An Arranged Pregnancy with a Jerk

Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Food Fight!

"So we have everything, right?" Allison asked Mark as they were leaving the store. "I really don't know what I'll need exactly. Are you sure I'm going to be this fat?"

Mark laughed and took the bags from her hands to carry them. "For sure. My sister just blew up when she was pregnant! It was crazy." He glanced at Allison's expression and quickly corrected himself. "Of course, you won't get that huge, but you'll still get kinda fat. You're carrying a person, you know?"

Allison nodded. She'd already been eating more and her stomach now bulged a little so that her normally comfortable shirts were tight around her waist. "Yeah, I guess. But still, this seems a little extreme. And early! The magazines say to wait until your second trimester."

"Uhm, Allison? Do you know how many weeks you have to be to be in your second trimester?"

"Like fourteen, I think."

Mark gave her a look and rolled his eyes. "And how many weeks are you?"

Allison glanced down. "Oh. Right." Yesterday was the fourteen weeks mark. She was now in the second trimester of her pregnancy. That's crazy!

"Okay, so I have to go home to change and pick up Ryan. See ya in about an hour?" He got into his car and sped away without waiting for a response. Allison drove home in a fog, still reeling in the realization that she was almost halfway through her pregnancy. It was all going by so quickly... and that made her think about the fact that she and Connor hadn't spent any real time together in ages. She'd have to plan an evening for them.

She pulled into the driveway and rushed inside, throwing the bags of clothes into the closet and rushed to the kitchen. She stopped short when she saw Connor chopping vegetables next to the chef. He looked up and dropped the knife next to the nice pile of parsley and ran over to her. He picked her up in his arms and kissed her for what seemed like hours. When he finally set her back on the ground, her face was flushed and her heart was racing. "I missed you!" he said at last.

"I can tell." She glanced over his shoulder and waved at Chef Roger. "Hey Roger! What's cooking?"

"Shrimp and Scallop Pasta. Is that okay?" 

Allison's mouth watered and she nodded. Turning back to Connor, she noticed his hair was wet. "You look like you just took a shower."

"Yep. And we'd better get dressed, they'll be here soon."

They walked to the master bedroom, hand in hand. "Who did you invite?" They stepped into the walk-in closet and Allison turned right to her section. She picked out what used to be a loose-fitting green sequined dress and pulled it over her stomach. Looking in the mirror, she decided it looked okay for a dinner party with friends. As she looked through her accessories, Connor answered her.

"Well, Mark and Ryan, Kim and Gavin, Cathie and Jennifer, Nikki, and Sarah. Is that okay?"

"Nikki and Sarah?" Allison looked up, confused. "I thought they were in Europe."

"No, they got back yesterday." Connor picked up a matching green tie and stood next to her. "They said Kim called them."

Allison rolled her eyes and stepped over to the bathroom to do her makeup and hair. "Of course she did. Why didn't you invite any of your friends from law school?"

Connor shrugged and helped her comb out her hair. "I don't know, I just didn't want to. They're all successful and snooty and I didn't think they'd really fit in here. Besides, there's some big gala or something downtown. I told them you had a doctor appointment."