South-Side Renascent || c.g.

Repressed

Carl

"Don't even think about it," I said sternly. "I'm carrying everything."

Cailee rolled her eyes and let me gather her belongings. She was discharged from the hospital an hour earlier than expected, so Aubrey hadn't gotten there to pick us up yet.

"She should be here any minute now," Cailee reassured me. I sat her stuff down in the chair next to the door.

A nurse walked into the room with a wheelchair and greeted us both. "You ready to head out?" Cailee nodded and I helped her into the chair. The nurse wheeled her outside of the door and waited for me to grab her bags before we left. Once we got to the lobby, Aubrey called Cailee's phone.

"She's right outside."

The nurse wheeled Cailee to the car and Aubrey got out to help her in. I popped the trunk and put her stuff in before hopping into the backseat with Cailee.

—

We were all back at home and Cailee was upstairs in bed. I'd tucked her in and checked on her a few times. She wasn't out of my sight for too long.

I was watching TV and simultaneously staring at the envelope on the table. The gender of our child was folded up within it, and I was trying my hardest not to rip it the hell open. I tried to focus more on the TV.

My phone buzzed next to me. It was a text from Debbie.

Deb 👩🏻‍🦰🙄
Hey, you guys home yet?

Carl 💩
Yeah, she's in bed
I can't stop staring at this fucking envelope

Deb 👩🏻‍🦰🙄
The sex of the baby?

Carl💩
Yes. It's killing me
I have an idea
What was that boujie little get together you had when you were pregnant with Franny ?

Deb 👩🏻‍🦰🙄
A gender reveal?
cARL YOURE A GENIUS
Ttyl, bye!

I snorted, "Fuckin' weirdo."

After about an hour of watching anything remotely interesting, Debbie called me.

I accepted her call, "Yo."

"Is Cailee around? I don't want her to hear the surprise," Debbie asked.

"She's asleep upstairs," I got up and walked to the kitchen. "And we both know how well it went last time you tried to surprise her." I was recalling the birthday disaster.

"I had already been planning that before we found out you impregnated her, and I wasn't expecting her to just blurt it out."

I scoffed, "So what's the plan this time?"

"First, I'm gonna come get the envelope. Then I'm gonna go to the party store and order a huge balloon that will tell the gender. We get everyone together and do it at our house, boom!"