Gray Area (sequel to White Noise)

Ch 7 - Kegel Exercises

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the group at all the next day. Work had been horrible, and by the time I had finally gotten home, all I wanted to do was crash. I had sent Tori a quick text explaining my situation, and she had told me not to worry about it. Calum and Luke were still at the studio, and she was forcing Ashton and Michael to do chores, so she assured me I wasn't missing much.

I enjoyed the little break, but by the next morning, I was ready to go see my friends again. Plus, I was off work for the next couple of days, and I knew exactly how I wanted to spend my time.

When the boys were in town, you never really knew what to expect when walking into Tori and Cal's house. Today was no different, and as I rounded the corner to enter the living room, I immediately burst into laughter.

"What the hell are you idiots doing?!"

Tori grinned at me from her spot on the couch. "They wanted to know what it felt like to be pregnant."

Standing in the middle of the room were Ashton, Luke, and Michael, all with pillows stuffed under their shirts. I took a seat next to Tori and looked to her other side where Calum was sitting. "What about you? You didn't want to join in on the fun?"

"Nah," he shrugged. "I'm not an idiot like these guys."

Tori rolled her eyes again. "Don't let him fool you. He already tried it with a soccer ball a few weeks ago."

"I don't know what the big deal is, really," Michael said, bringing our attention to him. "I can function just fine like this."

"Oh, really?" Tori challenged him. "Try having your boobs ache literally every second of every day. See if you can function while there's a tiny human crawling around your insides and doing jumping jacks on your bladder. Oh, and if you can get through all that, let me know how you feel when that small human starts forcing its way out of a hole that's much too small for it to fit through."

Michael cringed and made a small move to cover his junk.

"Yeah, Mikey," Ashton agreed. "Didn't you learn all of this stuff in that class you and Cal went to?"

Calum immediately sat up straight. "Ashton!"

"Wait, what class?" Tori asked him, confused.

"It's nothing, babe. Ashton just doesn't know how to keep his damn mouth shut."

The curly haired boy just giggled at his mistake. "Oops."

I was intrigued now. "What class did you two go to? And how did we not know about it?"

Calum sighed and sat back, looking slightly embarrassed. "Okay, fine. Remember that day we told you we were going to see a movie?" Tori and I both nodded, so he continued. "Well, we didn't really go to the movies. We... we kinda went to a childbirth class."

"What? Calum! Why wouldn't you take me to something like that?"

"Because! You already have this whole pregnancy thing figured out. I wanted you to think I knew a lot about it, too. I found that class and signed up, but I didn't realize that you needed a partner. I wanted all my new knowledge to be a surprise, so I made Michael go with me."

The image of Calum and Michael in the middle of a childbirth class was too much to handle. I immediately started cracking up, Tori not too far behind me.

"Aww, babe. That's really sweet."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, I do," she told him. "Did you at least learn anything while you were there?"

Michael got excited at that question. "Yeah, we learned a lot! Did you know that when the baby's born, your vagina's gonna stretch out until it's, like, a foot wide or something? You'll need to do Kegel exercises for a while to strengthen your vaginal muscles again." The fact that he looked so proud to know this information just made us laugh even harder.

"Is that so?" Tori asked him in between laughs.

"Yeah, and after the baby comes out, that's not the end of it. Oh, no. After that, you'll have to deliver the placenta. Did you know that some people eat their placenta? You guys aren't gonna do that, are you? That's kinda weird. I wonder what one tastes like." Holy shit, it just kept getting better. Tori and I were both in tears, and I had never seen Calum's face as red as it was at that moment.

"Just so you know, Tori," Michael continued. "Calum's terrible at providing support during labor. He was yelling at me the whole time."

"Okay!" Calum finally interrupted, standing up and pulling Tori with him. "That's enough of that. We've got an appointment to get to, and you two assholes should be at the studio." I had forgotten Tori had a doctor's appointment. That made my secret plans for the day a little easier to manage.

"Yeah, yeah," Ashton agreed, removing his pillow baby bump. "Are you guys gonna drop us off on your way?"

"We will if you hurry up."

Tori turned to me as Michael and Ash started bustling around the room, gathering their stuff. "You're free to hang out here while we're gone. You can keep this one company." She motioned to Luke, who had plopped down and taken her spot on the couch beside me.

"Don't worry about us. We'll be fine. Lukey and I have some important business we need to take care of, anyway."

"We do?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yes, Luke, we do."

"What kind of business?"

"Hush, Luke. You're making everyone late." I gave him my best don't say another word or I'll castrate you look. I hated for him to say something and ruin the surprise I was planning.

Michael looked at Luke through squinted eyes. Aww, someone was jealous.

"I don't even wanna know," Tori told me, shaking her head. "Whatever you're up to, you guys have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" We watched as Calum was finally able to herd the other two kids out the door towards the car. Luke waited until we could hear them pull away before speaking.

"What the hell kind of business do we have to take care of? And should I be scared?"

Good Lord, he could be so blonde sometimes. "No, Lucas. There's no need to be scared." I stood up and reached out my hand for him to follow. "Get up."

"Why?" he whined. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to the store, Luke," I told him with another roll of my eyes. "Don't you remember? We've got a baby shower to plan!"