Lisa stood in the front of the hospital waiting on Greg. She was about to go in for her monthly check up. She was now six and half months pregnant and looking every bit of it. Today was a big day. She had finally decided to find out the gender of the baby. She figured it would be best since she was going to start decorating the nursery soon and buying things for the baby. She didn't want to buy anything pink then have to bring it back to the store if it turned out to be a boy, though Greg would rather her not buy anything pink at all. She looked down the hall to the left of her and turned her head when she saw Paul coming. She had been mildly avoiding him, and had only seen him when they would go out for dinner with a group of their friends. She hoped he would pass by without noticing her, but that hope was dashed when she heard him call her name.
"Lisa?"
She turned around with a forced, believable smile on her face. "Paul…hey."
"I thought that was you," he said with a smile. His eyes quickly lowered to her stomach. "How far along are you again?"
"Six and half months," she told him.
"I always ask Greg," he told her, "but he never seems to know. So how have you been?"
"I've been fine," she told him, "just trying to deal with the many perks of being pregnant."
"Well you carry it well," he told her. "You still look beautiful."
"Umm, thanks Paul," she said nervously.
"So you know what you're having?"
"Finding out today," she told him.
"Well let me know, I'll be sure to get a gift for the baby," he told her.
"I'll do that," she said trying to end the conversation. He looked at her for a minute and just smiled before he started talking again. "You know, that should be my kid you're carrying."
She just looked at him, not really sure what to say. "But I guess things don't always work out the way you want them to."
"Paul," she started, not really sure if it was safe to say what she was about to say. She figured he wouldn't try anything with the other people walking around the hospital, "I'm with Greg. I'm in love with him."
"I know Lisa," he said reluctantly. "You two take care," he said with a smile before he walked away.
She just looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed, thinking about how weird that interaction had been. She looked at her watch after he had disappeared around the corner. Her appointment was in five minutes, and she didn't see Greg anywhere. She waited around a few more minutes, before she felt someone snake their arms around her waist. She turned around thinking Paul may have come back, but it was Greg.
"Better get going if we don't want to be late," he said.
"Yeah, because that would totally be my fault if we are," she said sarcastically.
"Oh don't be so hard on yourself. You can't waddle that fast," he said making her roll her eyes at him.
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"Well everything still looks good," Dr. Grey told them as they looked at the ultrasound. "Everything seems to be on track. The baby seems to weigh about two and a half pounds, but that'll probably triple over the next two and a half months. Then you'll have a bouncing baby…," he stopped teasing them.
"A baby what?" Greg said being the least patient of the two of them.
"Eager are we?" Dr. Grey asked with a smile. He then turned to Lisa. "Let's not keep you waiting any longer. You're going to have a girl."
A smile came to his face. He didn't really care what they were having, but knowing gave him a funny feeling. Now he sort of knew what to expect, a little bit, but not really. He was just happy to find out that he was going to have a daughter.
"Here we go again," Greg said grabbing a few napkins off of the counter and handing them to Lisa. She took them and dabbed away the tears that had come to her eyes.
"Shut up," she told him. "And you owe me twenty-five bucks."
Dr. Grey started laughing, "Well I can honestly say that this is the first time I've had parents bet on the sex of their baby.I'm glad you won Lisa."
"Shut up old man," Greg said playfully. "I didn't lose much, I'll just take it out of your co-pay."
Dr. Grey just laughed at him as they left the room.
Lisa and Greg were walking around the baby furniture store trying to pick out a crib. The had already picked out a white dresser/changing table with two drawers and three little cubby holes under the changing table and a matching armoire with a door on one half and two small drawers and two more cubby holes on the other side. She had decided that she would paint the nursery yellow, and was happy that she had never bothered to furnish the extra room for herself.
"I'll be right back, I have to pee," she said heading off towards the bathroom. He continued looking around, not really knowing what to pick, or rather knowing his opinion didn't really matter, since the baby was a girl and he knew nothing about girls, and Lisa had made decorating the nursery her own personal project. It was a few minutes before she came back with a huge smile on her face.
"I found the perfect crib," she told him excitedly, as she started to walk off in another direction, motioning for him to follow. He followed her until she stopped next to a white, round crib. He walked over and examined it. It was a nice crib…until he saw the price tag.
"Whoa, Lise, did you see the price on this thing?"
She walked around and looked at the price. "It's not that expensive."
"For us it is," he told her.
"Well we'll just have to find some way to pay for it."
"Baby…," he said knowing he was in for an argument, "we can't afford this. There are plenty of other cribs in here that…,"
"I want this crib," she told him. "This is my first baby and I want this crib for her."
"Well this is my first baby too, and I say we can't afford it."
"If you'd just let me call my dad and ask him…,"
"What? You think he'd give you the money? You had to take from him what you've got now."
"You don't know if he'd give it to me or not."
"Well we're not going to find out because we're not asking him for any money. This is our kid, and we're going to take care of it the best way we can, which would be pretty well if you'd just pick a more reasonably priced crib."
She just stared at him as tears started to come to her eyes. He was happy no one was in that area of the store to hear them arguing because he was pretty sure he would have gotten beaten by a mob of pregnant women. She didn't even bother answering him before turning and leaving the store. He followed her and when he got to the parking lot, she was already sitting in the passenger seat of the car.
She wiped away her tears not wanting him to see her cry, but they just kept coming. She was feeling conflicting emotions. On one hand, she felt like she deserved to get the crib since it was her first baby. Everyone went all out for their first kid, that way they could save everything for the ones that followed. But on the other hand, she knew that they weren't in a financial situation to go all out, and she felt guilty for lashing out at him. He was right, she just really wanted that crib and her hormones wouldn't let her get over it.
He walked to the driver's side and got in. He was quiet for a few moments before he turned to look at her.
"Do you wanna go look somewhere else?"
"No," she said, "take me home."
He started towards their place, and they didn't speak for the rest of the drive home. Usually he would try to say something to break the tension in the air, but he was feeling a little disappointed in himself. He felt like he was letting her down.
When they got home, he asked her if she was okay. She assured him that she was and said she was tired, then went upstairs to take a nap. He moped around the house for the next few hours thinking about what had just happened. He really wanted to get the crib for her and the baby. He grabbed his guitar out of the corner and started playing, hoping that he would get an idea…It didn't take long before he got one.
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"How much can I get for it?" Greg asked looking as the man observed his first love.
"This is a pretty nice guitar son," the older man said. "Forgive me if I'm prying, but why do you want to get rid of it?"
It was the first guitar he had ever bought, and it was still in really good condition as he took really good care of it. He had saved for years to finally be able to afford it his junior year of high school. He had had it ever since and now he was giving it up. He had another guitar at home, but he knew it wasn't worth nearly as much, as it was originally cheaper.
"I don't want to get rid of it," he informed him. "I just need the money for something more important."
The man inspected it a little while longer. He then looked at him, studying him, before finally naming his price. "I'll give you eleven hundred for it."
"I'll take it," he said having expected not to get that much. That would leave him a few hundred dollars left over and hopefully he could talk the sales people down and save even more money.
The man placed the guitar on the floor behind the counter and grabbed a receipt pad. He started writing some stuff down as he started talking to Greg.
"Now you have thirty days to come back and get this for the same price. I won't try to sell it until then, but after those thirty days it's mine and if you want it back, you have to buy it at my price."
He handed him the receipt before walking over to the safe behind him. He put in a combination and turned back with a few one hundred dollar bills. Greg held out his hand and the man counted the money out to him. He left the pawn shop and went straight over to the furniture store they had been at the week before.
"Ouch," Lisa said as she felt another kick to her kidney.
"Well at least all you have is two more months left," Lori told her as they walked down the hall towards their condo. "And only two more weeks left of school."
They had been out shopping for some things for the baby, and they were now hauling it all inside. They had been gone almost all day, and had left Greg and Seth painting the nursery that morning.
"Well I'm going to be minus a kidney if this kid doesn't stop kicking me," she told her as she dug in her purse for the keys. She opened the door and they walked down the short hall and into the living room. Lisa's mouth fell open as she saw the boxes that lay in the center of the room. She examined them and saw that two of them were the changing table/ dresser she picked out and the baby armoire chest.
"I thought you told me you hadn't bought any furniture yet?"
"We didn't," Lisa told her as she walked over to examine the boxes. "At least I didn't think we did." She got to the third box and looked at the picture on the side. She gasped when she saw what was in it.
"He got the crib," she said quietly as tears came to her eyes.
Lori walked over to her and looked at the box. "The crib you told me that you guy's couldn't afford?"
"Yeah," she nodded as she stared at the box.
"Well it looks like he found the money somewhere." Lori said.
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They were unpacking some of the things they had bought when they heard Greg and Seth at the door laughing. Lisa got up and as soon as he walked into the living room her arms were wrapped around his neck as she pulled him into a hug. He instinctively wrapped his arms around her, already knowing why she was hugging him.
"Thank you," she said after pulling away from him.
"You haven't been upstairs have you?" he asked her.
"No," she said a little confused. "Why what's upstairs?" He didn't say anything and she was soon on her way up the stairs with Lori behind her.
She went into the nursery where she figured she should look and her mouth fell open when she saw that the nursery was painted a light yellow and all the plastic and everything that had been in there that morning was gone. There was also a huge white rocking chair in the corner of the room that had a little light pink pastel stencil of a flower on the head rest.
"We still have to do the stencils along the ceiling and floor, but it should be ready by the end of the day, and we can let it dry tonight and air out for a few days before we start putting everything in," he said standing behind her. "And the chair is an early mother's day gift, you do still celebrate it if the baby isn't here yet right?"
"Thank you," she told him as she turned to face him and removed her hands from over her mouth. "It's beautiful."
She couldn't wait to get everything in the nursery. It was a huge distraction from being so anxious about the baby arriving.
Lisa was cleaning up the upstairs office area, which was a mess since it was where she kept her books and notes for school and he kept his books and journals for the hospital and everything else. It was also were they paid their monthly bills and managed their checking accounts. She was cleaning out the top desk drawer when she ran across a receipt from a pawn shop. She opened it up and read it, not having remembered Greg saying anything about pawning anything. 'Guitar, $1100, 30 days to buy back' was what she saw scribbled messily across the piece of paper. She then realized that she hadn't seen Greg's favorite guitar around lately.
"That's where he must have gotten the money for the crib and the rocking chair," she said to herself. She stared at the receipt for a little while, feeling guilty about wanting the more expensive crib. Then the words '30 days to buy back' popped out at her. She looked at the date on the receipt and saw that it had not been thirty days yet. She looked at the address on the receipt, before she stuck it in her pocket. She then put on her shoes and grabbed her purse and keys before heading out of the door. She made a stop at the bank before heading over to the pawn shop.
She walked into what she deemed a glorified junk yard and went up to the counter. She waited around for a little while, but didn't see anyone. So, she rang the little silver bell that was sitting on the counter. A short, stubby man came out of the back room and came up to her.
"May I help you?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said pulling the receipt from her pocket. "My boyfriend sold his guitar to you a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to buy it back." She handed him the receipt and he studied it before looking back at her. He went into the back room, without saying anything, and came back with two guitars.
"I remember I bought two guitars on that day," he told her, "but I don't know which one is your boyfriend's."
"That one," she said pointing to the one in his left hand.
"Are you sure?" he asked her. "Because I don't want the other guy coming back looking for his guitar and I've sold it."
"I'm positive," she told him. She had had enough guitar lessons on that guitar to know it. She had watched him sit and play it many times, often lulling her to sleep with it, when she was too tired to stay awake with him. It had become almost as special to her as it was to him, since she was the only one he would let get near it. She knew the guitar very well.
He sat the guitar he held in his right hand down on the floor behind the counter, and placed the one she wanted on top of the counter. "Do you have the eleven hundred bucks?"
"Right here," she said taking the money out of her wallet and handing it to him.
He counted to money before he started off towards the back room, "Give me a sec." He came back with the guitar case Greg had brought in with it. He placed the guitar in the case for her and she was on her way back home.
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"Hey Babe," he said as he walked into the living room. His actions slowed as he dropped his back pack in the arm chair and stared at what she was holding. She just smiled at him, thinking he would be happy that she got his guitar back.
"How'd you get my guitar?" he asked a little suspicious.
"Well," she started happily, "I went down to the pawn shop where you sold it, and I bought it back."
"How'd you know that I pawned it?"
"I found the receipt when I was cleaning out the office," she told him as she tried to hand it to him, but he didn't take it.
"Lisa," he yelled. He was about to continue, but realized he was screaming and lowered his tone. "Why did you buy it back? I sold it for a reason." He took it from her and placed it back in the case. "We can't afford to buy it back."
"Yes we can," she told him, a little upset by his reaction. "I'm going to make loans through the school for next school year. That way we'll have some extra mon…"
"I told you not to make any loans," he told her
"I wanted to make the loans," she told him. "We needed the money."
"I told you I'd take care of it. And I did. I didn't need you to…,"
"Okay hold on, this is my baby too," she said. "I'm her mother, so that means I'm just as responsible as you are for taking care of her."
"That's not the point."
"Well what's the point then?" she asked him, now yelling along with him. "Tell me. Maybe I can get a better idea of the method behind my father's thinking."
"You can't compare this to what your father did wh…"
"Yes I can because you're doing exactly the same thing he did. And I'm going to take out the loans rather you like it or not because we need the extra money, so deal with it." She turned away from him, not waiting for him to reply, and went upstairs to the bedroom.
He wanted to follow her and continue the discussion, but he used his better judgment and decided not to. He sat on the couch and took the guitar out of its case and examined it. He was happy to have it back, and in the condition he had sold it. He rested his head on the back of the sofa and took a deep breath before blowing it out. He didn't think he was being unfair. He just wanted what was best for them. But maybe what was best for the baby was to have some extra money around to get her anything she may need, he thought. And Lisa wanted to make the loans; she wanted to be actively involved in taking care of the baby financially. Maybe he was just letting his testosterone driven ego get in the way…maybe he was acting like her father. He shook the thought and placed the guitar back in its case. He then went up stairs to the bedroom to find her lying in bed reading a book.
When she saw him come in, she rolled her eyes at him and closed the book before turning her back to him and closing her eyes, letting him know she didn't want to talk to him. He climbed in the bed behind her anyway and placed a kiss on the back of her neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered, as he brushed his lips up against her neck. He put his hand around her waist and turned her over to face him, before placing a kiss on her lips. "You're right. I was being an ass." He pressed his lips to hers again and this time she kissed back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Before long, they had discarded their clothes, and had found a comfortable position to carry out their make up sex.