XVIII. PEAR'S BEING SHY
"this is a terrible idea," briar shook her head at pope.
"shh," pope shushed as kie climbed down not the dock.
"what does that have to do with me?" kie asked confused.
"we need you for mechanical," pope said. briar sighed."john b, jj and holly are up in the alp."
"holly's there?" kie asked. briar tried to hide her smile at her sister's sort-of girlfriend. "can't you guys do anything without me?"
briar held her breath as kie popped up into the boat.
"come on, come on!" pope whispered as john b and jj raced out.
"go, go, go!" jj yelled as john b dove off the front of the boat.
"sayonara!" the routledge boy laughed.
"guys!" kie yelled as she let sarah out.
"are you serious?" sarah yelled.
"sorry, love you!" briar laughed.
"get your asses back here!" kie screamed.
"we can't," john b said climbing onto the hms pogue. "not till you two figure it out."
"i will kill every single one of you! including the pregnant one!" kie screamed.
"you can't just leave!" sarah stammered.
"there's food in the cabin, and jj rolled a blunt," briar smiled. "good luck, ladies."
"hydroponic!" jj offered a thumbs up.
"wait!" sarah screamed, jumping off.
"oh, damn," briar laughed. "she's actually crazy."
"love you, guys!" jj yelled. "bye!"
"they're gonna kill us," john b slung a wet arm around briar. "oh, hey, pope! can you drive us to the doctor? we have an appointment. gender reveal time!"
"oh, yeah," pope smiled. "for sure, man."
🃏
the teens showed up on time, in their very best attire. for briar that was a pair of jeans and a grey tank top of sarah's that showed her bump a bit more than she'd been showing it. for john b it meant his shirt was fully buttoned and his hair was only a little wet.
briar talked the receptionist again, john b sitting uncomfortably in a pink plastic chair.
the nurse called them back. she took briar's weight while the girl had her eyes closed. and then she walked them back to an exam room.
john b's eyes wandered as briar changed into the pink examination gown.
"i was doing some research," john b said slowly.
"go on," briar laughed, pulling her hair into a clip.
"you're seriously going to dilate ten centimeters?" he gapped. "that's insane. how can your body do that?"
"women are remarkable," dr. bradshaw came into the room. "how're we doing today?"
briar smiled and talked to the doctor. she told her how she'd been less sick lately, which was normal entering her second trimester. she was peeing more often, also normal. she appeared to have a textbook pregnancy.
john b held briar's hand as dr. bradshaw searched with the ultrasound attachment.
"hi, pear," john b whispered with a smile.
the routledge boy still wasn't used to the sound of his baby's heartbeat. his baby had a real life heartbeat.
"okay," dr. bradshaw continued. "i'm going to try and determine the gender, but i'm not sure if we'll see it today."
briar and john b nodded absentmindedly, watching their baby move around.
"hmm," dr. bradshaw hummed. "seems like baby is being shy today. i can't get a good look. why don't we try again in two weeks?"
briar nodded and thanked the woman. the couple sat for a moment after she left.
"pear's being shy today," john b whispered. he leaned down to briar's exposed belly. "hey, pear. it's mommy and daddy. you don't need to be shy, we love you."
briar tousled his hair with a smile.
"wanna go on a date after this, beautiful?" john b kissed briar on the forehead.
briar nodded excitedly. "please."
🃏
the teens sat out on a terrace table at the country club where briar was a member.
they received judgey glares from most of the other patrons but they didn't care, they were having a great time.
uncle ward was there and he came over to talk to the kids for a moment.
"how's everyone doing?" he ruffled his niece's hair.
"good," briar smiled. "uncle ward, look." she pulled the sonogram prints from her bag. "pear was being shy today so we still don't know the gender."
"what a cutie," ward smiled at briar. "see you later kid."
"bye, uncle ward," briar waved as the older man walked away.
"i can't believe i live with him," john b shook his head. "insanity."
"i agree, total insanity," briar nodded.
"can we go back to the chateau? i just wanna hang out," john b smiled at his girl.
"yeah, of course," briar payed quietly and took his hand. "off we go, lover boy."
SADIE SPEAKS!
word count: 782
sorry for such a short
one babes