by RJ Moore
“Nailed it.” She uses her pinky finger to turn off the iPod since both hands are holding plates with toast and eggs on them. She sets a plate in front of me. “I was going to wake you sweetly but when I went to open your door, Duke growled at me. So…rocking out it was.”
I try to rub some of the sleep out of my eyes. “Gee, thanks.” I yawn then take a bite of toast. “I must have been sleeping hard to not hear my alarm go off.” I glance over at her. “I don’t know how you have so much energy in the mornings.”
“It’s a gift,” she says with a mouth full of food. “So, I didn’t bring any makeup. Mind if I borrow some of yours?”
I nod my head so I don’t have to keep talking with my mouth full. I hear Duke bark at the door. Lacey scoops the last of her breakfast up then goes to let him inside. Finishing up, I put both plates in the sink, heading to my bedroom. I hear my phone ding and see that Ian texted me.
Honey Bunches: Good morning beautiful!
Me: Good morning!
Honey Bunches: I wish I were there with you today!
Me: Me too, but Lacey will be there with me. I just wish I could find out what it will be today.
Honey Bunches: You don’t have to wait if you don’t want to Eve. My mom will understand.
Me: I know, but your mom is so sweet for doing this for me. It won’t hurt me to wait.
Honey Bunches: K, as long as you’re ok with it.
Me: I am. I’m just overly excited.
Honey Bunches: I can’t wait to see you again.
“Okay, let’s get ready so I can go see the little one!” Lacey walks in the room and rubs my stomach. “You better have those legs spread today.”
I smack her on the arm. “Lacey!”
She laughs. “What? That’s the only way to find out. Sometimes their legs are closed then you can’t find out the sex.” She walks into the bathroom and starts to unzip my makeup bag.
Me: I can’t wait either. Your sister just walked in. I better go. ;)
We stand side by side, putting our makeup on, bumping elbows the whole time. The mirror is so small in this bathroom, it’s hard for both of us to see in it at the same time.
“So, what are you getting Ian for his birthday next week?”
I’m in the middle of putting my mascara on, forgetting to stop before jerking my head toward her. Mascara goes in my eye and across my nose. “Shit!” I quickly start trying to rub it out of my eyeball first before scrubbing it off my nose. All I end up doing is smearing it everywhere. I groan, “Oh no, I forgot this is my waterproof mascara.”
Lacey starts laughing hysterically and I have half a mind to sock her in the gut. “Would you shut up already?” After grabbing a cotton ball to soak it in my eye makeup remover, I’m able to rid myself of all black on my face. “I didn’t know it was his birthday. He didn’t say anything to me.”
She snorts. “Figures. Ever since Mom threw him a birthday party three years ago and broke out all his baby photos in front of his friends, he thinks that if he doesn’t talk about his birthday, everyone will forget about it—but that’s what I’m here for, to make sure nobody ever forgets.”
I giggle at her. “You’re so evil.”
“I’m the angel of the family.” She bats her eyelashes innocently.
This time it’s my turn to snort. “Yeah, with horns to hold up your halo.” I finish fixing my makeup then walk around Lacey, who is sticking her tongue out at me, and head toward my bedroom.
I still can’t believe Ian didn’t tell me about his birthday coming up. I have no idea what I’m going to get him. Half of me wants to call him up and yell at him for withholding such valuable information. The other half wants to respect his wishes, letting him think I know nothing about it—but who am I kidding? There’s no way I can do that.
I mull over what to get Ian and try to pick out an outfit, completely tuning out what Lacey is rambling on about. Buying birthday gifts always consisted of merely getting the most expensive name-brand purses or shoes I could find. All my friends loved Prada bags and Jimmy Choos. The biggest thought that went into buying them was trying to figure out the perfect color. So basically, I’ve never put any thought into buying a gift.
This has to be different. I don’t want it to be something meaningless. My old friends knew that all of us were fake with one another. As long as the gift was expensive, that’s all that mattered. Now I have to find something that shows him I care about him.
But what if it’s too much?
I’m starting to sweat bullets at my indecisiveness. Walking into the bathroom, I stuff my armpits with toilet paper. I fill my cheeks with air before blowing it all out, sitting on the toilet seat.
“Um Eve, if you’re trying to start a new fashion statement, I’m not sure that one will take off.” She leans against the doorjamb, smirking at me like I’m some crazy person. “What are you overreacting about now?”
I glare at her, scoffing. “I do not overreact.” She raises her eyebrows at me as I roll my eyes. “Why didn’t Ian tell me his birthday was coming up? And what do I get him? Or should I get him anything at all? But I have to right? What if—”
“Eve! Geez, chill out would ya?” She walks over to me, ripping the toilet paper out from my armpits, holding it by the tips of her fingers like it might infect her with some unknown disease. “Don’t worry about it right now. I’m sure you’ll come up with something awesome. Ian would be thrilled if you painted a rock and gave it to him. Right now, we need to get your butt dressed and ready to go see that cute little jelly bean.”
When we park in front of Scarlett’s office, I slowly walk behind Lacey into the building and check in. Between this ultrasound and having no clue what to get Ian for his birthday, my anxiety levels feel like they’re at an all-time high. I look down at my red Jimmy Choo heels, sighing.
I love my heels.
I may be becoming more countrified by the week, but I’ll always love my heels. Just looking at them and hearing the click, click, click against the tile floor instantly makes me feel better. It’s the one thing I don’t know if I could ever give up—unless it’s muddy outside. But…Ian could just carry me.
The door opens and my name is called out. A young pregnant girl, appearing to be in her teens, checked in after me then sat on a couch across from us. I’m assuming it’s her mother that is seated next to her and eyes us as we walk by, glancing to Lacey, then me, and back again. Lacey casually drapes her arm around my neck, nuzzling my cheek.
“Ready babe?”
I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing when the old hag’s eyes widen before her lips tighten in distaste. Like she can judge, sitting there with her knocked-up teenybopper of a daughter. As soon as we pass Scarlett, she shuts the door behind us and we both let out the laugh we were trying so hard to contain.
“Did you see the look she gave us?” Lacey is laughing so hard, tears are starting to come out. Scarlett walks up behind her and smacks her upside the back of the head.
“Would you quiet down? And don’t do that shit in my office.” She shoots Lacey another warning glare before turning to me. Her demeanor changes immediately as she gives me a smile. “Ready?”
I seal my lips, nodding. Scarlett sometimes scares me. She gets that motherly look that says, I’ll whoop you into next week.
We follow her back to the room and I lay down on the bed. I pull down my jeans slightly before pulling my shirt up to expose my stomach.
“So, are you excited to find out today?”
I look at her in confusion. “Oh, I thought I was going to wait so it can be a surprise at the baby shower your mom is throwing?”
Scarlett turns, smacking Lacey on the back of the head again. “God Lacey, can you ever keep a secret? It was supposed to be a surprise baby shower.”
“Ow! I’m sorry but Mom was going on and on about how neat it would be if we did a surprise gender reveal at the party. There was no way around it.” Lacey rubs her head, shooting Scarlett a glare.
> Scarlett sighs and rolls her eyes. “Well it was supposed to be surprise party.” She grabs the bottle of goo and starts pouring an excessive amount onto my stomach. “Are you sure you want to wait?”
I nod my head. “Yup. It’s the least I could do seeing as how your mom is sweet enough to throw me a party.” I watch the screen as she moves the probe around. She takes a lot of measurements, ensuring me that everything looks perfect. Even though I said I was going have the gender be a surprise, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t try to look for myself to see if I could figure it out.
No such luck.
I still have no idea what I’m looking at without Scarlett telling me which body part is on the screen. I look up to Scarlett and see that she’s smiling. She glances down at me then winks. Winks! As if waiting this long hasn’t been hard enough, now the suspense is killing me! She must have seen my mouth fall open out of the corner of her eye because she starts chuckling.
“Congratulations, you’re having a…” She pauses dramatically, sporting a huge grin. “Baby!” She starts laughing so hard she snorts.
Lacey crosses her arms. “You’re an asshole!” Her comment only adds fuel to the fire, making Scarlett laugh harder. She’s trying to wipe all the goo off my stomach but her arm is shaking so much from her laughter that she’s just smearing it more.
I can’t help but grin at her. “I’m with Lacey on this one. That was just mean.”
She holds up her hands. “Hey, you’re the one that wants to wait.”
She finally calms down enough to finish wiping off my stomach. I fix my clothes then hop off the bed and watch as the last of the ultrasound pictures print out. Scarlett takes a select few, putting them in an envelope. She hands me the rest of them and I take my time gazing at the little black and white photo that has become my world.
Lacey walks up behind me, looking over my shoulder. “Aww, look at that little squishy jelly bean.”
After Scarlett promises to protect the other pictures with her life, we walk out of the office. I tip my head back at the sun shining down on my face. I take a deep breath, holding it for a beat before letting it out. I look one more time at the photo in my hand and smile. My little jelly bean is perfect. Still beaming, I tuck it away safely in my purse.
“Let’s go shop.”
“Shop?” I tilt my head at her, waiting for her to elaborate on what kind of shopping.
“Yeah, baby shopping. See what you want to decorate your nursery in.”
“Lacey, I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl. I kind of need to know that first.”
“You can go through all of it and get an idea of what you want for either one.” She links her arm with mine. “Come on, you don’t have to buy anything, just get a roundabout idea of what you might like.”
I go along with her because in all honesty, I’m so eager to buy everything. We walk into the only store that sells baby items, making a beeline to the baby section. They don’t have a huge selection to choose from, but what they do have is cute. I look at all the boy stuff first. I like everything I see, but decide on the baseball theme.
I still can’t help but feel excitement at the thought of having a little girl. There is a larger assortment of girl themes than the boys and I have a hard time settling on a specific one.
“Ugh, Eve, we’ve been through these twice already.”
“I know, I know,” I say as I start looking back at the beginning. “But they are all so cute. I can’t make up my mind on which I like the best.”
“Okay, how about a favorite color?”
“I really like the coral color—but I like the greys too. This is so hard.”
We spend the next hour and a half looking through all the baby items. I had no idea there were so many diaper sizes. Between all the different types of bottles and formula and the teeny tiny onesies, I am completely overwhelmed.
When we finally go back to my house, Lacey insists on walking me in and making sure I’m situated. I get the feeling she has been given instructions to do so by a certain someone. After Lacey loves on Duke for a while, she finally heads home. I wait until I can’t hear the backfire of Edgar anymore before going inside, Duke following right behind me.
I pull out the chair, sitting at the table. Duke takes his normal spot on top of my feet, laying his head back on my lap, waiting for me to pet him.
“Did you miss me today, big guy?” I massage his ear and he leans into my hand, grunting his approval. I chuckle at him, rubbing his ear for a little while longer before pulling out my photo to admire it again. I lean back in my chair, feeling so content. I feel a small flutter in my stomach and my hand immediately cups where the flutter was.
I just felt my baby!
Oh my God!
I can’t control the ecstatic laugh that bubbles out. “Hi little one. Are you dancing around in there?” I feel another flutter, and my eyes well up with unshed tears. Every day my life is becoming more like a beautiful reality than a bad dream.
I sit for what feels like an hour simply talking to my belly, rubbing lazy circles on my growing bump. I talk about how great life will be and all the adventures we’ll go on together. My conversation is interrupted when I hear my cell phone ring. I walk over to my purse and start digging through it, trying to find my phone. Right as I grab a hold of it, it stops ringing, missing Ian’s call by half a second. I swipe the icon to call him back and he answers on the first ring.
“Hello beautiful.”
Yup, beautiful reality.
“Hey,” I answer shyly. It’s almost embarrassing how easily he makes me act like a silly school girl.
“I wish I was there to see your blushing face.”
I’m pretty sure my face becomes an even deeper red. “I’m not blushing!”
“Oh yes you are. Those beautiful cheeks of yours are getting all flushed, making your adorable freckles stand out. I can picture it right now…among other things.”
I laugh at loud. “Oh, I’m sure you could.”
“Exciting news, I’m coming home tomorrow.”
I let out a little squeal. “I can’t wait. These two weeks have taken forever. Oh! Speaking of exciting news—”
He interrupts me with a gasp. “Oh no…you’re pregnant!”
“Smartass!” As I listen to him laugh, my cheeks start to hurt from smiling so wide. “I felt the baby move for the first time just a minute ago.”
“That’s amazing Evie, I can’t wait to feel her too.”
“Oh my goodness.” I scoff. “What if it’s a boy? You’re going to give him a complex.”
“I just have a feeling.” He chuckles.
We talk for an hour more until I can barely keep my eyes open. After saying our goodbyes, I head for the bedroom, stripping as I go. I pull on a large t-shirt and climb into bed. As soon as I lay down, I feel the tickling butterflies in my stomach again. I relax and close my eyes, but sleep eludes me. My mind is racing with images of my baby.
Will it be a girl?
If it is a girl, will she look like me?
Or will she resemble her father?
My happy thoughts turn blue. What if the looks take after the father? I’m still so unsure on how I should handle the whole thing. Should I go back and try to find out who the father is? What if my baby someday asks me about the father? I don’t know the first thing about him. His name, height, what kind of person he is—nothing.
Then there’s the matter with my mom and dad. They haven’t responded back to my letter. Should I even bother to keep reaching out to them?
Duke interrupts my thoughts when he jumps on the bed with me and lays his head on my legs. I instantly feel calmer with him near me. I have to wiggle around a bit to get comfortable and every time I move, Duke grunts in annoyance.
I have to stop myself from thinking about all my issues. I can’t do anything about them right now. I need to start thinking about what’s best for the baby and stop worrying about everything else.
When I feel another f
lutter, I close my eyes. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to this amazing feeling. I give Duke a pat on the head then fall sleep within seconds.
I wake up surprisingly early—well, early for me anyway. I let Duke outside before going to the kitchen to make myself some eggs and toast. I pump my fist in the air when they both turn out perfect.
I pull out my phone and start scrolling through Pinterest in hopes of finding some ideas for Ian’s birthday present. It doesn’t take long for me to find something I think I could actually pull off.
I quickly shoot a text over to Scarlett, making sure she’s home. I hear Duke bark at the door so I put my dishes in the sink before letting him in. He runs over to his food bowl as soon as I open the door and starts his excited twirling.
I wrinkle my nose at the smell of his dog food when I open the bag. My nose seems to be extra sensitive today because the smell of his food almost makes me gag. I pour his food then close the bag as fast as I can.
Hearing my phone chime, I pick it up to see Scarlett’s response that she’s at her house. I hurry to the bathroom and turn the shower on. I peel my shirt off, jumping in the shower, and I yelp at how cold it is. I suck myself to the back of the shower wall, waiting for the water to turn warm. I’ve always been a weenie when it comes to the cold, and freezing showers are even worse. I slowly stick my toe in to test the temperature. The water is finally hot and I take one of the fastest showers of all time.
I want to get a head start on Ian’s present while he’s still gone. I know he is probably on his way back by now, so time is of the essence. I braid my wet hair and put some mascara on. Grabbing the first thing out of my closet, I slip on a flowy pale pink skirt with an off-the-shoulder white top. I look up at the mirror and grimace. Gah, I look like a flower child from the seventies. The fact that I’m pregnant just seems to add to the whole free-love hippie feel.
