Convincing October

Girl Crush

October

"You're not serious?" Pierce's dry voice demanded, eyeing the overly cute baby store warily. It was almost comical to watch him balk at the idea of walking into a whimsically decorated store. He'd been a trooper through my doctor's appointment, as much as a teenage boy could be at a gynecologist's office. While I knew he was barely 16, to unknowing eyes he looked beyond those years -- so much so that the nurse had excitedly asked if he was ready to find out the gender of our baby as she greeted us in the waiting room. It made for a mighty awkward response when I had to turn to the very traditional woman and explain that Pierce was still in high school, was not the father of my baby and that I was going to be doing this on my own. The disapproving glances had begun from there and as a result Pierce, who I'd learned could have a bit of a protective side, had insisted on coming in the room with me. The appointment took a real turn as we sat down to learn the gender, however that didn't take away from the joy that I felt learning what my little one was. I feared it might be a bit awkward all things considered, but no he sat in the designated "Daddy Chair" with an unreadable look on his face as she moved the wand over my slight bump, eyes focused on the screen. Once the fiasco with Dr. Sadie was over, we'd swooped over to Pop's Burgers for a small bite and some homemade root beer before marching through Handy's looking for the appropriate paint color -- which resulted in us having to go to the Home Depot across town since Handy's didn't match colors. 

"What?" I asked innocently, opening my eyes a little wider in wonderment, knowing my they were likely taking on a glassy, almost tearful look. He groaned lightly, tossing a scathing look in my direction before trudging toward the cheerfully painted front door. Truthfully, even I was a little off put by the whimsy of the store, but I wanted to grab a few items before we headed back to Pecan Valley. Walking in to Lyla's Baby Boutique was like entering the twilight zone. It smelled like a mixture of lavender candles and baby powder, an overwhelmingly nauseating perfume. From the look of displeasure on Pierce's face I knew we were in the same boat with wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible. Luckily the shop was set up to navigate easily, ruffles and ballerinas on one side and firetrucks and dinosaurs on anther -- I steered toward the appropriate side and quickly began sorting through items that would fit the room I had planned out for my baby. 

"Did you want to go white for the crib?" Pierce asked suddenly, fingering a stuffed animal absently as he stared at me. I gnawed on my bottom lip, eyes taking in the mass of cribs laid out before us. I'd considered doing a dark wood, but once the doctor had confirmed gender I couldn't help but light up with the possibilities of the room. 

"I think so," I sighed softly, tummy tightening with a warm sensation. My cheeks blossomed with excitement as I realized exactly what it was. I'd felt this only once before, about two days ago while I was wiping down the tables before close but I hadn't been sure of what it was. My chest filled with pride as my hand slid protectively around my bump; I couldn't wait until I met my child. 

* 

"Please stop, I'm begging you!" Pierce cried out, holding his hands against his ears in an effort to muffle the sound of my screeching. With an evil smile I cranked up the volume on my iHome and wailed along, purposely cracking on certain words and getting terribly pitchy on others, trying to hold back the laughter bubbling in my gut. Focused so much on my own enjoyment I didn't notice when the paint came flying in my direction, striking me directly across my favorite Timber Wolves t-shirt. My singing halted as I gaped at the colorful goop now sliding down the grey shirt, eyes wide with shock. 

"Shut you up, didn't it?" Pierce cackled, tossing his hark head back in a deep belly-laugh that bounced off the empty walls of the room. My hands move don their own, gripping the handle of the paint roller before flicking it in the direction of the jovial teenager. His laughter paused when the thick paint met his flesh only to increase -- he was smiling at me in a manner in which I'd never seen. Pierce was normally always glowering in the direction of one thing or another, snapping or growling his displeasure. However, he seemed like a normal teenager at the moment. It didn't take long after that for a full on paint war to ensue, covering us both in the pain that had been reserved for my little one's room and not our wardrobe and bodies. We were having too much fun to care though. It took us twenty minutes before we were able to call a tentative truce, me hiding behind the closet door and Pierce holding up an empty paint tray like a shield. When we crawled from behind our temporary protective barriers, we took in the damage from our battle. Luckily we managed to only fight using one color, the one that was going to cover a bulk of the walls so there wasn't much to worry about. However, our clothes were another story altogether. Looking back and forth between one another caused us to break into another round of laughter.