Two Pink Lines

24

"Al? You ready to go?" FP asks, the question followed by a knock on her bedroom door. She had gone upstairs to get dressed so she could accompany him to the grocery store, that was over twenty minutes ago.

"Uh, almost. Five minutes?" She manages out, her voice sounding stressed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," she answers unconvincingly. "No." She opens the door enough to peak her head out. "I can't get my jeans done up."

"Do you want help?" She glares at him. "What?" He asks innocently.

"How do you expect to help, FP? It's not like the zipper is broken, I'm getting fat and none of my clothes fit anymore."

"You're not fat, Alice."

"Really? Because I feel like a whale. Damn you for catering to my cravings." She huffs, stalking off to the bed and flipping down on it with a sigh.

He laughs, walking towards the closet. "I'm sorry, next time you want cheese fries I'll give you celery instead, how's that?"

She flicks her eyes to him immediately. "Well let's not get crazy here."

He shoots her a smile, and starts rifling through her closet. He a pair of jeans at the back, and tests the stretch factor on them. "What about these?"

"I guess those will work. I hate them though."

He gives her a small smile and hands her the jeans, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Tell you what? Why don't we stop at the mall before we get groceries and we'll get you some new clothes."

Her eyes light up. "Really? You'll come shopping with me?"

"Of course."

She grins, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. "Maybe I'll buy a little something special for your eyes only."

He smiles devilishly, pulling her closer. "Well if you insist." He drops a kiss to her lips and then gives her backside a light tap with his palm. "Alright, I'll meet you downstairs. Yell if you need me."

•

The curtain of the dressing room being yanked open startled FP, and he yanks his hand out of the bag on the floor by his feet. It's from the lingerie store, and she had distinctly told him he was not to see what she bought, as she wants it to be a surprise. "Okay, what do you-" she pauses when she notices the guilty look on his face. "Did you peek?"

He blushes. "No."

She narrows her eyes at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "Forsythe."

"I didn't! I swear. I'm very tempted though. I like that one."

"You do?" She drops the topic almost immediately, looking towards the mirror to admire the blouse she picked out. "It's not too obvious that I'm hiding my baby belly?" There's an over abundance of ruffles on the top and while logically, she knows no one will think much of it, there's still a part of her that worries.

"I don't think so." He answers. "Can you try on the one I picked?"

"Yes," she walks over to him and picks up the lingerie bag from the floor. "But I'm taking this with me."

"What? Do you have no trust in me?"

"Nope." She smirks at him and pulls the curtain closed again.

He chuckles and leans against the wall. Shopping isn't as boring as he had expected, but then again any time he's with Alice he's much too mesmerized by her to be bored.

She opens up the curtain again and his eyes light up. He picked out a baby blue coloured dress that clings to her body and highlights her bump so flatteringly. "Oh wow." He breathes out.

"My thoughts exactly." She smiles at her reflection in the mirror, turning to the side to admire her bump. "I didn't think I'd like it since it's so form fitting but I actually love it."

"I love it too." He walks up behind her, resting his hands on her stomach. "Hey little one. I can't wait until you get here."

"Well we've still got another five months or so."

"I know but I'm excited."

"I'm excited too." she cups his cheek on her hand and brings him in for a kiss. "Alright, I'm going to go change and then we can pay and go get our groceries." She walks back to the changeroom and is about to close the curtain when FP speaks again.

"If you're not going to show me what you bought, can you at least give me a hint?"

She thinks on it for a moment. "Lace, two piece and white."

"You're killing me."

She smiles. "You asked!"

"You could've lied."

She just shakes her head and pulls the curtain closed enough that just her head is peeking out. "Well you'll see it tonight so hopefully you can hold out until then."

He grins. "I'll do my best."