Chapter 106

Chapter 106
Later that night, Raven was on a call with Blair, discussing the transformation of Lenora’s modeling agency.

"I was thinking we could add a design department," Raven suggested. "That way, we can focus on both modeling and fashion."

Blair’s excitement knew no bounds. "That’s a great idea! I’ll handle the modeling side, and you can oversee the designs."

"Deal," Raven said.

After a brief pause, Blair asked, "You sound a bit down, not yourself. What’s wrong?"

Raven hesitated. "Nothing, I’m worried about Mason."

"Why? You two have been great lately, you’re perfect for each other. You’re even closer than before."

Raven bit her lip. "I thought he’d ask me to marry him again by now. But he hasn’t mentioned it and I'm starting to get anxious. What if he doesn’t want me? What if the babies are scaring him off? What if he thinks I’ll be like Candice? What if-"

“Raven, breathe. Have you talked to him about it?" Blair asked.

"No. That’s not something you can just bring up," Raven said.

Blair chuckled. "You’re worrying about nothing. Mason is crazy about you. Maybe he’s just waiting for the right moment."

"I hope you’re right," Raven said, her voice tinged with doubt. "So, what about you and Justin?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, don't tell me you guys aren't dating."

"Justin and I are just… friends."

"Yeah, right." Raven scoffed. "Friends my ass. Do you think I don’t see you two stealing glances at each other?"

"What? Oh my God, Raven, I think your pregnancy is making you delusional."

"I'll be watching the both of you." Raven sounded like a detective. “What are your intentions? Is he a stand-up guy? Will he run off with the nearest-”

"It's late, why don't you get some rest?"

"I'll rest because I'm tired, not because you said so."

"I swear, pregnancy has made you crazy." Raven heard Blair say before she hung up.

\~~~

The next day, Mason paced his office, a ring box clutched in his hand. His heart was racing as uncertainty echoed in his ears. Normally, he would have called Damon, but he wasn’t around, and he was pretty sure it would be the last thing his friend would want to hear about.

Thankfully, he had someone else he could turn to now.

Justin walked in and raised an eyebrow. "You look like you’re about to faint. What’s going on?"

Mason wordlessly placed the ring box on the desk.

"Wow!" Justin exclaimed. "Are you proposing?"

"Yes-"

“I mean, we’ve had our ups and downs over the years… and you know I love ya, bro, but I don’t think of you that way. It’s not you, it’s me-”

“Shut up,” Mason said, running a hand through his hair. He tried to glare at him but he couldn’t help but chuckle. "But what if she says no? I’ve already messed up once. I mean, we’ve been married already, but it wasn’t exactly a get down on one knee – it was more like she spilled a drink all over me, and I-”

“Dude, chill-”

“It’s different, this time. It’s real this time. She’s having my babies-”

Justin shook his head. "Mason, if there’s one thing I know, it’s how much Raven loves you. Stop worrying so much. If ever there was a man who didn’t need to be terrified before proposing, it’s you. If she says no, I’ll eat those stinky shoes Charles kept from his college football days."

“That would almost be worth it,” Mason sighed, letting out a light laugh. "You’re right. I’ll text Julie and invite Blair to lunch so we can plan this properly."

"That's the spirit."

\~~~

Two days later, Blair convinced Raven to go shopping. She laughed when she had to pull her up from the couch to her feet and saw her waddle around as she collected her things.

“Geez, you’re a lot slower than you used to be!”

“I’ll remind you of this moment when you Justin-”

“Enough of the Justin thing!”

“No!” Raven was joking but the effort it took to move around took the humour from her words. "Why do you even need me for this? I’m not exactly the most fun these days." Raven grumbled.

"Because I’m horrible at shopping alone," Blair said with a grin. She forced a sad face and tried to sound serious. “I’ve been so sad since, you know, my mum went to prison-”

“Oh my goodness,” Raven groaned, Blair having pulled the ‘my mummy went to prison,’ line whenever she wanted something. “Let’s go already before I need my second nap of the day.”

As they strolled through the mall, Blair kept the conversation light, steering Raven away from any suspicion. Any time she ran out of ways to distract her, she would turn into the concerned aunty and ask how Raven was feeling and buy her anything she wanted to eat, no matter how strange it was.

A stroke of genius came when Raven was running low on energy. She took her hand and gently guided her past all the stores, confusing Raven completely until they stopped in front of Victoria’s Secret.

“Lingerie? Are you still trying to convince me that you and Justin are just friends?”

“Don’t be silly, it’s not for me, it’s for you! You’re growing two, almost fully cooked, babies in there! All you’ve done is think about everyone else instead of yourself for almost a year. Even when you fell pregnant, you didn’t stop worrying. You deserve something nice, something to make you feel special.”

Raven smiled a little before following her sister inside. Things had gotten better and better as the days went on and Blair had quickly become the kind of sister she had dreamed of since she was a child. She hoped that the twins would always have each other, they would always be close.