Blame It (Of Mice & Men)

Live and Learn

Alan~

I called my parents and told them about the new baby. My mom reacted how she did with Julia, ecstatic. My dad had to calm her down again and I smiled to myself, happy they loved April, Julia, and the new baby. I caught up with them for a little while before hanging up and going to check on April and Julia.

Julia had kicked out of the blankets and turned on her side, her ginger hair spread amongst the pillows. April was on her side as well, turned towards Julia. Her shirt had ridden up above her belly which had already begun to grow. I smiled and walked back downstairs to make the girls some dinner.

I decided on pizza since April was the one who could cook. I preheated the oven and decided to check my Instagram and Twitter. I scrolled through the endless mentions, most of which were about April, the baby, me, or Julia. I frowned at some of the negative comments that were being made about April, but decided not to intervene. That'd just make it worse, I knew.

The oven went off, telling me it was ready and I stuck the pan inside closing it and turning around to come face-to-face with April, making me jump. "Fuck you scared me," I whispered. "Sorry," she said, laughing a little. I reached for the back of her shirt, tugging her closer to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck, standing on her tip toes to place a kiss on my lips.

She pulled away and lifted her shirt, poking her belly. "It's already getting big. It's twice as big as it was with Julia. Oh God I'm gonna get huge," she said, frowning. I snorted, rolling my eyes. "But you'll be getting huge because of a beautiful baby growing inside of you. It's not like you're eating 50 cakes to get huge," I laughed. "Hush," she said, prodding my ribs. I pulled her in for a kiss and I heard a growl.

She pulled away, a surprised look on her face before she began laughing. "My.. Stomach.. Just growled so loud!" She said between laughter. Her laughter cause me to laugh and eventually, we were in a fit of giggles, having to lean against eachother to stay upright. The oven went off and I pulled out the pizza, sitting it to the side and turning the oven off.

Julia padded down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. "Ooh! Pizza!" she shouted, suddenly awake. She ran to the table, climbing into her booster seat and smiling at me. April cut the pizza and made plates. "I want daddy to sit by me!" Julia called out. I sat in the chair next to her and she smiled at me as April sat her pizza in front of her. April sat across from us and handed me my food before we all began to eat. April dipped her pizza in her chip dip and I made a face.

"I'll never understand how you can do that," I said. "It's good!" she retorted. Julia giggled at us and I smiled at her, kissing the top of her head. We ate in silence until Julia wanted to watch a movie. April put in Beauty and the Beast, Julia's favorite, and walked back, grabbing her plate and putting it in the sink. She walked up the stairs and Julia turned to me.

"Is the new baby going to be a boy or a girl?" she asked, sitting down her crust. "We don't know yet. We get to find out in a few more weeks though," I told her. She smiled. "I hope it's a girl. Or a boy. I don't mind, really. I just like babies," she said, nodding her head.

April walked back in and she had changed into some pajama pants and a tight tanktop that showed off her baby bump. She plopped onto the couch and let out a dramatic sigh. I cleaned Julia's face and she giggled, jumping down and running into the living room.

April~

Julia ran into the living room, jumping on the couch beside me and holding Squidgy. "I like your ring mommy," Julia said, lifting my hand to get a better look. "Thank you, honey. Daddy got it for me when he asked me to marry him," I said, taking off the ring so she could hold it. "I hope I get a pretty ring when I get married," she mumbled, squeezing Squidgy.

A camera flash went off and we both looked up to see Alan trying to play it cool. "Alan you had your flash on," I laughed. He frowned. Ever since we got engaged, he'd wanted to take pictures and videos of our lives. He didn't want to miss a moment of Julia growing up, or of us growing older. He walked further into the den, sitting beside me on the couch.

He tapped away at his phone, probably posting the picture to Instagram and twitter as usual. I leaned my head on his shoulder and felt his lips on my hair. Julia's breathing steadied and I knew she had fallen asleep. Alan stood and picked her up, carrying her to her room. He came back down and sat on the couch, pulling me onto his lap. "If it's a boy, what do you think his name should be?" I asked after a while, pulling my shirt up over my belly. "I don't know. What about you?"

"I've always liked the same Gabriel. And we could call him Gabe," I said. "Or Lucas and call him Luke." He nodded. "We can think of more when we find out the gender," Alan said after a while, kissing my jaw. I turned my head and pecked his lips. "I'm glad we decided to do this," I said as his callused thumbs rubbed my tummy. "I missed being pregnant."

Alan smiled. "Not that I'm not attracted to you when you aren't pregnant, but there's something about you when you are that makes you 10 times sexier," he said. I snorted. "Well you made me like this," I said, poking his chest. "And I'm perfectly fine with that."