Nick's POV

"I officially have a baby bump" Amanda announces to me as she walks out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. I look up from the food that I am cooking to find her wearing a tight fit tank top that really emphasizes the size of her stomach.

"That's good?" Amanda has had to make adjustments to the idea of motherhood and her body change is just another adjustment for her.

"Yeah, it means everything is going good with the baby" Amanda is so down on herself about things and I know she is going to be even worse through the small bumps in the road that usually happen with every pregnancy. If anything were to go really wrong she would only blame herself for it, even if it is something that is out of her control. She walks over to me and I put my hands over her baby bump and watch as her face lights up at my touch. After being with her for years the smallest things still manage to make her so happy.

"It's like your stomach just grew overnight" she laughs

"Your telling me" she turns around and picks out a cucumber from the salad I just made, she puts it in her mouth with a crunch and talks to me through her chewing "What's with the fancy meal?"

"It's the last day with the four of us, I wanted to have a nice meal" Maria insisted she wanted Zara back sooner than what we had agreed on, I will be taking her to meet Maria later tonight after we finish eating our dinner and I really wanted to do something special, I'm not sure about the next time that all of us will be together again. I got lucky by getting the two of the them at the same time but it will be hard to coordinate something like this again, before this they had only been together a couple of times and I always hate that they both can't be with me full time.

"Don't you mean the five of us?" Amanda's joke makes me laugh

"That's right, how could I forget the newest Amaro" I give her belly a quick kiss and continue cooking the chicken I was making. Amanda sits at the counter nibbling on some vegetables as I work "If you keep eating you aren't going to be hungry when dinner is ready"

"I am growing your child, I need as much extra food as I can get" she tries to sound as serious as she can but her attempt at a serious face cracks and she lets out a chuckle

"Alright, alright. I surrender, just try not to eat the entire meal" she playfully hits me

"Don't you forget it Amaro" I finish the last touches on the meal and start to set the table, Amanda sits down in a chair at the table and I call the kids to dinner, Zara and Gil walk into the room and sit down at the table. They sit in their usual seats, a routine they have fallen into during their time here this summer. We all fill up our plates and start some conversation over the sound of our chewing.

"Did you pack up your stuff Zara?"

"Yes daddy"

"Remember we are meeting your mom right after dinner so we don't have much time to be getting your things together"

"Nick she knows" Amanda knows that it can't be easy on her, the constant shift that is her life now, back and forth between me and her mom. Not to mention having to leave her brother, in the short amount of time they have known each other they both have managed to form a tight bond that only siblings can share. Adding the new baby into that mix will only just add one more thing she will have to leave. We sit and eat, just enjoying the food and each others company, it is moments like this where everything feels so easy to just forget the line of work we do every single day, it was the shit that we see everyday that made Amanda scared about having a baby, before she was pregnant I had listened to her tell me multiple times how she didn't want to bring a child into the world we live in. She would constantly wonder how I seemed to be so clam with my two children after seeing just how fucked up the world can be.

We finish eating and Amanda starts to clear the table while Zara runs off to go gather her things, Gil stays seated and I can see the sadness radiating off him. I go over to him and put my hand on his shoulder "Don't worry, I'm going to try and get both of you again for Christmas, you will get to see her then" He smiles up at me

"I know dad" Zara comes out with her suitcase in hand, Gil stands up and opens his arm for her. Zara runs over to him and falls into his hug "I'll miss you"

"I'll miss you too" she hugs him tighter. I watch Amanda's face as she witnesses their goodbye and it's almost as if I can hear her heartbreaking, she loves those kids as if they were her own and I know how hard it is for her to watch them be separated. The two separate and Zara runs over to Amanda who wraps her up in a big hug.

"I'll miss you sweetie"

"I'll miss you, I love you Amanda"

"Love you too" Zara kisses Amanda's stomach

"Take care of my baby sister" Amanda laughs

"I will"

"Zara why don't you go and get your stuff into the car, Gil would you help her?"

"Sure dad" he picks up her suitcase for her and they walk out the door.

"Baby sister?"

"Zara has decided the gender of our baby for it" We both laugh at her joke

"There is a 50/50 chance it will be a girl, so she really couldn't be that far off"

"It would be just my luck that it is a girl"

"What? You don't want a girl?"

"You have met my sister, she is just one of the many handfuls of woman that are in my family" She silently groups herself in that category

"Well I have already have a daughter and she couldn't be more perfect"

"Yeah but she is half of you, and none of me"

"And you think Maria was totally sane?"

"I won't argue with you there" I give her a quick kiss and start to head out to the door

"Is Gil going with you?"

"No, he was just going to stay here with you"

"Okay, have fun" I give her a wink and walk out the door. I offered to let Gil come with us and in a honesty I wasn't super surprised when he denied my offer to let him come, I'm sure his mother filled his head with stories about Maria and I'm sure they weren't exactly that far off. The two of them are talking and standing by the car when I walk outside

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah" Zara gives Gil a quick hug "Love you"

"Love you too" Gil runs inside and I get in the car, Zara gets into the backseat and buckles in as I start the car and back out of the driveway. We are not driving long when Zara starts asking me questions

"When are you and Amanda getting married?"

"Umm...I'm not sure"

"But you two are having a baby, doesn't that mean you two should get married?"

"Well that's complicated, we are having a baby but just because of that doesn't mean we need to get married right away, we are living together and are committed to each other" I didn't know how to explain this to her, I know that I would absolutely want her to grow up and get married before she has children but being in the situation I am in now isn't one that you can just explain to your young daughter. Amanda is already having to adjust to becoming a mother, I don't want to overwhelm her further by proposing.

"You were married to mommy when you had me"

"But I wasn't married to Gil's mommy when she had him"

"That's true" she gets quiet after this and we continue our drive to meeting Maria. I find Maria's car and park next to it, Zara jumps out of the car and I grab her suitcase. Zara runs up to Maria "Mommy!"

"Hi baby"

"Mommy, I'm going to be a big sister" I had totally forgotten to tell Zara not to mention our baby news to her mother, I knew Maria would obviously find out sometime, I had just wanted it to come from me and at a better time.

"What?"

"Amanda is going to have a baby" Maria tries to keep a straight face but I can sense her anger

"Zara why don't you say goodbye to your dad and get your stuff and get into a car" she nods and comes over to me, I pick her up and kiss the top of her head

"I love you sweetie"

"I love you too" she kisses my cheek and I let her down, she takes her suitcase from my hand and gets into Maria's car. Luckily Maria waits until Zara is in the car to start yelling at me.

"What the hell is she talking about Nick?"

"Amanda is pregnant"

"Really Nick? This is the third woman you have gotten pregnant"

"Me and Amanda are living together, we have been in a relationship for years now. And you know I didn't know about Gil"

"This is just so much going on in her life, it's hard enough that she is constantly going back and forth between us, having another half sibling is just another drastic change"

"She loves being with us, I don't know why you hate Amanda so much"

"Nick I can't keep doing this, I'm going to get going now" I now realize how much we have both been yelling. She walks over at the car and before she closes the door I try to get the question I really wanted to ask her out.

"Can we talk about me getting her at Christmas?"

"I'll think about it" I watch as she gets in the car and drive away, her words still ringing in my ears, as if she has a claim to Zara, like she isn't my daughter too. I get in the car and slam the door behind me, I can feel my blood boiling with anger as I drive towards home, back to Amanda and our family.