"My God, this reminds me of when we were young."

Courtney was not having a good day.

The 28-year-old, having just celebrated a birthday, was feeling the after-effects of her party.

Well, that and the fact that she was four months pregnant.

Her family, Elliott, Bridgette and Geoff came together and threw a surprise party for her at her home. While she couldn't partake in drinking like everyone else, she definitely danced the night away with her sister, Bridgette, and Elliott.

She also had one too many pieces of vanilla cake and spoonsful of ice cream.

Unlatching herself from Elliott's cuddle the following morning, Courtney felt every inch of soreness from the night before as she arose from her bed. Her feet ached, and her back was tense, but she knew her job was her first priority.

Groaning while walking to her bathroom, picking up her clothes from the night before along the way, Courtney stopped in front of the mirror and took a good look at herself. While she was still early in her pregnancy, she could definitely tell that her body was changing. She loved her baby bump the most.

The week prior, Courtney and Elliott learned that they were having a daughter. Being the planners that they were, the couple had already decided on her name, Olivia Taryn. The couple decided that they would nest at Courtney's home, with Courtney spear-heading the baby's nursery. She went crazy choosing different pastel colored paints and décor for the baby's room. The couple decided on neutral colors to flow with the rest of the house and to not push the gender initiative.

Closing her eyes while rubbing her belly, Courtney felt a presence approach her from behind. A strong pair of hands wrapped around her stomach as they helped stroke her stomach, with a pair of lips leaving delicate kisses along her neck.

Smiling, Courtney opened her eyes to see her ex-husband fondly holding her. While they had their trials and tribulations as a couple, Courtney knew that Elliott loved her no matter what. Lately, she found herself picturing what her child would look like; Elliott, who was half-black, half-Hispanic, strongly took after his Spanish roots. His eyes, which were a rich hazel-brown, were a beautiful contrast to his rich bronzed skin. He had dark curly black hair and slight freckles in similar areas to Courtney.

Courtney snapped out of her trance when she felt a sharp twinge in her throat. Hurriedly breaking away from Elliott's grasp and darting to the toilet, Courtney hurled up all of her enjoyment from the night before.

Elliott was quickly on her heels, holding her hair back and she purged vanilla cake and Pepsi.

"Babe, are you sure you need to go into work today? Your doctor said your condition needs to be taken seriously." Elliott said worriedly.

Courtney waved her hand in disagreement as she continued vomiting.

She had recently been diagnosed with an extreme form of morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, and prayed that her condition didn't affect her as severely as it did other women. Unfortunately, her prayers weren't met on this condition.

"I have to go in today," Courtney replied, panting. "I have a new client that I'm meeting with and they have a really interesting case."

Shaking his head, Elliott knew that there was no stopping Courtney once her work got involved. Helping her up from the toilet, Elliott jumped in disgusted when he saw Courtney lean up to kiss up.

"What? I've had other guys kiss me after throwing up!" she said jokingly.

Three hours later and two hours late for work, Courtney mentally kicked herself for being so unprofessional. Calling her office assistant and telling her to allow her clients into her office, she hoped that they wouldn't touch or steal anything from her pristine workspace.

Courtney prided herself at her career. Shortly after becoming a partner at the firm she began working at when she got her J.D., Courtney, with the help of Elliott, purchased Hollingsworth and Associates shortly after her wedding. The firm, which mostly took on social justice case, indulged in being one of the most prominent law firms in the country, with Courtney being one of the most sought-after representatives. When she and Elliott divorced, she felt bad about changing the title and decided to leave it as is.

Parking her white Audi and running towards the entrance of her building, she prayed her cream-colored dress didn't have any puke stains on it. She found herself pulling over every two minutes during the twenty-minute commute to work to relieve herself. Pulling her winter coat closer to her body as she embraced the cold December air, she darted to the elevator and pressed 12.

Inhaling deeply, Courtney couldn't help but feel an eerie chill run down her spine. She wasn't usually a nervous person when it came to her clients and she surely had taken on harder cases than the one presented to her, but something in her soul was telling her that something was bound to happen.

Checking her phone one last time before placing it on "do not disturb," Courtney responded to Elliott's daily "I love you" text along with Bridgette's "Let's hang out after work" and her sister, Caterina's daily forward of a news article about some injustice in the world.

Sighing as the elevator doors opened, Courtney was greeted to the sounds of holiday music and the smell of peppermint within her department. While she enjoyed the holidays as much as any other girl, her receptionist always prided herself on going beyond with decorating the office.

"Good morning Chelsea is my 10 o' clock' in my office?" She asked while rushing to her office.

"Yes ma'am, they've been waiting for you," Chelsea replied worriedly. While Courtney was a great boss, the wise thing you'd want to do it cross her.

"Perfect. I'll check in with you later about my 4 PM meeting. I don't think I can stick around for it." Courtney said out of eyesight.

"Sounds good!" Chelsea exclaimed.

Walking faster, Courtney could hear the sound of her high heels clicking against the marble floors become louder and louder. She didn't want to make her clients wait a moment longer.

As she approached her doors, her office was extremely silent. She noticed that there were two gentlemen seated in the chairs facing her desk. She darted to her coat rack, sighing " I'm sorry I'm late. Please forgive me."

The gentlemen didn't respond as she headed back to her desk.

Before she made eye contact with her clients, she looked up and noticed her flat screen TV was on. She often enjoyed watching the news in-between meetings and would mute the channels when she expected clients. She was proud that Chelsea remembered to turn her TV on. However, Courtney also felt heavy stares hit her body.

As she sat in her office chair, she first saw Driver. While his face seemed familiar, it took her a moment to recognize who he actually was. She slightly jumped when she realized who he was and provided him with a curt smile. His expression, while shocked, provided an equally kind smile back to the young woman.

Before Courtney could speak, her speech was interrupted by a gruff voice which said: "So, princess, who's the baby daddy?"

Her eyes widened. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but even that wouldn't have been enough to shake her from the painful reality that she would be representing Duncan and his brother Driver.

Still sitting in shock, Driver chimed in "Thank you for seeing us on short notice, Courtney. I know you usually have a busy schedule, but it means a lot to use that you could help us."

Slowly coming back to reality, Courtney blinked and began logging into her computer. "No problem Driver. Again, I apologize for keeping you all waiting."

"What were you doing Princess, knocking boots?" Duncan spoke again.

Courtney felt her face turn red from anger. She strived to keep all of her relationships with her clients professional, but she wasn't going to tolerate disrespect, even if she knew Duncan was just "kidding".

Duncan felt a sharp kick from Driver. His older brother, who gave him a stern look of disapproval, was not in the mood for Duncan's B.S. Their company was in a lot of trouble and they couldn't afford to wait another month for solid legal representation. Driver knew his brother was a handful that still had feelings for Courtney, and while he didn't expect her to be doing THIS well in life, they had a job to do and he'd be damned if he let Duncan ruin it.

"While I pull up your case files, would either of you like a coffee or a water?" Courtney asked, her eyes fixed on her monitor.

"Water's fine," Driver responded.

"An answer to my question will suffice, Princess," Duncan said, strikingly.

Feeling her irritation rise throughout her being, Courtney snapped, saying "As you can see, I am pregnant. I have severe morning sickness and I was late because of it. I don't have time for your stupidity. I have other people who would be extremely grateful to be sitting where you are, so I suggest you knock it off or I'll have you escorted out."

Getting up from her desk to retrieve Driver's water, Driver excused himself and Duncan from the room, his face red from embarrassment.

"Duncan. I need you to chill out. I get it. You blew your chance with her years ago, and while yes this is not the most ideal situation to be in, I need you to man up and stop being such a child. This isn't juvey anymore. We could lose everything." Driver whisper yelled.

Duncan, who was still registering what happened, nodded at his brother before heading back into the office.

By that time, Courtney had laid out all relevant case information for the two men. She put on her reading glasses, a very Courtney-esque set of Dior frames, and proceeded to run down all the charges the company had, along with solutions she would propose in court. Throughout the meeting, Driver asked a majority of the questions while Duncan sat there absently.

He couldn't believe the woman of his dreams was flourishing and living her dream life without him. Of course, he wasn't mad at Courtney, but he was beating himself up for not growing up and trying to get back together with her sooner. He envied the guy that was with Courtney because he knew how special she really was.

Concluding the meeting, Courtney informed the men about her pregnancy schedule. She revealed that she wasn't due until June and that their case should close long before then. She also reminded the men of their first court date, which was scheduled for two weeks.

Asking if there were any questions, Driver shook his head no when Duncan softly asked, "What are you having Court?"

Taken aback, Courtney politely responded "She's a girl. We're naming her Olivia Taryn."

"Taryn? After your grandmother?" Duncan added.

Courtney nodded before showing the gentlemen out. Her heart felt heavy. While she was so grateful for the life she had, it pained her to remind on those who came before her success.

Closing her office door behind the men and taking a seat at her desk, Courtney paged Chelsea.

"Hey Chels, cancel my appointments for the rest of the day. I'm not feeling too well"

She spent the rest of the day sitting on her couch, looking through albums from TDI. She stopped on a particular photo of her and Duncan on Playa de Losers taken by Bridgette. While she blamed it on the hormones, Courtney felt her eyes well-up with tears and didn't stop them from flowing down her cheeks.