Alaska

Chapter Thirty-Nine

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

The first few days at the Whitmore Residence were the most stressful in quite a while.  Patricia was completely fretful over the fact that Lexi was moving to Washington with a newborn baby in just a few months, believing that she couldn't handle it.  Bill was highly interested in what WSU had to offer.  During meal-times he ordered that Lexi sat near him so that they could discuss campus and what Lexi should and should not to.  He didn't even seem to care that she was almost eight and a half months pregnant.  Bianca was skeptical that Lexi had even gotten a scholarship to a college at the mere age of sixteen.

"She can't be that smart," she groaned when she had dropped by the day after Lexi's arrival with a cake design for her wedding to show Patricia.

"Well believe it Bianca," Patricia murmured from the living room.  "She's leaving and I have no choice but to let her.  It's a good college.  Won't even need to carry on high school...  But with a baby!  She doesn't know the steps it takes to taking care of a baby."

"Well if she's as smart as you say she is, it won't be a problem, will it?" Bianca snapped.  "Now, back to my cake design..."

Ashton was also having trouble fitting in.  He tried his best to stay out of everybody's way and Bill and Patricia were a lot less alert with him, yet they still consulted with him every now and then, questioning him about his truancy to the promise that he would look after Lexi and the baby.

The fourth of July brought a busy day at the Whitmore residence.  Patricia and Bill were hosting a barbecue on the backyard beside their rock lined pool and Lexi was dreading it more than anything.  A day with her nosy parent's friends only meant one thing.  Loads of questions on her pregnancy and many judgmental looks thrown her and Ashton's way.

She waddled down the stairs at eleven o'clock in the morning on the date, wearing a flowered summery dress that mainly accentuated the roundness of her belly.  If she had it, she might as well flaunt it!

The kitchen was empty, apart from dishes covered in aluminum and smelling of marinate that were littered all over the marble counter tops.  Ann had clearly been up at dawn to prepare for this day.  Outside, beyond the glass sliding door, Lexi watched as Ann pranced around the grassy lawn, fixing tiki torches here and there and tying red, white and blue balloons to tree branches and railings.

Bianca and Wesley had arrived early and were sunbathing underneath the glowing sun in their swimsuits, ignoring the sweating and working Ann beside them.  Bianca's tanned skin looked almost Hispanic and her face resembled a Barbie Doll with her large Guess sunglasses perched on her bony nose which was pointed skyward.  Her and Wesley resembled a typical California styled couple with stuck-up attitudes.

"Good Morning Ann," Lexi stepped outside, her face squinting in the sunlight.  "Do you need some help?"

"Of course not, dear!" Ann panted as she fixed another balloon set to an umbrella stand.  "You just rest and let that baby do her last few weeks of growing."

Lexi scowled and walked back inside.  She hated how everyone was treating her like a delicate piece of glass that threatened to shatter at any moment.  Yes, she was extremely pregnant but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of doing simple things.

Ashton was busy painting the nursery a dusty pink colour.  Patricia forbade Lexi to do it, because it was apparently bad for a pregnant woman to inhale too many paint fumes, and if she was caught visiting him she would probably be forced to sit in her room until she went into labour.

Deciding that it was better to be caught doing something innocent, she stepped back inside her room and picked up a book she had read countless times before, propping her swollen feet up onto her desk chair and lying back on her squishy lime green arm chair.  Patricia strolled into her room within a few minutes.