Someone Like Us | Completed ✓

Chapter Eleven: Baby Bump

Week 19 (6 months), August 11

Joan, Lilly, and Joan's friends were in town at an outlet called "The Bump," which was a maternity clothing store. During the past few weeks of Joan's pregnancy, her belly had popped and grown to the size of a basketball in what seemed like overnight. None of her shirts would fit over her belly anymore, and her pants wouldn't zip up or button all the way. It was time to buy some maternity clothes.

At the moment Joan was wearing a sports bra and sweat pants with a stretchy waistband. She didn't know what she would have done if it had been cold outside.

Clara called to her over by a rack of tops. Joan went over to her. Clara pulled a denim top from the rack. "What do you think?" she said. Joan took the top and held it up in front of herself, turning to look in a mirror. "It's not really my style," she said. "That's okay," said Clara. She took back the top and put it back on the rack. "How about this one?" she said.

Joan took one look at the ruffly, floral pink top and wildly shook her head. Clara laughed. "I knew you would say that. I was just kidding."

"Joan!" Alyssa called from the dresses, waving her hands in the air. "Over here!"

Joan jogged as fast as she could manage over to where Alyssa was. Alyssa held up a brightly colored sundress. "What do you think?!" she cried. Joan gave her a lopsided smile. "I don't want to draw too much attention to myself," she said. "But you're growing a baby inside of you, Joan! That's something to be proud of!" Alyssa said. "I know, but still," Joan said. Alyssa sighed. "Well, okay. I guess you can have your opinions." She looked at the rack. "How about this?" She held up an olive green dress. Joan shook her head. "I don't like the color."

"Now I get what your mom meant about hating taking you shopping," Alyssa mumbled, put the dress back. Joan blushed.

"Ugh, this is so frustrating!" Joan cried. "That don't have anything I like!" She sighed and put her face in her hands.

"Well, what kind of clothes do you like?" said Brittney, walking up to her with Clara and Lilly.

"Simple things," Joan answered. "Patterns that aren't too busy. Solid colors. Nothing flashy. Plain and laid-back."

"I think I saw a few things like that over by the clearance rack," said Lilly, rushing over to the other side of the store. "And I saw some nice tops like that," said Clara. "Do you like leggings? There were lots of leggings," said Brittney.

"Wait! Not too much!" Joan cried as the girls scattered. "I don't need a lot—I don't want to be pregnant again for hopefully another 5 years!"

Nevertheless, she ended up going up to the register with three pairs of pants, four dresses, two skirts, a pair of shorts, four summer tops and four winter tops, a cardigan, and a jacket and coat.

The female cashier smiled as she started scanning the items. "Congratulations," she said. "Boy or girl?"

"A precious baby boy," Joan said with a proud smile.

"I have two boys myself," the cashier said. "Have you decided on a name yet?" "We've been thinking about something incorporating 'angel', but that's about as far as we've gotten," said Joan.

The cashier raised her eyebrows in surprise. "The father is still with you?" she said, bagging the last item. Joan's face glowed. "Yes. Last time I checked in, he texted me a link to a baby bear suit on Amazon," she said. "It sounds like he's very involved," the cashier said. "We hear from him every day," said Lilly with a smile. "And if he doesn't come over, he calls us to make sure his baby mama and baby boy are okay."

The cashier gave a smile that looked like it held a bit of pain and jealousy. "I'm so happy for you," she said. "Your total is $319.08."

"Jeez," Joan muttered. Lilly hand the cashier her debit card. After everything was paid for, Joan stepped in a bathroom to change into an outfit of the new clothes. She came out wearing a maternity t-shirt that read "MAMA BEAR" and a pair of maternity leggings.

"Awww!" everybody cried. Lilly rubbed Joan's bump (which was now uncomfortably visible) and kissed Joan's cheek. "You keep giving me flashbacks to when I was pregnant with you," she said. Joan blushed. "Were you this self-conscious, too?" she mumbled. Lilly's eyebrows scrunched together. "You shouldn't feel self conscious about being pregnant," she said. "But I'm a teen mom," Joan argued. "You know what people think about teen moms!"

"Despite what people think, being pregnant is something to be proud of," said Lilly. "You conceived this baby for a reason, otherwise it would have never happened. Something amazing is going to come out of this."

"You really think so?" Joan said. "I do," said Lilly. Brittney, Clara, and Alyssa nodded along. "Once Jellybean is born, you're not even going to care about getting stereotyped," said Clara. "All you'll care about is your family."

"You think so?"

"I totally do!"

Joan smiled at the supportive women in her life, and then they left the store and started walking toward the car.

I really hope they're right about this... Joan thought.