Alaska

Chapter Thirty

CHAPTER THIRTY

Twenty-three weeks...

Over the next week, Lexi spent most of her time cooped up in her room with her laptop stuck in her clutches.  It seemed that the mere visit to the hospital had set her inspiration level on a high and she couldn't stop clicking her fingers against her keyboard.  After just a few days of writing she realized that she was almost done...

During the last week of April, on a sunny Wednesday afternoon, Lexi, Violet, Ashton and Ariel were sitting at an outdoor cafe' with the sun beaming down on them and a bubbling fountain spewing nearby.  Baby Julie sat snoozing in her stroller beside Violet as they sipped at milkshakes and waited for their cheeseburgers.

"I can't wait for summer," Violet breathed beneath her new pair of aviators.  "I wanna take Julie to the beach."

"I just wanna get out of Ohio," Ariel said, sullenly.  "I wanna go back to Illinois and finish my senior year and hope to get into a good college.  I wanna put this year behind me."

"What about Jason?" Lexi asked as she sipped at her strawberry delight.

Ariel shrugged a shoulder and ran a hand through her flaming red hair.

"He can come with me if he wants," she said.  "He's looking for colleges and there are plenty in Illinois."

"Do you know what you wanna do yet?" Violet questioned.

Ariel paused, chewing on her straw and then she shrugged again.

"I guess I'm into articles and stuff.  Might try and get a job at a Newspaper," she replied.  "What about you guys?"

Violet raised her hands and jerked her head towards Julie in surrender.  "My priority is Jules but I'm gonna go back to Bullstrode High School for my last two years and then hope to major in Literature and Shakespeare."

Lexi sat quietly, focusing on her milkshake, mulling things over in her mind.  What did she want to do?  She was definitely aiming for college but what did she want to study?  What did she want to major in?  What careers were a possibility for her when she was about to have a baby?  This thought chewed at her for the rest of the day...

When Lexi arrived home that evening to an empty downstairs, she climbed the stairs into her room, ready to resign to a calm shower and collapse into bed, however this plan was interrupted by the mere fact that Angel and Anthony were in her bedroom.

Anthony stood in the corner of the room with a tape measure, stretching it out from corner to corner and noting the distance, whilst Angel stood behind him, taking notes.

"Uh, hey guys," Lexi said, awkwardly, setting her tote down on the floor.

"Hi Lex," they both chirped without looking at her.

"What's up?" Lexi continued, hovering behind them with her hands on her hips.

"Eight feet, two inches babe," Anthony called from the wall.

Angel noted down this measurement and then turned to Lexi with a grin on her face.

"We're measuring the room for furniture.  We want this to be Meagen's new bedroom- after you've moved out by summer of course," she said, jovially.

Lexi raised her eyebrows and a forced smile stretched at her lips.  Her insides curled and she couldn't help but feel like she was being reminded that she wasn't going to be living in Ohio forever, despite how attached she had become to it.

"Would you come out and help pick some furniture in the coming weeks?  We could go round getting ideas for cribs for your little girl," Angel said, excitedly.