Pregnant | F.W.

27.

Amelia and I sat in her living room, painting our nails. My baby
shower was only days away, and we had decided to unwind at her place. We had some music playing in the background while all of our favourite snacks were laid out across the coffee table. However, I needed to wait for my fingernails to dry before reaching for any.

"How did you finish so quickly?" Amelia asked.

Amelia's toes were done and she was just getting started on her fingernails. I simply shrugged in response.

"You have complicated designs," she added, "yet managed to finish before me."

"I guess you could say nail art is my specialty."

"Art, in general, is your specialty."

I nodded in agreement.

"Finn is an actor and singer then you're an interior designer; your baby is gonna be good at every form of art."

"Yes, she will."

Amelia and I stared at each other with wide eyes, however, it was for different reasons. Her facial expression came from excitement and mine was caused by the realization that I slipped up.

"Oh shit," I mumbled.

She bounced up and down, squealing with excitement.

"Oh my god, a girl? Thank you, God! We're gonna have so much fun with her."

"I can't wait."

Suddenly Amelia gagged and placed her hand over her mouth.

"Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," she nodded, "I think it's the seafood I had earlier. It tasted kinda weird."

I let out a laugh and so did Amelia because we both knew how ridiculous she was.

"And you still ate it?"

"Duh, I was hungry."

I shook my head with a chuckle.

"You wanna know what I'm most excited for?"

"What?" I questioned.

"For me to have children of my own then our kids would all become great friends."

"I like the sound of that."

~

A week had almost passed since Amelia's death. I had spent most of it in bed, reminiscing on the times we had. Although we were close for a short amount of time, we have known each other our whole lives. Therefore, I could not wrap my head around the fact that she was gone; and I don't believe I ever will.

The police told Finn they were doing an ongoing investigation. Out of us two, he was the one keeping in touch with one of the investigators, Officer Stefan, on Amelia's case. The two have been meeting anywhere but our place. He thought it was too much for me to handle, however, Amelia was my friend. I had every right to know the details.

A purple box with a white bow on the lid sat across from me in a corner of the room. That is where it has been for the past few days. Inside was Amelia's gift and I could not bring myself to open it. My eyes travelled towards the window and stopped at the spot where we found Amelia. Tears formed at the brim of my eyes as images of my best friend lying in her blood flooded my mind. Amelia's death was my fault. She went outside alone to bring my shower gift. If it hadn't been for me, Amelia would have still been here.

The door swung open and Finn entered, carrying a plate with two sandwiches on it.

"I'm not hungry."

"Angel, you have to eat something," he sighed.

"I said I'm not hungry."

Finn placed the plate on my lap and sat next to me.

"Look, I understand the past couple of days has been tough on you with everything that happened. At the same time, you can't refuse to eat."

I remained in the same position without moving or answering.

"It's bad for our baby."

Finn was right. The doctor told me not to go more than three hours without eating. It was a quarter past four, the last time I ate was in the morning. I picked up a sandwich and took a bite.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

Finn planted a kiss on my forehead before standing up and going back to whatever he was doing. Since Amelia's death, he has been giving me lots of space. Maybe it was because I had been distant since then.

Once I finished the sandwiches, I set the plate on the nightstand. My eyes darted at Amelia's gift for the millionth time today. I spent the next minute going back and forth with myself until I finally decided to open it.

I grabbed the gift from the corner of the room and placed it on the bed. I removed the lid to find a colouring book. Beneath it was a pack of crayons, a doodle board, and some washable markers. Finally, I reached a folded card at the bottom of the box. "Open after the shower" was printed on the cover. I began reading the contents.

Hey, you two! I know that you hope she grows up loving the arts just like mom and dad, so we have to make sure that she develops that interest early.

P.S. I didn't wanna share this during the shower, because I couldn't steal the attention at a celebration about you. But Aida, remember when we had that talk about our kids becoming friends in the future? That's gonna happen sooner than you think ;) -Amelia

I flipped the card around to the backside to find a small picture of a positive pregnancy test.