Chapter 14: More Family Bonding
February 2005
"Addie where are you" Ashley yelled walking into the apartment.
"In my bedroom" I yelled back.
"Guess what" Ashley said.
"What?" I asked.
"Damn you are no fun you are supposed to make an outlandish guess before I tell you" Ashley complained.
"What is it that you have to tell me?" I asked.
"I quit my job" she replied.
"You what!" I exclaimed.
"Addie I work from 5am till 10:30 at night I'd never see the baby" Ashley said "I can collect unemployment till I deliver and then I can get a job working nights"
"What about your degree?" I asked.
"My degree will still be there when the baby starts school, my practice said that they will save me a spot when I'm ready to come back it's mine" Ashley answered.
"Well it seems like you have this all figured out but I too have some news, you know Tyler the realtor/musician who has been helping me look at houses?"
"I think I remember you mentioning him" Ashley said.
"Well he asked me out for tomorrow" I casually said.
"Thank the Lord I was afraid you had started to swing the other way" Ashley joked.
"Ha fucking ha, Maddie is right you are a total bitch"
"When the hell did Maddie call me a bitch?" Ashley asked.
"About a week ago" I replied.
"I'm going to kick her ass next time I see her and I'm not pregnant" Ashley said.
Ashley was almost 6 months now and she hated every minute of it.
"Another thing who the hell mad up the rule where people have to touch my stomach because I find it a violation of my personal space"
"Only you would find something wrong with that" I said.
"Are you telling me that if 20 million people came up to you and put their hands on your stomach that wouldn't bother you?" Ashley asked.
"Ok maybe it would" I said "but you only have 3 months left so deal with it"
"I can't believe we are moving next month" Ashley said.
"Yeah I'm gonna miss that apartment but between you and the baby plus Maddie and Randy we need more room besides we are going to be living in a house with a pool and we can put up swings" I said.
"Do you really think swings are a good idea remember what John and I were like as kids" Ashley reminded me.
"I can only imagine" I rolled my eyes "remind me to remove anything flammable from the house"
"Yo Addie where you at?" Maddie asked.
"Do you two plan your entrances" I asked Ashley.
"No" she said with a laugh.
Maddie and Randy walked into the room. They had seats one the bed. The first thing Randy went to do was to touch Ashley's stomach.
"Do it and pull back a bloody stub" Ashley said.
Randy quickly retracted his hand.
"Good boy" Ashley said.
Maddie and I laughed, Randy may seem tough on TV but in real life he was whipped.
"So why are you guys here it isn't like you don't have a house" I said.
"Shut up Addie" Madeline said "Randy and I have an announcement … were engaged"
After hugs were given around we hung around talking about stuff.
"Damn this kid kicks hard" Ashley said.
"Can I feel?" Randy asked.
Ashley grabbed his hand and placed it over where the baby was kicking.
"That is really cool" Randy said.
"You would think until its your kidneys the baby is playing soccer with" Ashley said.
"Yeah well men will never get to experience the feeling of having a life inside them" Randy said.
"Please if men could give birth the human race would die out" I remarked.
It was late in the evening Randy and Maddie were in bed. I went to go check on Ashley which was a new habit I had. She was sitting up in bed writing something.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I started keeping this journal a few days after I found out I was pregnant" she said "I figured it would be nice for the baby"
"That's sweet" I said.
"It's my way of apologizing for screwing up his or her life" Ashley said.
"Stop talking like that" I said "you are going to be a great mom"
"It means a lot to me that you think that" Ashley said "I might not say this enough but I love you sis"
"I love you too Slugger" I replied.
Ashley laughed when she heard the nickname our parents had given her.
I'd like to say that everything was perfect from this point on but that would have been a lie.