Yes Please || c.g. {complete}

An Explanation

62

.Layla.

Spending thanksgiving with the Gallaghers had been everything I'd come to expect (and love)- weird and eventful, but full of love and acceptance. I was more appreciative of them that day than I could have expressed; my proud parents hadn't contacted me in the month since finding out I was pregnant.

That was, until I got a text shortly before dinner. It was from my mom, and simply said, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

Like we were casual acquaintances. Like she'd sent the same generic text to all of her work contacts. Like we hadn't spent the previous eighteen thanksgivings together. Like I wasn't her fucking daughter.

It hurt. It made me angry all over again. It was the last thing I wanted that day, to be reminded of my parents' indifference. I lingered on it for a few moments before I decided that she didn't get to have that power over me that day; not when I was surrounded by people who loved me and stood by me. I was eager to move on, but Carl had noticed. He was the last person I wanted to burden with this; he had already shouldered so much of this shit with them. I tried to play it off as best as I could, and I saw that he was skeptical, but with all of the craziness, it was soon forgotten.

We got home that night, full and exhausted, and all we wanted was each other. He was, after all, the person I was most thankful for, and I knew the sentiment was mutual.

We spent the rest of the night throughly appreciating each other until we fell asleep in each other's arms.

When I awoke the next morning, there was another text from my mom. She wanted to meet for lunch.

.....

.Carl.

I awoke to bright light streaming in through the blinds. I rolled over and saw that Layla was already awake, looking at her phone with a little frown.

I smiled at her as I thought of everything we'd done a few hours earlier. "Good morning," I grinned.

She set her phone down and a smile crept across her face as she looked at me. "Good morning to you," she replied as she scooted closer to me.

I kissed her gently. "What are you doing up already?"

She looked down and her smile faded, but it returned just as quickly when she looked back at me. "Just reading about the baby."

I smiled. "Really? What's it say?"

She grabbed her phone and pulled an app up that said that at 14 weeks, the baby was about the size of a lemon or a peach, and that his or her facial muscles were moving a lot.

I smiled and put my hand on our little peach.

"You know, this is the beginning of the second trimester," Layla said, setting her phone down and looking at me again. "It gets more real everyday."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around her to pull her into me. I kissed the top of her head and held her for awhile before she said she had to get up.

"Why are you getting out of bed?" I smirked. "There's a lot more we could do here, you know."

She smiled and winked at me as she picked out some clothes to wear.

"No," I whined. "You're supposed to be doing the opposite of that!"

She laughed. "I have to run an errand."

"On Black Friday?" I questioned. "Why the hell would you do that?"

She hesitated. "Well it's not a shopping errand...it's a social errand."

"'A social errand'?" I repeated as I scrunched my nose. "You make it sound like a business transaction"