_____________________________
17 // not so blank disc.
"Alright," Noah huffed. He took a step back and used the back of his hand to wipe sweat off his forehead. "What exactly is this?"
"It's my masterpiece," I smiled. I looked down at the one hundred painted canvases sprawled out on the floor with contentment. Each canvases was a piece of the whole puzzle and when arranged together, it created a picture.
"I don't see it," he murmured, trying to decipher what he was looking at. He took out his black framed glasses from his back pocket and slid them on.
"That's because I didn't assemble it yet," I pulled a chair from underneath the kitchen table and sat on it. The sofas were pushed to the side to make room for the canvases.
"Well, are you going to?" He asked when he realized that I had decided to take a seat instead of piecing the painting together.
"No, not when you're here."
"Hey!" Noah exclaimed. "I worked my ass off these past couple of weeks driving here to help you with this. I deserve something in return."
"And i'm extremely thankful that you took the time to do that for me Noah," I replied feeling slightly hurt. "But it's a surprise."
He sighed. "You know i'd do anything for you without a doubt but damn you're so stubborn. I think it all started when you found out that you were pregnant. Look how you cradle your stomach every so often. What did I tell you about there being a bond between you and the baby?"
"I don't 'cradle' my stomach because i'm attached to this baby. I cradle my stomach because it's my stomach and it's growing right before my eyes!" None of the aggravation I felt was new to me. He always found some way to express his opinion on me being pregnant. It was the fact that he still hadn't gotten over it after all these months that made me upset.
"Maybe it's time for you to go," I could feel a random tear sliding down my cheek. Before I could wipe it away, more began to fall.
I was stronger than this! Why the hell was I crying?
"Lesra," he muttered, blue eyes looking concerned. He slowly walked over to where I sat.
"No," I held one hand up and used the other to wipe the salty liquid from my face.
He disregarded my hand and began to rub my shoulders in an attempt to calm me down. I dropped my arm, and let him.
As a lawyer, he had to deal with many clients and their waterworks. Rubbing their shoulders from a distance was his way of being sympathetic.
"Cheer up, Les. I didn't mean to make you upset."
Sure he didn't. "I think it's time for you to go," I shrugged his hand from off of me and opened the front door for him.
He sighed and slowly walked over to where I stood. "I'm sorry. I'm just still getting used to all of this too..."
I avoided eye contact with him and impatiently tapped my foot against the hardwood floor.
"Are we good?" he asked.
I nodded my head. I could never truly be mad at Noah.
He leaned in and laid a light kiss on my forehead before walking out. I closed my eyes, breathed out, and went on to close the door behind him. But before I could, Shawna had magically appeared out of nowhere with her hand gripped onto the handles of her large designer purse.
"Good afternoon," she smiled. "How are you feeling?" Her hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and her outfit looked chic as usual.
I wiped my face to make sure no tears remained and was thankful when they came back dry. "I'm fine," I lied. I know she had just saw Noah kiss me on my forehead but she didn't care as much as Wren used to.
"Did you take your vitamins today?" she asked.
"It's at the top of my to do list every morning. I never forget!" I reassured her. I closed the front door and took a seat on the kitchen stool.
"Hmm, I'm not sure what it is, but it looks nice so far," Shawna admired the scrambled canvases laid on the floor.
"Thank you."
She nodded and looked around the house.
"So, where are you off to?" I asked, motioning to her purse.
"We have a doctors appointment today," she smiled brightly.
"Really? I don't remember there being one today. Maybe you're mistaken for the one we have scheduled for next week?" I reminded her. I had everything written down and memorized to a T with this pregnancy. She must have gotten the dates mixed up.
"Actually, I called Dr. Morris and asked him if it was okay to move the appointment up a week."
"Oh really?" I replied. "What did he say?"
"He said it was perfectly fine," Shawna exclaimed, looking like a ball of excitement. "Obviously he knew it's because i'm very eager to find out the sex of the baby. He was more than okay with doing it today."
"Oh, that's great," I replied with an honest smile. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't anxious to find out what was growing inside of me. Obviously a baby, but the gender.
"Isn't it? Okay now go get ready. Warren and I will be in the car waiting," she said, shooing me off in the direction of my room.
I dashed into my room as fast as my pregnant body would allow me. It had been a busy morning with painting, so I decided to jump into the shower.
When I was dressed in a white shirt and dark shorts, I rounded the house and found Wrens running car sitting in the driveway with both of them inside.
I settled myself into the backseat of the black Impala and clicked on my seat belt.
"Good afternoon, Lesra," Wren greeted. He turned around in his seat and flashed me a smile. I stared right into his hazel eyes.
"Umm, same to you," I murmured with a slight nod of my head before looking away.
He turned back around and began backing out of the driveway.
We made it to the hospital and while Shawna walked up to the counter to check in, Wren and I found ourselves some seats in the waiting room. The place was busy as usual; pregnant women and babies were everywhere.
"Are you excited?" I asked Wren once we had settled ourselves onto the blue cushioned chairs.
"Excited about what?" He questioned, leaning his head back on the white wall behind him.
"To find out if you're having a boy or girl," I replied, resting my purse on the floor beside my legs.
He shrugged. "I'm excited. Not as excited as Shawna," he said with a chuckle.
We both looked over at the red head who was waiting in the check in line. As if she could feel us watching her, she whipped her head towards us and waved. I returned the favor with a small smile while Wren waved back.
"I wanted the gender reveal to be a surprise until the baby was born, but who am I when it comes to voicing my opinions?" he scoffed.
I nodded my head and looked down at my hands. "So what do you think it'll be?"
"Umm," he murmured from beside me. "I don't know. Maybe a boy? It would be cool to have a mini replica of me running around the place, you know?"
"What if it's a mini replica of Shawna running around the place?"
He turned his head towards me and gave me a knowing look. "Then I'd have my work cut out for me."
We both laughed.
"I mean, on a more serious note, I wouldn't mind having a girl either," he said, once the humor had left his system. "I'd spoil her rotten of course and never let her leave my sight. Either or would be fine with me but a healthy baby, whether boy or girl is what really matters."
I nodded my head.
"Are you excited for the pageant?" Wren asked after a few seconds of silence.
I shrugged. "At first I was but now I don't know."
"What's changed your mind about it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I was thrilled to be apart of it but now it just seems like such a hassle. I feel awkward as hell trying to walk sexy down a runway just to turn back around and walk back to where I started. Not only that, but I have to do it in heels."
He turned in his seat a little bit. "Shawna's good at what she does because well, it's what she does. Do what makes you comfortable and don't feel bad about how you look. You don't have to walk sexy to be sexy."
"You think I'll make it out on top?" I asked.
"Sure. You're beautiful inside and out and of course, your biggest accessory is my child that you're carrying. No one else has that. No one else can beat that."
I laughed.
"I'm not only talking about the pageant."
I immediately stopped laughing.
"Well, um," I cleared my throat. "Since we're obviously talking about this conflict you're having with yourself, lets address it. I've thought about it since yesterday and I don't want to beat Shawna. Whether you still love her or not, she was here first. Not only that, but you two are about to have a child," I murmured. "Whatever you feel for me will fade away as soon as I leave."
"I know that Shawna and I are about to have a child, but I also know that I don't want the day that you give birth to be the last day I see you, Lesra."
"Alright, so we're all checked in," Shawna cheered, causing Wren to abruptly stop talking. She ran a hand under her sundress before taking a seat next to me. "I'm just so excited!" She exclaimed. "Aren't you Warren?"
"Mhhm," He nodded with a small smile.
I sunk down into my chair. I already had so much to worry about in my life. It seemed things were only being added on. He wanted to still see me after all of this but my plans were to run and never look back as soon as I gave birth. I came into this with the sole purpose of getting one thing out; the money I needed for my mom. That was it.
After what seemed like forever, one of the nurses called us up and showed us into a room.
"Don't stress about it too much," Wren whispered to me. "There's still a lot of time."
I sat down on the reclined chair and rolled up my shirt so that my stomach was exposed. Dr. Morris walked in minutes later with the usual clip board in hand.
"Looks like I've got myself another pair of eagers," Dr. Morris teased as he situated himself on the swivel chair.
Shawna's eyes widened. She was confused by the doctors words.
"Oh don't worry," Dr. Morris began to explain himself. "I just refer to families that reschedule this kind of appointment to find out what they're having as 'eagers'. Not the most original term, I know, but i'm a 56 year old man. I make things up as I go."
After a few questions, I breathed in and out and allowed Dr. Morris to squeeze the cold gel on to my stomach and spread it out with the wand.
"So here we have the heartbeat," he said, tapping a few buttons on the computer.
My mouth spread into a small grin once I heard what sounded like a horse galloping underwater. The parents to be who sat next to me also wore a bright smile.
"Have you been feeling a lot of movement, Lesra?" The doctor asked as he continued to search for the sex of the baby.
"Yeah, more often now than before," I replied. "It's an amazing feeling." From the corner of my eye, I could see Shawna putting on a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. I bit my tongue.
"Hmm," Doctor Morris looked puzzled. "I don't see anything."
"What does that mean?" I spoke up before Shawna could open her mouth. My whole body was consumed in concern and fear.
"It means I don't see anything," the doctor smiled. "Congratulations, it's a girl!"
Shawna screeched in excitement. My hands shot to my ears to protect them from any damage.
"I knew it was a girl. Oh i'm so excited!" She pulled Wren into a kiss and I immediately looked away.
Once I was all cleaned up and the ultrasound pictures were printed, we headed back to the car. Shawna went on about how excited she was and what she would do once the baby was here. Something about dressing her up and entering her in every pageant as soon as she could sit up on her own. I didn't hear the last of what she said and I was glad because before I knew it, I had dazed off into a peaceful slumber, right in the car.
The next day, I limped myself into the living room of the main house and slowly lowered myself onto the brown sofa. I pulled the handle on the side of the sofa and sighed in relief when my sore feet were finally reclined.
Wren, who was sat beside me, looked at me with a curious expression. He nodded his head when he had caught on to my current dilemma. "Maybe you shouldn't practice in those shoes."
"No, i'm fine," I assured him. "I only have one more practice tomorrow with Shawna and then the actual pageant. After that, I'm done with shoes that have a heel higher than an inch!"
He chuckled. "Here, give me your feet."
I looked at him like he was crazy. His words sure did play the part.
"C'mon give me your feet," he repeated himself. This time, he reached forward for them.
"You don't want to touch my feet," I tried to dissuade him. "They're nasty, really."
"They look fine to me," he smirked. He picked up my feet and put them over his lap.
I cringed as he looked down at them. My ankles were slightly swollen but luckily, the bright nail polish I wore kind of drew away from them.
"I'm not much of a masseur, but I don't think you'll complain," he winked at me. Before I could pull my feet out from his grasp, he went to town on my sore feet. I could feel his thumbs rubbing my heel in small circles. After working his way around the entire heel, he moved down to the ball of my foot where he began to apply medium to heavy pressure. From the bottom of my foot, he moved his hand over my ankles and up my bare legs, all the while kneading and massaging.
I swatted his hands away , knowing how inappropriate this was. Shawna had left not too long ago but that still didn't make it right.
"How did that feel?" he asked huskily, sending chills all up and down my spine. My thoughts went back to that night when his hands were all over my naked body. Oh goodness. I shoved all sexual feelings and thoughts to the back of my mind. Stupid pregnancy hormones!
"I'm not answering that question," I lowered my legs to the floor and stood up.
I turned around and was about to unlock the sliding doors and head back to the guest house. Things were getting way too heated. "Oh yeah," I remembered. I turned to face him. "Do you have a blank CD I can use? Shawna wants to practice tomorrow but with music and I need a disc to download the music onto from my laptop."
He ran a hand through his hair and closed one of his eyes to think for a second. "I don't think I have any but Shawna might have some in her office. Check one of her drawers."
"Will do," I thanked him with a thumbs up before backing out of the living room and heading down the hall to Shawna's office. Once inside, I looked around the room. I had been in there several times before and everything looked the same. Grey walls, cream colored carpet covering the floor, a desk in the middle of the room and oddly enough, pictures of herself half naked all over the walls. It was very weird to say the least but I guess having a great body gave you the confidence to hang pictures of yourself wherever.
I approached one of the white cabinets next to her desk. Surprisingly, the first drawer I opened held a few blank CD's that were still in their cases. Hopefully, none of them were used but if they were, I could always come back and exchange it with another.
Once I was all showered off and in my comfortable PJ's, I settled myself onto my bed with my laptop on my lap, CD's to my side and the soft kicks of the baby from the inside.
I rubbed my stomach to try and calm her down although I really didn't mind. It all still felt so surreal to me. "You move awfully a lot for a girl," I spoke, looking down at my round stomach. "Maybe you'll be a dancer... or a basketball player. You don't have to be a model like your mom."
I picked up one of the CD's and slid it out of its case. I guided it into the CD ROM on the side of my laptop. I did a silent prayer in hopes that the disc was blank because I didn't have the patience to get up and grab another.
I sighed in exasperation when a video box pulled up on the screen, indicating that the disc wasn't a blank after all. I was seconds away from ejecting the disc when the video began to play automatically and what showed up was what caught my attention; and not in a good way.
It was a surveillance video from that night. The night Wren and I first met.
Why in the hell did Shawna have this?
_____________________________
✔ Vote
✔ Comment
✔ Add 2 Your Library
✔ Fan Me ^_^