"More balloons!" Julian demands.
Strella, Esme, Naomi and I are sitting in front on the floor blowing blue balloons for Julian's and Strella's mini birthday party. Strella's birthday was yesterday and Julian's is today. Tomorrow is Naomi's birthday, too. Way too many birthdays. Julian invited Amari and Matthew for some cake and a few games mom has planned out. Zamari should bring Amari soon so he's another guest. Strella invited Adrian and her friend Kayla, and Naomi has Esme, Zamari and I. So overall it's a mini party.
"Julian, we're trying! Now go change before your friends come over," I say. He's in his pajama pants and a white t-shirt. He groans and wobbles to his room.
I laugh at his weird walk. I've been ready, with a mustard yellow long sleeve and some an old pair of jeans. I've managed to have my hair full of volume today and my tiny curls actually stay in form. Strella blows 2 balloons every 20 minutes, trying to give her and her baby's air to a balloon isn't her favorite thing to do.
"No sweet 16 this year, Strella?" Esme asks.
Strella raises her brow and looks down at her bowl like belly. "Bet. Give me a dress and we'll make it work. I'm sure our 7 guests will enjoy that." She teases and we laugh.
"You still don't know the gender?" Naomi asks.
"Not yet. We went for a checkup a couple of weeks ago but it was only to check my blood levels and a physical. They're going to do another ultrasound in like 2 weeks and we should know the gender by then,"
"Oh my God, you should do a gender reveal party!" Naomi pounces on Strella. Strella hugs her belly to protect it from Naomi's weight on her.
"Geez, Naomi, keep acting as if I'm not pregnant!" Strella teases and Esme and I laugh.
"I don't know. This whole thing isn't exactly the way I would have imagined spending my sophomore year to be like, and I don't want to glorify teen pregnancy. This high key sucks. The Kardashian's made this look so easy, but it's definitely not! I just want the baby in my arms already." She responds.
"I mean it is not the best part of your life, but maybe celebrating it just a second would make you feel a little better. Plus it'll be fun! You've seen all the cute posts on Instagram. You'll feel like a normal pregnant person," I suggest.
"Wow, 'normal pregnant person.' I like it," She says and lets out a laugh. "Alright, if we can make it happen, then we'll do it." She says smiling.
"And you haven't felt a kick?" Esme asks.
"No, I feel flutters but it's not like kick kick. The doctor told me some first-time moms start feeling kick by the time they are 25 weeks. I just turned 25 weeks yesterday so we'll see how this goes," she says rubbing her belly.
"How big is the baby?" Naomi asks.
"I read that he or she is around the size of a cauliflower, so around this big," she demonstrates with her hands. She makes a medium circle with her hands and it surprises Naomi and Esme.
"That's all? I thought it'd be bigger," Naomi says.
"I thought so too," Strella laughs. "But most of the excess skin is at to protect the uterus, the placenta, and some other pregnancy crap." She shrugs.
"That's so cool," Esme says.
We continue blowing balloons until we hear the doorbell ring. I open to Zamari and Amari beaming with a small gift box and a balloon.
"The dollar store really does wonders," Zamari comments and I laugh.
I let them in and we all sit on the floor and blow more balloons. Not that long after Matthew shows up and so does Adrian and Kayla. The house is semi packed but we manage to make room.
"Strella seems to be doing good," Zamari says to me.
We are chilling on the two-person couch hitting each other with balloons and letting my hair get elastic.
"She's doing pretty good. I was actually going to tell you that she might finally find out the gender of the baby and might do a mini gender reveal party," I exclaim.
"That's cool. When is she finding out?"
"I think her appointment is February 8th," I say.
"Hey, that's my birthday," he mentions.
"Is it really? Then you should be in charge of knowing the gender of the baby," I tease.
"That actually sounds like a dope gift. Imma taunt you guys until the actual party," he says and I playfully smack him with the balloon.
"Sooner or later I'm not going to be able to sit right," Strella complains falling backward on the couch next to us. Adrian brings her a cup of water and sits down next to her.
"Oh, Zamari this is Adrian, my boyfriend. Adrian this is Zamari, Ana's friend," she introduces them and they smack each other's hands.
"Yeah, I've seen you around. You're on the baseball team right?" Zamari mentions.
"Yep,"
"You're pretty good..." and they start talking about baseball.
I turn to Strella and try to start a new conversation. "So, Zamari gave me an idea." I start.
"About?" Strella asks taking a sip of water.
"So you know how you might have a gender reveal party? Well, the day you have the appointment is Zamari' birthday. He suggested for his birthday present he could be in charge of knowing the gender and plan the actual reveal," I finish.
"That's actually such a good idea! Adrian and I were talking and we were thinking of maybe having the party a week after because Valentine's day is coming up, we can do it on that day," she smiles and rubs her belly.
"I love it!" I say and we start gushing.
While mom puts the kids some games to play, we sit and talk and eventually Esme and Naomi join us.
"How's Jade doing?" Esme asks.
"She's doing pretty good. She actually comes home tomorrow," he mentions and we all shriek of happiness.
"That's great news, Zamari!" I exclaim and he smiles and says thank you to everyone.
"Ya vengan a cortar el pastel!" It's some to cut the cake. Mom calls us from the kitchen. We all get up in a hurry and squish our way into the tiny room and surround the table.
Mom puts a hat on Jullian, Strella, and Naomi and moves them behind the cake. We all gather around and start singing "Happy Birthday". I pull out my phone and start taking pictures. But all of a sudden Estrella's face furrows a bit and she looks down at her belly. I look at her and she leans back to grab my mom's arm. I move closer to her and everyone stops singing. Adrian rushes to her side and grabs her shoulder.
"Strella, what's wrong?" I ask.
"Hold on. Here," She puts my hand on her belly. I wait for a few seconds. A few minutes. Until, there, a little thump hit my palm and I look up and a huge grin pops on my face. Mom pushes me away and starts to touch her belly and so does Adrian. Then the kids swarm around her and try to get a feel too.
"First kick?" Zamari calls?
"Yep!" I say and give him 2 thumbs up.
"Woooh!" Esme calls out and I laugh.
Naomi jumps out of her seat and moves over to where I'm standing.
"Well this is nice, let's cut the cake, I'll take the big piece, and then leave a tiny piece for the rest of y'all," she jokes and we laugh.
We cut some pieces of the cake while everyone is mounting on top of Strella trying to feel a kick. Apparently, peanut only kicked for me, Adrian, and mom. Everyone else peanut grew shy with.
"I'll let you guys know when I feel it again," Strella says while laughing.
She looks over at me and smiles. That's another milestone, four more months to go.
YOU ARE READING
Salted Wound
Teen FictionAnastacia Flores doesn't live a perfect life, but she pushes herself into her education to have a bright future and become a teacher. She is loved and supported by her family, her boyfriend, Luis, and her best friends. Zamari Sabian is a deviant wh...
