Secret punishment

7 (Redone)

The sound of an alarm caused me to pull one of my pillows over my head. Sleeping had become a new obstacle. I had issues with sleep after the Nogitsune, but this was a whole new battle. When I would find a comfortable spot, the baby would shift and move causing me to have to play a constant moving game. I had a ton of pillows, nothing had truly kept it comfortable.

I turned off the alarm and got out of bed. I went and did my usual morning routine. I hadn't exactly remembered why I had to get up. I got into the shower and took a short one, making sure to not get my cast wet. I had to fight to get comfortable clothes on. The baby had gone through another growth spurt, causing some of my older clothes to not fit. Thankfully, it was mid February, so most of my clothes were oversized hoodies and sweatpants. Finding a set that worked, I slid it on. I rested a hand over my bump feeling the baby shift around. I shook my head before going into the kitchen. I was planning an easy day at home. I didn't have a shift at my new job.

Due to the attack, I had more panic attacks. My last shift back, which was only four days after the attack itself, I had a panic attack. I couldn't exactly pinpoint what set me off, but it was bad. Harper was understanding, but I just couldn't work. Not there. I gave my two weeks, and Harper let me do short shifts. She was completely understanding, instead of two weeks, she made me just finish that week. They had two new employees that would take over for me. While I worked those last few shifts, struggling through them really. I started a different job. My dad wanted me to work at the station. So, I had a job with them. It was mostly just answering calls, dealing with mail, and getting meals. The job was just temporary. After the baby was born, I was going to transfer to the dispatch center in town. Originally, I had wanted to go into police work, or even being an FBI agent, After finding out about the baby, I had to put that on the back burner.

I started to focus on making myself a quick snack, and some tea. As I was putting my peanut butter jelly sandwich together, I froze. I heard my door open, then quickly shut. I waited for the sound of my alarm, hearing the quiet beeping of my code, I knew it was one of my friends or my dad. I saw Lydia walk into my apartment. As soon as out eyes met, she looked at me with a smile.

"I wasn't expecting to see you" She explained. I raised an eyebrow at her. 

"what do you mean?" I asked as I took a bite of my food. 

"Your ultrasound? Gender day?" She said as she looked at me. I went wide eyed. I had completely forgotten. I looked to my fridge, seeing the date was circled. I nodded and looked back to her. 

"Right" I said. I went to grab my heavier jacket. I paused. 

"Why are you here if you thought I would be gone?" I asked and looked at her. 

"Finishing the nursery? Remember, Scott and Isaac scraped up the paint while they were moving the changing table. plus Liam got paint on some of the hardware while attempting to fix a scrape he made" Lydia explained. I nodded remembering now that she had explained it. I finished my sandwich before heading to the door. 

"Right right. You have free reign. Have fun" I told her. she just rolled her eyes as she walked into the nursery. I grabbed my keys and left the apartment. I was quick to get start driving to the clinic. I knew I had no time to stop and get anything to eat or drink. So I just drove. 

The roads were mostly clear, mostly due to it being a Friday morning. It was one of my days off from work. I changed jobs shortly after the attack. I had attempted to go back to working at Harper just a few days after the attack, mostly after I was cleared. The first shift ended with a panic attack. Harper was very understanding when it came to me needing to quit. I offered to try and work the two weeks, but Harper declined. She even wrote a letter of support when it came to applying for my next job. Very quickly I was accepted into a new job. I applied to a dispatch center, and I was hired very quickly. The boss was a friend to my dad, but I was assured that it wasn't because of that I was hired. I was somewhat quick to pick up on what to do.