(A/N: I'm back. Parental controls were used against me, but I've got it fixed now. Hopefully I'll actually update these days. If you read this review-I don't know if anybody's left!)
I walked downstairs to our room and threw away the information from the clinic. I couldn't give up this baby! As hard as it would be, I knew that I would have to keep it-it was a part of me. For the first time since all of this started, I felt sure in what I was doing and knew that I made the right decision. I walked in and flung myself onto the bed. Emma was on the other side of the room, studying.
"Emma," I said, confident, "I'm keeping it."
"Really? Are you sure?" I nodded, suddenly feeling unsure. "Well…that's great! You're going to be a great mom…" Emma trailed off, and I could hear the uncertainty in her voice as well.
"Don't lie," I said, rolling my eyes.
"No, Manny, I'm being serious. You'll be a great mom. You're always there when people need you, and you take care of all of us when we need it. I'm just happy that you made a decision; it seemed like debating it was stressing you out."
"I am relieved. It's nice to know where I'm going and what I'm doing with myself for a little while. But I don't think I'll be that good of a mom. Will you help me? You've always been the mommy one." It was true. Emma was the one to watch everyone's back, pick up the pieces and listen to your whining and self-pity. No matter what was wrong, Emma tried to help and usually did pretty well.
"Manny, you know I will. I'd do anything for you!" Instead of responding, I walked over to Emma and gave her a hug, tearing up. After we broke apart, she put a hand on my stomach. "I'd do anything for either one of you, Manny. I'm here for you guys."
"I'm pretty sure that's the nicest thing that anyone's said to me in the last few months. You have no idea how much it means that you would say that. But are you sure it's 'you guys'? Or is it 'you ladies'?" I teased.
"I'm not sure," she replied. Then Emma noticed my sneaky grin and freaked out. "You found out? Are you having a baby girl, Manny?" I nodded, and Emma smiled. "You should start thinking about names…hang on. I'll be right back!"
I watched Emma run up the stairs, more than a little bit jealous of her speed and energy. I hadn't been able to take stairs like that for weeks. I decided to sit down on the bed and wait for Emma to come back. No sooner than I sat down she burst back into the room holding a massive book. "It's a book of names! Do you want to look through it?"
"OK," I replied unenthusiastically. Emma was more excited about this than I was which I didn't think was quite right. "I was thinking of maybe Daniela for a first name, but I'm still not sure." All I knew was that I didn't want to be the silly teenager who named her daughter "Princess" or "Star" or something else embarrassing. I wanted my daughter to have a real name that she would hopefully like and be proud of.
Emma sat down on the bed next to me and we flipped through the book together. "Ooh," said Emma excitedly, "what about Antoinette? That's pretty."
"I don't think so. I want a Spanish name. Isn't Antoinette French?" I wasn't sure on a specific name, but being Manuela Santos, of Filipino descent, I knew I had to continue the tradition of Spanish names.
"Yeah, it is. How about 'Belinda'? It means 'beautiful.'"
"Belinda…Belinda Santos…" I repeated, rolling the name around on my tongue. "That would make a beautiful middle name, I think." I had already thrown Daniela out of the window. 'Daniela Belinda Santos' didn't sound quite right, and I really liked 'Belinda' as the middle name. "So now we just need a first name?"
Emma nodded and continued to flip through the book. She shook her head. "Manny, this is your job, not mine. I can't name your daughter! I picked the middle name-anything else would be too much."
"Oh my goodness! Is the mighty Emma Nelson passing down power? I'm shocked!" I fake fainted on the bed, giggling.
"Oh come on, Manny. I'm not that much of a control freak!" She saw me still laying back on the bed giggling and sighed. "Okay, maybe I am…but you have to do this for yourself!"
She dumped the book onto my legs and watched me expectantly, scowling when I didn't sit up. "Hey Em? Can you help me? I think I'm stuck…" I had sunken down into the bed. My plan had been to flip my legs over the edge of the bed and sit up, but with the book on top of my thighs I couldn't. That was the thing I hated most about being pregnant. By lunch today I had realized that the faces made by everyone else didn't matter anymore. However, swallowing my pride and asking for help, especially with things as simple as getting out of soft chairs or sitting up on a bed, was hard. Thankfully, Emma did it without making faces or laughing at me, something for which I was grateful.
I flipped through the book eagerly to make up for what Emma thought was my lack of enthusiasm when I was stuck. "I can't do this now. But," I patted my stomach, "this will be here for almost 5 more months." Here I groaned dramatically. Emma laughed, thankful that I was laughing at myself instead of pitying myself like I normally did. "So I think there's still time. As for right now, I'm hungry. When's dinner?"
"She's making jokes and asking about food! Ladies and gentlemen, I think Manny has returned!" Emma mimed hosting a talk show and we both laughed as we walked up the stairs. A few steps up, I could smell chili from the kitchen.
"Ooh! Snake's making chili!" I said, running up the stairs. I realized after about four more steps that running was a bad idea and stopped to catch my breath, embarrassed. "But I can wait a few extra seconds, right?" I laughed. Emma snorted like a pig and ran the rest of the way up the stairs, disappearing into the kitchen. I made my way up the rest of the stairs and when I got to the top, Emma jumped out from behind a corner. Next thing I knew, I was falling backwards down the stairs.
(A/N: Review, please!)