One Night Stand Gone Wrong

**6 months later**

John dropped Brenda off at the police station and returned to Thomas and Arielle’s. Everyone was waiting for him except Brenda, Rick, and the kids.

“Ideas, guys, ideas! How should I propose to her?” John paced back and forth.

“I have no clue, buddy. I told Rick that my parents said getting married on Friday brings good luck. We registered two days later, on Friday.” Joe shrugged.

“Most lame-ass proposal ever!” John looked at him in disdain.

“Mat did not even ask me. He asked Belle to pick the wedding theme for us and plan for the winter wedding. We were at the dinner table, she squealed, and that was that. Damn! I got tricked.” Arabella said.

John was at a loss, “Yes, you got cheated. And you are not helpful!”

He looked at Thomas; the latter just shrugged.

Arielle had a thoughtful look on her face. She caressed her pregnant belly and said, “Baby, your father has never proposed to me.” And she started crying.

Thomas caressed and coaxed her while shooting a glare at John, who just shrugged.

They had all become used to Arielle’s emotional outbursts.

Unlike her previous two pregnancies, she did not suffer from morning sickness, and her cramps were not that bad either. But she was an emotional mess whose waterworks could start in a blink, and she was always hungering for food and sex.

Everyone in the house was well aware of it. And they let Thomas coax her, who had by then become a pro. While the rest of them had gotten used to their PDA.

Ten minutes and several kisses later, Arielle was feeling a lot better. She had moved to Thomas’s lap, holding onto him like he was her lifeline.

John’s problems had yet to be solved. They had made zero progress.

Finally, Mathew chipped in, “How about take her out for a romantic dinner and maybe hide the ring in a dessert?”

John shook his head, “Cliche! And she has yet to find any food she likes better than what Arielle cooks.”

Arielle kissed Thomas on the jaw. She looked at John and remarked, “Isn’t she sweet?”

John nodded, “Yes, she is. So, how about you give me an idea?”

Arielle looked at Thomas and looked back at John before she asked. “Where is the ring?”

John pulled out a box excitedly, “Here! How is this? I took her measurements when she was asleep.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Arielle looked at it and said. “It’s nice. Don’t worry! I will give it to her.”

And with that, she went back to snuggling Thomas. It took a minute for John to understand what had happened. The others, including Thomas, were holding back their laughter.

John looked at everyone’s twitching mouths and stammered, “What just happened?”

What followed was the soft sound of Arielle snoring.

Thomas took Arielle to their bedroom and spooned her. She would wake up and cry if he left her alone.

Just as the door to their bedroom closed, the others burst out laughing, much to John’s annoyance.

Arielle’s unpredictable behavior, clinginess, and waterworks weren’t new to them.

Being best friends, they did not mind even though she was frustratingly annoying at times like just then.

Two days later, Brenda was enjoying the garlic shrimps at Arielle’s place with everyone else and praising her non-stop.

John had gone out to handle some problems at the warehouse that had cropped up unexpectedly.

After dinner, Arielle gave a tiramisu to Brenda.

She had spent the entire afternoon making desserts for everyone. She had made everyone’s favorite dessert in single portions only.

The kids all exclaimed and cheered as they relished their favorite dessert.

Brenda moaned while enjoying her tiramisu, making everyone laugh and shake their heads.

However, halfway through, she froze as she felt something hard in her mouth.

She did not have the guts to spit it out, afraid of Arielle’s waterworks.

She discreetly licked the solid thing in her mouth with her tongue, and her eyes widened.

She spat it out to see a ring wrapped in butter paper. At first, she had thought Arielle had dropped her ring by mistake, but the wrapping made her suspicious.

She unwrapped it in front of everyone and found a glittering diamond ring.

She looked at it closely and saw inscriptions – “I love you, Brenda. John” on the inside of the band. That made her feel so touched. John was so thoughtful.

However, her beautiful moment ended as Arielle squealed in surprise, “Where is John? Why is he not on his knees yet?”

Arielle had overlooked that John had gone out unexpectedly. If not for her pregnant brain, she would have asked him to stay back and send someone else in his stead. But she was so focused on making Brenda’s favorites that she completely forgot about John.

As she realized that John was not in the house, as expected by everyone, including the toddlers, her waterworks started.

Brenda video called John and shouted, “Yes! I love you too.” which had John look at her in surprise as he had no idea what transpired. Brenda hung up immediately after saying that, confusing him even more.

Brenda did not have the time to care for his reaction and consoled Arielle saying, “This was so special. Thank you, Arielle! Thank God John was not here, or he would have ruined the whole thing by speaking nonsense. I already accepted his proposal, so don’t cry now.”

That made Arielle feel a little better. The crying stopped, and she fell asleep.

John could not believe his eyes when he saw Brenda caressing her ring.

He was the last to know that his girlfriend had been proposed to on his behalf and had accepted.

**A few weeks later**

John and Brenda had registered their marriage the day after that unusual proposal.

His family prepared for the wedding. Brenda only wanted to pick the dress by herself. She did not have any preference for the rest of the things. So, they let his family handle the entire thing.

Finally, the day came when Arielle’s water broke.

Unlike her previous pregnancies, she ended up giving birth in their bedroom.

Her water broke when she was sleeping. It was Thomas who felt it.

Thomas was stunned when he heard her murmur, “Baby, stop moving! Momma needs to sleep!”

He woke her up, called everyone as he got ready, and pulled out the emergency bag that had been sitting in their cupboard for weeks, ready for that moment.

When he reached the door, Arielle shrieked that the baby was coming out. They ended up taking her back to the bedroom.

Within 10 minutes, their son came out squealing. They had barely done anything.

Thankfully, the ambulance arrived, and the doctors who came in took over.

The mother and child went to the hospital just to be on the safe side.

Everything was fine, and they were back before noon.

It took some time for everything to sink in. No one had expected the baby to come out just like that.

All the kids practically surrounded the crib and talked to the baby boy trying to make him laugh.

And so, they went on with their lives.

New city. New homes. New families. New friendships. New babies. New commitments. New company. A whole new promising future.

And all that because a one-night-stand did not go as it should have.