikera’s belly and though she couldn’t see a noticeable increase in size, she knew it was different.
Mignon’s hand flew over her mouth, her eyes widening in shock, "What? Did sothing happen to the baby?"
Shikera looked from one person to the other, her gaze stopping on Raymond. She could see how worried they looked.
"Nothing happened to the baby," she replied.
"Then why did you have to scare ? Omg," Mignon breathed a sigh of relief, when it suddenly dawned on her. She chuckled, "Don’t tell you didn’t tell him yet?"
"Ethan doesn’t know yet," Shikera muttered.
"What?!" All three of them chorused. Or were they five in number?
Shikera felt her knees weaken beneath her when her eyes caught Chris and Raine a few tres away from them. While Raine looked shocked, Chris had a frown on his face.
"I wanted to tell him guys, but he got sothing to do and I couldn’t hold him back," she tried to explained. It was better to just do that when they were all present than to explain to each of them one by one.
"He got sothing to do? Kera, you guys were together for the past two weeks and you didn’t get the chance to tell him?" Mignon asked. She looked more shocked than the rest of them as she could already calculate Shikera’s pregnancy to be eleven weeks old. If the father of the baby didn’t know about it all this while, how was she coping?
Shikera looked around, seeing that their presence was already attracting the attention of the maid and butlers around.
"Can we just talk inside?" she proposed.
"No one has a problem with that. You must be tired anyway," Raine chid in. She was the only person in the group who still had a smile on her face, apart from Esther who had no idea what the adults were talking about.
The group made their way into the house where Raymond excused himself with Cyprian. As they walked away, their pretty loud whispers didn’t escape Shikera’s ears.
"What was that about?"
"I’ll tell you everything. Kera’s not to bla either way but just make sure to keep your mouth shut and not tell her husband," Cyprian replied.
Shikera smiled at her, her eyes brimming in appreciation as she watched them leave.
"Now sit down and talk to ," Mignon’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
Raine spoke up, "I’ll take Esther to get you a drink." She took the little girl’s hand and walked away from the gathering, leaving Shikera alone with Chris and Mignon.
Silence descended on the group when Raine’s footsteps had completely died down, only to be broken by Mignon.
"Answer now. When did you try to tell him?" he asked.
"The night before last," Shikera replied. She continued because she knew the question that would follow anyways, "I wasn’t able to tell him before then because I had to take care of sothing. Now that I did, he’s nowhere near . I also hate the fact that I’m keeping this away from him!"
Mignon exhaled loudly, running her hand through her hair.
"This is...I won’t lie, it’s shocking. But I understand and I support you. Ray said he’s coming tonight; will you tell him then?" she asked.
Shikera nodded, "I will definitely tell him tonight even if I have to yell it after him."
Mignon chuckled at the determined look on her face.
"Great! Why don’t we start preparing then? You surely won’t just tell him blandly!" she stated.
"I’ll appreciate your help to tell him spicily, "Shikera replied, breaking into laughter. "I’m scared I might have to sleep till night if I want to stay up for him."
Mignon shrugged, "It’s nothing. I will help you prepare."
"Thanks. I’ll just go—"
Chris cut in, "Mig, could you excuse us for a mont?" His eyes was on Shikera even though he was speaking to another person.
"Oh...of course," Mignon replied. She stood up to give Shikera a small peck on her forehead and walked out from the living room.
Shikera began imdiately, "If you want to scold on how I craftily stole your shares by getting pregnant then—"
"Are you okay?" Chris interjected. He was sitting a few couches away from her but Shikera could not see his face clearly. One of the funny side effects that occured whenever she travelled by air.
"I am," she replied, shrugging nonchalantly. Maintaining what she thought was eye contact with him, she refused to say anything else.
Chris sighed, "I don’t think you are."
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