Monday

I opened the door and smiled down at my daughter.

"Hi, Mommy." She looked up at me in a strange way. As if she were studying me.

"Hi, Scar, I missed you." I bent down to hug her but she ran past me.

"Ellie!" she screamed.

I tried not to show the disappointment on my face. I had told myself that she wanted to hang out with Rob because she missed her father and wanted to hang out with another male in James' absence. But that wasn't the case. She seemed perfectly content as Ellen picked her up.

"Hi, sweet girl," Ellen said. "Did you have fun at the office?"

"Yes! I got to play with the copy machine."

I glanced at Rob.

He shrugged his shoulders.

"Come in," I said. "I hope she wasn't a nuisance."

"Nah, it was fun. Soph never wants to come to work with me. Everyone doted on her all morning. They couldn't stop talking about her beautiful red hair."

"Mhm." I looked over at Scar. Ellen was taking her upstairs to play. Ellen could entertain her for hours, yet she didn't want to spend one minute alone with me.

"James called last night to say goodnight to Scarlett. And he may have mentioned that you needed this."

I smiled and grabbed the grocery bag that I hadn't noticed. "I love you so much, Rob." I pulled out the pint of Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream. "Do you want some?"

"I've never turned down ice cream before."

We walked into the kitchen and I grabbed two spoons. "Did you already have lunch? I'm sure we have something more substantial to go with this."

"We grabbed hot dogs on the way here. Scarlett insisted."

"Of course she did." We made our way into the family room. I took the top off the ice cream container as I sat down on the couch, and then I took a huge bite. "God, it's everything I've been craving and more."

Rob laughed as he took a bite. "It's good, but it's not orgasmic, Penny."

I shook my head and laughed. "It's all I've been craving since the wedding." I put my hand on the center of my chest.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I immediately removed my hand and took another bite. "I just have indigestion or something." I frowned at my own words. I had barely eaten anything in the past two days. What would I be having indigestion from? "Being pregnant sucks."

Rob laughed. "Daphne's getting into that phase too. Pregnant women. Ugh."

I lightly shoved his shoulder and tried not to wince at the pain that had now shifted to my stomach.

"Seriously, are you okay? You look really pale."

"Nothing a little ice cream can't fix." I took another bite and forced myself to swallow. Now I felt incredibly nauseous. "So what deal was James trying to land?"

Rob laughed. "How should I know?"

I set the pint of ice cream down on the coffee table. "Rob, you're the CEO. Shouldn't you know everything that's going on?" I smiled at him.

"Yeah, and I do." He said it a little defensively.

"Okay, so what deal is James trying to get for Hunter Tech in London?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Another pain shot through my stomach and I leaned forward slightly. "You asked him to go to London."

"What? No, I didn't. He's not there for Hunter Tech."

Ow. "What do you mean? Why else would he go to London?"

"I don't know. I thought it was for the university."

"He's not teaching an abroad program." I laughed awkwardly. "Seriously, Rob, why was he in London?"

"I don't know. But the paparazzi probably do." He picked up his phone and typed something in. He lowered both his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." He tried to move his phone away from me but I grabbed it.

He had done a Google image search. There were tons of images of James dining with some woman at an outdoor restaurant. Some gorgeous woman with long, brunette hair and skin that was too tan for London's dreary climate. "Who is this woman?" I asked.

"I don't know, I've never seen her before."

I laughed. "Is this some kind of weird joke, Rob? One of your pranks?" I stared at him hopefully and tried to ignore the pain in my chest. What the fuck was James doing with some beautiful woman in London? And why had he lied to me about it?

"I'm sure there's an innocent explanation," Rob said. "He should be back pretty soon, right?"

I glanced at the clock. "In about an hour."

"I should probably get back to work." Rob abruptly stood up.

"Rob."

He seemed to cringe.

"Is he cheating on me?"

Rob laughed. "No, of course not. He wouldn't." But there was doubt in his voice. Suspicion. And maybe, just maybe, a small hint of anger. I just didn't know if it was directed at me or his brother.

"Rob? If you know something you have to tell me." I stood up and immediately hunched forward.

"Penny?"

I felt his hands on my shoulders. "Ow." I put my hand on my stomach. I didn't realize I had said it out loud. But by the look on Rob's face, I definitely had.

"Penny, are you alright?"

"No." I shook my head. "I'm going to be sick."

"Okay...just..." his voice trailed off as he ran into the kitchen.

Fuck. I grabbed my stomach.

Rob came back just in time with a bowl.

I sat down on the carpet and threw up. Every little bit that was left in my stomach barely covered the bottom of the bowl.

He ran his hand up and down my back. "Do you want me to get Ellen?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't want Scar to see me like this." I leaned over the bowl again. My stomach still ached, but nothing else seemed to want to come up.

Rob handed me a paper towel.

"I'm so sorry." I wiped my mouth off.

"I'm the one that should be apologizing. The ice cream I brought made you sick."

"No, it's probably just really late morning sickness. I'm fine." Fuck, it hurts.

"I think I should take you to the doctor."

I shook my head. "Rob," I said and looked up at him. "Is James having an affair? Tell me he's not. Please." It felt like my heart was ripping in two. Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

"No." He said it firmly this time. The doubt was gone.

And then I felt it. A wetness surrounding me. It was too soon. Panic started to weigh on top of the searing pain in my stomach. "My water broke," I croaked. Two months too early. I felt tears welling in my eyes.

"Shit," Rob said. "I'll get Ellen."

"No. Scar can't see me like this." I grabbed his leg. "Help me up. William will take me to the hospital."

"Penny..."

"Please, Rob. Scar already thinks I'm weak. She can't see me like this." I tried to blink away the tears. "I don't want her to see me like this."

I leaned over in pain.

Rob pulled out his cell phone. "My sister-in-law's water just broke," he said into the cell phone. "Twenty minutes, are you fucking kidding me?" He hung up the phone. "Okay, I'm going to help you up." He leaned down and grabbed my hands.

I grimaced in pain. "Something's wrong. It's too soon." It didn't feel the way it had when my water broke when I was pregnant with Scarlett. Everything felt wrong.

"It's okay," Rob said as he slowly helped me to my feet. But then something in his face changed. Horror. Dread. Agony. They swept over his features in a flash.

I suddenly felt faint and I teetered forward slightly.

"Ellen!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "Ellen, call William and tell him to get the car started!"

I winced in pain. Why was he calling for her? I had just asked him not to.

Ellen came running down the stairs and gasped. The look of horror on her face matched Rob's.

I followed her trail of vision and stared down at the pool of blood at my feet. Seeping into the carpet. Dripping down my legs. The blood was everywhere.

"You're okay," Rob said as he scooped me up into his arms and started running. "You're going to be okay."

But I wasn't. I just knew I wasn't. Because the pain in my stomach was growing worse by the second. And my son wasn't kicking me. He wasn't fucking kicking me.

"Christ!" Rob yelled as he slammed his fist against the elevator button.

Porter and Briggs ran out of their office down the hall.

"What happened?" Porter asked. He reached out to take me from Rob.

I grabbed the collar of Rob's shirt. I didn't want him to let me go.

"I've got her," Rob said.

"This way then," Porter said and ran toward the staircase.

"I'll call James," Briggs said and ran back to their office.

I closed my eyes. Each step downwards on the stairs made my stomach ache more.

I heard a car door open and close. I heard the squeal of the tires. Cursing. I had never felt more weak. It felt like the life was draining out of my body. And not just my son's. My own. My heartbeat seemed to slow. A chill entered my bloodstream. It felt like the coolness was pulsing through my whole body.

"It's okay," Rob said. "We're almost there."

I was vaguely aware of the fact that he hadn't set me down in the back seat. That he was cradling me in his arms. Like he knew if he let go, I'd be gone.

"Take care of him," I said.

"Penny." His hand on my cheek felt scalding hot.

"Promise me you'll take care of him."

"You're going to be alright. Everything's okay."

I looked up at his face. It was wet with tears. I had seen him cry once before. When James had gotten shot. When we thought we might lose him. And I knew it then. He thought I was going to die. I thought I was going to die. And I felt the death in my stomach. I felt it rip my heart in two.

"Promise me." My voice came out as a whisper.

He shook his head.

"Take care of Scarlett."

"Penny..."

"Take care of my family."

"We're almost there," he said.

"I'm scared." I tried to grab his hand, but my grip was too weak. The pain was easing as the feeling of ice spread. It was peaceful. Like my body was trying to comfort me as I slipped. As it became harder to breathe. "I'm so scared," I whispered.

"Penny, open your eyes."

I tried, but I couldn't.

"Penny, you're not allowed to leave us. Do you hear me? Open your eyes, okay?"

But I couldn't. I couldn't do it.

"Please."

The desperation in his voice pained me. But I couldn't frown. I couldn't move at all.

"Fucking open your eyes!"