Chapter 20
"Alright, well, I'm off," Joey said, grabbing a few papers on the coffee table in the living room. Dawson was sitting on the couch, smiling at her.
"You do realize I'm going to be bored out of my mind while your at work, don't you?" Dawson asked. Joey bent down and kissed him.
"I'm sure you'll survive," she said. "Besides, if your that bored, why don't you go find yourself a job," she said.
"Ouch, that hurt," he joked, pretended to be hurt by her comment. Joey smiled.
"I should be home by three. Four-fifteen the latest," she promised.
"Sounds good, I'll see you later," he said. Joey walked back over to him and kissed him.
"I love you."
"I love you too." The front door shut and Dawson sighed, looking at the remote debating whether or not to even attempt to find a daytime show he would enjoy but quickly deciding to occupy himself with other things.
"Honey, I'm home!" Joey exclaimed as she walked through the door at four thirty. Dawson walked over to her, grinning.
"Hey you," he said. Joey smiled and kissed him. Joey quickly pulled away.
"What?" Dawson asked worriedly.
"I'm sorry Dawson, that just seemed a little too domestic," she said. Dawson laughed, realizing how right she was.
"How you feeling today?" he asked, following Joey into the living room. She sighed, plunking down on the couch.
"My back and feet are killing me!" Joey said as she made herself comfortable, putting her legs up on Dawson's lap as he sat down beside her. Dawson smiled.
"So, what'd you do today, here all alone?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Um… nothing much actually. It was a pretty boring day," he admitted.
"Hmmm…how 'bout we trade places?" she joked. Dawson laughed. The two sat there in silence, enjoying just being together.
"Today I uh… I was thinking about writing a script," he said. Joey looked at him.
"Really?" she asked with a smile on her face.
Dawson nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I don't wanna do television forever. Plus, with the time off I'm taking from the show, I might as well do something constructive with my spare time."
Joey nodded. "That sounds like a great idea." She sighed, resting her hands on her stomach.
"Have you felt the baby move around at all today?" he asked curiously. Joey had been feeling their baby move around a little bit, but to another person feeling her stomach, you couldn't really feel it as much.
"Yeah, a little," she said.
"Oh," Dawson said simply. Joey sat up.
"Oh my god, a girl at work had her baby the other day; twenty six hours of labor!" she said.
Dawson made a face. "Ow."
"Yeah. Big 'Ow'," she agreed. Dawson reached over and rubbed her belly.
"I'm glad this is where my life is right now though," he said. "And I definitely can't wait 'till we have this baby," he added.
"You know, speaking of which, we haven't really talked about the future," Joey said. Dawson looked at her confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Well, like for example, where are we going to live? Do you wanna look for another place together or should we just stay here?" she asked. Dawson paused.
"Well I kinda like it here," Dawson admitted. "And it's not like it's cramped. We can use the spare room for the baby room," he suggested.
"True," Joey said. "Alright, I'm tired of talking about the future for today," she said. Dawson laughed.
"Alright. Well, we can always talk about the upcoming holiday," he suggested. Joey smiled. She then moved her legs off of Dawson, and moving on the couch so that she was laying in his arms.
"Remember Christmases back at home? Your mom would always be baking something for us." She smiled, remembering the old days.
"Yeah, you used to come over more than usual around Christmas time," Dawson remembered.
Joey smiled. "Couldn't help it. Your house was happier than mine." The room fell silent.
"When I first found out I was pregnant, I promised myself that our child would have a better life than I did," she admitted. "That he or she would be raised in a loving environment with both a father and a mother." Dawson wrapped his arms around her and gave her a loving squeeze.
"Joey, our child will be loved so much," he assured her.
"Yeah, I know." The began to play with his hand.
"So…what do you want for Christmas?" he asked her. Joey looked at him and smiled.
"Well, what do you want for Christmas?" she asked.
"Nope. I asked you first," he said. Joey laughed.
"Oh Dawson, I don't know," she said. "Some really comfortable slippers," she said. Dawson laughed.
"Slippers? That's all you want is slippers?"
Joey thought for a second. "A million dollars?" The both of them laughed.
"Dawson, we have some time still before Christmas; it's only a week into December," she told him.
"Besides, I've had a long day. All I want to do now is relax here with you," she said. Dawson kissed her on the forehead.
Dawson smiled at the idea he just had. "How about we watch a movie?" he suggested. Joey smiled.
"Do you realize how long it's been since we did that?" she asked.
"I know, I was thinking about that today actually; starting up movie night again."
"I'd like that," Joey said.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, let's have our first movie night," he said as he carefully moved from under Joey and over to her entertainment center. Joey smiled as she watched him go through her movie collection.
He turned towards her, his face serious. "You do realize all you have in here are chick flicks?"
Joey smiled. "Hey, don't knock the chick flicks," she said. Dawson sat there, his gaze going over the movie titles once more.
"Aw, c'mon Dawson, pleaseee," she begged.
Dawson sighed. "Alright," he said. "But I'm only doing this because there are no other movies in this house," he said.
"What one do you want?" he asked. Joey paused and thought about it for a second.
"Ummm…'Ever After'" Dawson located the movie and looked at the box cover.
"I knew I should have brought my movies with me," he said. Joey laughed as she got up from the couch.
"Alright, while your setting up the movie, I'm going to go change into my pajamas," she said.
"But it's not even five thirty," Dawson pointed out.
"True, but your stomach isn't growing rapidly, causing your clothes to feel tight the bigger you get," she said over her shoulder as she headed for their bedroom.
"You know, there's an easy solution to your problem and I think it's called 'maternity clothes'" Dawson said as he set up the video. He heard Joey laugh from the bedroom.
"I know, I was hoping to just get by with some baggy clothes and avoid the horrid experience of wearing maternity clothes," she explained. Dawson smiled.
"Maternity clothes aren't that bad," he assured her. "Some of them are even cute."
"Dawson, after seeing the horrid clothes Bessie wore when she was pregnant, there is no way you can convince me otherwise," she said, walking back out into the living room. Dawson stood up and joined Joey on the couch.
"Jo, the maternity clothes line has come a long way since when Bessie was pregnant," he told her.
"And how do you know?" she asked.
Dawson paused. "Cause I kinda…looked at a few in the mall a few weeks back," he admitted.
"You didn't," Joey said.
"Joey, I have a feeling your not going to be able to go through this pregnancy wearing your regular clothes," he said. "I mean, c'mon, you wear my shirts on the weekends," he pointed out.
"You don't want me wearing your shirts?" she asked.
"Joey, I love it when you wear my clothes," he said as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "I just think you should get a few maternity clothes, that's all," he said.
"I'll think about it," she said. "Now can we pleasee watch the movie now?" she asked. Dawson sighed, grabbing the remote from the coffee table while Joey grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch for them to cover up with.
A Week Later…
"Alright Jo, you ready?" Dawson called out. He had finally talked Joey into going Christmas shopping. He was also hoping to get her to buy some clothes. He knew all he had to do was to show her how fashionable some were and she'd give in. "C'mon Jo, what's taking you so long?" he asked, waiting at the door.
A few second later, Joey came out of the bedroom. "Jeez I['m sorry, Dawson. I have a lot more to dress now a days not to mention having to pee every three seconds," she said as she walked over to the coat rack, grabbing her winter coat.
"You look beautiful as always," he assured her as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.
"You have to say that Dawson, I'm carrying your baby," she grumbled as she put her scarf on. Dawson smiled.
"I'd both say and think that even if you weren't pregnant and you know that," he said.
"Alright, I'm ready; let's get going, huh?" she said. Dawson opened the door and the two headed out.
"So what do you want to do first, get the tree or go Christmas shopping?" he asked as he walked to the car.
"Well, I guess maybe we should get the presents first then get the tree on our way home," Joey said.
"You think you'll be up for all this running around today?" he asked. "I know you've been kinda feeling tired lately."
"I'll be okay," she assured them as the two got into the car.
"Alright, just…let me know if you change your mind."
Dawson and Joey arrived at the South Street Seaport a little while later. Dawson figured that was the closest place to where they lived and he didn't wanna go too far because of Joey. They also had to get a tree when they were done so he didn't want to spend a lot of time traveling to and from the store.
Dawson looked around the packed store and realized just how long it could take.
"This could take a while," he said.
"I was just thinking that," she said, looking around as well. Dawson turned towards Joey.
"Promise me next year we'll get a jump start," Dawson said.
"Promise," she said. The two smiled at each other. "Comon, let's get started," she said, reaching down for his hand. He smiled as the two began shopping, hand on hand.
"Oh, Dawson!" Joey cooed, as she stop dead in her tracks, walking past a store. Dawson looked at her confused.
"What?" he asked.
"Look at those baby shoes!" she exclaimed before dragging him on the store, which was obviously a baby store. Dawson just looked around at all the small things as Joey dragged him around, both carrying bags of stuff they had already bought.
"Dawson, look at this little dress!" she said, holding up a small purple dress. "Ohh and the little tights!"
"They are cute," he agreed. "But Joey, what if it's a boy? He'd look a little silly wearing a dress," he said.
"Maybe I'll dress him up in it anyway," she joked, sticking out her tongue. Dawson's eyes went wide.
"No way your going to dress my son in a dress," he said. "If, of coarse, it's a boy," he added quickly. Joey laughed.
"I'm just kidding," she assured him. She looked over ahead of her.
"Oh, now look at that!" she said, holding up a boy's outfit. "See, that's just as adorable as the dress," she said.
"Everything's so tiny," Dawson said.
"I know," Joey cooed. "You know Dawson, we haven't really gotten any baby furniture; you know, like a crib, or a changing table," she said.
"Actually, my mom said we could have the one she's got there. It was Lily's and before that it was mine," he explained.
"Awww!" Joey said. "Alright, yeah, tell your mom we'll take it." Dawson laughed, listening to Joey's reaction to all the baby things.
"You know, as much as I'd love to stay in this store, looking at baby accessories, we really do have to finish shopping for everyone," he reminded her.
"Oh, alright," she said, knowing he was right. The two walked out of the baby store ready to finish up shopping.
"You know, I can't believe I talked you into finally buying maternity clothes," Dawson said, happy he was able to win her over.
"Yes you were right, Dawson. Maternity wear has definitely come a long way since Bessie's day," she said. "Also, it helps if your boyfriend is producer and creator of a very popular show and can afford to buy some of the really nice outfits," she said, bumping her shoulder into his. Dawson laughed.
"You do realize we could very well have spend over a thousand dollars today, don't you?" Dawson said, motioning to the bags he was carrying. Joey smiled.
"That doesn't even include the stuff we've still gotta buy for the nursery," he added.
"Well who haven't we shopped for?" Joey asked. "We got something for Bessie and Alexander, Gale, John, Lily," she said, naming them off as they continued walking. "We got something for Jack, Doug Grams and Aimee, got something for Audrey and even a little something for Andie. The only other person were missing in our little group is Pa-" Joey paused, and stopped walking, realizing what she was saying. Dawson stood there for a second.
"Joey it's okay, you can say his name," Dawson told her. Joey looked up at him.
"I know, it's just…" she paused. "I guess I just realized we may never be able to repair things between the three of us," she said.
"You haven't talked to him since you guys broke up?" Dawson asked. Joey shook her head.
"I uh, we talked the day I flew to L.A to tell you, but that's it," she told him. She paused. "I wished you guys were talking. That's what I miss the most; seeing the two of you friends."
"Joey, it's not your fault that Pacey and I aren't as close we were when we were fifteen," Dawson told her. Joey forced a smile.
"Let's not talk about this right now, okay? We've got a lot to do today," she said, quickly changing the subject. Dawson decided to let it go for the time being, knowing they'd have to talk about it sometime in the future.
"So, I think we're uh, pretty much covered here," Joey said a few minutes later. Dawson looked at the bags both he and Joey were carrying.
"Yeah, I think your right. Ready to go get the tree?" he asked. Joey smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, let's go get our first Christmas tree," she said happily. The two were almost at the exit of the store when Joey stopped.
"Dawson," she said. "I have to go to the bathroom." Dawson groaned.
"Of coarse you do, it's been a whole half an hour since you last went," he said.
"Bite me. Until your five months pregnant, having a baby pushing down on your bladder, don't you even start picking on me," she said.
Dawson smiled. "Yes dear. C'mon, let's go in search of the bathrooms," he said.