The joy I feel right now is indescribable.
"It's hard to tell but I believe it's boy." The doctor said.
Nala claps. She is already talking about teaching him how to fight the bullies off. I hated school thats why I got my GED but I want Nala to finish school and get a diploma. She is probably more excited about the pregnancy than me. She was on the phone with Cardo right now and she almost told him that it was a boy but I took the phone from her. I told her it was a surprise to daddy so now she won't tell him. That's was almost a month ago.
I didn't lie completely I do plan on surprising him for Christmas. I'll be 27 weeks even and right now I look like I'm more than that. My doctor said that baby boy is a chunky one. They're already looking for him to be more than 7 pounds. Ryder has been an absolute sweetheart and Ray calls everyday to talk to him. I talk to all the guys everyday. Danny is going to pick us up from the airport when we get there.
We are leaving in a week so I've just been trying to pack mostly. Elisa has been such a big help with the children running around plus I can't be on my feet all the time so she usually makes all the runs and drives most of the time. I go to work at night when Ryder and Nala are either asleep or calm. Everything is going so well now and I really don't want it to change but I start to miss Cardo more and more everyday. He made a mistake. I've started a new life here, the one I hoped to have when I moved to San Fran. I work at the grocery store part time. Everyone there loves me.
It's been some time since the incident and I could use a little more time away from him. I don't want to bring this baby into the world with such complicated circumstances but I would hate for me and Cardo to fuck up on each other again and then the baby and Nala be the ones that get hurt the worst. Speaking of the baby I can't be living out of a damn hotel room when he comes.
I'm going to look at houses here tomorrow and hopefully I will have made a choice by the time we leave for Christmas. I do plan on living here now. It's the 15th today so we will get there the day before Christmas Eve. I'm hoping there won't be any chaos when I do go back. We are currently going to the store to get more snacks and dinners. I pay for a weeks stay every week but I'm hoping that this week will be my last and then I can move into my condo. I hope I find a furnished one.
"What all do we need?" Elisa asks me and I pull up the Reminder App on my new IPhone 6+. We have a lot to get and I also want to go shopping and get my hair done again today. It has grown a lot since I found out I was pregnant. I will probably cut it.
Elisa puts Ryder in one buggy and I put Nala in the other buggy. We have two different buggies so now we can get more. I waddle up and down the isles for everything we need. "Can we get the gummies mommy?" Nala asks me as we browse through the snack isle.
"Sure baby, you want the princess ones or the super heroes?"
"Super Hero." she smiles. After we get everything I get inline first so I can give Elisa my card after I get my stuff through the line so she can see the pass code and stuff. After I get everything bagged and in our cart I wait for Elisa at the end of the line. We walked out to the car talking about the new condo's that we've saw in the brochures. "Mama, who that?" Nala stares at a man that looks a lot like me.
He is watching me and I grab Nala and put her in her car seat. I also check to make sure Ryder is strapped in safely while I'm leaned over. Turning around I check for the man again and he's not there. I look around for him and my breathing increases when I can't find him. Elisa rushes over to my side of the car and grabs my shoulders looking me in the eyes but my eyes are everywhere looking for this man I just saw.
"Lena what's wrong?" She asks me.
"Nothing uh can you drive?" She answers me with a nod and grabbing the car keys from me as we got in the car and drove back to the hotel. Who was that man? The similarities between us are undeniable.
I will look into my pictures and see if I notice him anywhere. We get there quickly and I grab Ryder and tell Elisa to pop the trunk. Grabbing my memory box I look around before closing it back. The Bell Boys rush over to our car after Elisa talks to them. I look at her and laugh because I'm pretty sure she asked them to help us get the groceries. After we got all of them and I tipped the boys they left out of our room.
"What was that at the grocery store?" Elisa asked laying Ryder up under covers.
"I saw this man and he was staring at us. He looked an awful lot like me." I tell her while laying Nala on top of the covers because she sweats sometimes when she is under the covers. "I just get a feeling that he might be connected to me."
"Like maybe he's your dad?"
"No I know who my dad is I just- I don't know."
"Why don't we look into it?"
"There is so much going on right now."
"I can do it for you."
"Elisa I know we haven't known each other for long but I had a friend like you before and she turned on me."
"Lena You took me in and you didn't have to and I respect you a lot for that and I'm not going to turn on you. I haven't had a friend EVER and you have been an tremendous light for me."
The sincerity of her words made me believe. I pull her in my arms and she hugs me back. She laughs at me as we hug for what seems like forever. When she pulls back she wipes my eyes and tells me, "I'm here for you." Sarah said the same thing in the beginning and her unexpected evilness took her away. Nala is my life now and I can't imagine a life without her and nor will I.
