After Tonight

Abbey’s P.O.V.
“Can I feel it?” Rob murmured, eyeing my protruding belly. I watched as a pink blush took over his cheeks—he had yet to feel my stomach, or even really look at it for that matter. Rob and Keith had moved me back into our apartment a week ago. We were now lying in bed, wrapped up in sheets.
“Absolutely.” I uncovered the bump and placed his hand on it.
His fingers tensed hesitantly at first but I nodded, trying to encourage him. Finally I felt his hand relax and glide over the smooth skin. His eyes sparkled in wonderment and I swore I could see a glimmer of excitement. I continued watching him look from my stomach to my face. Suddenly his eyes lit up.
“It kicked.” He whispered in disbelief.
“It knows who you are.” I smiled and poked his shoulder. “Dad.” He couldn’t help but grin. His smile reached his eyes as he flopped back down beside me.
“That is going to take some getting used to.”
I rubbed his chest and smiled. Before long, I dozed off happily curled up by Rob’s side.
…
Rob was completely fascinated with my stomach. I found it absolutely hilarious. He had read more baby books than I thought were even published, and he would tell me what I was supposed to expect each week. It was quite a 180°, but I loved him even more for it. He wanted to make it up to me, I knew he did. And he was trying so unbelievably hard.
“I think you should exercise more.” Rob looked up from the kitchen counter, toward where I was laying across the couch.
“Oh you do?” I giggled. “What did you have in mind?”
“Well it says that you can do your yoga and pilates for a couple of months yet, but you could do some light jogging for now, or…let me find it. I folded the page down…”
Once again he disappeared behind a book. Smiling to myself and placing my hands over my stomach, I made my way over to him. He was so engrossed that he hadn’t even noticed.
“Rob.” I wrapped my arms around his waist and stood on the tips of my toes. “I love you.”
He turned his head and placed a thoughtful kiss on my lips.
“I love you too.”
…
It took another couple weeks before things really got back to normal. Or as normal as things would ever be for us. My parents forgave Rob and his parents apologized for basically calling me a whore. The four of them quickly came around to being excited for us, which finally gave me peace of mind.
Things with my mom had only gotten worse. She’d begun treatment and was in and out of the hospital as often as I needed to pee. It was scary watching her like this. But she refused help. The thing about my mom was that she always looked out for everyone else and she took care of her own business in private. Sort of like my dad, I guess.
Family gatherings were becoming more frequent—partly because we had a feeling that time was running out—but she wouldn’t allow us to talk about her condition. My dad was with her on that decision, though he gave us all the information she wouldn’t whenever she went to take a nap. It was weird how all of this had brought us closer together. Even though our family was growing rapidly, we still made it a point to see one another at least four days out of the week. The birth of Jo’s baby girl, Olivia, was a huge event. Tom moving in with Grace was a cause for celebration. Rob and I having a baby, well that was the icing on the cake.
Now that we were back together, and my engagement ring back on my finger, the press stopped saying that the baby wasn’t Rob’s. Rob had gotten quite a few calls about doing some interviews, which he kindly declined. When I asked him why, he said that this was his family and he didn’t think the world needed to know the details. He said when the right one interview came along and the time was right, he would give one. But for now he said he just wanted to spend as much time with me as possible.
With every passing day, Rob was becoming more comfortable with the idea. I was actually surprised to hear him on the phone with Nikki, telling her all about the nursery and the shower that my sisters were throwing for me when he thought I was resting in the bedroom. Nikki said that she and Kristen were going to be there for sure, which made me really excited to say the least.
…
“So how long is this thing?” Rob and I walked along the sidewalk, looking for the right address. It was day one of Lamaze class.
“An hour?” I scrutinized all of the buildings, still unable to find the one. “I’m not really sure. Why, you’ve got to go see your other pregnant girlfriend?” I loved messing with him.
He rolled his eyes and squeezed my hand. “I’m just curious. Is that it?”
I looked at the building Rob was pointing to. “Yes it is.”
Rob had been a little worried about going to class with me. Even though he had accepted the fact that we were indeed having a baby and he had fully committed himself to this, he was still nervous and still didn’t think he could do it. I tried reassuring him everyday. We were making little process.
We walked into the building to find the entire right wall decorated with baby pictures from whom we guessed to be the previous “classmates”. Rob and I looked at one another with raised eyebrows. Would we have to put a picture of our baby up on the Wall of Fame?
As if reading my mind, Rob spoke. “That’s…kind of weird.”
“Glad we agree on that.”
Before either of us could take another breath, we were greeted by a boisterous woman with vibrant red hair. She clapped Rob and I on our backs, startling each of us.
“You must be the Pattinsons!” Rob raised his eyebrows, but smiled anyway. “We’re all waiting for you. Have you signed in yet? Follow me and we’ll get you both ready.” Neither of us got a word in. After Susan introduced herself, she plagued us with rhetorical questions. Rob and I just followed in her wake, slack-jawed.
By the time we joined the other couples, we were exhausted from Susan’s energy. In ten minutes, she’d taken us on the “journey of parenthood, the joyous miracle in which we celebrate the creation of life”. We got a quick rundown of what the class was going to be like and so far, the only thing we were wary about was the instructor. After filling out some forms, we followed Susan into a wide open room, slightly resembling a yoga studio. Posters of babies inside the womb decorated the walls, as well as instructional posters for pre-natal stretching. There was also another bulletin board with even more photographs of peoples’ babies.
“Oh my God.” A woman, a little older than myself, recognized Rob the second we walked through the doors.
“You’re Robert Pattinson!” As if following her cue, another woman jumped up excitedly.
“Uh. Hi.” Rob waved slightly and scooted behind me, as if me and my Super Belly would suddenly make him invisible. The other couples stared at us incredulously.
“I don’t believe this!” The older woman began talking to her husband. “I’ve lived in this city all of my life and this is the first time I’ve seen a celebrity up close!”
Before an attack was made, Susan walked in. “Good afternoon future mommies and daddies! So glad you could all make it today!”
Rob sighed heavily as he rested his forehead on my shoulder. Dodged another one. I grabbed his hand and pulled him along. I wasn’t quite sure what to do, but everyone else was sitting on the floor, so I followed suit.
“We’re going to be watching a few of my favorite birthing videos today,” Susan announced. The bangles on her wrist jingled as she spread her arms wide. “But first, let us go around and introduce ourselves! Mommies first!”
The woman to Susan’s left started to speak, but Susan stopped her. “Wait, wait! We can’t start without The Raddle!” The way she said the words, “The Raddle” made it sound like an almighty being.
Susan turned her back to the rest of us, scrounging around in a giant, plastic container—which had fondly been decorated with glitter and cutouts of ducks, bunnies and diapers. She brandished a baby raddle, which looked like it was bedazzled. I heard Rob snicker, his breathe tickling the back of my neck as I rested against his chest. I elbowed him softly, but smiled as well. Susan explained that whenever we had “sharing time” we had to pass The Raddle around. Marley and Brian went first. Then Kelly and Peter, Lizzie and Chris, and Emily and Kurt. We were last, which only built up more suspense for Rob to introduce himself to everyone.
“Hi. I’m Abbey and this is Rob.”
“I read all about you on the internet,” Kelly responsed promptly, giving Rob the once-over.
“I see.” I nodded slightly, feeling Rob squeeze my hips. “Uh, well I am a baker…pastry chef, whatever you want to call it. And Rob, he’s an actor…”
“I knew I recognized you!” Kurt exclaimed. He and Emily looked a few years younger than us. Again, Rob only nodded and smiled vaguely.
“Well, that’s nice!” Susan smiled broadly. “Let’s get to those videos shall we?” She jumped up from her seat and scurried to the television set against the wall. “Now, mommies take notice of the breathing. We’re going to be working on that next class.”
“How long have we been here, Mommy?” Rob whispered into my ear, eyes fixed on the eight pairs of eyes that followed our every move. I felt his hands slide over my stomach.
“Hardy-har, Daddy, and you’ve still got another forty-five minutes.”
“Oh…”
Everything was suddenly interrupted by an earsplitting cry. We all looked around nervously, but realized it was only the video. Susan flicked off the lights and practically skipped over to take a seat beside Rob and I, smiling enthusiastically.
“Welcoming your baby into the world,” the voice-over announced cheerfully. I noticed Susan mouthing all of the words as it went along.
“Is it going to sound like that?” Rob whispered worriedly. I cringed. I hoped it wouldn’t sound that bad.
The voice-over took us throw the first steps: getting to the hospital and being completely dialated. The mother screamed in terror, though it sounded more like she was getting her head sawed off than having a baby. I gripped Rob’s hand tightly. Obviously I wasn’t oblivious to the pains of labor—I’d seen Keith and Jo’s children being born—but everything looked twenty times worse on this video.
“Holy shit.” Rob exhaled sharply, startled. The next image was a close-up of the baby—as it was crowning “…is that what I think it is?”
“Uh huh.” I nodded, eyes wide. I looked around at everyone else watching intently. Then I looked back at Rob, whose mouth was hanging wide open. This was some introductory to having a baby, as if he wasn’t already scared enough. I slipped my hand up and covered his eyes.
“Isn’t this fascinating?” Susan asked brightly, never taking her eyes away from the screen. Rob and I looked at her before looking at one another.
“Oh yes.” I tried to keep my voice at a regular decibel. “Very.”
Rob and I cringed our way through the video, gulping and flinching at every image onscreen. When it finally ended, we each heaved a sigh of relief. But then Susan stood up and swiftly popped another in another one.
“Are you kidding me?” Rob choked out his astonishment.
“I don’t think so.”
As the movie continued on, we checked our cell phones every few minutes. At 2:59, Rob jumped up quickly. I scrambled to my knees and he pulled me onto my feet. It was time to go home.
“We’ll discuss these during next week’s class! See you then…” Susan’s voice echoed behind us as we made a mad dash for the door.
We walked down the sidewalk in complete silence, arms at our sides. Neither of us dared make eye contact after that horrid display—we were both terrified.
“So…” Rob spoke softly, eyes ahead of him. “That was…something…”
“I’m hungry.”
“After that? I feel like I’m going to vomit.”
“I can’t help it.” Rob laughed, finally looking at me.
“Alright let’s get some food.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him and kissing my forehead. “I’m terrified.”
“You’re terrified?” I laughed too. “Those women sounded like they were dying!”
“And what the hell is up with The Raddle?”
We ended up ordering pizza and spending the rest of the afternoon laughing at this obscure Lamaze class we’d ended up in.