Sweet Lantern

Chapter 39

Alice

All through lunch the baby is kicking and moving, it feels like there's a dance party going on in my stomach. Jessica and Brittany laugh every time the baby kicks against their hands. It's been weeks now that we've been back in school and every day the girls want to touch my belly, but the guys still won't feel the kicking.

They just think it's too weird. The only one that would even try to feel the kicks was Kevin. He was hesitant at first, not sure what to think about touching my belly, I assumed, but when he felt the first tiny kick, his eyes got wide with amusement and he smiled, trying to feel it again. "That's so... weird, but so... cool, too." He had said, looking from me to Darry and back to my belly. "It's like a tiny little alien is in there or something." He said, at which we all roared with laughter.

After school the guys had football practice, so me and the girls sat on the bleachers and watched them pummel each other. It wasn't too bad as far as weather goes, even though it's the end of August, it was cool enough. I hate to sweat and since I've been pregnant, I get hot easily it seems. But today there's a breeze and the coolness of the wind against the dampness of my skin, feels wonderful.

"So? Have y'all?" Brittany asks me, alerting me to the fact that I've been ignoring the entire conversation, apparently.

"Have we what?" I ask her, embarrassed to have to admit that I wasn't listening to them.

"Have you and Darry thought of names yet?" Jessica asks, obviously annoyed by my lack of involvement.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. We like Dallas for a boy. Daryl and Alice, Dallas... you know. But we haven't really talked about a girl name too much. Darry is adamant that this is a boy. We have an appointment for the ultrasound, so we should find out soon." I tell them, realizing we really need to revisit the girl name discussion.

"Well, you have to have a name for both, cause there's a 50-50 chance, ya know?" Brittany says, smiling and laughing at her own joke.

"I know, I know. I like Maggie or Mellie, personally, but Darry shoots down most of the girl names that I mention."

"Maybe he's just waiting for that perfect name or maybe he really knows it's a boy." Jessica adds, shrugging her shoulders.

I don't know why he is so hung up on it being a boy. It's not that he prefers a boy over a girl, or that's what he's told me anyway. It's just that he honestly, truly feels like it's a boy. He says he'd be ecstatic just the same if it was a girl or a boy, but in his heart, he feels like it's our son in here, not our daughter.

I look out over the field just in time to see Matt tackle Darry, taking the ball from him. They're not even really practicing anymore; they're just being silly and playing around. Joel comes running down the green field and in one fell swoop, he slides in, catching Matt around his knees, bringing him down. Darry's right behind him, reaching down to take the ball, he runs it toward the end of the field and dramatically throws it down, dancing a victory dance.

"These guys", Brittany says, shaking her head as she's watching them on the field. "They're a mess, but they're our mess and I wouldn't have them any other way."

We all smile at our guys and sit back, arms leaned against the bleachers behind us.

"I'm hungry. We need to get them to take us all out for dinner." I suggest, hoping they'll agree. I really need a night out with everyone. It's been awhile since we were all together, just hanging out.

"You're always hungry." Jess says, smiling down at my belly.

"Ohhh, that's a great idea!" Brittany says, jumping to her feet and making her way down the bleachers. When she gets to the edge of the field, she calls the guys over to her, the rest of the team has already packed it in for the day and headed to the showers. "Hey, we're going out to dinner tonight", she informs them all, then looking back at me and Jess she says, "What are you girls in the mood for? Alley?"

Me and Jess look at each other and smile, "Italian!", we both call out to her and laugh.

"Italian it is boys." She says, patting Matt on the chest. "Y'all should probably go get cleaned up first though", she tells them all, reaching up to wipe the hair out of Matt's sweaty face.

She turns back to me and Jessica and saunters over to us, "See girls, that's how it's done." She giggles and sits back down as we watch the guys walk toward the school gym. Darry takes off his helmet and turns to look back over his shoulder at me, a grin across his face. He sees me looking at him and blows me a kiss, making my heart flutter. He's so hot in his uniform and seriously swoon worthy when he's all sweaty, his hair a mess and wet, laying across his forehead.

When the guys are all cleaned up, they come back to the bleachers to get us. "You ladies ready to go to dinner then?" Joel asks, putting his hand out to take Jessica's.

"We need to let Kev know where to meet us, man." Matt tells Darry.

Darry texts Kevin and tells him to meet us at Italian Oven in twenty minutes. Italian Oven is my favorite Italian restaurant. It's only one town over, so it's not far, and they have the best chicken parmigiana. I'm excited when I see where we're going. My belly rumbles and Darry leans down to kiss it, "Hang in there little dude, we're going to feed you now."

He takes my hand and leads me toward the parking lot. I can't help but smile at all of us here together, walking toward our night to just hang out and be kids for a while. Everyone is happy and in love, and all is right with the world. I adore our little group of misfits, our motley crew. These guys and gals have really become my extended family over these past few months and I really love them just like that. I'm thrilled that our baby will have these extra Aunts and Uncles to love him... or her.