{Abigail}
"Oh my God, Abigail you should get this. This would look so good on you!" Chaunette exclaims, from behind me.
I spin around on my heel, and see Chaunette holding up a black work-shirt, that has dark sequin patterns on it.
By the looks of it, it is a fairly tight shirt.
Normally, I would totally try that shirt on, and would probably end up wearing it, but I don't really want to buy shirts that I'm not going to fit into within the next couple months.
I shrug.
"I don't know. It's cute and all, but I think I'll pass." I say, biting my lip.
Chaunette tilts her head slightly, and furrows her eyebrows.
"Okay." She laughs, shrugging.
She puts the shirt back on the rack.
It's Saturday, February 18, about 1:00 in the afternoon.
The Blackhawks are on about a week-long road trip, which leaves just the girls and I for a few days.
The Hawks left this morning, and so Chaunette, Natalie and I made plans to get together this afternoon.
We decided that we would get together to go shopping at the mini "mall" on Michigan Avenue.
Right now, we're in an Armani store, simply looking around.
This past week has been good, but work has been really busy.
I'm so excited that it is finally the weekend, as I have been exhausted lately.
And I don't think the pregnancy is helping.
"Are you sure, Abby? That's the kind of shirt you would normally love." Natalie laughs, as she looks through the rack of clothes across from Chaunette.
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too." Chaunette laughs.
I sigh, turning around to look at both Natalie and Chaunette.
Neither of them know about my pregnancy yet, and I hadn't intended on telling them.
But I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this from them.
Last night, the girls invited me over to Chaunette and Andrew's place for drinks, and I had to turn down the offer.
For starters, I was too exhausted to go out anywhere, and secondly, I can't drink anyways.
Sooner or later, they are going to start suspecting something.
"Do you guys want to go get lunch somewhere? I'm getting kind of hungry." I say, laughing.
"Yeah, that sounds nice." Chaunette smiles, nodding.
"Yeah, sure!" Natalie agrees, smiling.
We haven't really found much at Armani anyways, and we've been here for half an hour.
We may as well go for lunch now.
I think that would be the best time to tell them about my pregnancy.
With that, the three of us leave the store, and start heading through the mall.
It's fairly busy here today, as it is a Saturday.
We walk together, heading towards the Starbucks which is pretty close to the Armani.
We get to Starbucks, and all three of us get in line.
"A lot of white girls here this afternoon." Chaunette laughs, looking around.
"Oh my God Chaunette, you're hilarious." I laugh, rolling my eyes playfully.
"That was a good one." Natalie laughs, shaking her head.
Chaunette smiles, looking down at her feet.
After a few minutes, we all reach the front of the line, and order our drinks.
We each get a sandwich as well.
We pay, and then head over to an open table in the corner of the store.
"You gotta love Starbucks," Chaunette breathes, as she sips her latte.
"Oh, I agree." I say, closing my eyes as I wrap my hands around my warm drink, allowing the heat to radiate through my body.
I smile, opening my eyes and taking a sip of my drink.
"So, Nat how was work this week?" I ask, as I unwrap the packaging of my sandwich.
"It was pretty good. Really busy though," Natalie says, sighing.
"I'm exhausted." She says, laughing.
"Tell me about it." I say, nodding.
"So, how is Andrew doing?" I ask, looking over at Chaunette.
"He's doing fine. You know what, as horrible as this may sound, sometimes it's nice to have him on a road trip for a little while. Honestly, that kid needs a mute button more than half the time." Chaunette laughs, rolling her eyes playfully.
Natalie and I laugh.
"That's what relationships are, right?" I laugh.
"Definitely. Is it even a relationship if your partner doesn't annoy the hell out of you sometimes?" Chaunette asks, laughing.
I laugh, looking down at my lap.
"For real though. I love Andrew more than anything in this world, but it's nice to have some time to myself once in a while." Chaunette says, smiling.
"Yeah, I can relate to that." I say, nodding.
For a few minutes after that, the three of us just sit together, eating and drinking in silence.
The three of us are such good friends, that we don't always have to be talking to feel like we're with one another.
Sometimes, we're content just sitting around and simply soaking in each others' presences.
And for some reason, I value that so highly in my life.
After a few minutes, I take one last sip of my drink, and look down at my lap.
I exhale deeply, before speaking.
"Hey guys, I have something I would like to tell you," I say, looking up and smiling.
Chaunette looks back at me, smiling expectantly.
Natalie does the same.
"And what would that be?" Chaunette giggles, running a hand through her straight blonde hair.
I bite my lip, smiling.
"Patrick and I are expecting a baby." I say, biting my lip.
"WHAT!?" Chaunette screams, her jaw dropped.
"Abigail, are you fucking serious!?" Natalie says, her jaw dropped as well.
Both of their eyes are widened.
"ABIGAIL ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME!?" Chaunette cries again, a little too loud.
A few people turn their heads, but we don't care.
"No, Chaunette, I'm not!" I giggle, running a hand through my hair.
"Holy shit!" Natalie says, her eyes widened.
"Abigail, you're pregnant! Oh my God!" Chaunette says, in disbelief.
"I had no idea you guys were even planning a baby!" Natalie says, putting a hand over her mouth.
I laugh, looking down at my lap.
"Wait," Chaunette says, her eyes wide.
I look back at her, tilting my head slightly.
"Was it an accident?" She asks, her eyes wide.
I shake my head.
"Nope." I say, biting my lip.
"Abby, you never told me you guys were planning on having a baby!" Chaunette says, her jaw dropped.
"We wanted it to be a surprise." I giggle, shrugging.
"Oh my God, Abigail! I'm so happy for you, love!" Chaunette says, getting up and hugging me.
I stand up, hugging her back.
"Congratulations, Abby! This is incredible! I don't even know what to say." Natalie says, shaking her head.
Natalie walks over and hugs me as well, before both of them sit back down in their chairs.
Chaunette sighs, happily.
"Damn, that was fast." She smirks, looking at me from across the table.
I laugh, rolling my eyes playfully.
"Couldn't keep Patrick off you, huh?" She winks, giggling.
"Chaun!" I say, whacking her arm lightly.
She giggles, biting her lip.
"Really, Abigail, this is amazing. How far along are you?" Natalie asks, running a hand through her dark hair.
"About two and half months." I say, nodding.
"And when exactly were you planning on telling us, huh?" Chaunette asks, crossing her arms and pretending to be annoyed.
I giggle.
"Well I just told you." I say, winking.
She laughs, shaking her head.
"This is amazing. Wow." Natalie says, sighing happily.
"Thanks, Nat." I say, nodding.
Chaunette shakes her head, smiling.
"I'm so happy for you guys. Wow, Abigail, I'm so, so happy for you guys." She repeats, smiling and looking off at something in the distance.
"Thank-you, Chaun." I say, quietly.
"Patrick must be so excited!" Natalie says, her eyes wide.
"Oh he is." I assure, nodding.
"Abby, you've taught Patrick what true love is through the many years of dating him, he then married you, and now you're carrying his child. Good God, you've changed his life, Abigail." Chaunette says, her big brown eyes wide with excitement as she looks at me from across the table.
"No," I say, shaking my head.
I smile, looking down at my lap.
I look back up at Natalie and Chaunette, before speaking again.
"He's changed mine."