Sasha hadn’t stepped foot in the school for the past week. She hadn’t felt up to facing the curious stares, the whispered questions she knew would follow her now undeniable condition. Her once subtle baby bump had blossomed fully—round, prominent, impossible to hide beneath loose fabrics anymore. It was a silent announcement to the world that she had entered the most delicate phase of her pregnancy—her third trimester. The final stretch. The countdown had officially begun.
The delivery date had been marked firmly in her mind, etched into her heart with a strange mixture of anticipation and dread.
**January 30.**
A day that felt both impossibly far and alarmingly close.
She had followed every instruction, done everything by the book. She ate well, sticking to the diet her doctor had r
