The Baby

twenty six

kalani depradine

Pushing Amelia's stroller, I left the elevator of my work, being greeted with a big smile by the secretary, Helene. The last time I was here was during my pregnancy and I honestly missed it. Part of me was eager to come back to work.

"Is this the little one? Hi. I watched you grow in your mommy's tummy," Helene came around the desk to come say hi to Amelia. She laughed, clinging onto Helene's finger. "What are you doing here? Aren't you still on maternity leave?" Helene spoke with her baby voice like she was asking the question to Amelia.

"I am. But I need my laptop and I left it in my office," I informed her. I was on my way to a cafe to meet with Elena and my mother for wedding planning and engagement party planning.

After my trip with Grayson, I had met with a lawyer after realizing I needed to show Grayson I was just as invested as him. I know he's working hard to earn my trust again and I'm trying to be open. The lawyer and I went through the entire prenuptial agreement together and they explained everything in simple terms to me. Nowhere in the contract did it feel like Grayson was giving me the short end of the stick, so I was able to comfortably sign it without asking him to change anything.

"We miss you here. But I guess since Amelia is so adorable you're forgiven," Helene winked and I smiled pushing the stroller to my office. I was stopped about four times on the way by people wanting to say hello to the both of us. The atmosphere in this place hadn't changed and I was seriously beginning to miss working.

Entering my office, I sat down in my seat while I reminisced on my position. I love Amelia, but I really did love my position at work. It was my dream job and I actually enjoyed coming to work. But thinking about how much I missed my job made me feel the slightest bit guilty. Going back to work meant getting a nanny and the idea of having some random person watch my baby didn't seem right to me. 

When I got my laptop, I quickly left my office. The cafe wasn't far from the office and both Elena and my mother were waiting inside for me. They were fixed in their own conversation that seemed like a good one. Ever since I officially introduced them when they helped me move, they have been obsessed with each other. I never thought the two would get along so well. But the admiration my mother had for Elena and her world was the same one Elena had for my mother's.

"Hi," Elena stood to kiss my cheek. I hugged her then my mother before getting seated at the table. The table was already filled with all these papers with pictures and layouts for both events. "Guess who is attending yoga with me next week," she cheered and I looked at my mother in shock. She's never been into these sort of things. She's a simple private woman who keeps her head down.

"That's exciting," I smirked at my mother and she laughed as she shook her head.

"I only agreed because I'm giving her a cooking lesson," she said and my mother teaching Elena how to cook didn't surprise me. Their family has cooks and maids and butlers. I doubt Elena has ever picked up a toilet brush. "How was your trip with Grayson?" Him and I had gotten back a week ago and it was the nice break from reality we both needed. We got to unplug and focus on just the two of us. We left the trip closer than we entered it and neither of us wanted to leave. The only thing stopping us from staying longer was Amelia.

"Good. It was really good," I nodded my head, using the tea pot on the table to pour myself tea.

I wanted to go into detail about everything of the trip. Even my friends wanted to know all the details. But Grayson is a private person. Knowing he would never share anything of the trip and his private life made me feel like it would be wrong to give people a small peak of this side of him. So the only details I gave about the trip were about the weather and our flight itself—the boring stuff.