Kris’s belly was getting more and more swollen as each day went on. She turned sideways, looking at herself in the mirror. Her waist was definitely getting big, and it was taking a horrible toll on her back.
She’d hadn’t seen Michelle since she left the hotel room in Los Angeles, what seemed like ages ago. They didn’t have any classes anywhere near each other, and neither made any attempts to see each other. It broke Kris apart inside, knowing that her once best friend wouldn’t even talk to her anymore. Her and Taylor were no more, and Taylor didn’t even speak about her to anyone anymore. Then again, he never did say anything much about old girlfriends.
“God, you’re pregnant and you’re still beautiful,” Kris’s new roommate said. “Damn you.”
“Shut up! I look horrible!” Kris said, looking over. “And look at you, Misty, thin as a rail.” Misty walked over and put her arms around Kris. “God, I’m really starting to get sick of this pregnancy shit.”
“When was the last time you talked to Zac?” Misty asked.
“Last night.”
“You two still talk every day?”
“Yeah. Surprising, huh?” Kris said. She slowly sat down on her bed. “I went to that ultrasound today. She’s fine.”
“She? You’re having a she?”
“Yes, Misty,” Kris said, giving her a look. “I’m having a she. Not a girl, not even a child, a she.”
“You know what I mean. But I’m so excited! Are you going to tell Zac?”
“No, he wants to be surprised.”
“Like hell that’s going to happen.”
“I know. I’m telling him the minute he calls. He should be tonight.” Misty smiled.
“We have to celebrate. Let’s go to the maternity store!”
“Yay,” Kris said, sounding less than enthused.
“Come on, there’s tons of stuff you need there and you haven’t bought yet. You’re halfway there, you might as well start planning now.”
“I don’t even know where I’m going to put her, much less get her a room.”
“You know we’ve been looking at apartments nearby.”
“Do you actually think we’ll get one? I mean that means we have to pay rent every month. I don’t have a job. No one’s going to hire me, I’m pregnant and twenty-one. I might as well work at McDonald’s.”
“It’s a start.”
“I don’t think so, Misty. It’s bad enough I’m living here.”
“Come on, I’m paying for half of it. Even with a McDonald’s salary, you’ve got enough for a month’s rent. And you’re not even going to work there. I know they’re looking for a waitress over at the Tea Parlor.”
“Do you actually think I’m going to be good at waiting tables? Come on, I can’t do that for crap.”
“Come on. I know they’ll hire you. Go for an interview, they’re looking for anyone, you might as well be there. On weekends tips are about fifty bucks a session.” Kris shrugged. “Don’t think they won’t hire you because you’re a pregnant woman. They will. I worked there for a little bit.”
“Why’d you leave?”
“Because I didn’t have the time for the job. It was a great place, though. The people are nice and welcoming, and the pay is pretty good. The hours are flexible…they’ll work around your class schedule.” Kris looked up at Misty.
“Will they give maternity leave?”
“Probably. If you start now.”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re twenty-one, Kris. You have to get a job one of these days. Mom’s not gonna pay for you and your baby’s whole life.”
“I haven’t even told her I’m pregnant yet.”
“Kristina!”
“What?”
“You haven’t even told your mother that you’re pregnant? How incredibly stupid are you?”
“She didn’t tell me that she and David were getting married until the very last minute before they did it.”
“They’re married? Since when?”
“They’ve been married for like, three years!”
“Damn.”
“I know, it’s been that long already. But anyway, I’ll just pop up at Christmas and go ‘Hey! I’m not fat, I’m pregnant!’” Kris laughed.
“Christmas is only a few days away. You gonna see Zac?”
“Yeah, he has this Christmas off. He’s gonna come here a day before we go to Chicago and stay the week with me. He’s leaving the day after New Year’s.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet. I need my boyfriend to do that…”
“How’s Ricky anyway?” Kris asked.
“He’s a loser.”
“Oh, so he’s fine.”
“Yeah.” Kris laughed. “You coming back with me to Chicago? Help me trek through the cold?” Misty made a face and plopped next to her on the bed. “You have to come, or I will seriously hurt you. I want you to spend Christmas with me.”
“Why? I’m gonna have fun here. It’s warm.”
“It’s not that warm, Mist.”
“It’s warmer. I don’t like the cold.”
“Californian.”
“Chicagoan.” They glared at each other and laughed. “I don’t know if I should go. I guess I want to and all, but I don’t want to be a third wheel or anything with you and Zac…”
“Shut up. You so are not a third wheel, okay? You said you want to, so go. It’s home.” Misty bit her lip. “Zac’s gonna to be attached to me the whole time, so it’s basically just going to be two people.”
“Well, yeah, I do see him doing that.” Misty got up. “Come on, let’s go to the maternity store. You’re gonna get that job, we’re gonna get that cute apartment, and everything will be settled. By the time the baby’s old enough to move out of your room, I’ll be gone.”
“I don’t want you to be gone!”
“You know I won’t be able to handle living with that baby for very long. And I’m sure after she’s born, Zac’s gonna come to stay with you.”
“No, he’s got a job to do. He can’t live with me.”
“He will. Come on, let’s go. We can pick out cute stuff.” Misty helped her get up (in which Kris hadn’t been able to do well at all, with her balance being off and her being pregnant at the same time). “I’m driving!”
“Good, I don’t have to.”
“Imagine all the driving you’re going to have to do with this kid around. ‘Mommy! Can I go to this and can I go to that?’”
“Oh God I’m gonna be Mommy.”
“Not for another two years, until she learns to talk.”
“I’m still gonna be Mommy.” Kris took Misty’s hand. “Misty. I’m gonna be a Mommy.”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Holy shit.”
“Stop swearing,” Misty said, looking over at Kris. “It’s not good for you kid to be picking up those naughty words.”
“Here’s the solution. Do as I say, do not say as I do.” Misty rolled her eyes. “I don’t want to pick out a crib or anything important like that without Zac here. I don’t want to make any real decisions without him.”
“Then we’ll just look and you can come back with him later.”
“He is going to be coming here before we go back to Chicago…”
“Then it’s settled! If you see something you really like, when he comes, you can show it to him.” Kris smiled.
“That’s only in three days, you know. He’s gonna be coming pretty soon. So you better decide if you’re coming or not.”
“I am.”
“Good, we’ll get you a plane ticket.”
“Should you really be flying?”
“I’ll be fine, it’s just I can’t fly when I’m in my last term. Nothing to worry about, I won’t have my kid in mid-air.”
“That’s good. I don’t want to see that.”
“And I’m not ready for it yet, so it’s gonna have to stay in there.”
“Cross your legs.”
“Fort Knox! Nothing gets in, nothing comes out.” Misty laughed. “Okay, so I’ll do a little window shopping. But if I find the perfect crib and it’s not there when I come back with Zac, I will shoot him. I don’t care what I’ll get charged with, I’ll shoot him.”
“Okay, mood swings?”
“Me? Have a mood swing? Never…” They both laughed. Just that morning Kris had cried when she accidentally dropped her purse on the ground.
“Has Zac learned to handle then yet?” Misty asked.
“He hasn’t really been exposed to them yet? I haven’t really seen him that much. But, if he’s spending a week with me. I am going to be so incredibly horrible to live with. I know you know because you have to live with me.”
“You gonna talk about this? Cause he may want to live with you after she’s born, he may want to name her something…” Misty said. They arrived at her car. Kris got in the passenger’s side, while Misty got behind the wheel.
“Yeah. We’ll talk about everything. There’s just some things I don’t want to do on the phone. Big decisions, like the name of our kid, is going to be something we have to agree on completely. I know he won’t like me even going to this store without him, even if I don’t buy something.”
“So he really wants to be a big part of this kid’s life, huh?”
“Daddy’s little girl. She’s gonna be spoiled rotten, and Zac doesn’t even know it’s a she yet.” Misty rolled her eyes.
“If she’s gonna be a spoiled brat, I don’t want to be around her.”
“I’ll let her be spoiled. I won’t let her be a brat. If she gets too bratty, her ass is grass.”
“Mom mode already?”
“You shut up.” Misty shook her head.
“That’s not nice, Kris. If you’re gonna have a kid, you’re gonna have to stop swearing and start saying be quiet.”
“Shut up and fuck you.”
“Bitch.”
“I know, I’m bad. But you’re worse.”
“At least I can drive a car and have a conversation at the same time.”
“If I wasn’t so sure I would kill the both of us, I’d take you up on that. I can, I just don’t want to.”
“Sure…”
“Turn.” Misty rolled her eyes and turned into the parking lot of Babies ‘R’ Us. “I cannot believe I am walking in here. I’m eighteen years old.”
“Oh, you’ll live. I’m only three years older than you, and I actually look like I’m pregnant.”
“Well I’m not, so I really shouldn’t.” Misty parked and they got out of the car. “Right here next to the store. I am so good.”
“You know what I realized?”
“What?”
“I can bet you dinner that they’re gonna think we’re lesbians.” Misty laughed, and walked into the store.
“Well, they could think we’re just friends. But that was cute.”
“Dinner?” Kris asked, holding out her hand.
“Dinner.” They shook on it. Kris didn’t let go of Misty’s hand. “Hey! That’s cheating!”
“No it’s not. I’m just holding hands with my friend.”
“Kris! Let go!” Kris laughed and let go of Misty’s hand. “Now we’re going to go in there like we would if we walked into anywhere, pretending that there’s no deal at all. Then, if they think we’re still lesbians, I’ll buy you dinner. Otherwise you owe me.”
“Okay.” They walked into the store. Kris immediately felt like a mother. There were several other women there, very few men, and a bunch of kids. “Welcome to Hell.”
“Oh God, please don’t let my girl be like that,” Kris said, looking at a boy who was on the ground, throwing a tantrum. “I don’t think I’ll be able to handle it.” Kris sighed and Misty pulled her over to the cribs.
“Is there anything I can help you with today?” a woman asked, looking at Kris and Misty. “Looking for anything specific?”
“Not really, not yet at least,” Kris said. “I’m gonna wait a little bit before I make any major decisions.” She patted her belly. “I still have another four and a half months to go.”
“Is this your first?” the woman asked.
“Yes it is,” Kris said.
“I have six,” she said, smiling. Kris gave her a look.
“How can you go through this six times? I’m already not wanting another one now,” Kris said, and straightened her back out.
“It’s just the joy of having a little me running around,” the woman said. Misty scratched her nose, trying to hide the smile on her face.
“This lady’s insane,” she muttered, causing Kris to smile. They were both trying not to laugh. “Six kids?”
“So,” Kris asked, trying to change the subject. “I’m having a girl. These cribs all look like they’re for boys…”
“Yes, the girls’ cribs are over there,” she said, pointing to the other side of the line of cribs. “Towards the middle is neutral gender, they work great for both boy and girl babies.”
“Thanks.”
“If you don’t mind, I’ll help you out.”
“Sure,” Kris said. They headed over to the end of the girls’ cribs. Kris looked over the array of cribs, from ivory to gold to wood, and lined with pink and light, frilly colors and textures. Kris didn’t see anything that spectacular, until towards the more neutral cribs.
“That’s it!” Kris said, pointing to a crib. “That’s the one I want.” She walked over to a crib made out of ivory, with thin gold trim around the edges. Two dolphins jumped into water on the headboard. A dolphin was on each post, simulating them jumping out of water and into the air. The interior was a mat with pink trim, which shaded into red around the corners and back to pink. It was breathtaking, as far as cribs go.
“It is a beautiful crib,” the woman said. “But it is on the expensive side.”
“I don’t care,” Kris said. “The father will be paying for everything.”
“So you know the father? Usually among female partners, the father isn’t known.” Kris smiled and pinched Misty, who wasn’t saying anything.
“Oh, we’re just friends,” Kris said, deciding to clear it out. “But it’s funny that you mention it.”
“Oh,” the lady said. “Well, excuse me.” She smiled and walked away, clearly embarrassed.
“You owe me dinner.”
“Why didn’t you just buy it?” Misty asked, later that night at dinner. She was upset that she had to pay, but still, the look on that woman’s face was to die for.
“I don’t have the money to buy it. Zac’s paying for the whole thing,” Kris said. “He insisted on it. I’m sure if I had the money right now I would have gotten it, but I don’t. He’s coming in three days anyway, I don’t mind waiting just a little bit until he comes.”
“How do you know they’ll still have it in three days?”
“I put it on layaway.”
“Isn’t layaway when you make a deposit and it’s not delivered until you pay for it fully?”
“Shut up. They’re holding one for me.”
“That’s better.”
“Don’t be correct; I hate that.” Misty widely smiled. “Shut up.”
“I didn’t say anything!”
“Still.”
“How many times have you said that to me today? You have a bad habit.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make sure to take care of that. Listen, hurry up and eat your food. I want to get out of here. Zac’s gonna be calling me in a half an hour.”
“Oh, you have a set time and everything?” Misty asked, glancing at her watch. “Nine o’clock every night?”
“Not every night…sometimes he’s way too busy and he forgets what time zone he’s in. He’s called me at four in the morning before.”
“Just a little off…”
“Yeah, just a little.” Kris laughed. “He’s a loser. But he’s my loser. So I don’t care.” Misty smiled, but it lessened as a thought came to her.
“Whatever happened to Taylor?” Kris straightened out her napkin.
“We’re not going to talk about Taylor.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Very much so.” Kris sighed. “I miss Taylor. I’ve seen him maybe twice in the past three and a half years, and each time I’d ended up kissing him when I was with him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Each time I just feel so bad, but something in me has it feeling so right. I don’t know; it’s just something about him that I can’t help loving. Misty, you should have seen the look on his face when I told him I was pregnant.”
“You’re the only girl he’s ever loved. You’re the first, last, and only, and he doesn’t want to accept the fact that you and Zac are just going to end up together because of this baby.”
“I talked to him a few weeks ago. Zac was working late and Taylor would come home early, faking a headache so he could talk to me. He’s actually done that a few times, but we were talking about the baby, and Zac, and us…he said that if me and Zac broke up, he’d want to stay with me and adopt the baby.”
“Taylor actually said he would adopt the baby?” Kris nodded.
“He said if Zac left, in a heartbeat he’d be over there, taking off wherever Zac left off.” Kris sighed. “But that’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“I hate to say this, and I always thought it would never come to this, but Zac and I are going to have to get married. He wants to raise her, and so do I. We can’t do it separately, we’ve agreed that we wouldn’t split her up between us. Either I take her or we both take her, cause I’m not about to let Zac raise her by himself when he’s working all the time. And if we both take her, we’re gonna have to get married.”
“You don’t have to.”
“We’d be living together. We’d be living together until she graduates high school, and by that time we’d be practically married anyway. The best bet is just to do it and get it over with.”
“Kris, don’t marry the guy just because you have to do. If you don’t want to get married to him, you shouldn’t.”
“But the thing is, I want to get married. You know, I should settle down. I’m gonna have a kid, I might as well have a husband too.” Kris sighed. “I just hope if I marry Zac, I don’t end up wishing I’d married Taylor.”