A bump named Chimichanga

Part 8

It was a Saturday afternoon and the warm summer sunshine seemed to pour in through the windows of Missy's tiny apartment.

Missy had just finished her last full week of work. She had planned on going on maternity leave a little later but getting up at 6.40 every day and dragging herself around the office had become far too exhausting. Luckily her workplace had a good maternity plan in place which had been too good to pass up. Twenty weeks of leave all to her herself and the baby until she had to go back!

And so her work colleagues had thrown her a mini baby shower at 4pm yesterday and kindly given her a goodie bag full of baby-grows and cutesy stuffed animals.

It was probably the only baby shower Missy was going to get.

She had barley any friends in the city that weren't primarily Zach's friends. She had only moved here, to the city, because of him. Three long years ago.

Missy's mom lived down in Florida with her aunt, but her arthritis was so bad she couldn't even travel nowadays. Missy missed her so much, but she was a strong woman. She could handle this alone. She knew she could.

And besides, she had Wade now...

Her friendship with Wade seemed to be growing by the day.

He spend almost all of his time with her, out of office hours that was.

They really had a lot in common, and as irritating as his smart remarks could be, she liked him.

He had put up her baby crib (after a LOT of whining that the flat-pack furniture had managed to give him a splinter), he brought her food, and they hung out and had fun. And fun was something Missy really needed right now...

She didn't want to think about how she was going to cope when the baby arrived. Would she even be able to go back to work after her maternity leave was over? Even if Zach paid his dues she still didn't know how she would afford her rent and all her bills all alone...

The worry seemed to build up inside her with every day that passed. Could she really cope with all this?

Missy was currently stood in her kitchen, doing the washing up, pondering this thought, when a sudden voice from behind her made her jump out of her skin.

"Hey there preggo-eggo," came Wade in a light tone, as Missy swung around to face him, placing a soapy hand to her chest.

"You scared me," she murmured, placing a dish onto the drainer.

It was her own fault.

Wade's appearances in her apartment had become so regular nowadays she had begun to just leave her front door on the latch for him to come and go as he pleased.

Sometimes heaving her enormous-self off of the couch seemed like too much of a huge-feat.

Wade, dressed today in jeans, a white t-shirt and a grey hooded sweater, merely grinned, strolling over towards her.

"So, I thought, rather than staying in all cooped up on this fucking gorgeous day," uttered Wade, leaning up against the counter beside her, staring down at her pregnant form. "...we could maybe go for a walk...or a waddle in your case...."

Missy shot him a look, smirking.

"Alright, alright, I get it, I'm like a hippo at the moment," she uttered and with that, she dabbed at Wade's nose with her soapy fingers, leaving a puff of suds lingering on his long face.

He gave a chuckle, pulling away from her and rubbing at his nose, his face fixed into a wide grin.

"But yeah, sounds good," she continued, wiping her hands on a dish towel and turning away from the sink. "I'm kinda craving some ice cream....with hot fudge and loads of sprinkles."