Chapter One: The Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.

"God, you'd think they could make the doorways a little wider considering this whole place is for pregnant women," huffed a short Hispanic woman to herself as she turned sideways to fit through the shiny metal door rested under a sign reading "Gilda's, Aerobics for Women." "Isn't our size the whole point of coming here?"

"I know what you mean," laughed the girl behind her. "I keep wondering if my baby is going to set the record for heaviest child born."

"No," said a brunette, gray-eyed woman with a bulging stomach and a heavy Greek accent.. "That record goes to me."

"All right!" shouted a short, frazzled looking lady in a hoarse voice. "Line up in front of me for check-in."

The expectant mothers filed in front of the lady, chatting among themselves. "Next!" called the instructor, and the Hispanic woman stepped forward tenderly.

"Are you sure the floor will hold?" she joked, but the lady didn't laugh. She merely nodded curtly and said "Name?" in a bored tone.

"Christina Lowell."

"Month due?"

"September."

"My lord!" the instructor exclaimed. "It's nearly August. Are you insane?"

"No," Christina replied with a shrug. "Just fat."

"Well, my name is April. Go stand over by that stack of blue mats and wait for us to start.

"Thanks," Christina called as she walked over to the mats, but April, who was talking to the young lady Christina had talked to earlier, ignored her.

A few minutes later, Christina was joined by the two women she had talked to earlier, along with a gorgeous blonde woman with dark circles under her eyes. "So you're all due in September, too?" the blonde asked. "I'm having twins."

"Oh, poor you!" crooned the Greek woman. "I'm Ari, by the way. A September, too."

"I like that!" said the young woman excitedly. "A September. I'm Alice, Alice Tomko."

"And I'm Christina," chipped in Christina. She pointed at her stomach. "Carmen's my first."

"Carmen. What a pretty name!" said the blonde. "I'm Marly. Marlene, but Marly. These guys are my first, too."

"Attention!" hollered April. "Everyone needs to grab a mat and pick a spot. And you four," she began, pointing at Marly, Ari, Alice and Christina, but Alice cut her off.

"We're the Septembers," she informed April with a smile.

"All right," April agreed. "Septembers. Take it easy out there. We wouldn't want the babies to pop out right here, would we?"

The Septembers smiled at each other. "I guess not," Ari conceded, and she grabbed her mat.