the lover agreement // zauren

FIVE.

"I still cannot believe you're actually doing this." Normani figured if she repeated herself enough, she could get Lauren to change her mind. But her words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Lauren was further down the aisle, searching for a suitable present for a baby shower—the baby shower.

"What do you think of this?" She picked up an electronic breast bump, dismissing the price on the shelf.

Normani stood next to her, directing her gaze to the large, yellow box and the even bolder numbers on the tag. "It's cute but is it worth $600?"

Lauren choked on air, coughing. "What?! $600?! I am not trying to buy the entire store. I thought Walmart was supposed to be cheap and affordable." She hissed, returning the item to the shelf. They continued down the aisle, then turned into the next. "If you were a baby, what would you want?"

"Milk," Normani sarcastically but honestly quipped, resting a light hand over her stomach.

"Dickhead gave me money to buy something for his cousin's baby. They don't know if it's a boy or a girl," explained Lauren, fishing through the rack of baby clothing. They were so tiny and cute.

Normani snickered, a warmth blossoming within her as she eyed some pink and yellow booties. "You gotta stop calling him that."

"But I feel like calling him by either of his names is too casual or too formal." Lauren plucked out a tiny pair of overalls, showing it to her best friend. "What do you think?"

"It's cute, but do you think the tiny blue whale on the pocket means it's specifically for boys?" Normani pointed out, scratching her chin. "And you have to get used to calling him by Zayn. I don't think you can call him Dickhead in front of family," she addressed the first topic.

For two reasons, Lauren frowned, then returned the overalls back onto the branch of a rack. "Why should babies conform to gender roles? They should be able to wear anything without the parents being over analyzed. It's just clothes," she complained, leaving the clothing and heading to the aisle of baby furniture and toys. "If only Dick—Zayn told me exactly what to get. I wouldn't have this problem." Her tongue rattled while enunciating the name.

Normani rolled her eyes at the dramatic display of her best friend. She lagged behind, considering any gift ideas Lauren passed or excused during her mini-rant. A certain colourful package caught her eyes. She bent down carefully and pulled it from a lower shelf.

"Hey, what about this?" In her hands was a baby activity mat. "It's kinda of protocol to have one for your baby, don't you think?"

Lauren examined the Alphabet Zoo design. As if she had another item in mind for a basis of comparison.

"True. I think this is good enough. How much is it?" She searched for the price. "$100? Not bad. Zayn gave me $200, anyway."

"Daddy material," teased Normani, dropping the play-mat into their shopping cart. "You should add a few boxes of wipes. Every baby needs 'em."

"Wow," Lauren whispered in awe. "Why are you good at this? Or are you just good at shopping in general?" She followed her best friend to the last aisle for some baby wipes.

A shaky plight of laughter flowed from Normani's square-smile.

"Mani," Lauren started skeptically, lifting a large box of wipes into the shopping cart. "Is there something you're not telling me?" She knew her best friend well enough to know when something was wrong. Call it intuition.

Normani considered refraining from speaking the truth just yet, but she knew how impatient her best friend was. And how much she hated surprises.

Giving in with a sigh, she hushed her tone. "I missed my period last month."