Fingerprints ( #1 BOOK IN THE SERIES )

March (Part Two)

"Morning, sweetheart." I wake up to after sleeping on the sofa all night.

I look up to see Cory staring at me with a sweet smile. Somehow, I must have been able to get another couple of hours of sleep after what I had witnessed last night which suddenly comes flooding back to me.

"Hey, are you alright?" Cory asks me while I am suddenly remembering everything. "You don't look that well." He says to me while he sits down.

I just shake my head at him, unable to say anything to him.

"I need to tell you something that I found out." I tell him but it only comes out as a faint whisper so I'm not even sure if Cory heard me.

I can see the look of concern on his face but all I do is place my head in his lap. Cory begins stroking my hair which comforts me and I can feel my eyes closing again. During the course of the night, I really didn't get that much sleep. After Reynolds left, all I did all night was toss and turn on the sofa and watch the clock as the minutes slowly ticked by. I don't really remember getting any sleep but I must have dozed off at some point.

It's the smell of food that makes me want to get up so I do, holding onto Cory's hand. My mum is in the kitchen making breakfast, looking as if she doesn't have a care in the world. Looking as if she hasn't just been fucking my teacher. Her hair seems to be in a perfect pony tail and is a luminous blonde colour unlike mine which is currently scraped onto the top of my head, looking dull. She looks like me, just older and before I got pregnant.

"Morning Kristen. Please don't tell me you ended up spending the night on the sofa. That isn't good for you or the baby." She tells me before I have even had chance to open my mouth.

"I know I just had trouble sleeping last night." I tell her and she just pushes some food towards me, telling me to eat it.

"Well hopefully today we'll be able to find you one of those pregnancy pillows. They are supposed to make it easier for you to sleep. We will also start looking for things for the baby. I can't believe you didn't want to find out what you are having." She says to me, sounding very eager.

"I'd rather leave it as a surprise. Anyway, I thought you liked surprises?" I bitterly ask my mum who seems oblivious to what I am on about.

Cory picks up on my bitter tone though and gives me a questioning look. I mouth 'later' at him and he seems to understand something then.

After breakfast, I take a shower and get changed, hoping to brighten myself up. It works a little bit but it doesn't stop me feeling constantly tired. My growing baby bump also doesn't help my self confidence but I have to keep going. One day I will have my flat, toned stomach again.

I get into the car and my mum drives us to some shops that specialise in selling baby gear. I decide first of all to start looking for cots, knowing that is one of the first things we will need. A sales assistant walks over to us, asking if we need any help. I decide to take her help (something I wouldn't ordinarily do) because I have no idea where to start. Who knew there were so many types of cots and who knew there was so much that a baby needs. The sales assistant shows us the best costs (also the most expensive) and eventually I decide on one with simple wooden frames. After choosing the cot, I move onto looking at smaller supplies such as bottles and nappies.

"Will you be breast feeding?" the assistant asks me while I'm looking at some bottles. I have a feeling this wasn't the first time she asked me this question because it was Cory who had to nudge me so she had my attention.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought that far ahead yet." I respond and begin to realise how much I actually need to think about.

I'm not even sure what I'll be doing once the baby is born because my plan was to always attend the sixth form at my school but now that seems less likely but I still want to go. I don't want to be stuck at home all day and if I choose to breast feed does that mean the baby will have to go everywhere with me? All these thoughts start to make me go dizzy. How could I let myself become so unprepared?