Pull Out My Insides

"Control yourself

Take only what you need from it

A family of trees wanting

To be haunted

Control--"

I pick up the phone quickly, immediately greeting the caller.

"Hey, Asher."

"Hey, Zar."

"What's up?"

"Nothing... How are you doing?"

"I'm alright, I guess," I say, sighing.

"Good. I heard about yesterday... Sorry I wasn't there, I had... a little run in with someone I didn't want to run into."

"Oh? Who?"

"Just someone unimportant. But, you're sure you're okay?"

"Yep. Right as rain," I lie, silent tears running down my face.

"You sure?" he asks again concernedly.

"Yeah, of course," I let out along with a nervous laugh.

"Well, if you're sure..." he trails.

"I'm fine. Look, I have to go..."

"Okay. Well, I'll see you later."

"Mkay, bye."

"Bye."

*Next weekend*
Upon awakening, I manage to drag myself out of bed and get dressed before getting a glass of orange juice and a muffin to help wake up.

"Okay, Zara, we're leaving in an hour!" Mom calls from her room.

"Alright!" I yell back to her.

After an hour passes of playing solitaire, drinking some tea, and watching mindless TV, we finally leave for the doctor's. And hopefully Asher will be there, cause if he's not, I don't think that I could handle that rejection at this point, really. Plus, I'm sure that he's not stupid enough to ruin his last chance to prove himself.

A few minutes go by in the car, passing by countless buildings and clouds, until we finally arrive at the doctor's office. I groan as I stand up, my back starting to ache more and more as each minute passes. But soon, we sit down in one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. Glancing around, I notice that there's nearly no one else in the room, save for a mother and her daughter, the daughter taking no notice of me since her attention is focused on the building blocks in front of her. It's crazy to think that in a few months, I'll have a daughter of my own.

The mother glances up, taking notice of my obvious stomach and glaring at me. Bitch. I just roll my eyes and pick up my purse, grabbing my book from it and picking up where I left off. We have plenty of time, seeing as we always come in super early just in case. Just in case of what, I'm not sure. But at least there's no one else here to shoot me death glares.

After reading about 20 pages, a hand on my knee startles me and causes me to jump a bit. I look up from my book quickly and see the little girl.

"Do ya wanna play wit me?" she asks innocently, looking up at me with doeful eyes.

"Charlotte! Leave her be!" her mother snaps at her, looking up for a moment from her fashion magazine.

"Nah, it's fine," I tell them, getting up with a bit of struggle.

The little girl--Charlotte--grins and takes my hand, leading me over to the blocks.

"What's your name?" she asks me, starting to put the blocks together. I follow her lead, putting my own blocks together in random designs.

"My name's Zara."

"That's a pwetty name," she tells me.

"Thank you," I grin. "I like your name. It's really cool."

"Thanks. But people us'lly call me Charley."

"Okay, Charley."

"Is there a baby in your tummy?" she asks curiously, looking at the bump under my shirt.

"Yep," I tell her, rubbing it protectively. "My little girl."

And her big brown eyes light up like a candle. "A girl?"

I start to build blocks with the different colors making her name after nodding in confirmation. Minutes pass and I finish my masterpiece, showing it to her.

"You like it?" I ask her.

She just grins and nods. "I love it! I wish I could take it with me, though..."

"I'm not sure that the doctor's office would like it if you took their toys," a familiar voice chuckles from behind me.

I grin and turn around. "Hey, Asher."

***Short Time Lapse (cause I can't think of cute things to say)***
"And there's your baby, Zara," the ultrasound technician tells me with a smile.

I smile back at her and look at Asher's dumbfounded look as he stares at the picture of our daughter on the fuzzy screen.

"That's her?" he asks.

"The one and only," I tell him.

He takes my hand gently and rubs it.

"She's beautiful," he murmurs.

"You can barely even see anything about her," I chuckle.

"I can still tell," he huffs.

"I know. She's gonna be gorgeous."

"Well, she does have us as parents. Of course she's gonna be gorgeous."

I let out a laugh and glare playfully at him. "Could your ego get bigger?"

He contemplates for a moment. "Yes. I think it could."

The technician gives me a paper towel so that I can wipe the goop off of my stomach and after doing so, Asher, my mother, and I walk out, holding the ultrasound pictures in our hands.

We walk Asher to his car and my mom gives me a look before walking off to the car, muttering something about starting it so I can cool off quicker when I get in.

"So..." I start.

"So... only a few more months."

"Yep. Two more."

"Holy shit," he mutter, running his hand through his hair. "Two months."

"I know. I still have to work on the nursery."

"You're doing it by yourself?" he asks, wide-eyed.

"Well, not completely by myself, I'll have my friends to help me."

"Can I help?"

"Of course you can," I grin.

"We're gonna start on it on tomorrow, so come over if you want to at 2ish."

"I'll be there."

"Okay."

A horn honking cuts off any other thoughts and I give Asher an apologetic look.

"I've gotta go. Bye."

"Bye!" he calls after me.

I shoot my mom a look as I flop into the car seat.

"What?" she asks 'innocently.'

"You know what," I grumble, crossing my arms.

"Oh, stop pouting, Miss Grumpy. When we get home, there's a nice jar of pickles with your name on them."

I glare, knowing that she can't make me stay mad at her, especially when she buys me pickles.

"Fine," I give in with a groan.

She pats my knee, grinning.

"That's my girl."