monachopsis (Sequel)

11. Encouragement

-Since I haven't updated this story is a while.

-Ramsey in the picture.
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"Ashlynn I can't fit shit in here." Ramsey said sitting on the small fuzzy couch in her closet. Ashlynn stood in the doorway with Tyler on her hip. She drove to New Jersey and back to pick up her son in world record time. She didn't want to miss her best friend's baby shower, considering she's Ramsey's only friend out in New York and it looks like she got back just in time.

"What was wrong with the dress you bought for the shower?"

"I couldn't pull it up past my damn thighs and I couldn't pull it over my head. And everything else in my closet is either uncomfortable or it doesn't fit." Ramsey said as tears ran down her face. "I know you've got something in here." Ashlynn handed Tyler to Ramsey. "Let me have a look okay?"

She nodded while wiping her eyes. "Tyler why doesn't anything fit?" Ramsey asked while he sat on the arm of the chair playing in her hair. He pointed down to her belly. "Baby." He said before touching it.

The sound of running foot steps echoed through the hall way quickly  then Aubrey suddenly appeared in front of the closet out of breath. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" He had heard her from downstairs and rushed to the second floor in a panic. "Did you your water break or something?"

"No she just swears up and down she can't fit anything in here." Ashylnn said putting a hat on her head from one of the shelves. Aubrey let out a breath of relief. It's a week and a half from her due date and her water could break any day now but he didn't want Raja to come earlier than she should.

"I'm sure there's something you can fit in here. The baby shower isn't for another four hours from now so don't stress about it." He said sitting next to her and a comforting arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him with wet eyes and suddenly the urge to kiss her rushed over him. But he turned his attention to Ashlynn to distract himself away from the fact that he wasn't trying to break into an old habit of kissing her when she was sad. It was easy for him to forget that she wasn't his anymore since she was being so nice to him, but as soon a he was about to slip up he remembered.

Ashlynn turned and held up a dress to show Ramsey. "How about this one?"

"I tried that one on already and it was to tight." She put it back on rack with a sigh. "How about we get some breakfast and leave Tyler and Ashlynn to find you something to wear. I know you haven't eaten yet since you're stressing yourself out about this baby shower." Aubrey stood up and took Tyler from her lap and sat him in his previous spot. He extended his hand and Ramsey took it so he could help her up.

Ashlyn mouthed the would thank you to him as he got her or the closet. 

"I can't believe that dress didn't fit." Ramsey said waddling out the bedroom to the hallway. "Don't think about it to much. Ashlynn is going to figure something out for you." Ramsey pushed the down button on the elevator since going down the stairs has been a nightmare for her. She had a bad dream about tripping down the stairs when she was three months pregnant and hasn't gone up or down a flight since. She doesn't know if she could live knowing she lost two babies so she's not taking this pregnancy lightly.

They got on the elevator together and she pushed the ground floor. Aubrey stood behind her and couldn't help but notice the way her body has changed. He thought her body was beautiful before but the baby weight she's gained only attracted him more to her. His mind started to wonder off into the things he would do to her but that was interrupted by the elevator opening again.

"Daddy my stomach hurts." Amir said walking to him from the kitchen. "Why? What's wrong?" Aubrey picked him up and put him on his hip. "Chubby food is nasty." Ramsey pinched her nose as the smell of something burning filled the house. "What the hell?" They went into the kitchen to see 40 holding something between two fingers.

"Who the hell burns bacon?"

"It's still good." Chubbs took it from him and bit down it. "See still good." He balled his face up and then spit in the sink. "You in here trying to kill us all?" Ramsey said frowning. "I don't even know why you tried it and you know your ass can't cook." Ramsey hit him on the back of the head and went into the cabinet by the doorway and reached in the back for some pepto bismol she keeps downstairs for when she gets heart burn.

She unscrewed the top and poured some in the small measuring cup to give to Amir. "Here you go baby. Now if he ever cooks again you stay clear away from the kitchen." Aubrey and 40 busted out laughing.

"I think my food is pretty good." Chubbs said confidently.

"Yeah right. Move out the way." 40 moved him out the way of the stove. "I'll do all the cooking I don't want any if it's too get salmonella."

"Thank you." Ramsey said walking out the kitchen as the smell started making her sick. Aubrey put thr measuring cup in the sink and then took Amir upstairs to her room and laid him on the bed. "Take a nap and you'll feel better." Amir nodded. Aubrey kissed his forehead and headed downstairs to find Ramsey sitting on the floor scratching Indigo's stomach.

"You alright?" He asked taking a seat right next to her. "Yeah I'm fine." She said giving him a smile. "Why do you ask?" She asked putting a hand on the spot where Raja was kicking. "You were just crying a second ago." She laughed a little. "Sometimes I get a little over emotional. I'm sure there's something in there for me to wear. My mind is just all over the place so trying to find an outfit was overwhelming. Luckily Ashlynn came to my rescue."

There was a silence between them for a minute. Ramsey turned her attention back to Indigo who was patiently waiting for her to continue scratching him. Aubrey picked at the lint on his socks trying to think of something to say next but he was drawing a blank. The silence made the energy in the room uncomfortable.

There was so much still unsaid but both of them knew it wasn't time to get into those things yet. Ramsey leaned her back against the couch and took a deep breath feeling a burning sensation in her lower back.

"You still wanna come to the baby shower?" She asked making conversation. "Yeah, of course I do." He said sounding unconvincing. "If you're nervous about the run in with Keith or my dad I don't blame you. Keith will most likely stay the whole time and my dad doesn't like parties so he'll just come in to say hi and then leave."

"Whatever happens, happens. If he wants to fight then we can deal with that later. I just don't want to not show up and give everyone more reason to talk. But at the same time I don't want to come in there and the whole mood of the party to be fucked up because I walked in."

Ramsey felt sorry for him. She felt like she should be egging on the fact that everyone she knows hates him for what he did but she couldn't find the strength to do it. He's trying to make things right and she sees it. Even though he'd embarrassingly disowned her for years and cheated on her twice she couldn't figure out why she couldn't hold ill feelings towards him. Ramsey didn't like the thought of someone hurting him because of what he's done even though he deserves it.

"Don't go in there thinking like that. People are going to always have their opinion about you no matter what you do. The baby shower is about our baby and if they want to start something because you're there then I'll kindly ask them to leave. But whatever goes down between you, Keith, and my dad... I have no words for that but as for everyone else you just say fuck em if they have a problem, all the attention should be focused on the fact that Raja is coming into this world very soon. So don't stress yourself out because then you'll end up stressing me out."

Aubrey laughed a little. "Thank you." He said sincerely. He was thankful that she was still on his side even though he didn't deserve someone like her.

"Yeah, yeah. You can thank me by rubbing my feet." She took her lwft house shoe off and wiggled her toes. "I got you." He said with a smile before standing up and leaving the family room to get some lotion.

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