6 months pregnant

Chapter 11: The Day to Win Her Back (Part 2)

Zia looked around the crowded room Carter had brought her to. After finishing breakfast they took a bus to a large amusement center that had an arcade, go-karts, and a large laser tagging room. Zia grimaced as she observed that the average person was a 9-year old male, she didn't know why Carter brought her there of all places.

"What do we do next?" Zia asked Carter who was grinning like a rich kid in a toy store.

"Laser tag! I thought it'd be fun," he looked worriedly at her, "You don't mind right? I mean, we haven't really had a chance to move around a lot and I've always wanted to do this but my dad never took me."

Zia looked at his face, she knew he really wanted to do this. She just wasn't sure if at 6 months pregnant she was physically fit to do so. However his puppy dog brown eyes won her over.

"This is fine," won over by his smile.

"Great let's get suited up then." Carter led her through the crowd of boys, most of whom gave her odd looks, to where the special guns and sensor belts were located. Zia grabbed a belt and tried to put it over her belly but scowled when she realized it wouldn't stretch long enough.

"Look at that girl! She's too fat to put it on," said some 7-year old kid with a dorky hair cut laughing to his friend.

"Hey, that's not nice," Carter scolded the two boys who were still smirking at them.

"That's right that's not nice! I'm not fat this is a baby! I'm pregnant, or are you too stupid to figure that out?" Zia yelled at the two boys, Carter had to hold her back by her arm to keep her from strangling them.

"Same difference," the boy said smartly.

"Not same difference!" Zia yelled. She struggled against Carter's hold on her.

"Hey Josh, we should leave these old geezers alone. Don't want them to get a stroke or a heart attack."

The boy with the weird haircut named Josh nodded to his friend and stuck his tongue out at her and Carter, "Yeah, I didn't even know old people were allowed in here."

"Old?" Zia shuddered at hearing herself being called old, "We're not old. And we are definitely going to pulverize you two in there."

"OoooO, we're so scared," Josh mocked.

"You should be!" Zia retorted.

The two of them glared at each other before they heard one of the people who worked at the amusement center tell them the game was about to start.

Carter eased his grip on her arm as Zia relaxed. "Fine, we'll settle this in the arena," Carter said to the two boys.

"You two are going down," Zia shouted at them.

"No you two are going down!"

"No, you two are going down!"

"No-"

"We get it, we're all going down," Carter interrupted. The boys glared at them and walked away.

Zia frowned at Carter, "If our kid turns out like that when they're older, they're going to military school."

Carter laughed, "You're so cute when you're mad. Though you do realize they're like 5?"

"More like 7 and it doesn't matter, little punks need to learn a lesson about respect," Zia continued too scowl as Carter helped her put her belt on. They struggled for a bit before giving up and just wrapping it around her neck. After Carter put his own belt on they grabbed their guns and waited in line at the door for them to enter.

"Remember, stay down. Most people will probably get taken out after the first few minutes if we're lucky. Then we'll start our ambush," Zia nodded at Carter's advice.

The doors opened and everyone poured into the room, Zia saw Josh and his friend enter a few feet ahead of them. Zia grabbed Carter's hand and they ran into the pitch black room. The only light was from an EXIT signs in the front and back of the room.

"Hold on to me," Carter whispered to Zia as he led them blindly. They managed to reach a small barrier to hide next to without tripping over anyone and without getting hit by the red lasers from the guns.

They sat closely to each other on the ground holding hands in the darkness watching and listening as people got taken down. Then they heard a sound on the other side of their barrier. Zia looked up to the faint outline of someone's head. Quickly, she held up her gun and leaned around the corner shooting the person in the sensor bar. She heard the beep that signaled they were out of the game and sighed with relief. Her heart was pounding and her adrenaline was pumping. It had been a long time since she'd felt the rush of battle.

"This is fun," Zia whispered to Carter after going back behind the barrier. They were sitting very close and she could feel his own heart pounding.

"I hoped you'd like it."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes when it was near complete silence. Zia squeezed Carter's hand and signaled for them to get up to start their attack. They stepped out from behind their barrier and quietly and slowly walked crouched in the darkness.

Zia saw a dark outline move in front of her and immediately raised her gun and fired a shot. Thankfully she had great aim because the person was hit before they had time to retaliate. However she didn't see the person hiding behind a tall beam and was defenseless as she watched the beam coming in her direction. She closed her eyes as she prepared to hear her sensor belt ding.

Ding. She opened her eyes and looked down to see Carter sprawled out on the floor, his sensor belt was flashing and dinging. He had taken the laser for her. Quickly Zia held up her gun but the person who "killed" Carter was already gone.

Zia helped him stand wobbly on his feet. With support from Zia they walked their way to their hiding spot from earlier.

"Thanks for taking the bullet for me," Zia whispered to him.

"Anytime."

"I wonder who shot you."

"It was that Josh kid," Carter grabbed her hands and held them up to his face and kissed them, "Avenge me my dear Zia. Go after the ones who did this to me."

Zia nodded determined. There was no way Josh was going to win against them. She had taken down his friend, and now it was time for the final battle. Her against a 7-year old.

"I'll teach him who's old and fat," Zia whispered.

Carter laughed and suddenly she felt his arms wrapped around her body. "Good luck," he whispered before kissing her cheek. Zia then set off into the darkness to find Josh.

"Josh, come out here little Josh. I have candy for you," Zia held her gun up and was looking around for a sign of anyone. Surprisingly Josh must've taken the bait because she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye, she quickly fired. Ding! The lights to the room came on and she saw Josh pouting as tears ran down his face.

"Congratulations! You are the winner of the match!" an employee entered the room and handed her a small trophy of a dude pointing a laser gun.

"Thanks," Zia said awkwardly as everyone stood up and clapped. Perhaps it was her budding maternal instincts but she felt bad for Josh.

"Here," Zia said handing the trophy to Josh who was still sniffling.

"For me?" Josh looked up at her with his large glassy eyes.

"Yeah," Zia muttered feeling awful for making such a cute little kid cry.

Josh took it from her and then smiled wickedly at her, "Well I don't want it!" He threw it on the ground and walked away laughing. Good thing Carter was standing behind her because she would've strangled the kid to death.

After a few laughs and Carter using a spell to fix the trophy they ended up making a trip to the beach in Chicago. Carter must've had Sadie and Anubis set up beforehand because there was a gazebo lit with candles and food was ready for them on the table. Zia was shocked at how beautiful everything was.

Carter held her hand and they walked to the table, "M'lady, this will be an evening you will never forget."

AN:/

I'm so sorry for not getting this out earlier. I wrote this 2 weeks ago but I wanted to combine the whole date day for only 2 parts but I'm really busy and I think just getting something out is better than nothing.