Breathe, A.Somers [notion reading list TXT] 📗

I’d missed them over the summer. It was hard to not tell them, but I didn’t know how to. I was scared, and I think that if I had told them before, I would have taken it easier. I wondered what Brad would have said. Would his reaction have been the same? Would he have left instead? I know that Nicole would have stayed by me regardless. But, I didn’t want to think about what could have happened with Brad. He could have been like most of the other guys, the ones that just walk away. But I’m happy that he didn’t. My mind raced as we neared the doctor’s office. When we finally got there, I felt the nauseated feelings overwhelm me. I hurried inside the office to a bathroom, where Nicole followed to hold my hair back. I took out the tooth brush that I had kept in my purse for days like these, and brushed my teeth quickly. When I was done, we went to the reception desk to sign in. The nurse smiled at me and asked for my name and I.D. She put a plastic bracelet with my name, birthday, and doctor’s name on my wrist. She told me that the doctor was busy today, but hopefully she wouldn’t be too long. I thanked her and went to sit with Brad and Nicole. I held both of their hands as we waited. An hour passed and I dozed off and on, waiting.

My eyes flew open every time the door opened to the back of the office. Finally, the nurse in the pink shrubs came out and called out, “Alison?” I jumped and my eyes flew open. I rose from my seat, pulling my friends with me. So many thoughts ran through my mind. I got dizzy and the sickness came back. I dropped their hands and rushed to the bathroom. “That’s her,” I heard Nicole tell the nurse. “She’s been kind of nervous this morning.” Nicole’s voice came through the door. I finally had stopped vomiting, and brushed my teeth. I walked slowly out the door, and apologized to the nurse. She smiled at me and took us back. Here we go I thought, and my hands got tighter around Brad’s…
Chapter Seven

Chapter 7—

I breathed heavily as we walked back to a small room three doors down. “Go ahead and lie up on the table and pull up your shirt so that your abdomen is exposed,” the nurse told me. After a few minutes of struggling to get onto the high examination table, Brad picked me up and placed me gently on it. I laid back and pulled up my shirt so that my full belly was exposed and part of my bra. The nurse folded a hospital napkin into the edge of my jeans and clipped it there in place. She measured my stomach, and announced to us that I was 21 inches. I smiled because that meant that the baby was healthy. She felt around my stomach, pushing in gently and telling me what she though she was feeling. When she was done, she gave me a small blanket to cover up with, and told us that the doctor would be in to see us shortly. I took a deep breath when she left, turning to look at my friends. Nicole reached up to touch my belly and Brad leaned down to kiss me. My mind was beginning to calm down, but my nerves got tighter as the minutes came closer to the time when I saw my child. I couldn’t stop smiling, and by the time the doctor came in Nicole and I had hummed at least 7 songs. “Hey there, Ali.” The doctor came in with a smile stretched across her face. “Hey,” my voice was shaky and my face still had a cemented smile across it. I was so nervous now that my legs began to wobble. I’m so glad that I am sitting, I thought. “Let’s have a look at the little one now.” She grabbed the bottle of cold blue gel and squirted it across my belly. She turned on the monitor to the machine and picked up the wand, placing it gently on my stomach. She moved it around until she found the place where my baby laid.

And there it was. My angel, my little piece of joy inside. I smiled brightly as tears streamed down my face. “Congratulations sweet pea, it’s a boy!!” I heard Brad release a long breath of air, and his tears fell upon our interlocked hands. I looked at him and he pressed his face to my forehead, putting his hands in my hair. We cried silently together. The doctor smiled and gave us a little more information about what we would need to be doing. Nicole read her the questions that I had written down. She recorded the doctor’s answers for me to read right now. When I was finally settled, the nurse came in to clean up my belly. She gently wiped across my belly with a warm cloth and took the napkin from my jeans. I pulled down my shirt and put my sweatshirt back on. I kept a tight claim on Brad’s hand as we left the office.

When we got into the car, I dialed my mother’s phone number. As it rang, I bit my lip until she answered. “Hello?” My mother breathed on the other side of the phone. I took a deep breath, and finally gathered the strength to tell her, “Mommy, it’s a boy!!” I heard her start to cry. I smiled and she handed the phone to Mike. “Hey baby girl, what’s going on?” I answered quicker than the first, “It’s a boy.” A few moments of silence was broken by his voice, “That’s great honey. Your mom wants to know if we can all go shopping later tonight. Brad and Nicole can go too if you want.” I asked Nicole and Brad if they wanted to, and they nodded. “Yeah. That’s fine.” I mumbled. “Alright, are you coming straight home?”
“No, we’re going to get lunch.”
“Okay honey, have fun. Love you.”
“Love you too,” I hung up the phone.

Chapter Eight

Chapter 8—

We drove to Wendy’s and parked in the lot. I sat for a moment, adjusting myself before we went in. I opened the door, and got out slowly. I met Nicole and Brad at the back of my car, grabbing Brad’s hand. We walked into the restaurant and got in the line to order our food. I was starving. I told them that lunch was on me today. When we got to the counter I looked at the menu. I asked Brad and Nicole what they wanted. “Junior Bacon Cheeseburger,” Nicole said. Brad looked at the menu a little longer, turned to me and said, “Monterey Ranch Crispy Chicken sandwich.” I turned toward the pretty girl standing on the other side of the counter. “Can I have two Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers, a Monterey Ranch Crispy Chicken sandwich, a 10 piece nugget, three medium fries and three medium sodas?” She smile, repeated the order and asked if it was correct. I nodded. “Your total is 15.76.” I gave her a twenty and she gave me my changed and told me to have a nice day. I smiled at her and told her the same. Our number was 2 and after we went to get drinks we waited for a food. When they finally called our number, we grabbed the food and went to the car. We all got situated with the food and drinks, and I turned the car on and put it in reverse. I ate my food while I drove home, occasionally talking to Brad and Nicole. “So have you thought of any names yet?” Nicole caught my attention with her question. Come to think of it, I hadn’t thought of names yet!! “Not yet,” I answered. Brad’s head popped up, and he looked at me with sparkles in his eyes. I smiled at him, unsure of what his sparkle was for. “Really?” He seemed surprised. I nodded. “I figured we’d do it together,” I said to him. He smiled at me, that smile that I absolutely loved. We held hands all the way home and Nicole eventually dozed off. When we were finally home, I sighed. Nicole woke up as the purr of the engine went flat. I got out of the car and started toward the door. Before I got there, my mother swung open the door, and ran out to greet me. Mike followed her and wrapped his arms tight around me. I smiled at them both and handed them the sonogram. My mom began to cry and Mike was tearing up. My mom kissed my forehead and took my hand in hers. Mike took both of our hands, and I finally felt as if we were having one of those family moments that people remember 30 years from now.

After an hour or so, we all left and went to Pottery Barn Kids. I picked out a white-wooded crib with blue and white bedding. My mom picked out matching blankets, crib sheets, towels and wash clothes, a white dresser with changing table on top, lamps, and curtains: all in the matching blue and white. We had an extra room in our house that my mom used to put stuff in, in which was going to be the baby’s room, because it was the closest to mine. We picked up plenty nursery blankets, bottles, head supporter, a car seat and carrier, one-zees, and sleepers. My mom told me that she’d buy all of this, as a gift to us. Nicole got excited when we went into Babies R Us for clothes. She picked up anything blue and cute!! Brad had fun picking up camouflage and anything with I Love Daddy on it. When we were finally done, we loaded all of the stuff into Mike’s Chevy Blazer, and headed home.

I was happy to be home, even though I’d had so much fun. My body was easily tired now. My back and feet were burning, and once I helped put everything in the nursery, I went to lie down. Brad followed, and Nicole told us that she had to be leaving. I told her thanks for everything, and lay on