Beyond The Pale

contentment

Valentine's Day

Monty's POV

I hadn't put much thought into Valentine's day at all. Raina and I had been spending so much time together, it was unreal. It was like, if we weren't seeing each other at school, we were together at home. Bryce being arrested had ruined our baseball season, so there was no reason for me to even bother being on the team anymore. I settled for playing ball with Ashe.

Raina's belly was growing everyday. She was beautiful, truly. She was glowing and radiant, and I'd never loved anyone so much. I was so ready to find out what we were having. We'd made an appointment for March 19th to find out, but even then we wouldn't know til that weekend. Jess was throwing us a gender reveal party that weekend, so we'd still have to wait til the following day to find out. Bummer.

School was even harder to focus on, with all the thoughts of Raina, Ashe and the baby swimming around in my head, I didn't have much room for geometry or anything else for that matter. All I'd had on my mind lately was my family. I'd secured a job at Rosie's Diner cooking, most nights, and it was decent. I wasn't unhappy with the job. I'd also told my parents I was moving out, that I had a roommate. They seemed thrilled that I wasn't their problem anymore.

So, I lived with Raina full time now, with some discretion. I always parked my Jeep somewhere nearby, so people wouldn't see my vehicle at her house nonstop. Ashe was excited about being a big brother. He talked about it nonstop. Raina's lawyer and the judge denied another counter offer from the Walker's against her wishes. They'd offered 100,000$. It was an insane amount, but the Walker's filed a petition to keep Bryce from being a registered sex offender, so the judge umped the ante on them right back.

I'd ditched after 3rd period, something I hadn't done all school year long. But, I wanted to beat Raina to the house. I was actually off work tonight, so I was making Raina and Ashe dinner, cleaning the house, and doing something special, all before she got home. I had roughly 5 hours to get everything done, so I made my first stop at Walplex. I needed to run in and get some steaks, and look through the baby section.

I wanted to pick out a crib, but I didn't want to pick the wrong one. So after about 30 minutes of reading specs and details on cribs, I finally found one I liked. It was white, rectangular and spacious. It was a three in one, so later on, we could turn it into a toddler bed, then a day bed. I knew Raina would be satisfied with the functionality of it, so I bought it, and everything I needed to cook dinner.

I went ahead and bought her and Ashe both a stuffie. They loved stuffed animals. I bought Ashe a big monkey and Raina a huge bear. It was struggling to fit in my backseat, that's how big it was. I figured we could put it in the babies room. I got to the house, carried all of my stuff in, and silently thanked God that the house was still pretty clean. All I needed to really do was straighten up. So, I set off upstairs to put the crib together.

We'd completely emptied out the guest room except for a dresser that Raina wanted to paint once we found out what the baby was. I decided on a corner for the crib, and with about an hour of work, I had successfully put it together. I rushed downstairs to straighten up, fired up the grill, and went to work on Valentine's day dinner.

Raina was late getting home by about an hour, and normally I would've been worried, but I noticed the gift bag in her hands when she came in, so I kept my mouth shut. I greeted Ashe with a hug and Raina with a kiss, presenting them their stuffies. Ashe quickly named his Monkey Mouse, and Raina laughed wildly at the ridiculous size of her Teddy bear. I asked her if she wanted me to take it upstairs to the nursery, and she happily agreed, saying we'd sit it in the corner.

She followed me up, walking in the nursery and stopping in her tracks. "BAAAAABE!" She shouted, giving the crib a once-over, then turning to me with tears streaming down her face. "I love it." She whispered, and I gave her a hug. "I'm glad you do. I spent a lot of time picking it out." I admitted, and she gave me a kiss. It shot electricity though me, making my hair stand up on my arms. I hoped and prayed the way we felt about each other lasted like this forever.

Ashe came to see what all the commotion was about, and when he saw the crib, he got kind of sad. "What's wrong, big guy?" I bent down, picking him up. "I want the baby to sleep in my room!" He pouted, arms crossed over his chest. Raina and I chuckled in unison. "You won't feel that way for long, the baby will probably cry a lot, like you did." Raina teased, and he scrunched his face up in a wild grin. "That's ok, I'll let him watch Mickey Mouse with me and he won't cry anymore!" Ashe insisted, and I ruffled his hair, sitting him back down on his feet. "You're gonna be a great big brother, Ashe." I stated, and he went smug. "I know!"

Raina helped me with dinner, and normally I would have fussed, but she seemed so happy, I just didn't want to ruin it. So she peeled potatoes, and after that she decided she wanted to make a dessert, so she left the grilling up to me and set to work on a banana pudding. Shortly into firing up the grill, I got a call from Justin. "Sup, Justy?" I questioned, seasoning the steaks just a pinch more before placing them on the grill racks.

"Not shit, Clay and I got you guys something. You busy?" I quickly invited them over, knowing for a fact that we'd have more than enough food for them, and it had been a long time since we'd all hung out. We had steaks, chicken, ribs, all the good stuff. "Come on over, I'm making dinner." I said, and they quickly agreed, so as soon as I was off the phone with them, I sent a group text to everyone inviting them.

Jess, Justin, Clay and Jeff were the first to arrive, the four of them riding together in Clay's car. Raina was ecstatic to see everyone, Ashe and I were too. Jeff and Ashe were throwing ball in the yard, Jess and Clay were helping me make food. Raina and Jess were looking at baby stuff online. Zach, Tyler and Alex showed up a little later. Alex had brought Raina and Ashe chocolates, and Tyler had brought her flowers. She was crying, which she did a lot of lately.

Tyler approached me at the grill, and I think he halfway expected me to be mad that he'd brought Raina flowers. "I only did it because she's always been good to us. She's one of the best friends I've ever had. I've learned a lot from her," Tyler explained, and I reassured him that I wasn't mad. Tyler looked relieved. "I should have asked you first. I just wanted to show her we appreciated her." I looked in the direction I heard her voice coming from. "Nah, dude. It's fine. She made our lives a lot better, huh?" I mumbled, and Tyler nodded vigorously. "She's made senior year a blast. I'll be sad when it's over. But, I'm not going far... Community college. Are you going to go?" Tyler questioned, and I shrugged.

"I might eventually go to a trade school. I'm not really good at anything." I admitted, and Tyler nodded. "Me either. Just stupid photography stuff. I was meaning to ask... Do you think Raina would let me take maternity pictures of her?" I shrugged. "I'd be cool with it. You're the best photographer we know," I chuckled, and he blushed. "I think pregnancy is so weird. It's like, one second there's nothing and then, bam! A life. It's incredible." Tyler stated, and I brushed my hands off on my pants. "You're right, it is awesome. We made a life."

I excused myself long enough to pop in the house and give Raina a kiss. She kissed me back eagerly, and when our lips separated, I bent down and gave her belly a kiss. "Love you so much, baby." I whispered, giving Raina a hug and making my way back towards the patio. When I looked back at her, she was smiling ear to ear.