Is the 'I Love You' Worth It?

Five days later...
I have a doctor's appointment today. Yay for me.
"So, where's your husband?" Lorraine, the receptionist asks when I check in for my appointment.
"Oh, he's away for work," I say. "and we're not married yet."
"What does he do for a living?" another office lady asks.
"Um, well, he's a drummer."
"Really?" they say together. I can't really tell if they're appalled by this or not. Usually, people I tell this to are.
"Mm hmm," I nod and go to sit down, but before I can, the nurse calls me back.
"She will be with you in a few minutes," the nurse says after measuring me and taking my blood pressure.
"Okay, great," I say. All I can think about is Tre trying to do inappropriate things to the models that sit on the counter. Strangely, this makes me miss him more.
"Hello," the doctor says coming in the exam room.
"Hi," I say.
"Where's your boyfriend?" she asks as she sets up the instruments she's going to need for the examination.
"He's on tour," I say. When she gives me an odd look, I add, "He's in a band."
"Oh," she nods. "So how's everything been going? Still getting morning sickness?"
"Yeah," I sigh. "Unfortunately."
She smiles at me.
After she does the exam, I ask,
"When will you do an ultrasound?"
"Around twelve weeks," she says writing something down on her clipboard.
"Oh, okay," I say putting my jacket back on.

I go and schedule my next appointment with Lorraine.
"Will your boyfriend be with you next month?" one of the younger office ladies asks. They all seem to have a crush on Tre.
"Um, he's not back full time until late August," I say."So probably not."
"Oh, that's too bad," they all lament.

When I get home, I check my answering machine. I excitedly press play, hoping for a message from Tre.

Lisea, it's your mother.
Your father and I have been discussing your situation, and we feel it would be best... I don't know if I should tell you this over the phone. I need you to call me as soon as possible.

Oh god, I can only begin to wonder what this is about. But I'll deal with it later.

Lisea, this is Melissa from The Cookie Factory. We have a problem with the schedule, so I need you to call me when you get this.
Thanks, bye.

Meh. I hate work so much and I'm not going to deal with it on my day off. I'm going to have to quit in while anyway, so I guess that's good.

Hey Lisea, it's Adrienne.
Me and Anastasia are both bored out of our minds and we're having a sleepover here at me and Billie's place tonight. I know it's kind of lame, but it'd be cool if you could come. I don't know if you work or whatever, but call me to let me know if you can make it.
Bye!

Sleepovers are pretty lame, but I'm bored to and actually quite lonely, so I pick up the phone and call Adrienne back.

"Hello?"
"Hey, it's Lisea."
"Oh, hey! You got my message?" Adrienne says.
"Yeah, and I can make it tonight if it's still on."
"Oh yeah. I just didn't know if you worked or not..." she says.
"Nah, it's my day off."
"Okay, cool. Anastasia's been staying here for a couple of days, so you can show up whenever you want."
"Like before dinner?" I ask.
"Yeah, like five. That sound good?" she says.
"Uh huh. Do you want me to bring something?"
"No. We've got blankets and stuff, so you don't need that either." She says.
"Okay," I say. "I'll be there at five."
"Great, see you then!"
I hang up the phone and call my work back. I don't really want to deal with it, but Melissa sounded pretty urgent. My mother can wait.

"The Cookie Factory, this is Melissa, how can I help you?"
"Hi, it's Lisea. You called me?"
"Oh, yeah. We have a real problem with the schedule."
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Well, you've been asking for a lot of time off lately."
"I have?"
"Yes. You asked for this morning off."
"Yeah, I had a doctor's appointment."
"Well, you need to schedule your appointments on your days off."
"Wait, what? The schedule goes up every two weeks. Most doctor's appointments are scheduled months in advance."
"That doesn't matter. You need to work when you're scheduled."
"This shouldn't be a problem. It's a doctor's appointment."
"Well, it is a problem. I've also noticed you were ten minutes late last Wednesday."
"Yeah, but it was one day."
"Well, at The Cookie Factory, we don't accept tardiness."
"It was one day!"
"It doesn't matter. It seems lately that you don't have enthusiasm at work."
I'm desperately fighting off the urge to tell her how I really feel.
"I've been dealing with family stuff."
"Well, at work we need you to give no less than 100 percent, no matter what is going on in your personal life."
"That's ridiculous."
"No it's not. It's policy."
"Well, policy is-" I stop myself from freaking out at her. "Look. I'm going to have to be busy with my unimportant personal life in the near future, so I'm thinking right now is not a good time for me to be working."
"What?"
"I'm giving you my two weeks notice right now."
Silence.
"I'm quitting. I don't need this stupid job. I hate it. I don't get paid enough to deal with half the shit I have to deal with. I think that my family is more important than a bad minimum wage retail job."
I hang up. Oh shit. Did I just quit? I guess Tre will be happy. I decide to not deal with my mom today. I'll call her when I get back from Adrienne's tomorrow.

At four thirty, I start gathering things together for the party tonight. I don't know if it's really going to be a party-party, or just three girls sitting around lamenting over our absent boyfriends. I'm banking on the latter.

"So then I get a call at, like, four thirty in the morning and it's Mike," Anastasia giggles. "And he's like, 'I think I left my pants in your car!'."
It's twelve o'clock that night and all three of us are spread out on the floor in Billie and Adrienne's apartment.
"Did he really?" I gasp. I'm laughing so hard I can barely breathe.
"Mmm," she continues. "I drag myself out of bed and go out to my car, still on the phone with him and dig around in my backseat. All the while I can hear Billie and Tre cackling in the background."
"Of course," Adrienne rolls her eyes.
"Yeah. And I'm digging around in the backseat, not recovering any Mike pants at all, and all of a sudden this cop car comes screaming up the alley."
"Holy shit!" I squeal.
"I know!" she giggles. "Apparently the neighbor thought someone was breaking into my car and called the cops!"
"All because Mike couldn't keep his pants on until you got out of the car!" Adrienne laughs so hard she falls backwards.
"And I'm out there in just my underwear and a tank top!" Anastasia says taking a deep breath. "The cop gets out of his cruiser and is like, 'Whoa!'."
Now all three of us are completely gone. We've been trading stories about the boys the entire night. It's been quite enjoyable. Once we recover, we go quiet for while, all obviously missing our boys.
"So how often does Billie call you?" Anastasia says pulling her blanket around her shoulders.
"Every day," Adrienne responds.
"Yeah, that's what you said earlier," I say. "Twice a day too?"
"Sometimes," she says. "But they've been really busy lately."
"Yeah, that's what Mike said," Anastasia says.
"He calls everyday too?" I ask her.
"Mmm, not everyday. Sometimes. Most of the time it's every two days. He doesn't really like to talk on the phone."
"Oh," I nod.
"Wait. Doesn't Tre call you?" she asks me. I shake my head.
"No?" she says sympathetically. I shake my head again.
"He still hasn't called? Even once?" Adrienne says.
"Nope. Look, it's no problem. No sympathy, okay?" I laugh.
"Yeah, but you're-" Adrienne starts, but stops and looks at me to make sure it's okay for her to mention the baby. I nod.
"Yeah, but he's so ADD, that I doubt he can contain his energy long enough to sit down and call me." They laugh.
"He is!" Anastasia giggles. "Isn't it hard to deal with him?"
"Yes and no," I sigh. "He's just got so much energy. It's not like he's trying to be obnoxious."
"I'm going to have to disagree with that," Adrienne holds up a hand.
"Well, okay, when it's just me and him, he's not trying to be obnoxious. Otherwise, all bets are off."
We laugh.
"I can't believe he hasn't called you!" Anastasia says.
"Yeah... " I say.
"Do you know?" Adrienne asks Anastasia.
"What?"
"No, I don't think so," I say. "I'm pregnant."
Anastasia's eyes go wide. "Really?"
I nod.
"And he hasn't called you?!" she practically squeals. I laugh.
"It's really no big deal," I say, wanting to get off the topic.
"Okay,' Anastasia says waving her hand in the air. "But if I were pregnant and Mike didn't call, he'd never hear the end of it when he got back."
"Yeah, really," Adrienne laughs and hits her fist into her hand. We all dissolve into giggles. Suddenly the phone rings.
"Ooh!" Adrienne squeals, scrambling up off the floor. "That's probably him right now!" She rushes over and picks up the phone.
"Hello?" she answers coyly.
"Is it them?" Anastasia asks. Adrienne nods.
"Oh! Let me talk!" Anastasia gets up and runs over to the phone.
"Yeah, it's Ana," Adrienne says to Billie. "And Lisea. All three of us are here."
"Talking about you," Adrienne giggles into the phone. Anastasia looks at me and rolls her eyes.
"Good. Yeah, I've been feeling a little sick, but it's not bad."
"Was it good?'
"Well, that's good!"
"Yeah, not much."
"Can we please?" Anastasia holds out her hand.
"Yeah, yeah," Adrienne says covering the receiver. "Look, they want to talk to the others. Okay, mm hmm. I love you too," she coos into the phone. She hands it to Anastasia. "Mike's right there."
Anastasia grins and takes the phone from her.
"Hi," she purrs into the phone. Adrienne motions for me to follow her into the little kitchen area.
"Don't hang up without letting Lisea talk to Tre!" she calls back to Anastasia.
"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Anastasia calls after us.
"Just getting some snacks and stuff," Adrienne says opening the refrigerator.
"Mm hmm," I nod.
"Okay, okay, I really can't stand Ana baby talk," she laughs.
"oh, I know. It can be really annoying," I say.
"Okay!" Anastasia calls from the other room. I grin at Adrienne and sprint into the other room. Anastasia holds out the phone to me and I grab it from her.
"Hello?"
"Hey, it's m- hey!"
Click.
"Hello? Tre?" There's no answer. I take the phone away from my face and look at it. I can hear the dial tone.
"He hung up," I whimper.
"What?!" they both shout in disbelief.
"He hung up," I sigh.
"Aw," Anastasia coos and throws her arms around me "That asshole."
"No," Adrienne says. "Don't say that. He's not an asshole!"
"It sounded like someone grabbed the phone from him and there was a struggle or something," I say.
"Oh," they say together.
"You don't believe me," I laugh. They look at each other. "I know, I know."
We laugh.
"Oh, crap," Anastasia sighs. "I have to work tomorrow."
"When?" Adrienne asks.
"Nine thirty," she replies.
"Oh," I say. "We should get to sleep, huh."
"Yeah. You work tomorrow?" Adrienne asks.
"Yeah," I sigh. "But I yelled at my boss today, and gave her my two weeks notice."
"Really?" Anastasia gasps.
"Yeah. They were mad at me for taking too much time off for my OB/GYN appointments," I say.
"No. They can't do that! That's discrimination!" Adrienne says, folding her arms across her chest.
"How is that discrimination?" Anastasia asks.
"They can't fire you for being pregnant," she says.
"I didn't tell them I was pregnant!" I laugh. "Plus, they didn't fire me. I quit."
"Oh yeah," Adrienne chuckles. "So I guess that's not discrimination."
"Plus, Tre really wanted me to quit. He was like, 'Now that you're knocked up, when are you quitting?' I think he thought I was going to hurt myself or the baby."
"Where do you work?" Anastasia asks.
"The Cookie Factory," I say. When I get funny looks, I add, "I know. Like I'm really going to hurt myself at The Cookie Factory. But you gotta remember he's never really worked a real job, so he doesn't know what goes on at a retail job."
Adrienne agrees. "Besides being a busboy, I don't think Billie could last a day in the retail world."
"Our poor boys," Anastasia laughs.