"Can you stop pacing around the gym? You're going to hurt the baby." Leo says as he continues doing his exercises.

I stop and glare at him. "Well excuse me Doctor Phill, but in case you didn't notice, walking around helps before delivery." I state and start walking around.

He stops lifting his weights and walks over to me. He then hugs me from behind, sweaty chest and all, making me stop. "Or maybe you're worried about today's conference."

My silence gives him the answer he needed.

"You have no reason to be, you'll do great out there love." He says and kisses my neck causing me to giggle.

Today, as Leo mentioned, is the conference. Not your usual media conference or anything, but a book conference.

This is held by the school for the top three who made the list of the best books written this year, and today one book will be chosen to be turned into a movie.

Remember that competition were we had to write a novel about anything in three months? Well the due date was extended to five months, and within time, after submitting my work, I was notified a week ago that I made the top three list.

Today we have to present our books to an audience and the winner will be chosen at the end of the event.

The list of the top three consisted of myself, George, and Claire - the girl I met with on that day.

So, I've been trying not to stress myself a lot because of the child but today I seem to be a ticking time bomb.

On lighter news, I moved back with Leo but not in that house but in a new one instead. He said he refused to let me and his child step inside a place that held bad memories, and to commemorate our fresh beginnings, we should buy a new bigger house.

Yes, the house is bigger than the last. Unnecessarily big.

I, for one, am happy that we are not in that house. It reminds me of Olivia and her cruel ways. Leo even told me of what unfolded when I left and it just adds on to her horrible personality.

I just feel sorry for Tyler but at least he has his father now.

"Look at the time baby, we need to get dressed and ready for the conference." Leo reminds me and leads me to our room.

When we get inside, he instructs me to undress and where my robe as he prepares a bath for the both of us. He soon comes back after doing so and leads me gently in the bathtub with him sliding in behind me.

"This is nice." I sigh in pleasure when he massages me.

He kisses my cheek and chuckles. "So are you sure you don't want to find out the gender of the baby now?"

I do, but I don't know how. I don't just want something as plainly asking the doctor, I want something extravagant but I can't say that, so I answer. "No, I want to surprise myself on the day of the birth." Lies.

He only hums in agreement, something he usually does when he knows someone's lying, but I stay quiet.

"I think I should go prepare." I untangle myself from him and walk out, hearing him laugh look loudly.

~

Leo grasps my hand as we enter the hall filled with music and people socialising. On the screen shows pictures of us, the top three, and it seems to make me even more nervous.

We walk around the room greeting people and even conversing with them for a while until Claire stops by me with her date. "Oh my gosh, Alison! Hi!" She hugs me lightly and let's go. "I haven't seen you in months and the first time I see you you're with child?!" She exclaims with a happy grin.

It's true, I wasn't going to school for months and have much rather opted for online classes until the baby is born.

I chuckle, "I'm sorry Claire, I had things to during that." I tug Leo's hand to get his attention and gesture at Claire, "Leo this is Claire, Claire this is Leo." I only introduce her because I don't know her date.

She smiles and shakes hands with Leo, "You keep forgetting that I know him." We all laugh. "Anyway, everyone, this is my date Eric."

We stay there for a couple of minutes chatting with one another and before we knew it, it started.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Readers Conference 2020." Mrs Rai starts off with a smile. "Today we are here to celebrate three of our best writers this year and to finally announce who will get a movie deal with Drew's Production. Starting things off, since time is very important, I'd like to welcome our first speaker, George Hu."

The crowd claps and Hu starts with his speech.

By the time both Hu and Claire have finished their speech, I am a sweaty mess.

"Hey, look at. Look at me." Leo says beside me and take my face in his hands, something he clearly enjoys. "Remember what I said, you're going to do great. Don't doubt yourself." I nod, "and maybe after this I could reward you." He smirks, eyes dark with lust.

Before I get drawn in, I chuckle and smack his chest. "You know not to play with a pregnant woman who's hormones are high."

Right after, Mrs Rai takes the stage again. "Thank you very much to George and Claire. Next up, is Alison O'Neil." People clap and I make my way to the stage, with the help of Leo of course.

And yes, people still call me O'Neil because they're under the impression that we're legally married, but who's to say I'm complaining?

Standing in front of the crowd my heart starts raising at a fast pace, that's until I spot Leo at the back with a large smile. And when he sees me looking at him, he playfully sticks out his tongue and crosses his eyes causing me to laugh a bit.

Now I'm relaxed.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, my name is Alison O'Neil. The day Mrs Rai told us about this big assignment I remember wrecking my head about what exactly was I going to write about. Would it be werewolf or aliens? What am I supposed to write about? Mind you I have the creativity of a five year old so it took me some time." I start and relax even more when I see the crowd engrossed in my conversation.

I was about to continue when the doors open and in comes Penny, Blaire,Mary, Alex and my parents with flowers. I smile at them and continue.

"So for weeks I struggled with that until it finally hit me, my story, I want to read my story. To me it seemed like the perfect opportunity to tell my story and give people an insight of my life since I usually complain about the drama in it." The crowd chuckles. "So I did. I wrote about the challenges I had to face when growing up," I look at my parents, "The people who have always been there for me during that time," I look at Penny and Mary, "I wrote about the turning point of my life, when I met amazing people," I look at Alex and Blaire. "And I wrote about my life with the one person I love more than anything. The person I went back and forth with. The one that, even though we faced challenges, I'll always find a way back to." I look at Leo with a smile, and find him looking back at me with the same smile. "The one I'm carrying his child."

This time the crowd awes.

"And what better to tell the story with a book. A book named "My Holy Matrimony"." I say, and the crowd begins to clap loudly. With that, I get off the stage with the help of some IT personnel and walk to where my friends and family are.

"You were amazing Ali." Penny says and they all agree. She hugs me, then they all follow.

"I believe these are for you." Dad says, handing me fire roses.

I smile and grin. "Thank you dad." I turn to Leo and see him witnessing the whole thing with a smile. "Hi."

"Hi." He says and lightly kisses my lips. "I told you you would do great. I especially loved the part about that person you love more than anything." He teases.

My cheeks suddenly become red, but I decide to play along. "Yeah, too bad that person isn't here right now." I look around the room pretending to look for someone.

Leo growls and hugs me as much as he can with my big belly. "You're mine woman, and mine alone."

I chuckle and look up at him. "That indeed I am."

•••••