Not up to Me, Not up to You

“So Jimmy’s going with you?” Gena asked Kelly as the two sat at the salon’s reception desk.

“Yep.” Kelly said simply taking a sip of her smoothie.

“I’m not sitting in that class with those two glaring at each other or bickering at each other. If they can’t act like grown ups around each other then”

“Then you’re going to take Jimmy, who’s the biggest kid I know” Gena laughed. Kelly scowled at her. She hadn’t thought of that. Was it such a good idea to take Jimmy to Lamaze classes?

“I hadn’t thought of that.” She mumbled, thoughtfully taking another sip of her smoothie.

“At least he’ll keep me amused. The other two will just get on my nerves, get my blood pressure up.” She said and Gena nodded taking a sip of her Frappuchino.

“So what did Brian and Matt say when you told them?” Gena asked.

“They both tried to argue with me but it didn’t last long. I told them both that Jimmy would be my birth partner until they could grow up.” Kelly explained.

“Do you think they’ll ever be ok around each other?” Gena asked. Kelly looked up at her and shrugged her shoulders.

“I really don’t know. Hopefully they’ll sort things out soon, for the sake of the baby if nothing else.” She said half heartedly.

Gena smiled over at her and nodded. “They will.” She whispered, although she didn’t sound too sure.

“Good Afternoon my beautiful ladies” Jimmy cheered loudly as he skipped in through the salon door. Both Kelly and Gena looked up at him and smiled uncontrollably at his enthusiasm.

“Your birth partner is here!” Jimmy added with a little jump, placing his fists onto his hips and sticking out his chest in a superman style pose. Kelly almost coked on her smoothie as she began to laugh hysterically at him.

“Is it ok if I go?” Kelly asked Gena once she’d stopped laughing.

“Yeah, you go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Gena replied.

“Damn this chair!” Kelly muttered as she tried to get up. “Jimmy, give me a hand please.” She asked holding out both her hands for him to help.

“Note to self, hire fork-lift.” Jimmy said once Kelly was standing.

“Don’t you start” Kelly warned pointing her finger. “I don’t want to go to these classes on my own and it’s too late to find anyone else.” She added with a glare in Jimmy’s direction. He held his hands up as a gesture of peace and followed her out to his car.

“Good afternoon moms and birth partners.” The cheerful Lamaze class lady said as Kelly sat cross-legged on the floor with Jimmy behind her rubbing her shoulders.

“Now, we have a few new faces here today, so for those of you who don’t know me I’m Emma.” She said looking over to Kelly with a wide smile.

“Now then let’s see, is Danielle here?” she asked looking around the room at the new faces. A small blonde woman waved her hand and smiled.

“Good afternoon Danielle. And who’s your birth partner?” Emma asked still not loosing the smile.

“Hi, this is Justin, my fiancé.” She replied pointing back at the smartly dressed man smiling behind her.

“Nice to meet you Justin. Tell us, you’re having twins?” Emma asked and Danielle nodded placing her hands onto her large, swollen stomach. Kelly’s eyes widened.

“And I thought I was big?” she whispered quietly to Jimmy who nodded.

“Oh, congratulations. Do you know what you’re having?” Emma asked and Danielle shook her head.

“We want a surprise.” She smiled back and Emma nodded, looking back at her list.

“Um, Let’s see, where’s Kelly?” she asked and Kelly looked up at her at the sound of her name.

“Good afternoon Kelly, and who is your birth partner?” she asked looking passed her at Jimmy.

“This is my best friend Jimmy.” Kelly said smiling.

“Not the father?” Emma asked.

“No, that’s me.” everybody’s heads snapped up towards the doorway, where Matt was stood with Brian beside him. Kelly smiled briefly before she realised that everyone had switched their attention to her as they walked across to where she was sat.

Everyone was watching, eagerly anticipating an explanation. Kelly sighed and looked around the room before settling on Emma.

“It’s a long, complicated story, but end of it is, Matt’s the father, Brian’s my boyfriend and Jimmy’s my best friend.” Kelly explained knowing that she was blushing slightly.

“Out of the way then Jim, I’ll take over.” Matt said quietly.

“No, Jimmy’s staying, you two can sit and watch.” Kelly said sternly.

“But, I’m”

“But nothing. Jimmy’s my partner today.” Kelly replied smiling up at Matt.

“You two could partner each other if you like, you’ll get a better understanding if you join in.” Emma piped in. Kelly smiled broadly at the suggestion as both Matt and Brian paled.

“That sounds like a good idea. This way all three of you will know what to do when the time comes.” Kelly replied cheerfully. Both boys gave Kelly a glare as Jimmy struggled to control his laughter behind her. Brian and Matt looked at each other.

“I’m being the dude” Brian blurted out and Matt began to shake his head frantically.

Emma shrugged her shoulders and looked around for the next new couple.

“Dude, I’m the father, you can be the mom.” Matt retorted.

“No way, I’m the” Brian began to argue back.

“Will you two quit it? Whoever’s the dude this week will be the mom next week, ok?” Kelly hissed.

“Next week?” Matt questioned.

“Yeah, we’ve got a couple of weeks of these classes, so next week, you can all have a swap around.” Kelly smiled.

Brian and Matt looked at each other and crossed their arms across their chests, pouting at each other.

“Ok, are we all ready to begin?” Emma asked looking over at them.

“Brian! Mom!” Kelly hissed pointing down at the floor. Brian glared at her as Matt gave out a chuckle. Kelly glared back and then at Matt as he mumbled “Under the thumb” as Brian sat down cross-legged next to her.

“Quit it Sanders. Mom needs a back rub.” She glared, causing Matt to sit down behind Brian, who flexed his shoulder muscles ready for his massage. Kelly smiled and let a small giggle pass her lips as she heard the other moms and birth partners giggle quietly to themselves.

“Ok, now let’s start.” Emma began.

The class went on for about an hour, at the end of which all the moms were helped up from the floor by their birth partners, followed by a mad rush for the bathroom.

“So how come you two turned up?” Kelly asked Brian as he drove the two of them home.

“Well, I knew how important it was to you to have the both of us there, and how upset you’ve been because Matt and I have been bickering at each other, so I decided to try and sort it out with him.” Brian began, glancing over to see Kelly smiling broadly at him.

“Really?”

“Yeah, so I went over to the bar to talk to him and we agreed to be grown up about things for your sake and for the baby.” Brian added.

Kelly adjusted herself in the seat and leant of and kissed Brian on the cheek.

“I love you.” she smiled as they pulled up outside the house.

“I love you too.” he replied kissing her briefly before getting out of the car.

“Do you fancy take-out tonight?” he asked as he let them into the house.

“Mmm, yeah that sounds great.” She replied lazily as they walked into the house.

“Chinese?” Brian asked and Kelly nodded.

“Go get comfy, I’ll grab the menu.” He said pointing towards the sofa. Kelly obeyed, kicked off her shoes and led down on the sofa as comfortably as the baby would allow her. He immediately began to kick, sensing that she was resting. She gazed at her stomach as she realised that she could visibly see the kicks now.

“Wow, Jimmy’s mom must have been telling the truth.” Kelly yelled just as Brian sat down on the floor beside her.

“Hey? What are you on about?” Brian asked confused.

“Watch, he may not do it again but it was freaky.” Kelly said lifting up her top to expose her stomach for a better view.

“But what’s Jimmy’s mom got to do with whatever it is you’re showing me?” Brian asked staring at her stomach.

“She used to tell me and Jimmy when we were kids, that when she was expecting Jimmy,” she began slowly as the baby kicked again.

“I saw that!” Brian yelled, looking up at Kelly with a huge smile on his face.

“Wait. Watch.” She said quietly pointing at her large bump.

“Jimmy’s mom said that she knew he was going to be a long baby because, in the last month or two, whenever he kicked her, if he was in the right position, she would see the shape of his foot sticking out of her stomach.” She concluded as Brian’s eyes grew wider as he continued to watch for movement.

“Me and Jimmy always thought that she was just crazy and made it up to freak us out, but” she paused as she felt another kick.

“But, he just did the same thing I saw his FOOT” she scream as the shape of a tiny foot was made as the skin of her swollen stomach was stretched with another kick.

“Oh my god, that is fucking freaky!” Brian yelled, still glaring at the spot.

“Quick grab my phone, I’ve got to tell Jimmy.” Kelly yelled.