pretty baby // h.s

16 | unexpected.

a.

violet walked with me after school had ended. her house was along the way to papa's, so it didn't really matter if we walked together or not. it was a friday afternoon and i was excited yet nervous to go back to the city again.

momma and collins had a small fight when she came back on sunday. he didn't think i was ready to go back on my own, but momma trusted me and her word was final. she was, after all, the parent of the house. so collins shut his mouth and sulked around the house for the past week.

"how's evan?" i asked her casually.

"he's good. working, as always, so i don't get to see him often. but on the weekends when i'm suppose to be at the library, i go see him instead," she said, a smile growing on her lips.

"your parents still don't know, huh?" i teased.

she sighed and shook her head, "no, i haven't told them yet. you know how they are, they want a respectable man with a nine-to-five job and a good future, not a school dropout who fixes cars for a living."

"i mean, the automobile industry is doing good so far. my dad still has his job at the factory, welding and making parts for cars," i said, hoping to reassure her.

"i guess you're right. but i just don't want my parents to freak him with the 'm' word, you know," she said, putting emphasis on the letter m.

my eyes widen slightly and i put my hand over my mouth in shock. i couldn't believe was i was hearing!

"marriage? really? they want to marry you off to somebody?" i said quietly.

i looked around, even though we were the only ones on the road. houses weren't very close to one another, but i still had to make sure that we were alone.

"i mean not really? i'm still fairly young. but if i were to want to date someone, my parents would want us to marry eventually. my dad doesn't trust any boys unless they agree to marry me," she said, rolling her eyes at the last part.

"oh my goodness, i thought you meant that they wanted to marry you off right now!" i let out a sigh of relief.

"oh my god—auriella! of course not! they're not that desperate to get rid of me," she then proceeded to playfully hit me on the arm.

we had a good laugh. it was way too soon to be talking about marriage right now. and then for a moment, i thought about marrying harry—but only for a moment.

"i'm sure my mother would want me to stay for a while to help look after the baby she's having." violet carried on, bringing me out of my head before i could think more on that marriage thought.

"i wonder what she'll have," i pondered aloud.

"she thinks it's gonna be a boy, since her stomach is hanging low. plus she says she's more sick than she was with me."

"that's so exciting, i just love babies," i responded happily.

there was a warm breeze and i instantly smiled. it was just another reminder that spring would end in the coming weeks and that summer would come.

i loved summer, my family and i would take a bus to the neighbouring city to visit my grandparents. we all went—even papa—and we'd have such a great time. we never missed a year and all of us went. it felt like we were a normal family for short while.

i looked over at violet and thought about her family. she was an only child so far, but her mother was pregnant with a baby. i always thought that they were the perfect family, but she had confided in me that her father had an affair last year. they thought that perhaps having a baby could save their marriage, but only time can tell.