Damn, that last chapter pretty much flopped for ages. This chapter ain't so great either, and it's uber short, but it's kind of like a prologue-ish thing, but still chapter one…-ish. Sorry for jumping so far ahead, don't wanna drag it more that I need to. Thanks, guys!
"Hey, Happy Easter," Jack greeted at the door of my house with a short kiss.
"Yeah, Happy Easter," I grumbled, moving to let Jack into my living room. My homeschooling wasn't going so well. The courses were primarily taught by my mom, though sometimes she'd have a tutor come in to give it a shot. You know, to pretend to not be hopeless. Plus I wasn't exactly a straight A student. And as time passed I kept getting…bigger. And the bigger I got, the more bitter and sour my mom seemed to turn. At this point I was towards the end of this "journey" and, as a result, I generally only wore sweatpants and sweatshirts. It really is hard to find stuff that fits when you're ready to have a kid anyday and look like you have an oversized basketball shoved down your shirt.
"And your family is…?" he asked, glancing around.
"Out, shopping and planning for Easter crap," I replied, collapsing on our couch. "At least this year I get to skip out on the Easter shopping hell." My mom's sensitive to other judgmental eyes on our family, so if I want to stay home, I do.
"They're planning everything two weeks before Easter? I see where you get your planning skills."
"All in the genes," I replied sarcastically, but the end my sentence sounded rough as I said it through gritted teeth. I chewed the inside of my cheek and used my palms to rub the sides of my head.
"What's up? Are you all right?" he asked carefully.
"Yeah, whatever, just the Braxton- something. False stuff," I grumbled quickly.
"Didn't you have those last week when I was here?"
I nodded. "They're just a little harder now. It happens, whatever."
Jack seemed a bit uncomfortable leaving the subject, but he knew I wasn't up for talking about it. At least he was getting better at signs and shit. "So, have you thought any more about last week's parents?" he asked. He was referring to, of course, the adoptive parents we were interviewing. Yeah, Jack kinda came with me to help with the interviews, since I didn't want to go with my mom. And I "needed" somebody to come with me, according to her.
How did Jack and I get to this point? Well, we were pretty close in between the late night pick up kiss and the whole bus stop incident, and that last one almost sealed the deal. But there were mess ups in between (and quite a few), but I don't know. Somehow we always made it out in one piece. Our sarcasm unites us. Plus he can be a badass. You know, a non-psychotic badass. Don't know if you could tell, but I sorta have a thing for the whole rebellious deal (see? Sarcasm right there.).
"No, they just seemed too…suffocating. Family-ish. Made me want to gag," I answered. So many couples had signed up, but none of them fit right. I would pracitcally be dumping my kid with people I couldn't even live with.
Jack shrugged as he came and flopped next to me. "Then you don't even have any families you're considering."
"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock" I mumbled. "I'll figure it out."
"What about other stuff? Er, supplies?" Jack asked.
"What are you talking about? I don't need anymore clothes, my fridge is stocked-"
"Not for you," Jack interrupted with a smirk.
"Oh. Yeah. Well…about that… was kinda supposed to…"
"You don't have anything, do you?" Jack asked.
"Hey, I've got a stroller and crib."
"…And?"
"…That's it," I answered sheepishly. Well, as sheepishly as I can get anyway.
"All right, let's go," he said, standing up and stretching.
"Jack, sit your ginger ass down."
"Nope. We're going."
"I stayed home to get out of shopping."
"So we won't buy any Easter eggs. Let's go."
"But-"
"We'll stop by the music store."
I paused. I processed. I gave in. "Fine."
"I hate this," I muttered.
"It's not that bad," Jack replied.
"You're a loser and I hate this."
"Okay, it does kinda suck."
"Not kinda sucks, it does suck."
Just going into the store made me uneasy. Toys everywhere. Pacifiers around every corner. Strollers stalking your every move. It kinda made me paranoid.
"Well, this looks…um…normal," Jack offered, inspecting a crib. He inspected it a bit and then there was snap. "Uh… okay, not that one," he mumbled uneasily.
"What did you just-" I started.
"Nothing," he answered quickly. "Moving on."
I smirked and followed him away. "Nice going."
