To Mai Surprise

Disclaimer: I do not own The Nine Lives of Chloe King, nor do I profit from any of my stories.

Warning: This story is rated M and is intended for mature audiences only. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 18

"What about Aiden? Or Kieran?"

"I like Blake. And Kayla. Or Diana, like my mother."

"Those are all girls' names!" Alek wrapped his arms around my stomach, pulling me tighter in my lap. "How about this? If we have a girl, you can name her. I get to name him if we have a boy. Okay?"

I reached for the shampoo, considering my options. Agree to this, or fight over it for another month or two. "Sounds great!"

Alek snatched the bottle out of my hands, squirted a dollop into his palm, and began lathering it into my hair. Our nighttime baths had become a ritual; they provided an innocent way to get out our sexual frustration. As he worked his magic on my scalp, I leaned back against his muscular chest. From my seat between his legs, I could feel Alek's semi-flaccid member against my rear. It wasn't particularly arousing, but not at all unpleasant.

After rinsing my hair, Alek began working conditioner into my curls. His callused fingers were gentle; his words sent a chill down my spine. "So, love, what do you want for your birthday?"

Jesus that accent just kills me! It took a second for his words to register. "My birthday? That's not until the fifteenth…"

"So, approximately two weeks from now?" He chuckled. "Hey, at least you won't be '16 and Pregnant' much longer."

I turned around to slap his shoulder. Just because I was pregnant, didn't mean that I want to be on a TV show. "Don't be an ass…"

A hand snuck towards me, dunking me into the water. "Alek! Hey!" I fell against him, giggling like a little kid. Alek wrapped me in his arms, lifted me out of the bathtub, and deposited me onto the bed. "I can walk you know! It's a baby, not a handicap!"

Alek reached for the lotion from the dresser. His breath tickled my ear as he pulled me into his lap. I heard a small 'fartttt' noise and burst out laughing. Alek set down the bottle, glaring at its offensive interruption, and started rubbing the moisturizer onto my tender breasts and swollen belly.

We were waiting in the lobby of Aunt Val's apartment, waiting for two Falcon and one Mai.

Well-kept strawberry-blonde hair flopped into his face as he made his way toward us. Designer jeans and an irritated expression graced his slim figure. Mitchell Fraser, the younger of the two siblings, rolled his eyes and lifted the strap on his messenger bag higher on his shoulder. He nodded at Alek, but ignored everyone else.

His older sister, a buxom woman with a pudgy stomach, waddled up behind him, her blonde curls bouncing. Her hair wasn't as thick, or as curly as mine, but a much lighter shade than mine. She struggled with her suitcase for a moment, and then smiled.

"You're Alek!" She suddenly gave him a hug. "Oh my God, I am so glad to get out of that hellhole!" She looked at me before tackling me with a hug as well. "Rajiv told me about your...condition."

Alek was about to protest revealing my secret, when Rajiv interrupted.

"We can trust Miss Catherine, she's also with child." He gestured to her tummy.

"Catherine? I thought you were Paige?" I wondered why her husband wasn't with her.

"My middle name is Paige. I'm using my maiden name now, so I wanted to go by my middle name, so I do."

A loud sound caught my attention. A motorcycle speed straight towards us and screeched to a halt in front of the building. A boy got off the bike, and walked towards us. He handed his keys and helmet to the valet, the guards knew him so he must be Mai.

A squeal next to me drew my eyes away from the new hot blond. Jasmine was fighting to keep her composure. Ohhhh! This is the guy, the guy from facebook! She hit me on the back of my head. Subtle.

"Hey Z, how was your flight?" Jasmine smiled. Is that a blush? On Jasmine?

"Zinoviy, a pleasure." Rajiv reached out and shook his hand, earning a glare and a muffled grumble from Mitchell. Rajiv pronounced his name 'zee-NO-vee' but that could just be his Indian accent.

"Please, only my grandmother calls me 'Zinoviy.' 'Z' is fine." His accent was thick, thicker than Alek's. Russian, if I remember correctly. Z is slightly shorter, and slightly older than Alek, with long-ish curly, dirty-blonde hair. He has a rugged attractiveness to him. No wonder Jasmine's smitten… We headed up to the penthouse, meeting the rest of our group there.

When we got through the door, Paige grabbed my hand. Alek nodded at us, saying, "I'll tell everyone the game plan. Kidnap away Paige."

She replied with a huge smile, hauling me off towards the kitchen. "I'm hungry," she explained. "And, I'm sure you have questions."

I nodded, saying, "How far along are you?"

"Three months, due the end of July. What about you? You don't look even two yet."

"I'm at ten weeks now, due August 28th. If you don't mind me asking, who's the father?"

Her smile faded. "He was killed by the Order. When he heard that the Uniter was found, he told them what he knew." She put a hand on my shoulder. "Once they had the information, they killed him."

"Oh God, that's awful!" I reached down to give her hand a squeeze.

"I don't know what's worse. Knowing I married a traitor, or knowing that my baby will never have a father." She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I didn't ever really love him, but once I got knocked up, the Cast insisted that we get hitched." She let out a shaky laugh.

"It'll be okay, you have all of us. And your brother. He's moving down here too, right?"

Paige nodded, but had a scowl on her face. "He doesn't have a choice, the Cast sent him. Mitchell has always been the passive-aggressive type, so I doubt he will forgive me anytime soon." Noticing my questioning expression, she continued. "Most of his friends in the Cast ditched him when they learned of my... 'situation' and the elders forced him to move down here with me. Even his boyfriend dumped him, poor kid..."

"Alek and I have only been together for about six months, but for Mai… It's different. I know for sure, right this very moment, that I will never love another man."

"Your friend Rajiv seems to enjoy Mitchell," she giggled. "Maybe a bit too much. Oh well, it'll be good for Mitch."

I laughed. Paige's brother was angry at the world, maybe Rajiv's all-too-cheery attitude would help.

"Miss Chloe, Miss Catherine, could you come here?"

I raised an eyebrow at Paige. "He's allowed to call you 'Catherine?'"

"No, he's not..." She rolled her eyes as we walked over to the kitchen, bringing a jar of pickles and two forks with us.

"So, Mitchell is moving into the dorms at UCSF. Paige, Lana said you can move in with her, since she has a spare bedroom." Alek looked down at the list he was holding. "Z said he's in the dorms too. Arun, you wanted to get your own apartment, right?"

The man nodded. He's probably tired of living with Jasmine, Aunt Valentina, and his little brother.

Paige waddled towards me, fork jabbing at the jar for a pickle. We fought for a bit, until we noticed that we had the attention of the entire room. Even the usually stoic Arun smirked, startling almost all of us. Paige flashed him a smile, succeeding in tripping over a bump in the rug.

I gasped, worried about the fork in her hands. She's such a ditz; she could have accidentally stabbed herself. A giggle and a grumble made me look up. Arun had his arms around Paige's waist, her forked pickle on the floor below her. She was blushing, looking up at her savior.

Arun, much to my surprise, looked worried. He helped her to her feet, but didn't resist when Paige didn't let go of his arm.

Looks like the Singh brothers and the Fraser siblings might prove to be just as entertaining as they are helpful.

Let me know what you guys think, if you love it, if you hate it, etc. Two new characters, again! Ughhhh, I'm so worried! Please tell me what you think, if you like them, hate them, are confused, etc. It's so much easier if I know what I can do to make it better. With the original characters, I never know if you all like them...