So Kiss Me Goodbye

After the doctors appointment I stopped crying.

I had a new list of things to do on top of my current one.

Step one was finish my articles for AP.

If I was gonna raise this kid I'd need money coming in and for that I'd need to not give Leslie a reason to fire me.

I spent all of the next morning in the office getting every bit of work done possible.

Once that was through I made my way back to the apartment.

Shelby was already enjoying the new reason to redo the apartment.

Though I knew the statistics and the number of digits there were in the cost to raise a kid per year, at the moment the positives were the only things filtering in.

Shelby had beaten me to the bookstore as well as the grocery store, making it a nice surprise seeing the stack of pregnancy books on the table and the baby safe food in the fridge.

The silver lining was being able to cross at least those things off my to do list.

"Okay, I got you a baby name book, What Do Expect When Your Expecting, and since I know you well enough I picked up Pregnancy for Dummies." Shelby laughed as I examined the books.

"I think you're enjoying this more than me."

While she giggled, tending to the skillet in the kitchen I had time to reflect.

As if I hadn't been doing that enough lately.

Things were peaceful, and after what had happened the past few days peaceful was a godsend.

I had to enjoy every second of it since at my age you learn it lasts maybe five minutes if you're lucky.

As the smell of sautéing beef and vegetables filled the apartment there came a knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" I yelled, throwing the books on the couch as they ended up under my blanket.

As I swung the door open Natalie came into view.

"Hey Lil, long time no see." She laughed as I let her in. "Mmmm, smells good."

"Yeah, it's Shelby's night to cook."

I followed Natalie through the entryway to the kitchen where she greeted Shelby.

As I hopped up on the counter, eyeing the food obsessively Shelby jumped straight to the point.

"So how was your date with Patrick?"

Natalie blushed.

"It was fun... he asked me out again since he'll be in town for a while working with Cobra Starship." She explained.

I enjoyed the girly moment of catching up when for the second time there came a knock at the door.

"Oh fuck what now?" I sighed.

Shelby shook her head.

"Lil you cover the food, I'll take care of this."

As Shelby disappeared I turned to Natalie.

"So you and Patrick are getting kind of close huh? Things must be nice." I smiled, swinging my legs childishly from the countertop.

She nodded happily, ending up turning the conversation to me.

"What about you? I heard you caught that bug going around. Feeling any better?"

Natalie's question put me in the position I had been afraid of.

I was in a corner where I could either lie and regret it or come out and face the consequences.

In honesty after what happened with Will that option scared me.

With Travis and Shelby it was different since I had known them longer and we were closer.

As it turned out fate decided to step in for me.

Before I could answer, Shelby came in, with The Butcher and Sisky behind her.

"You're not here to say hi are you?" I asked shakily upon seeing their poker faces.

The Butcher bit his lip as Sisky answered for him.

"We're here for Will... he told us about the baby and... and he wants to know how the doctor's appointment went."

The room went silent.

Eerily though it was broken at the same moment by both Shelby and Natalie.

"You're pregnant?" Was Natalie's exclamation.

"Get the fuck out of my apartment." Was Shelby's.