Mine and Yours

Unexpected

Parking my beat up car in the Li family driveway like I had a million and one times before was familiar and like I was arriving home. But the rapid pounding in my chest was far from normal. I hadn't been this anxious to enter what was the only home I'd had in my entire life since the day I had found out I was pregnant.

That day I had just come from the local drug store where I had bought a gallon of water, as many pregnancy tests as I could afford, and holed up in the bathroom until that gallon was gone and every test had been taken. Every single one had a pink little plus on it. It was May, 2 weeks into our last summer before the last year of high school. I was 17, half way to 18, but Blue wasn't even close yet, having just turned 17 the month before. When I had sat in my car, falling into the black hole that was my thoughts for long enough, I had grabbed the shopping bag full of pregnancy tests and entered the home. I expected Blue to be more surprised than he was. He was eerily calm while I was freaking out and a teary, snotty mess. The pregnancy tests were scattered out all over his bed and I was blubber-yelling at him for a reason I didn't know other than hormones when his mom and dad came in, concerned about the commotion I was making. They, also surprising to me, were pretty calm. His dad being a very levelheaded man gathered us into the living room with the various tests in tow while his mom hugged me and kissed my hair and told me there was nothing to worry about. Once I'd calmed down a bit—and let Blue anywhere near me— he didn't let me go the rest of the day. We put ourselves in his bedroom and didn't leave, just talking about the baby and what was going to happen. What this little human meant for us, and the fact we were best friends who weren't dating, had never dated, and the one time we'd had sex had been a moment of weakness when I'd had a sleepover one night after a particularly bad argument with my mother that led to me being kicked out—again.

And now, here I was sitting in my car, nervous as hell, with my stomach now the size of a head of cabbage. Sondra's "prescription" was practically burning a hole in my pocket at this point. Taking a deep breath, I threw my door open and grabbed the bag full of clean clothes I had taken from my mom's apartment before my appointment. She was currently in a good mood so I was fine to live there but since I'd gotten pregnant, I'd spent 90% of my nights here at the Li's. All of my stuff was pretty much here anyway. Anything left at my mom's apartment wasn't that important to me.

I used my key and opened the front door of the small but cozy 3 bedroom single story ranch home that I loved so much. Immediately the smell of scallion pancakes hit my nose and my mouth burst with saliva. Scallion pancakes had been my one and only craving during my entire pregnancy, especially when I was throwing everything else up. In the early days it had been the only thing I could hold down when even chicken noodle soup sent me running for the toilet.

"Māmā." I called as I walked toward the kitchen. Sure enough, Blue's mother was at the stove making scallion pancakes.

"Xiâo gōng jû!" She smiled and dropped the pancake she was finishing on a plate. She wiped her hands on her apron as she hurriedly rushed to me, enveloping me in her warm hug. Even though I was 5'9 to her 4'7, she still made me feel like I was still the small child who could fit in her arms.

"Hi māmā." Her comfort made my heart ease a bit.

"How was appointment?" She questioned, directing me to one of the dining chairs she had placed off to the side of the room so we could sit in the kitchen and keep her company while she cooked. Even though she'd been in America for almost 30 years, her English was still a bit broken and her Taiwanese accent thick, but I loved it.

"The appointment was good. Everything's perfect with baby." Speaking of, the baby started kicking my ribs as the smell of Mei-Hua's cooking permeated every one of my senses. My stomach rumbled aggressively, not having eaten anything since lunch. Mei-Hua packed me the most delicious bento box, but I was abnormally hungry today and had eaten it and all the snacks that were supposed to last me through my last 2 periods. Baby was clearly starting it's final growing stages.