In The Long Run

In The Long Run (12)

It's been five months in counting, not that I'm complaining or anything, but it was now very clear to anyone with eyes that I was pregnant. You kind of get use to it after the 58th glare from a complete stranger. When I went shopping with my mom, old ladies would walk past me and scoff or turn their noses up. Don't they know that I have feelings? That maybe I didn't mean for this to happen? Of course they didn't think about that. I was the little slut in the equation, no one ever thought any further than that.

Wayne was getting on with his dad pretty well. He didn't take the news as bad as his mom and stepdad. Hell! I never pictured his mother as the ideal mother in-law anyway, more like the evil queen who would lock me in a tower and feed the key to a dragon that my prince charming would have to slay to get to me.

"Mother in-law." I thought, looking down at the ring on my finger, a smile stretching the length of my face all the way up to my eyes.

I remember Wayne proposing like it was yesterday, it's only been a month after all . . .

We were home alone watching movies while my parents were out. He made the popcorn while I got the living room and movies ready. We snuggled under a blanket together, munching on popcorn. I was concentrating on the movie so hard I didn't look down when I took a handful of popcorn, but I eat it because I felt a hard, cold object on my lip. It was a ring! A beautiful silver ring with a single diamond on top. Classic, yet simple and pretty.

I stared at it for a moment before I looked at Wayne who was grinning at me. He took the ring from me and bent down on one knee in front of me. Every muscle in my body froze. It was really happening! I wasn't dreaming! Wayne was proposing to me!

"Jamie Munroe, you are the love of my life and there is nothing in this world I want more than to spend eternity with you. So here's the million dollar question . . .

Will you marry me?" I just loved that memory!

I said yes of course, why else would I be sitting here staring at the ring. We agreed that we're getting married right after we finish high school. We'll go to college as a married couple. That will most definitely be an adventure. My mom offered to take care of the baby when we were at school or work and Liz proclaimed herself the godmother. I was going to make her the godmother anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

It was weird. Every day the reality became clearer and clearer. In four months' time I would involuntarily wet myself, be rushed off to a hospital, go through severe pain for who knows how many hours, while poor Wayne has to stand by and witness it, practically having a heart attack because he doesn't know what to do, he might even faint, but after all the drama and anxiety . . .. We would be parents . . . . I would be a mother.

It was scary. You can't help but wonder and worry whether you'll be a good parent or not. We're still young, it's not like we're ready to have kids and start a family yet, but we don't have much of a choice. It's just all happening so fast and I feel like, for the first time in my life, I can't keep up. Like everyone's running past me so fast that I might get lost or take too long to catch up with them, if I ever catch up with them at all.

Liz, Curly and I were shopping. Not that I have great love for the all time favorite female past time, but they forced me to pick out all kinds of baby stuff. Clothes, shoes, toys, little baby socks (Which were so cute!), pacifiers, bottles, etc. I didn't like it at all, except the socks. Seriously, they looked like shoes. How could you not like them? Liz picked out a little café for us to take a break and have lunch. I flopped down in the chair, exhausted. This kid was really weighing me down. Liz looked at me and sighed. I was kind of giving them a hard time with this. It wasn't my fault! I never wanted to come! But they insisted I do.

"What about little teddy bears on the invitations, with maybe like a 3D look to it?" Curly said.

"That would be cute. Or we could find out what it is and use a doll or a football or something." Liz suggested.

"What are you guys talking about?" I interjected.

"Your baby shower, silly." Curly answered. "We're discussing what the invitations should look like. Are you going to find out what it is? We'd like to plan around the sex of the baby; it'd kind of be easier that way."

"Well, that's not happening. We've decided to wait till it's born to find out. A special surprise."

"Okay, so we'll keep the shower's colors neutral, like yellows, greens and nothing gender specific." Liz suggested.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll just show up, you guys can handle the rest." I said, leaning back in my seat.

"Great!" Curly exclaimed with a huge smile. She and Liz were right back to planning.

I was really tired, but the two kept dragging me with them. We probably covered every mall in the city in like six hours, because it was dark by the time we headed home. Liz dropped Curly off and took the long way home.

"Have you guys thought of names yet?" she asked out of nowhere.

"No, we've kind of just talked about where we'll live and how things will work while we finish school."

"Do you have any ideas yet?"

"Yeah, I mean, there are a few names that I like, but Wayne and I haven't talked about it."

"And? What are they?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"I want to know what my niece or nephew's name will be."

"I kind of like the name Emma, Sarah and Chloe sound cute too. I like Chase, but I also like Drake and Ryan."

"Those sound cool."

"I guess, but I don't know what Wayne will say."

"I'm sure he'll like them. You two are obviously going to discuss names together, so the chances are you're going to work out a name together."

"Yeah, I guess, but what if we can't decide on any names together."

"Then I'll decide for you!"

I laughed at that. We stopped for a red traffic light and I noticed how quiet it was on this road. We were standing at a pretty big intersection, but in the time we waited for the light to change only two cars drove by.

"How does it feel?" Liz suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"How does what feel?"

"You know the idea of being a mom?"

"Oh, well... scary actually, but at the same time really exciting."

Liz looked deep in thought. "I don't want to make you feel bad or anything, but I really didn't expect you to get pregnant so early."

"I know." I said with a sigh. "Nobody did, not even me."

"Its okay sis, what other people think of you only keeps you from doing what you really should. Life is too short to live according to other people's expectations."

The light turned green and I felt the car move forward. I looked at Liz, but a pair of heavy bright headlights blinded me. Everything was black before I even knew what happened.