She's Having My Baby

Working Girl

28 weeks pregnant

It was Maya's first day at work. She was mildly nervous, but after telling everyone she loves that she was pregnant, it was hard to be nervous about anything. She also knew there was no way she'd be given any tasks that were overly difficult. She was most worried about seeing people from school, which was as good as guaranteed to happen.

Maya had never been too bothered by what people thought of her. People had insulted her a lot before, especially when she was a little younger and couldn't defend herself. They'd tease her about her family or laugh when she'd show up to school without everything she needed. Once, she had a playdate with a girl named Becca at Maya's house. Maya was probably about seven at the time. Becca acted like she had a great time, but the next day when Maya showed up at school everyone (except Riley and Farkle) stared at her and laughed.

Becca had told everyone how small Maya's apartment was and that there were rats and cockraoches. Maya was so embarrassed, she cried to Riley for hours after school. She hadn't had many other friends since then, except for Riley. Thank God for Riley.

She learned two things from that experience. One: you can't trust anyone. Two: there's no time to care what anyone thinks. It's not worth it. She was better off just not noticing other's opinions.

Having said that, her levels of self-consciousness had tripled and quadrupled ever since she'd started sporting an ever-growing baby bump. There was no hiding it anymore. It was there no matter what she wore. If she had a dollar for every nasty stare she'd gotten so far in this pregnancy, she'd already have her kid's college fund set.

She could only imagine what it was going to be like once she started work. What a sight; Maya in her movie-theatre-employee uniform, looking like she had a balloon under her shirt, scooping popcorn and printing tickets, serving her classmates. She couldn't believe this was what it had come to. But hey, it was all for her daughter.

Maya showed up ten minutes early, which was out of character for her. Her manager, Rick, showed her around briefly before putting her to work. She was at the concessions counter for today, but was told that the employees rotate jobs every so often. Her uniform was a pair of plain black pants, which fit her very awkwardly, and a bright red shirt with the movie theatre emblem and a name tag on it. In retrospect, it wasn;t that bad of a uniform. It also would've looked a lot better if she wasn't pregnant.

It was 4pm when she got there, so it wasn't very busy at first. Maya mostly twirled her hair around her finger and thought about how tired she was of standing already. There was a big showing at 5, so the crowds started to flood in. It was a lot for Maya's first day, but she was confident.

"Wait, Maya? You work here now?" was a phrase Maya heard multiple times within the next hour. At least she had the excuse that there was a line and it would be rude for the other person to stay and chat.

Once the rush died down, Maya could relax. The next showing was at 5:40, but it was one of those cheap sci-fi movies no one ever wanted to see. A few people wandered in and bought tickets, but not many. At about 5:38, a familiar and not-so-familiar face burst in the door.

"Well would you look who it is? Here for another riveting conversation with the ground, are we?" Maya said loudly.

Farkle's whole face had drained from the minute he saw her. Maya was 90% sure that the man with him was his father, but she'd hadn't met the guy too many times. His eyes went right to her belly, but did drift to her face after.

"Isn't this one of your friends from school?" he asked Farkle.

Farkle nodded.

"Well don't you think it's a bit rude to not even say hi or look at her?" his dad asked.

Farkle seemed to drop his head even lower.

"I'm sorry, you caught us at a bad time. Can we have 2 for "Boundless Space" please?" his dad asked, seeming to remember they were late for the movie.

Maya punched in the ticket information and cashed his money.

"Thank you," Farkle's dad smiled.

He started walking towards the theatre and Farkle slumped after him.

"Farkle!" Maya called.

He slowly turned around and Maya beckoned him towards her.

"I get off at seven. I'll wait for you," Maya said with a don't-ask-any-questions tone.

He nodded. Maya hadn't seen his face up close since he walked in. It almost looked as if he'd been crying. Maya couldn't help but feel her heart pinch when she thought of poor Farkle upset like that.

There were a few more rushes of people, but at seven Maya clocked out and waited on a chair in the lobby. About half an hour later, Farkle and his dad emerged from the theatre. Farkle looked just as bad as he had before, if not more teary. Maya stood up and he noticed her right away. His father followed him over to her.

"Mr. Minkus, is it okay if Farkle walks me home?" Maya said sweetly.

He considered for a second, and his eyes darted to the bump again. Maya couldn't help but make a comment.

"Can't get pregnant twice, right?" she laughed.

He hesitated, but then looked at his son's gaunt face and sighed.

"Sure, why not?"
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A/N: Hi! So I've thinking that when I finally finish this book, I wanna go back and add links to songs to a lot of the chapters. I almost always listen to music writing this and I thought it would be cool to go back at the end and add songs I listened to. What do you guys think? Idk, just a thought. Ok bye :)