Teenagers, Love and Pregnancy

Chapter 18

Joey and I kept our promise that we would meet up once a week and hang out. Mostly, we did baby shopping, because it turns out Joey was great at that. By the end of November, we had managed to gather three onsies, a crib, a changing station, a rocking chair, a stroller, four outfits, three hats, and three pairs of shoes.

I was lying on the floor, looking around at the strewn boxes of unopened baby supplies. Right now we were in the soon-to-be nursery, which was a room with white walls and a hardwood floor that served as a guest room at the moment, and would hopefully soon be a paradise for a happy baby boy. Joey sat at my feet, and with one foot with purple-painted toenails in his lap, he massaged my cankles that were filled with fluid from the pregnancy. I was just now 28 weeks pregnant, or exactly seven months (and one day, to be exact). My belly had grown so huge I couldn't even see Joey, even though he was less than six feet away. I could only feel him massaging my sore feet like there was no tomorrow, which pretty much felt like heaven on Earth..

"That is AMAZING," I sighed. "Thanks so much. My feet probably smell awful."

"They do," Joey teased, laughing. "But it's okay. You just need to relax."

"I bet my ankles are huge," I said with a laugh. "Not that I've seen them in months."

I pushed a few strands of sweaty blonde hair off my face. I was burning up.

"Is it hot in here to you?" I asked Joey. Without waiting for him to answer, I began to sit up. "I'll hit the AC."

"Nope," Joey, said, gently pushing me back down. "You need to rest. You told me yourself you haven't been getting enough sleep lately. I'll get the AC."

"Thanks Joey," I replied. "You're a lifesaver."

Joey made his way across the room to the AC control panel.

"What do you want me to turn it down to?" he asked when he reached it.

"Well what is it on now?"

"Sixty."

I laughed. Pre-pregnancy Cameron would have been freezing her butt of in a sixty-degree room, but right now it felt like it was so hot I could barely breathe.

"Don't worry about it Joey," I said from my spot on the floor. "I don't want to freeze you to death. It is almost winter."

Joey rolled his eyes.

"I'll survive," he said as he turned down the dial on the thermostat. "How does fifty-three sound?"

"Amazing."

Joey returned to his spot of massaging, and for some reason, I felt guilty that he was spoiling me rotten when I had done nothing for him.

"Come on, Joey. You don't have to do that, you know."

"Don't worry about it Cam," he said. "I want to."

I sighed and pushed back my flyaway hairs for what felt like the fiftieth time today.

"So," Joey began after a few more minutes of glorious foot-rubbing. "How do you feel -- besides burning up and the cankles, that is?"

"I feel okay," I said. "I mean, my back's kinda been hurting a lot lately, and I haven't been sleeping too well. Mom and John claim I snore like cow."

Joey laughed.

"But really," I continued. "More than anything else, I'm just stressed out, ya know?"

"Stressed? About what?"

"I just feel so unprepared. We only have eight weeks until this baby comes, and I haven't even started on the nursery. Kendall and I don't even have a name for the baby!"

"You know what?" Joey said. "I'll help you decorate the nursery. After Christmas, you and I will get together and do some serious nursery prepping. Deal?"

I smiled. I loved having Joey around. He was so sweet and helpful, and could take away any of my pre-baby fears in the blink of an eye.

"Deal."