𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐑- 𝐉.𝐓

ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ

"Jᴀɴɪᴄᴇ!"

Joey's eyes went wide as I called for my co-worker, he slipped himself behind the door as it creaked further open.

"Yes, my little Aubrey-Waubrey?" she asked as she tickled my chin. I felt myself grimace slightly as I took a step back.

"Can I get the scans from yesterday? The bunny with one ear? I just need to write the report."

Holding my breath and hoping for no more chin-tickling, I turned around to pick a now barking Tilly up. "Sure thing," she smiled before slipping back out of the door.

Joey took a sigh of relief.

"You didn't tell me you worked with Janice!" he waved his arms in the direction of the door after making sure it was firmly shut.

I saw that he was being serious, I took another bite of my sandwich. "I didn't know you knew Janice! What was I supposed to do?! Stop in the middle of sex and say, 'hey, Joe, just so you know, I have a co-worker called Janice'?"

He looked at me like I was supposed to do that, gesturing wildly, "yes! If you ever know anyone who is Janice again, please, for the love of God, stop!"

I laughed as I saw a head of frizzy black hair behind him, standing in the doorway with a file in her manicured hands.

"Oh! My! God!"

꧁꧂

Jᴏᴇʏ ʜᴀɴᴅᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴄᴀғ ʟᴀᴛᴛᴇ.

"It was not that bad!" I groaned, sipping the warm drink before putting it on the table. Joey handed me a cookie.

"Aubrey," Chandler started, grabbing my hand as he knelt down in front of me, "this is Janice we're talking about, y'know, Janice. She pecks at your soul and eats out your brains until you're nothing but a puddle of tears!"

The people in the coffee shop turned to look at him; he held his hands up in defeat and returned to his place on the sofa.

"Guys, I've been friends with Janice since we were little kids! I mean, we learnt to ride our bikes together, we learnt to swim together, we had our first kisses-"

"You kissed Janice?!"

I rolled my eyes, "no, Joe! We kissed the same guy!" He nodded and went back to reading his copy of playboy. I scoffed and threw a piece of cookie at him. He thanked me and ate it.

"Look, the point is that I... like Janice."

Chandler sipped his coffee, "yeah, right, because that's what everybody says about Janice."

꧁꧂

"ʜᴇʏ ʀᴏss."

I opened my door slightly wider to allow him to come in. "Hey Aubrey. Woah, nice place."

I offered him a soda, "thanks, took me forever to decorate it."

He smiled and took a sip of his drink, "what's it like being pregnant?" I can only imagine what my face looked like, confused and taken-aback, because Ross rushed to explain himself. "No! No, no. My ex-wife, Susan, is pregnant and I was wondering how I could, maybe, help?"

I smiled, placing my hand over his, "Ross, that's so sweet of you! You should just ask her what she needs and not be too pushy. Except on things like the name. You don't wanna be stuck with a baby with a weird name."

He shook his head and smiled. My blankets that were thrown over the hack of the couch caught his eye. "These blankets are great! Where did you get'em?"

I offered him a grin, "my mom! She makes 'em, it's sort of her job. I can get one for you if you want?"

He rubbed the wool, "yeah, please, these are so soft!"

"Alright, Ross, enough blanket fondling, you can have it."

His face lit up with excitement.

꧁꧂

ɪ ᴡᴀs ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ɪɴ ʙᴇᴅ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʜᴏɴᴇ ʀᴀɴɢ.

I answered it, and it was the shelter. They had taken in a kitten that needed extra care and had nobody to take it. Apparently Janice hadn't answered the phone.

"Yeah, just bring him over, I can take him."

So that's how I got here, sat on my living room floor at 12:33 AM trying to get a kitten the size of my hand to feed from the end of a plastic bottle filled with formula. The animal swung her arms around in protest before settling herself when the lukewarm milk touched her lips, sucking hungrily on the bottle.

Tilly was asleep in my bedroom, head barely resting on the pillow five times the size of her, pink blanket placed over her. I couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't be so bad at being a mom after all.