355 Eight Months

June 22, 20X2 (Monday)

Various Places

At eight months in the middle of her pregnancy, Mei Lin found herself asking for help even for a small reason as going downstairs to get water. She could not stand up for a long time, nor can she walk like she used to. Her babies must be huge because her stomach felt like it had eaten at least three watermelons whole!

"Yang, help me up?" Mei Lin tugged on her husband's shirt. Even her back was not strong enough to carry her stomach's weight.

When Yang turned to her, he saw Mei Lin pouting at her helplessness. He leaned down to kiss her forehead before he pulled her by her shoulders to sit up. He knew how much she had been struggling with the pregnancy. His mother had been Mei Lin's most significant help. Mother Zhao had become Mei Lin's distraction and experienced guide to pregnancy.

Mei Lin placed both of her palms underneath her large belly, supporting the weight with her arm strength. Yang could carry Mei Lin, but it would probably be just one minute, and he will cave into the load. Yang had not said the words heavy, fat, large, or massive anywhere near Mei Lin. Everyone in the Manor has discovered that Mei Lin turns into a demon when those words reach her ears.

Yue, the best friend, had been given the silent treatment for saying large stomach two days ago. No matter what Yue did, Mei Lin did not listen. Not even Mother Zhao could calm the anger in Mei Lin. Yang was surprised by his wife's behavior. It was always a given that Yue was one, if not the most important person to Mei Lin, so he was shocked that she would even last one hour of the silent treatment.

"Yang," Mei Lin called out, distracting Yang from his thoughts.

The young CEO turned his body to fully face Mei Lin. Smiling, he said, "Something I can do for you, my beloved and treasured wife?"

"Ru Shi asked if we were going to hold a baby shower?" Mei Lin asked, twirling her thumbs together in nervousness like Ling Ling does. Yang's smile broadened when he observed her behavior.

"Sure, if it's what you want. You know I will give you everything you want, right?" Yang agreed without any hesitation. He could see how hard it was to be pregnant with one child, what more if there are two! Yang could see how tired she was, no matter how much she slept and rest. It was as if the children were sucking the life out of her. Yang almost clicked his tongue at his unborn children. They haven't even been born yet, and they were already misbehaving and taking up their mother's time!

"Would it be alright to hold a baby shower when the threat of the bombing is still glaring at us?"

Yang sat up straight immediately. The terrorist group has been waiting for their move, so if they hold some gathering such as a baby shower, Yang knew it would be perilous. He frowned as he spoke, "I will talk about the baby shower later to my friends. Maybe they have suggestions that will not lead you and the babies into harm."

Mei Lin nodded before she sat on the lounge chair on the side of their room, breathing heavily. Yang watched his wife with worry and calmly caressed her back in comfort, "Just one to two more months..."

Mei Lin sighed, "They'll probably be here sooner. I read that pregnancy with twins doesn't reach to the full term of 40 weeks."

"That's even better," Yang kissed Mei Lin's forehead again; his hand never stopping to give comfort to her.

Hours later, Yang was in another conference call with his friends, Uncle Wu, and Hao Ren, planning about their next step in detail. When Yang casually mentioned having a Baby Shower, Hao Ren once again had a brilliant idea.

"What if we hold two baby showers! One real and another staged on the same day, but different places!" Hao Ren exclaimed. "We can show Mother Zhao is alive on the news beforehand to announce the baby shower. If the reporter asks about the accident, she can just say that she was out of the country to buy her grandchildren some things, and had no idea what has happened, and had to hurry back because the Zhao family have constantly been calling for her."

"That does not guarantee the terrorist from finding out the truth. They can just take one look at the invitations, and they'll know which is which," Uncle Wu pointed out the obvious flaw.

Hao Ren's eyes glinted as he answered, "Not unless we invite other people. We can say it's a family event and only the closest friends are invited. We can hire body doubles to act for the fake one, and train them what to do..."

Everyone was silent for a while. The call was tensed, and everyone was nervous about the future.

It was Chang Min that broke the silence when he said, "This is like the fake wedding all over again... I think we should do this idea rather than stage a fake funeral. The citizens will call us liars and would lessen our credibility if we do something like this... Better a misunderstanding, than a betrayal."