New on the block

Ruby and Olivia

December 28th: 9:00 am
Ruby's POV:
Olivia's been distant lately so I decided I'd do something special for her today. "Good morning." She says when I walk into the kitchen. "So I was thinking we could go look at stuff for the baby today." I suggest. "Seriously?" She asks. "Yeah, we can't exactly use the twins stuff because all their stuff was my stuff which was Mario's stuff." I ramble. "Sounds great, you want to go at like ten?" She asks. "Yeah, it's a date. I mean it's not a date but it's um... you know what I mean." I stumble over my words and she laughs. "Yeah, I know what you mean." She walks out of the kitchen. "That was hard to watch." Abuelita laughs. I walk over and sit next to her at the table. "I just know how to talk to her anymore." I shrug. "I can tell I have ears... and eyes... actually now that I think about it I could probably tell even if I couldn't see or hear." Abuelita says honestly. "I get it! I'm bad at talking to Olivia. I made it awkward when it didn't need to be." I huff. "It wasn't that bad, she still loves you." She goes back to writing something down. "How can you tell?" I ask. "You broke up two days ago." She says. "But how do you know she's still in love with me?" I ask. "I don't. Loving someone and being in love with someone aren't the same thing." I guess she's right. I take a shower and think about how dumb I was to dump Olivia. "Ready to go?" I ask once I'm done changing. "Yeah, Latrelle said he'd drive us. I hope you don't mind I invited him." I clench my first but I keep smiling. "Of course I don't mind." I lie. "Great, he should be here in a few minutes." She says. When Latrelle pulls up to my house I take in a deep breath and try not to scream. "Ruby you can sit in the back, you'll have a lot of room." Latrelle says. "Wow a short joke, nice." Olivia hisses at Latrelle. We get in the car and Latrelle drives us to the store. "Ok so I think for now we should just get the essentials. We need to save money." Olivia says. "Nah, grab whatever you want all the money I got is for my son." Latrelle grabs a shopping cart and I'm fuming. "Yeah, don't worry about it I have... savings." I say, referring to the rollerworld money. "What did the tooth fairy bring you enough to support a baby?" Latrelle asks. "What's your problem? I'm just trying to be helpful." I need to be the bigger person. "We don't need your help." Latrelle laughs. "Guys stop it." Olivia begs. "I'm not the one who's doing anything. All I've done is be nice and supportive." I complain. "Yeah, so supportive that she had to call me crying? She kissed me yesterday how much do you really think she wants you?" Latrelle says.

Olivia's POV:
How could he? I didn't want anyone to know. "I was emotional, it was a moment of weakness. Now can we please just go back to looking for things for my son?" I say quickly. "We can talk about this later." Ruby says as he looks at me. "Ok so first, we need a car seat." I say, trying to change the subject. "Only one right, you don't want your baby in his car." Ruby says. "Why not?" I ask. "Do you think he'll be safe if he's in Latrelle's car? Who else in Freeridge drives a bright green car?" Ruby asks. "My grandma has a car, I can put the car seat there." Latrelle points out. "See, he'll be in a safe car. Plus Latrelle needs one for when the baby's alone with him." I say. "Why would the baby ever need to be alone with him?" Ruby needs to calm down. "Because I get to be alone with my son." Latrelle sounds pissed. "Ok enough! If you two don't stop fighting I'm leaving. This is the first time I'm buying anything for my baby I should be happy right now!" I tell them. "One of you find someone who works here because I have no idea what to buy." I say as I take a deep breath. "I got it." Ruby says. "Wait. Neither of you has to be in the baby's life, you both chose to. If you want out say it now because my son doesn't need this." I say and they both stay silent. "I'll go find someone who works here." Ruby says. "Please take it easy on Ruby, this can't be easy on him." I say to Latrelle. "I get it but he's trying to take my place." Latrelle says. "What do you mean?" I ask. "He's trying to be my son's dad." Latrelle actually sounds upset. "He's not trying to do anything except be a good friend. We broke up but he's still my best friend." I explain. "I just don't have a lot going for me other than this kid. It sounds stupid but I don't know but it gave me a reason to stay. To talk to the only friends I've had that weren't prophets." Is he being serious right now? "What are you talking about?" I ask. "The Prophets won't talk to me." He admits. "Hi, your friend here says you need some help picking a car seat." Ruby and an employee walk down the isle towards us. "We're going to talk about this later." I tell Latrelle. "Yeah, we don't need anything fancy just something reliable and safe." I say. He points out a few options. "Green for sure." Latrelle laughs. "Typical." Ruby mumbles. I know he's in a bad mood and I get it but neither of them needs to start stuff. "Our son is gonna drown in green." I laugh. "Not just the color. I'm making as much money as I can mama." Latrelle smiles. "How exactly do you make money?" Ruby asks. I want to argue with Ruby about asking such a straight forward question but I'm curious too. "I got a job at the car wash and Dwayne offered me a job... I turned it down because I thought it'd make everyone uncomfortable." Latrelle says. "That still doesn't sound like enough support a kid." Ruby says. "Its all about the hustle." Latrelle shrugs. "Well however you're getting the money I'm thankful for it." I say in an attempt to end the conversation. "Yeah, if this kid's anything like his dad he's gonna have expensive taste." Latrelle puts his hand on my stomach and I flinch. It's the first time anyone's touched my stomach like that.