Group Sex The Cam Girl

Kneeling next the other girl, Jarno tentatively reached for her shoulder with his hand.

'Mac?'

Her hands weren't frantically protecting the baby anymore, but she was still struggling for breath.

'I couldn't let them get near the baby.' Mackenzie stuttered, not meeting his eyes. 'They're not going to get to try and poison the mind of another young girl, especially not our...'

He threw both arms around her and felt her cry silently against his neck. After a long time, Hailey reappeared, having gathered the groceries Jarno left on the corridor floor. She nodded at him when he looked up, silently inquiring if Mackenzie's parents had actually followed his command. Then she brought a glass of water to Mackenzie's unsteady hands.

'Sleeping pill.' Jarno whispered in the blonde girl's ear and she went back for it. Mackenzie took it without asking what it was. After a couple of minutes, she was still and he picked her up very gingerly. He deposited her on the bed and kissed her temple, before heading out again.

Hailey was putting everything he'd bought in its proper place and he joined her.

'I'm going to ask her to come with me to my parent's for Christmas.' Jarno said as he stored a box of cereal. 'I know you two spend it together, but would you mind? I'm extending the invitation to you too.'

'I don't mind; she could use getting well clear of here for a few days.' Hailey said, putting steaks in the fridge. 'I think I'll go back to my folks for the holidays. Thanks for the offer, though.' She closed the fridge door and looked him straight in the eye. 'Are your folks going to not be cunts?'

'I told them what she does and what she means to me.' He replied, taking zero offense from her words. 'They can't wait to meet her and begged me to invite her. They'll be good.'

Hailey studied him with an unusually attentive look.

'Okay.'

The two of them took care of the rest of their putting away which didn't take long.

'If you hadn't grabbed my arm, I think I would've...' Hailey began.

'I know. I think I would've too if Mackenzie wasn't in the room.'

'Some people just bring out the worst in others, don't they?' She whispered. Jarno smiled humourlessly. 'I'm going to close my eyes for a bit too.'

'Okay.' He replied, as she passed him and gave his shoulder a little squeeze.

When the silence of the house began to get to him Jarno walked to the front door and locked it, before going to lay alongside Mackenzie for some shuteye as well.

The car had stopped for quite some time and Mackenzie had exited, but her hand lingered on the door, not closing it. Either getting back in and refusing to leave the rented hatchback or merely turning and running away from Jarno's parent's property seemed like equally appealing alternatives to going in and meeting them.

'Mackenzie, please.' Jarno said, understanding her hesitation. 'Trust me.'

His fingers brushed hers and, taking hold of them, Mackenzie followed him up a small set of stairs that went from the driveway to the small garden that was mostly hidden by a hedge. Apparently, according to Jarno, the front door at the Merlo's residence had been used only twice since the house was built. Everyone entered through what had originally been meant to be a small back porch door. And nobody really knew why it had started.

The house was a one-storey building in a medium sized lot of land in Napoli countryside, and it was now standing beneath an icy grey sky of Christmas Eve morning. The cold was a lot less severe than what Mackenzie was used to from both Toronto and New York, whilst the rain was staying away since they'd arrived by plane in Rome. They had lunch in an amazing restaurant on the way and just arrived at three in the afternoon.

They arrived at the porch door. Before she had any time to ask for another moment he'd already opened the door and they entered a cosy looking kitchen.

They were barely inside when there was a loud exclamation of greeting and a smiling overweight woman, just a few centimetres taller than Mackenzie, let go of the book she'd reading and ran to them.

'Jarno, è così bello vederti, tesoro!' Jarno's mother told him, beaming at him and throwing her arms around her son's neck and kissing his cheek. 'I see you less now that you work a few kilometres away than when you were in England!' She complained in English, apparently so that her son's girlfriend could understand the seriousness of her complaint.

'Yeah, well when I was in England I wasn't fighting for an F1 title... I need to be at the factory! Plus, plane trips to visit someone...' Jarno replied, looking sideways at Mackenzie. 'Mac, this is my mother, Annalisa.'

A shy smile was the best Mackenzie could manage to produce, but Annalisa had other ideas and, with a grin that showed all her teeth, took her into an embrace just as tight as the one she'd given her son and kissed both her cheeks.

'Mackenzie, I've been hearing so much about you for so long! And wanting to meet you for just as long...' She looked pointedly at her son.

'It's almost as if he knows how totally not a big deal you would make of it...' Came a heavily accented low voice from behind a doorway. Then, Jarno's father appeared, not quite as tall as his son, with a broad chest and the brown fading into green eyes she knew so well now.

'I didn't make a big deal when I met Daniela!'

'You and her mother were best friends since school and, when Jarno brought her for the first time, you smiled at her in such a way that the poor girl probably thought she'd be found buried in our backyard the following day.' He told her, before approaching Mackenzie. 'It's good to meet you, Mackenzie. I'm Maurizio.' He kissed both her cheeks and gave Jarno a hug.

'You know what?' Annalisa said, trying to sound annoyed but merely pouting at her husband childishly. 'I can't be bothered with your callous comments. For years I've been surrounded by boys at Christmas and finally there are two girls that I can talk to. And one of them is my granddaughter!' She smiled warmly at Mackenzie's round belly and her hand began to reach out.

'Anna, you've just met her!' Maurizio said, worried that Mackenzie would have taken offense. 'At least ask her first...'

Before Annalisa could give voice to the apologetic look on her face, Mackenzie spoke.

'Oh, it's fine, go ahead. It's the first time I've gotten fat and had it mean I'm stroked by people more often...'

Her words left her mouth before she'd had time to remember that she was meeting Jarno's parents and not just talking to someone like Hailey. Embarrassment and apprehension for how she'd interpreted the moment filled her but they just laughed.

'Exactly! When I was pregnant with Jarno I actually got asked out by a co-worker! I swear, some men have this weird obsession with women with another man's child...' Anna told her.

'Pregnophile, I believe, is the popular term.' Mackenzie informed her, getting more and more at ease.

'Is it? But the weirdest thing to me is the fact that they congratulate the men. I mean, other than getting laid, what have these two done, I ask you?' Anna told her, as Maurizio rolled his eyes and Jarno said "Mom..." in embarrassment. 'Don't tell me you think you were a virgin birth?' Hailey laughed at her son.

'Trust me, I've been informed I haven't quite a few times.' Jarno replied, depositing their bags on the corner and taking a seat. Maurizio did the same, and Hailey let herself be guided by Anna to sit next to the burning wood in the fireplace. Anna made to sit in a chair but Mackenzie grabbed her hand.

'Don't you want to feel?' She asked, feeling like the conversation had veered away from the original topic and Jarno's mother had forgotten.

'Of course!' Anna exclaimed and sat next to her, her hand touching her belly. As if on cue, her daughter decided to choose that moment for a light kick. Mackenzie couldn't help but smile at the look of wonder in Anna's eyes.

'My doctor's told us she kicks a little more than average...'

'Oh I feel your pain, honey.' She told Mackenzie, in an understanding tone. 'Jarno enjoyed moving his feet as well...' They both looked at Jarno in a mock upset way, to which he replied by putting his hands in the air in surrender.

'This is going to be a Christmas of getting blame, isn't it?'

'Welcome to the world of dealing with pregnant women.' Maurizio told his son.

They chatted for a couple of hours. Maurizio and Anna were two incredibly welcoming people who made her feel at home almost instantly, and their topics of conversation only focussed on her pregnancy for the beginning bit, mercifully, since Mackenzie had worried that was all they would focus on during her visit.

Before night fell, the three Merlo's showed her around the property, and Mackenzie was shown a few chickens and sheep, though she almost fell instantly in love when a baby rabbit born three days before was put in her arms.

'Wow, you're such a city dweller... You realise he's going to be eaten, right?' Jarno asked her, amused by her unusually mellow reaction.

'No, he's not! You're gonna be eaten. Shut up!' She replied, clutching it tighter against her, making everyone laugh.

'No!' Jarno suddenly said, holding back an excitable German Sheppard that was almost his height standing up, who'd came running into the bunny area. 'Sorry, Tom, but you can't jump on her this time, buddy...'

Tom didn't seem to understand why he couldn't meet the new human and tried to break free. Mackenzie extended her hand, he sniffed it, before giving his lick of approval. Something else rubbed against her left leg.

'That's Jerry.' Maurizio told her, and the black cat looked at him when he heard his name. 'He's not very cat-like. I've never seen a cat that's so trusting and excitable...' Right on queue Jerry stood up and poked her knee with a paw, asking for a stroke even though he didn't know her.

'You named your dog and cat, Tom and Jerry?' Mackenzie asked them, as she shifted the rabbit to one arm so she could use the other to stroke Jerry behind the ear.

'I tried to tell them the cat should be Tom and the dog something else, but they refused to listen.' Anna told her, rolling her eyes. 'I've given up on that fight years ago, Mac.'

When Christmas Eve dinner was almost done they were joined by Jarno's uncle and aunt. There was none of the formality Mackenzie had been used to in her childhood. There was talk between everyone in every direction and they ate for hours just for the sake of it, which she loved.

At some point close to midnight Mackenzie found herself sitting next to Anna and Jarno's aunt in a conversation about rebellious teen years.

'I love your hair.' Jarno's aunt, Giovanna, told Mackenzie. 'When I was sixteen I dyed mine green.'

'No way!' Mackenzie exclaimed, open-mouthed. The baby bunny was still in her arms, cuddled against her chest, after Anna had gone to get a small cage and offered him permanently to her.

'Oh, yes...' Giovanna smiled mischievously. 'My parents hated every second of it, and I regretted it almost instantly because it didn't suit me very well unlike with you, but I kept it for five months.'

'Why?'

'I had a crush on this gorgeous boy that was my friend's brother and he told me he liked it. What he could have told me was that he was gay and liked it because he was thinking of dyeing his own hair green for a boy of his own...' She made a face. Anna and Mackenzie laughed hysterically.

When it was 1 AM they all said their goodnights and headed for their bedrooms. Mackenzie was going to be sleeping with Jarno in his childhood bedroom.

'Okay,' He told her, not opening the door instantly. 'just so you know I haven't been living in this room since I was fifteen, and the... decorations since I was about twelve, so...'

Her curiosity peeked now, Mackenzie moved past him and opened the door. The decor was indeed more child-appropriate than teenager. Jarno's parents had kept it all as he'd left it, the childish bedcovers, the miniature racing circuit on the carpet, the million car related books on the shelves and the walls covered in posters of very diverse F1 cars.

'Oh, "sho" cute...' She told him, putting the small cage with her bunny on the desk.

'Yeah, yeah, fuck off.' He replied, with a small slap on her butt.

They put their pyjamas on and got into bed together. Mackenzie looked on as Jarno grabbed a children's story book from a shelf and started to read out loud to her tummy. This was a habit he'd developed since he'd shown her his apartment. He made voices for any given character, which made her go into a fit of giggles, which usually meant the parasite was rather active for a few minutes.

Unlike previous times, these stories weren't in English, which meant no giggles from Mackenzie. She was enjoying listening to the smooth Italian that escaped his lips. Apparently so was their daughter. Pushing her top to expose the stretching of her skin, she realised it was less spirited than usual, as if the parasite was just calmly enjoying the sound of his voice as well.

With a dull "thump" noise he closed the book once he was finished and after a few more seconds the movements in Mackenzie's belly stopped. She pushed him up and kissed him on the lips, on his cheeks, on his nose and neck. Her hands got lost in his hair as they slipped to their sides on the bed.

'Make love to me.' Mackenzie whispered to him, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

'Ah, do you know what it does to me when you say things like that?' Jarno muttered with an intense look. He kissed her again, with his hands getting beneath her top to caress her breasts as well as her baby bump.

They fondled each other lazily, revving up slowly. His cock was hot and stiff beneath her fingers and his hands were groping her thighs and backside but they were still on their sides. The size of Mackenzie's middle had started to become an obstacle to the positions they could take.

But this once Mackenzie knew exactly what she wanted. Removing the clothes that Jarno hadn't yet, she slowly turned her back to him and even more slowly leaned forwards until her backside was stuck in the air, moving side to side enticingly, and she looked back at him.

Jarno moved and buried his face into her snatch, caressing the swollen lips and giving the clit the briefest of touches before moving further up and starting to lick all along her crack. Ever since their first threesome with Hailey that she'd managed to ramp up his interest on anal activities. Not now, Mackenzie thought, as Jarno's tongue got firmer against her butthole, but soon she'd have to let him try out her back door.

The wetness against her rear ceased and Mackenzie watched Jarno get on his knees and begin rubbing the tip of his cock against her.

'Wait.' She told him and pointed to the cage of the baby rabbit. 'Could you cover him, please?'

He made a noise that could either be amused or exasperated. 'Seriously?'

'I've never been able to pee or fuck in front of animals! Just... cover him.'

Making a grumble not too dissimilar from Mutley in Wacky Races, Jarno got up and threw his shirt over the cage before coming back to his original position behind her. 'Anything else?' He asked, full of sarcasm, as his palms touched her butt cheeks.

'Yes.' She smiled back at him, biting her lip. 'Make love to me.'

With deliberate slowness, he pressed against her opening, which gave way. The head of his cock slipped inside the wetness of her vagina before he popped it back out. A second thrust meant it eased a bit more inside, Jarno giving Mackenzie time to adjust to the intrusion whilst controlling his own thrill. She had no problems if he'd just jammed it in due to her heightened arousal, but then it wouldn't have been right when her suggestion had been making love, not fucking.

Little by little Jarno's rock-hard penis went deeper into her with each new move of his hips. Mackenzie let her head fall down on the pillow and closed her eyes, savouring how magnificent her walls contracting around the invading member felt and fighting hard against the urge to lean backwards and bury him all the way inside. She wanted it to last.

'Agh... So good.' Mackenzie moaned.

'Trust me, from where I'm standing it's pretty fucking incredible too.' Jarno sighed back, massaging her curvy buns with both hands as he continued filling her slowly with his manhood.

In no time he bottomed out. Mackenzie felt irresistibly full. A feeling that wasn't relaxed at all by being pregnant six months. Her right arm wrapped around her hanging belly. The parasite hadn't moved an inch since her dad read her the children's book. She always stood very still when Jarno and Mackenzie had sex, which Mackenzie found strange since a lot of women apparently complained about constant movement of the babies distracting them during intercourse.

Thinking about it, Mackenzie wondered what it would like if the baby decided to move. Feeling almost shocked at her kinkiness for once, she realised the thought turned her on. The idea of her excitement being passed on to her daughter, just like when she giggled, when Jarno fucked her was one of the naughtiest things to ever cross her mind. In fact, she thought, for the first time she could use the term "baby daddy" un-ironically about one of her lovers.

Jarno was her baby daddy. Silent laughter accompanied the thought and she made a little more noise than recommended.

'Shhhh...' Jarno breathed against the back of her neck. Whilst Mackenzie was lost in her strange daydream he'd leaned forwards, his chest against her back, and had begun thrusting at a steady place, his hands now eagerly palming her dangling breasts.

'Do it.' Mackenzie ordered him, clenching her pussy down on him, trapping his movements. 'Love me.' She spoke above his hiss of pleasure, feeling him throb.

'I can't last!'

'That's okay. Don't you dare stop!'

His movements were now fast, and Mackenzie froze, her orgasm having sneaked up on her out of nowhere. It didn't stop. She was sure there were many orgasms following each other rapidly but she couldn't tell when they were beginning or ending. Her pussy gripped, grabbed and clenched Jarno's penis and all she could do was grit her teeth together to stop any noise coming out.

'Fuck, fuck, fuck!' Jarno whimpered against her ear and the throbbing inside her intensified. His cum pumped out and filled her, intensifying her last orgasm.

Hot, spent and sweaty, despite it being Christmas Day at 1 AM, the two of them collapsed side by side on the bed, Jarno's face pressed against her neck.

'Can I make a confession?' Mackenzie asked, the words difficult as if her tongue had gotten too big for her mouth.

'Huh?'

'It makes me really, really horny to know she's inside me when you cum inside me.' He was silent. 'Come on, don't make me feel weird... Say something.'

'Knowing that cumming inside you is why she's there... It, uh, it makes it hotter to do this. I thought you'd think I was a creep if I told you.'

'Never.' Mackenzie told him, feeling him smile against her skin.

They were silent for a while, as she absent-mindedly used her fingertips to trace up and down his juice covered cock.

'I haven't done doggy in a while. I really like it.' She told him, unsure of he was still awake. An asserting "hmm-hmm" reached her ears. 'I thought guys loved it, how come you never ask for it?'

'When I'm with you, I can't stand positions where I can't look into your eyes.'

Mackenzie was naked, in bed, touching Jarno's penis and pregnant with his baby. Yet his words made her blush crimson.

'Remember when I mocked you for being deep and meaningful? I take it all fucking back!'

He smiled even more broadly than before into her neck.

There weren't many rays of light yet when Mackenzie felt herself awake. Just like many times before, her bladder being pushed by the baby had her in desperate need of a wee. Quietly, she made her way to the hall and went about her business in the adjacent bathroom. Just as she was coming out she saw Maurizio heading out of his room, already clothed.

'Mackenzie, hi! Me and Anna didn't wake you by being up, did we?'

'No, no, that wasn't it, don't worry.' She assured him, heading back to Jarno's room when he called her.

'Actually, since you're up, would you mind joining me and Anna in the kitchen? We were hoping to talk to you alone. It'll only take a few seconds...'

Dread took over her. Alone? Mackenzie thought they'd liked her, that the previous night had been a success, fun and cheerful. Were they going to tell her how they really felt about her? How much they disliked their son's choice of girlfriend?

'Okay, sure.' She mumbled to him, and followed him into where she'd first set foot in the house.

Annalisa was there as well. 'Oh, good morning, dear.'

'I thought we could talk to her now, before the others were up...' Maurizio told his wife.

'Okay, let just fetch...' She replied, going to grab a box from inside a spot Mackenzie couldn't see.

Annalisa returned with some kind of black box in her hands and sat down next to her husband in front of Mackenzie, who'd also taken a seat at the table. She steeled herself for what would be coming.

'We have a tradition of only handing out presents in the morning of Christmas Day.' Maurizio said. 'But we were hoping we could give you yours on your own, just so there wasn't any pressure.'

Mackenzie felt almost dizzy with relief. A gift! They weren't going to tell her off. They liked her! The second thought came instantly, almost childishly, and she forced herself to not think about it yet.

'You didn't need to give me anything...' She told them, honestly. Their lack of any hostility had been more than what she'd hoped for.

Maurizio disregarded her phrase with a wave of his hand.

'Anyway, I don't know if Jarno's told you before but we have a history of every new baby born always being a boy.'

'He did. When we found out it was a girl he told me it was probably my side of the family that'd done it.'

'And he's probably right. It's so rare for a Merlo girl to be born in fact that we've developed this tradition around it.' He told her. 'The last female born a Merlo was my grandmother. So, this,' Maurizio pushed the black box into her hands. 'is something that's been waiting to change owner since then.'

The box was velvety to the touch and Mackenzie stared at it, a little overwhelmed by what Maurizio had just said.

'Go ahead, dear. Open it!' Annalisa smiled encouragingly.

She did open it. Inside, neatly placed, was a medallion, just slightly bigger than a two euro coin she'd seen Jarno use on their way from Rome, with a chain. Both the chain and the medallion itself looked to be made of silver, the latter having engraved on it some sort of bird.

'The bird is a blackbird.' Maurizio said, as Mackenzie studied the medallion lightly caressing the engraved image. 'Or, in Italian, a Merlo.' She looked up at him, feeling words weren't quite within her reach. 'It's tradition that when a Merlo girl is born for her mother to use the pendant until one of her descendants has a girl as well. Even though our granddaughter isn't born yet, we would be honoured if you were to wear it.'

Mackenzie opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unsure of what to say. Jarno's parents seemed to take her silence as something else.

'Of course, not all the time.' Maurizio corrected. 'Just a few times, it's an old-fashioned thing, might not go well with some outfits...'

'No!' Mackenzie corrected their misinterpretation quickly. 'It's beautiful. I'll wear it. Everyday.'

They laughed and Mackenzie felt her hands shake as she removed the medallion from its safekeeping place and tried to put it around her neck. She struggled with clipping it into place and Maurizio got up and stood behind her to push her hair out of the way and helped her.

'You know, Mackenzie,' Anna told her, taking the younger girl's hand in her own. 'I've seen the way my son talked about you before I met you and yesterday I got to meet you, and the way he lights up when he is around you. How could I not adore you after that?'

There was a huge lump in Mackenzie's throat. 'I don't know if Jarno's told you, but I'm not going to... He's the one who's going to raise...' She couldn't continue. Her agreement with Jarno suddenly seemed to give her an image of herself through their eyes that she wasn't too fond of.

'We know, honey. We understand that being a mother was never in your plans and you have every right not to be judged for your decision. Please believe us when we say that...'

Mackenzie nodded. She did.

'Maurizio and I would just like you to know that, even if sometime in the future you and Jarno aren't together anymore, you will always be welcome here. Always.'

Getting up, Mackenzie put an arm around each of them and held them tightly against her in a hug that would hopefully make her feelings clearer than any words. Their arms enveloped her as well, which confirmed it had.

She eventually disentangled herself from them.

'Uh, I should, uh... get back to bed.' Mackenzie told them lamely.

Annalisa gave her a gentle squeeze on the cheek. 'Of course, dear.'

When she closed the door to the room behind her, Mackenzie self-consciously touched the medallion around her neck. Her fingers traced the detailed blackbird that was engraved, and her eyes took in the sleeping Jarno. She stayed like that for a while.

Not exactly sure of how long she'd done it for, Mackenzie watched Jarno begin to stir.

'Hey...' He mumbled at her after he was awake enough to be aware of his bearings. 'What are you doing up?'

'The parasite keeps deciding my bladder is a nice kicking spot.' Mackenzie replied, taking a seat at the bottom of the bed, no longer fiddling with the pendant. 'What was your great grandmother's name?'

'What?' He looked at her perplexed.

'Your great grandmother's name.'

'Uh, which one?'

'On your father's side, the one who was actually born a Merlo, not the one who married into the family.'

'That was... specific. She died when I was really young. Her name started with an "E"... Emma! It was Emma.'

'Emma.' Mackenzie said, testing it and running a hand over her stomach as if asking for approval.

'But why...' He began and immediately saw her hand. 'Emma?' He asked her.

'I like it. What do you think?'

They'd never discussed a name since she'd become pregnant.

'I think Emma is no longer known as "the parasite".' Jarno smiled at her and put an arm around her.

'Guess not...'

'But why did you...?'

Once more, Jarno began a sentence he never finished. His eyes suddenly noticed the new piece of jewellery around his girlfriend's neck and his hand traced it lightly.

'When?' Came his only reaction.

'Just now, your parents saw me and asked for a word.'

'Wow, I... I didn't know they were going to do that... That's awesome of them. I didn't even remember the tradition when I found out she was a girl...' He stammered out, almost to himself, looking happy.

He hugged her tightly against him, and Mackenzie felt at home in more ways than one. The memory of her own parents was like a distant nightmare, no longer upsetting her, but merely a reminder that she was far too grown up to ever fear them again. The feeling of belonging to this new family feeling almost too happy for it to be believable.

'Thanks for convincing me to come here. I needed that.'

'Anytime. I figured I could get a little less emotion than usual on Christmas if they had split it between two of us...' Jarno joked.

They got dressed and went on a walk around the village, with Jarno guiding Mackenzie along, pointing out spots he'd play as a kid. Some childhood friends of his crossed their path and he introduced her.

'What about the spots where you'd "play"?' She emphasized.

'What are you talking about?'

'Come on... You mentioned a teenage sweetheart and your mom's mentioned a friend's daughter you dated. Small village, you two were bound to have had "hiding spots".' Mackenzie teased him.

'I guess.'

Mackenzie furrowed her brow. 'I thought you said it was nice to be in that relationship...'

'I said most of the time it was.'

'What happened?'

'The breakup wasn't particularly pleasant...' Jarno simply replied.

His desire to elaborate wasn't too big, but Mackenzie's curiosity was pushing her.

'What do you mean?' She asked. When he didn't reply she grabbed his arm with hers. 'You've seen my parents; do you really think any past history of yours will scare me off?' She smirked.

For a long time, he was silent until it got to the point where Mackenzie thought he wasn't going to share anything. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, he began.

'My mother and Daniela's have been best friends since they were kids and we used to hang out together all the time. I don't really know when we went from friends to dating, exactly, but we shared a lot of our... developments. All I know is by the time we were thirteen we went for it and slept together.'

Holy crap! Mackenzie thought. Jarno lost his virginity before I did. Somehow that was funny to her.

'We were together for ages, pretty much doing what every teenager dreams of doing, until I was fifteen. I got the call to join an English team in one of the junior formulas and I chased after it. Daniela and I promised to not let distance come between us. And don't get me wrong,' Jarno said, looking at her. 'it wasn't the distance that did it. It was realising that, as we grew older, our personalities had developed us into two people that didn't really have that much to do with each other anymore.'

He sighed.

'The more I thought this, it seemed like the more Daniela was unwilling to see it. She said we belonged together and that these doubts were just a few hiccups that couples went through... Looking back I think she liked the idea of me more than me, you know? The fairy-tale story of our moms being best friends and their children marrying and having kids. She loved that.'

His jaw clenched for a bit, but his voice continued perfectly calm.

'About a year before you and I met, I decided that it was time and I told her I wanted to breakup.'

'How did that go?' Mackenzie asked in a small voice.

'She told me she was pregnant.'

She felt her mouth hanging open, as a bitter smile adorned Jarno's lips.

'You see,' He pressed on. 'Daniela told me I couldn't leave her alone with a baby. I told her she was right; I would be there for the baby but that it was still over for us. She asked what kind of example in responsibility I'd be giving if I didn't marry her. I told her that I'd telling my future son or daughter that the only reason they should marry someone was if they were in love with them. That's when Daniela panicked.' They had both stopped and he looked at her. 'See, there was no baby. She'd just been hoping I would stay if she told me so. So she came clean and went quite hysterical. That was the last time I spoke to her.'

'Jarno...' Mackenzie whispered, gently taking his hand and squeezing it.

'My parents don't know why things ended with her.' Jarno murmured, looking at their feet. 'Daniela's mom isn't guilty of anything her daughter did and I figured my mom and her could remain friends without what happened hanging over them.'

'It's not just that...' She told him, his eyes finding hers. It made her sad for him, and there was also something she'd realised. 'When I told you about Emma, you didn't... you didn't doubt me. You believed, even though you'd heard...'

It was his turn to squeeze her fingers between his.

'There's a very big difference, Mac. First of all, and unlike with her, I'm in love with you. And more important than that, I trusted you then and I trust you now.'

Mackenzie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with every ounce of strength she had.

'I love you, Jarno Merlo.'

'I love you too.' He sighed, smiling his sweet genuine smile again. 'Now, come on, let's get back so my aunt and uncle can get mushy about you wearing that necklace for about half an hour.'

Hailey was pacing back and forth on the hallway, desperately trying to reach Jarno. His phone rang for a minute but he wouldn't pick up. Shit! She returned to the room where Mackenzie was experiencing another contraction and silently promised herself that if she ever wanted kids in the future she'd adopt.

'Looks like you're almost there.' The nurse that busied herself around Mackenzie said calmly.

'No! She can't come out yet, her dad isn't here yet!'

'I'm sure you'll be able to reason with her about it.'

'I'm sorry, what part of your training told you sassing the angry pregnant woman in pain was a good idea?' Mackenzie hissed at the nurse. 'Hailey, where is he?' She asked, not waiting for a reply to her previous question.

'I'm trying to contact him, but he's not picking up, I don't know if he's still on the flight.' Hailey told her, running her fingers over her phone and attempting another call. 'I left voice mails. I mean, it's lucky he's even on his way at all, the due date was only in four days...'

'Hailey, come here.'

The blonde girl felt a large impulse to take a few paces back when she saw the look her friend gave her as she said it, but got next to her all the same. Mackenzie's face was covered in sweat and making a grimace.

'Do I look like I care about facts and log-'

'No, you don't.'

'-ic? Get him here!'

'Sweet fucking Jesus...' Hailey muttered to herself as she went to the hospital entrance, desperately trying to reach Jarno. 'Definitely adopting. Or making sure to stay away from Mackenzie if she ever gets knocked up again!'

The phone call wasn't picked up yet again. She was just about to head back when a loud noise caught her attention. Around the entrance to the hospital grounds a yellow cab sped through the gate, tyres squealing. The car took the roundabout to the hospital at great speed and came to a screeching halt with a small cloud of tyre smoke. The driver's door opened and Jarno stepped out from it. The passenger door opened and a shaking cabbie stepped out, wiping sweat from his forehead.

'Never again.' The cab driver mumbled to no one in particular. 'Fuckin' crazy! No matter how much money, never let a customer drive. Never let a customer drive again...'

'Where is she?!' Jarno spotted her and asked, wide-eyed and flustered.

'In there, contractions started.'

He made to go inside and looked back at her, her eyes still on the man who steadied himself on his own taxi.

'Hailey!' He shouted. 'I don't know the room, lead me there!'

'Oh, I, uh, yeah... Follow.'

Cursing the shouting that pregnancies apparently provoked on the future parents, Hailey ran in front of him until they reached the room.

'Where the hell have you been?' Mackenzie demanded as soon as they arrived.

No "thanks for finding him" or any indication of the complaint only being addressed to Jarno. Just before Hailey could protest, Jarno spoke.

'Sorry, I'm here, I'm here.'

That seemed to somewhat appease Mackenzie, and Hailey couldn't help but admire his better understanding of how to handle the angry pregnant woman. The doctor also appeared and decreed it was time for the baby to come out. Hailey would never forget for the rest of her days how it was to watch her friend pushing, gritting her teeth, growling with the effort and squishing Jarno's hand.

And then suddenly, a loud cry filled the room. Emma was born, discontent with having been pulled from the warm, comfortable inside of her mother's belly. She was placed for a few seconds next to her parents, both staring dumb-struck and with tears in their eyes at their new-born.

When she was taken to be cleaned, Mackenzie only had eyes for her daughter.

'Go with her, I need to be closed up anyway. The two of you go check on her.'

They both went and, once a different nurse than before had cleaned and dressed Emma in the clothes her parents had brought for her, Jarno was given a still-crying Emma into his arms.

'Hey, Emma...' Jarno told her, his voice catching in his throat. As if a switch had been pulled, the baby girl stopped her wailing and stared with very open eyes up at him. 'Hey, honey, I don't know if you know this yet, but as of a few minutes ago you've just become the most important person in my life. Yes, you have.' Jarno smiled at her. 'Oh, and this is Hailey...'

He tried pointing her in Hailey's direction but Emma's gaze didn't steer away one inch away from her father, as if hypnotized by the sound of his voice.

'I think she's recognizing you talking from the bedtime stories.' Hailey told him, surprised. The only point where she took her eyes off him was when it was Mackenzie's turn to hold and speak to her.

Two days later Mackenzie was sitting at the now-furnished apartment Jarno had purchased, on the fluffy large black sofa, Hailey next to her and Emma suckling on her nipple.

Jarno had gone out to do some shopping so that their guests could have some food and drinks when they arrived. The Merlo's were arriving by plane sometime during the afternoon to get a chance to meet their granddaughter for the first time. With them also came a deadline Mackenzie feared and knew she couldn't postpone any further.

'Just so you know, I sucked on those titties first, kid...' Hailey told Emma in fake-envy.

'If her first words are "titties" I will actually kill you.' Mackenzie told her, scowling.

'As long as I get to go clubbing with her when she's in her teens.'

'You mean sneaking her through security before she's twenty-one?'

'Yes, because you and I never did that...' The blonde girl rolled her eyes. 'It's at this point, whilst she's at that size, that you should remember she's got your genes, Mac.'

Emma tried to pull herself away from Mackenzie's breast, now full, spitting her nipple out.

'You really don't know what you're missing out on.' Hailey told the little girl as she took her in her arms, so that Mackenzie could recompose her clothes. Emma stared up at her attentively, gently sucking on her right hand.

Mackenzie leaned against the back of the couch and watched Hailey making faces at Emma who had eyes for no one else.

'Biological clock ticking?' She asked her friend, just to annoy her.

'I get to have fun whilst you have the actual trouble of parenting her. Trust me, I'm good.'

'Technically Jarno should have the actual trouble of parenting her, since I'm not sure how often she's going to be in the States-'

'Oh, cut the bullshit, Mac!' Hailey told her, with a smug half-smile.

'What?' Mackenzie looked up, surprised.

'Keep lying to yourself all you want, but are you really going to look me straight in the eye and tell me you want to walk away from her?'

'Emma deserves a mom who knows what she's doing.' The purple haired girl mumbled.

'Right, like your mother?' Hailey raised an eyebrow critically. 'She was the prototype of a prepared mother; look how well she did...'

'So that automatically qualifies me?'

'No, it means that if an idiot like her managed it, do you think you, with actual brains, who'll actually love Emma unconditionally, won't do a much better job?'

The deadline for her decision was no longer possible to postpone.

'Do you think I'll be disappointed?' Hailey asked her, gently. 'That I'll think you're betraying what we stand for or something?' She laughed.

'Something like that, I...' Mackenzie swallowed dry. 'It's not even Emma being my daughter, it's... for the first time I'm in love with someone and the fact that she's this person with fifty per cent of my genes and fifty per cent of his... It's just too powerful for me to ignore.' She stroked Emma's cheek. 'And so now I want to be a mom for the first time in my life and I feel guilty.'​