Ashley POV

My phone has been ringing none stop since the clock has hit twelve. Ive had relatives calling me to tell me happy birthday that i didn't even know had my number. And i dont know what it is but when every one tells you happy birthday and how much they care about you it really makes you feel special.

Putting my phone on do not disturb, i lie down so that i can be up early because Bri said we have a long day and if im not up and ready she'll drag me out.

At nine thirty i decide i have slept enough and get up. I make a smoothie and a fruit bowl so the munchkin can get their nutrients. Going through the unworn section of my closet i look for something to wear. I decide on a brown skirt with a black body suit, accompanied by some louis vuitton lace up boot and matching backpack, and cropped olive jacket to top it off. After showering i use some water to fix my two day old curls. As soon as i finish Bri calls me and lets me know that she is outside.

Walking out my house i see her roll down her window and recording me.

"Look at the Birthday Bitch ayyyyeee fuck it up" she hypes me up as i pose showing off my outfit. "you betta sis. Baby bump and all. You Bitches could neva" she says as i put my hand over my bump as she is still recording causing me to laugh. I hop in the car giving her a hug.

"How you feeling Birthday girl" she says rubbing my small bump.

"im fine girl i dont even feel pregnant honestly." i admit as i buckle up before she takes off. She plays Rachet Happy Birthday by Drake, which is one of my favorite songs.

"its your fucking birthday" we both sing as i record on my phone posing for the video. After i ask her where we are going but she said it was a surprise. I sit back and allow her to surprise me. We pull up to a spa and i look to her in shock. Ive been trying to get a appointment here for the longest.

"how did you?" i say pushing her shoulder playfully.

" i have my ways" she smiles. as we enter the spa we are greeted with mimosas which i have to turn down.

"appointment under jackson" my ears perk up at the name she just said. But before i could ask the lady asked my to follow her and i gave Bri a look of knowing but she just laughed. The lady takes me to a room explaining that i will be receiving a pregnancy massage as well as a facial for this part of the spa treatment. And let me tell you... the lady that massaged me had hands of GOLD. She got out knots that i didnt even know i had. As the facial esthetician came in she make sure i wasn't allegoric to anything as she brought even more glow to my melanated skin. Leaving the massage room about 2 hours later in a silk robe they lead me to where i will be getting my nails done. As i walk in i see Bri already with her feet in a pedicure bowl as she sips on a beverage. I take a seat next to her as i ask for them to bring me a water and place my feet in the bowl.

"how was it ?" she smiles

"girl i feel like a new person" we laugh together before the nail techs come over and do our nails. And they were great too. I got a simple v cut French gel manicure since I'm still working and white toes as always.

As we leave the spa I step out side feeling the air hit different than before. I swear those ladies were miracle workers. Getting into the car once again we drive for about 10 minutes before we pull up to a hair salon and Bri pulls out a bag from the backseat and says open it.

" you didn't" I pull out the five 30 inch bundles

" I know you don't like lace like that and you can't have it too long because of work but I feel like you should still show out a little bit" she tells me before i hug her and almost cry

" ight now we are on a tight schedule so come on" she says. Within 3 and a half hours i have a fresh middle part sew in with a full face of makeup. I look into the mirror and almost cry. Not because if how I look but because my best friend went all out for me.

" okay girls thank you but I have to take my baby mama to get dressed" she says dragging me out the salon

"Wait don't we need to pay" I say trying to stop

"Nope" she keeps going pushing me in the car and taking off towards her house.

Pulling up to her apartment we get out and she lets me go in first. I walk towards her room to see a orange dress with matching thigh High boots layed out and a large Chanel box

"Bitch" I state looking at her to see her smiling.

"Open the damn box" she says laughing

As I open the box I notice a note sitting in top on the tissue paper. I open the note to read what it's says

" read it out loud." Bri's loud ass says

"Thought you might need another one to put your snacks in" I read confused. But it hit me as soon as I unwrapped the large mauve Chanel flap bag.

"That nigga really bought you the biggest Chanel bag in the store damn" she says making me laugh

"Alright time to get dressed" Bri says clapping making me get up. I changed and look at the bright ass outfit she picked out but it looks bomb asf I can't lie.

"Are you ready?" Bri yells from the living room. I come out and she praises the look. Grabbing the bag with my previous clothes and large Chanel box, Bri Locks up the apartment and we head out.

" where we going Bri?" I ask because I know Maya had a club appearance in Cali and Paris had to go visit her family in Texas.

" we are going to have a nice dinner because I was not about to let you be in the house on your birthday. But did I ever get that card from your mom house the other day ?" She asks referring when we went over there because my mom made three cakes

" damn no why didn't you remind me?" I said

" shit. Okay well we can go by there because we have to go that way anyway" she says turning the music back on

Vibing our we make our way to my moms house where surprisingly Alek's car wasnt there. Getting out we both make our way inside. I use my key to open up to see nothing but darkness.

"Ma" I yell out before turning on the lights to here a loud "Surprise". Orange and gold balloons are arranged around the stair case and their is a gold banner saying happy birthday Ashley as My mom, Alek, my uncle Alexei, Paris , Maya, King and even Izzy stands there smiling taking pictures of me.

Out of nowhere I bust out in tears. Ever since I've been pregnant I've been very emotional. My mom and Bri wrap me their embraces telling me it's okay.

"Alright enough crying, time for picture" my uncle Alexei says joyfully with his Russian accent holding up his phone.

" Come on unc" I say going in to hug him as he is the first person I take pictures with. After taking pictures with everyone else, my mom pushes Izzy to take a photo with me.

" get in there Israel" she pushes him

" oh I'm fine Melyssa" he says. She looks at him with a stern look and he makes his way towards me.

"Alright let's wrap this up because this child is hungry" I say seriously as they laugh

" thank you for the bag it's beautiful" I say as we lean in to take the picture

"No problem ma how'd you like the spa " he says looking at the camera.

I push his arm a little " I knew it was you, but how'd you know" I ask

" I had a helper" he said before looking to Bri

Soon my mom announced pictures were over and we could eat. Almost running to the kitchen she stops me " Ashley go sit down in the living room I already got your plate ready" and baby she did not have to tell me twice. Taking my seat I look ahead to see a good amount of presents waiting for me. Uncle Alexei comes beside me with a smirk.

" why the face" I ask

"So that's the Umm whats do you Americans say 'baby daddy'" he says making me bust into laughter

"Yes uncle Alexei he is" I reply

" why no marriage? You two look very cosy" he says looking at me

" uncle... we both made the mistake of having unprotected intercourse and now we are dealing with the consequences. Of course I would've pictured myself married before popping out children but at least we can coparent as friends and not strangers" I say honestly before my mom brings my food

"What are y'all talking about" my mom gives me my plate being nosy.

"nothing mommy" i say to her causing her to walk away

"if he does you like Vera did me ill kill him and this time your mother can't stop me" he whispered to me. Knowing my Uncle he was very serious. He may seem like a sweet man but he is a brutally, trained killer. Not only did Vera (alek's mother) leave her son but she left her husband as well. My uncle has searched many years for Vera but has never found her. It broke him so he pushed hisself to work leaving little time for his son; the reason why my mother took him in. Once Alexei realized what he was doing to his relationship with his son he would take time out and come to the states to visit. So when my father left my mother it took everything in him to not kill him.

I pray everyday that Israel doesn't let me know like my father did my mother or even like Vera to her family. Snapping me out of my thoughts everyone comes back into the living room and begin engaging in conversation. Izzy comes and sits next to me with his plate of food and a drink.

" y'all good?" He asks taking a bite out his chicken

" yeah we are fine" i smile back

"Damn your momma can cook, I see why Alek doesn't want to leave" he says causing me to laugh. For a while we all interact with one another and Izzy seems to fit right in. Im not sure if it's because he has a friend here but I'm glad because I would hate for it to be awkward.

" alright My favorite part ....Gift time" My mom says

"I thought you was going to say gift bag time you know y'all folk got money" Bri says causing everyone to laugh

"MINE FIRST" Paris yells out. She hands me a large box thats not that heavy.

" know it's not much but it has a good meaning" she says standing back

" oh my god Paris" i say as I pull out the large throw blanket that contains photos of the four of us in our college days and some now. I shed a few tears before thanking her and moving on

I grab the next gift which says it's from my mom. I open the bag to pull out a scrapbook.

"It's a replica of the one I've been making for the majority of your life." As I skim through I see pictures of her, alek and I as we are growing up till now. Turning the page I see the rest is blank.

"Umm mom these are blank" I say to her unsure

" those are for you and your child so you can add on to it" getting up I hug her shedding a few more tears

" y'all and these damn gifts." I say aloud. The next gift I grab is a smaller bag from Cartier and I already know who bought it.

"Uncle A.... what did you get me"

"Open it and see" he replies As I open the bag I see two small ring like boxes and two square. As I open them I realize he got me two Cartier rings as well and two tennis bracelets. I thank him and move on.

"Alright your taking too long I'm next" Alek gets up in the middle of the living room.

"As you all know I tend to spoil my baby cousin. The gifts grow every year but what do you get one who has a lot already?" I shake my head because he is walking drama. He hands me a plain brown bag causing me to look confused. As I open the bag I pull out a large Hermès box

"No..." I say looking at him.

"Oh yes" he says sitting down like a proud mother or Christmas Day, crossing his legs as he signals for me to open. My hands shake as I open the box. Pulling back the paper I pull an emerald green snake skin Birkin bag out. I get up and hug my cousin as tight as I can.

BITCH I GOT A BIRKIN.

" well damn make my gift look like shit" Maya hands me a bag with racks of money inside. Bitch I'm in heaven.

"Right" Bri says giving me a bag that contains a Tiffany and co bracelet that says sister. I hug both of them and let them know I love there gifts just as much.

"Wait there's one more gift" we all grow quiet as I look back at the table seeing a flat box on it.

"Who bought it" my mom asked

" I did" we all turn around to Israel still in his same spot. I grab the gift off of the table and walk back to sit beside him as I open it. Slowly opening it to find a tennis chain with a diamond in crusted dainty letter A. Gasping I catch him off guard wrapping my arms around us neck giving him a hug.

" well can we see it damn" Bri says causing everyone to laugh. I take it out of the case as I hand it to Izzy to place it on for me. As he puts it on everyone oohhs and ahhh at the necklace. I get up to the Mirror my mother has hanging on the wall to see that it sits right about my growing breast. It's honestly beautiful.

" you like it ?" Izzy asks

" I love it, thank you" I say back to him. After gifts we concluded the night with singing happy birthday and cutting cake. After the intimate party Izzy helps me gather all of my belongings even the ones from Bri's car and takes me home.

"I'll bring everything in" he states as he pulls into the drive way.

" okay you can take everything to my room" I say getting out and going into the bathroom to get ready for bed. As I walk out I almost bump into Izzy going to my closet.

" my bad ma" he states

" it's okay could you help me take this off really quick?" I ask referring to my new necklace He nods his head and I stand in front of the mirror in my room. Watching as he takes it off his hands brush against my sweet spot and his breath sends a tingle down my spine before he unclamps the jewelry.

" thank you." I keep it short

" no problem I'm about to head out" he states as I nod my head before climbing into my king sized bed and turning on my television. On his way out he turned off the light before setting my alarm and locking up.

It wasn't long before I fell into darkness

UNKNOWN POV

I watch from a distance as Israel leaves his baby mother's house stepping into his car. Picking up my phone I dial the number I've gotten used to calling.

"He's leaving" I state

"Okay just watch her" the person says before hanging up on me. I could have her dead already but they are prolonging it for what. But I do what I'm told and stay put