My Number One Fan

After a quick lunch in the food court, we all went to another store to look for clothes.
“Look at this!” I said, pulling down a light blue T-Shirt with Ed Hardy designs all over it.
“Get it in a bigger size and you can wear it for a while.” Marylyn said, looking at the size I had picked up. I looked for one that was two sizes more than what I wore now, and placed it in the cart.
“I want you to go try these one,” Sara told me as she draped a pair of jeans over the side of the cart. We picked more stuff out, and they lead me to the fitting rooms. I walked in and changed into the jeans my stepmother wanted me to try, and then a random shirt. As I took off my own shirt, however, I noticed something I never really noticed before.
“Sara, can you come here for a minute!” I called through the curtain.
“What’s wrong? Not fitting?” she asked as she walked into the small area with me. I was hiding my stomach in the corner, so I shook my head as a reply.
“It’s not that, I was just wanting to know if this is what I think it is,” I replied, turning around so she could see my bare belly. She looked down, and her eyes grew wide.
“Yes it is!” She screeched, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Sweetie, you’re finally getting your baby bump!”
“She’s getting what?” Marylyn asked from the other side of the curtain.
“Her bump.” Sara repeated, grabbing Mary’s hand and leading her inside. Mary looked down to my stomach, ad stared.
“It really is there.” she said, looking back up into my eyes. I looked back down, amazed that I was already starting to show.
“It’ll be hidden for a while, but by the time Jeff gets back here, I’m sure you won’t be able to hide it from him at night.”
“Not unless I go flannel.” I muttered with a smile.
“Oh, he’ll just love that,” Mary replied sarcastically.
“I know right?” I laughed, grabbing the shirt I was aiming to put on before I found the bump. When I smoothed it out, Sara and Marylyn nodded their approval.
“I was just concerned on the jeans, but now that that’s coming in, you’ll probably be switching to the elastic waist here soon.”
“Yeah probably,” I replied, running my hand over my stomach. I could feel the bump through the jeans and the shirt.
“Honey, when you get so far along you’ll need help getting your shoes on, you’ll wish that bump gone.” Sara said with a smile.
“I doubt that,” I said, looking up at her. “I’m 33 years old. It’s hard to tell when I’ll be able to get pregnant again.”
“This is my last one,” Sara replied. “Mark and I already agreed to it.
“Wait, you’re pregnant Sara?” Marylyn asked, looking over at Sara.
“Damn, I forgot we were waiting to tell people,” she muttered, smiling sheepishly. “We didn’t want things to be taken from Riley.”
“They won’t be, this is good news though. Congratulations, again.” Marylyn replied, hugging her sister-in-law. I smiled and quickly changed back into my clothes, walking out to the other girls.
“Riley just made a discovery,” Sara announced as she and Marylyn walked out of the fitting rooms.
“What?” Amanda asked excitedly. I lifted my shirt enough to expose the bump to them.
“You’re starting to show,” Christy pointed out with a smile. “It’s finally going to be sinking in now.”
“It’s going to be a long time before this sinks in,” I replied, lowering my shirt back down as a couple of guys walked by us. One of them stopped and stared at me.
“Do I know you?” I asked him. He jumped and quickly walked off. I looked toward the girls and rolled my eyes.
“Let’s go check out so we can get back. I miss my little boy already.” Christy said, walking toward the registers. I followed behind her and paid for everything. Each girl grabbed a bag and we left the mall. When we got back to my house, they helped me carry the bags up to the bedroom.
“You guys go, get your kids. I’ll be fine.” I said, walking toward the closet to see how much room I had. Surprisingly enough, I had plenty of room. It was opposite with Jeff and me. He had the most clothes and shoes, while I had the most space. I just needed to get hangers for them. I could run into town for those.
“Jason doesn’t get out of school for another couple hours,” Mandy said, walking into the closet with me. “I can run and get hangers for you and we can put everything up together.”
“Thanks,” I replied, turning to smile at her. She smiled back and rushed from the room. When I heard the front door shut, I sighed and leaned against the wall, letting my hand rest on the bump just below my naval.
“You really are in there,” I muttered, rubbing my hand across the bump. I decided that while I was waiting for Amanda, I would get on the internet and check my emails. As I waited for the computer to load up, I looked at the pictures on the desk. We just added one of the sonogram, and there was a recent one of my grandparents in Baltimore and me. I signed into my email account and noticed I had an email from Grandpa Walter.
“Riley, just received the sonogram picture, thank you for sending them. It was the most amazing thing to see my great-grandchild. I hope you are doing well and staying healthy. Tell your husband hello for us and we will see you soon. Love, Grandpa Wally.” I smiled as I read the message. They got the picture and was thanking me for it. I looked through everything else, but it was all junk.
I was about to sign out when an IM popped up onto the screen.
“Hey, you’re earlier than I thought.” the message from Jeff read. “How did it go?”
“Great,” I typed back. “I might have to get rid of some of your stuff to fit everything in. ;).”
“You didn’t really get that much did you?” he replied.
“No, I didn’t,” I sent back with an LOL.
“Good, because you’re not getting anywhere near my stuff.”
“Wanna bet?” I challenged him. He just sent back a :D and I shook my head. The front door opened then, and Amanda’s voice called out to tell me she was back.
“I gotta run, Amanda’s here with hangers so we can hang the stuff up. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Absolutely,” Jeff replied. “Love you,”
“Love you.” I sent back. I shut the computer down and stood up, walking back into the bedroom.
“Let’s get to work,” Amanda said when she noticed I’d walked in. We quickly went to work, and by the time we were done, there was still a little while before Amanda had to go pick Jason up from school.
“So, congratulations again on the engagement,” I said as we sat around the living room.
“I heard that Sara’s pregnant again. You’re going to be a mother and a sister here soon aren’t you?”
“Yep, and my baby’s aunt or uncle will be a few months younger than him or her.”
“Oh well, at least they’re stepmother isn’t the same age as them.”
“I know right?” I replied, laughing.
“I’m sorry, but when I found that out, I thought that was just creepy.” Amanda admitted.
“I’m fine with it,” I replied. “She makes him happy, and that’s all I can ask for him.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Amanda replied.
“So are you and Matt going to have a baby of your own?” I asked Mandy, who was flipping through the TV for something to watch.
“I want to, and I know he does.” she replied, stopping on the food network channel. The cake challenge was on, and we both loved the things some of those people come up with.
“He was so close to asking Amy to marry him and have kids with him,” I muttered. “From what I heard I mean,” I added quickly. “I’m glad you’re not doing that to him.”
“He’s been through enough,” Amanda agreed. “And so have you and Jeff.”
“I’m fine,” I replied. “If it wasn’t for all of that, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“You know, unless you ended up dying or something, I could picture you and Jeff finding each other eventually. You two are just made for each other.”
“Yeah, like you and Matt.” I agreed. We smiled at each other and turned back to watch the show. We were in complete agreement, and it for the first time, it was something that didn’t involve me getting hurt in any kind of way.