Behind Classroom Doors II

CXVIII- Safety Blanket

I stare at the ultrasound picture in my hand. I got it at my last doctors appointment. My baby is so small, hardly visible in the picture. She's still a fetus, barely even a baby at all. I didn't think this is where I would be at this point in my life. What's even crazier is, I'm not mad at it. Things might not have gone according to plan but, before I met Shawn, I never even had a plan. I never had the option for a plan.

Now my plans have changed but not necessarily for the worse. I'm happy with Shawn, and despite our circumstances I've always been happy. "I paid a pretty penny for those pictures and you can barely even see her." Shawn says as he looks over my shoulder.

I smile, "Sorry, I had to know if she's really in there."

"You think it's a girl too?" I can hear the happiness in his voice.

Looking up at him I say, "Yeah, I don't know it's just a feeling."

"Me too." Shawn plants a small kiss on my nose before pulling away completely. He places a plate with pancakes, toast, eggs, sausage, and fruit in front of me.

"Um, are you trying to fatten me up so you can cook me later?" I question with a raised eyebrow.

Shawn frowns, "No I-" He pauses, "I see how I could've gone a tad bit overboard here."

I raise my mug filled with coffee, sugar, and cream, "I'm allowed to have a certain amount of caffeine throughout the day and that's this."

"Okay but it shouldn't be your breakfast." Shawn lifts up a piece of toast and hands it to me. I take it and bite into the bread right in front of him. It's really good so I continue eating it. "Maybe some sausage?" He puts a piece up close to my face just like with the toast. This time the smell doesn't agree with me so I drop the toast and rush to the nearest trash can. "No sausage," Shawn says. "Got it."

When I'm done, I groan and rush to the bathroom to brush my teeth before coming back to the kitchen. "I never thought my nose would betray me this much."

Shawn puts the sausage he's cooked in a Tupperware container. "It's to be expected."

I stop, remembering he's done this before. "What was Katherine like?"

Shawn turns to me, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "You don't want to know about that." Then he says, "What about Jenny? You could call her."

"I want to wait a little while longer before telling people. This is still incredibly early." I pick my coffee back up, knowing it won't betray me. "I promise I won't get mad, please tell me."

Finally, he agrees. "Okay well, Katherine was a mess. She cried all of the time, when she wasn't crying she was yelling. She didn't get morning sickness as much, in fact, her appetite increased. Her boobs were always sore and swo-"

"Okay, I get it." He stops talking.

So far, it's not as helpful considering we tend to be different. "I have to get to class." Shawn says, he walks over to me and kisses my forehead. "I'll see you tonight?"

"I'll be here." After Shawn leaves, I pick up the picture and begin staring at it again.

A knock on the door, causes me to jump. I'm not supposed to be here, so I slowly creep up to look through the peephole. It's just Hunter. "Hey." I say, opening the door wide enough for him to enter. "I figured you'd be a lot more hungover after last night." I admit to him, seeing as he looks fresh as a daisy.

"I'm in college, my tolerance is high." I had almost forgotten.

"Clearly." I move to sit down on the sofa, gesturing for Hunter to take a seat across from me. "Is this about last night?"