Everything Has Changed: Book Three

Chapter Twelve: Wrestling

Chapter Twelve: Wrestling

We're all sitting at the table and nobody really knows what to say, but everyone is watching me pour the french fry seasoning all over my fries. I suck on my milkshake and the moment I swallow, I feel the thick cold liquid slide down my throat, and the baby begins to kick. I look down at my belly and sigh because it hurts slightly, and she's holding her foot against the top of my stomach. I reach down and tap her little foot and it disappears and moment later, and then she starts kicking the shit out of me.

"Are you okay?" Beatrice laughs.

"I'm being internally abused." I say, but I'm not mad. I love it when she kicks, even if it hurts me sometimes, because that means she healthy.

"She seems to be moving a lot more than she was last week." Danny says.

"That's because she's running out of space." I say, cringing as she kicks again.

"Have you picked out names?" Dad asks quietly.

"Well we did." I look at my husband. "But he decided that he doesn't like her name anymore."

Danny shrugs.

"I have no shame."

My little girl kicks again and I smile.

I love my little angel.

"You know, if you were a girl, we were going to name you Emily." Beatrice says.

"Emily." I look down at my belly and she kicks again. "I actually love that name."

"Yeah, that's cute. I can see that."

"Emily Juliet Grey. That's beautiful."

Our parents start nodding.

"How should we spell it?" Danny asks.

Sighing, I grab a napkin and get a pen from my purse.

"Either traditionally like E-M-I-L-Y." I write it down. "Or like E-M-I-L-E-E."

I show it to Danny.

"I like the first one." Danny says.

I nod, studying the different variations.

"Me too." I decide. "People are always going to spell it that way anyways."

"We can call her Emmy." Danny says.

I nod in agreement and we all fall back into the awkward silence.

I start snack on my french fries, zipping them in my milkshake, sucking down the milkshake.

I'm just so hungry.

When I finish mine, I start to eye Danny's.

He's hardly touched it.

"Are you gonna have that?" I ask, pointing to his milkshake.

He looks at me and sighs.

"We can share it." He says, sliding it between the two of us.

I start sucking his down too, snagging a few fries off of his plate and using them to dip into his milkshake.

He looks amused, and I know I really should be thinking about my Dad right now.

I can't just let him go back to a homeless shelter.

Danny and I could get him a small apartment until he can afford it himself...but does he want to stay down here or move somewhere else?

I thought he needed money for his own selfish reasons. I didn't realize he needed it because he was going to be homeless.

If he moves to North Carolina, we can get him a small two bedroom apartment and maybe he can see Micah.