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Chapter Nine
"What is all this?" Jill asked as she walked into Adrian's apartment. He had called her earlier in the morning asking her to come over that afternoon.
"This…" he said gesturing to the plethora of gifts on the coffee table. "…is your baby shower."
"My what?" Jill asked with a chuckle.
"It's not like Lissa is going to throw you a proper one," Adrian reasoned. He put his hand on her back and guided her to the couch. "So I decided to do that honors."
Jill sat down and looked up at him. "This is kind of amazing," she said with a smile. "It feels like my birthday and Christmas."
Adrian smiled down at her. "I'm glad you like it. Now open up the presents," he encouraged her.
"You're acting like you don't know what's inside," she said with a laugh. She selected a large flowery bag from the pile.
"I just hope I picked out the right kind of stuff," he said, taking a seat next to her. "There were so many different kinds of things."
"You did this all yourself?" Jill asked, removing the tissue paper from the bag.
"Don't sound so surprised," Adrian playfully huffed. "Okay, well…the lady at the store gave her opinion," he added.
Jill smiled as she held up the tiny outfit from inside the bag. "Well, she has very good taste. This is adorable."
"It's hard to believe someone can be so small," Adrian said.
Jill rested her on her belly. "Doesn't feel so small," she said with a chuckle.
"Shh, don't listen to your mother," Adrian said to the bump. "You're perfect."
Jill laughed again and opened up a box that contained soft plush animals. "These will look great in the nursery," she said to him. She nuzzled the little lion next to her cheek.
"I had a stuffed lion when I was little. I figured it'd be like a tradition," Adrian said.
"That's so sweet," Jill said happily. She selected another bag and pulled out another outfit. "She's going to have more clothes than me."
"I thought we could bring her home from the hospital in that one," Adrian suggested with a hopeful look on his face.
"You thought of everything didn't you?" Jill said with a fond smile. "It's just so much."
"One more….a very special one," he said and produced a box from behind the couch.
Jill unwrapped the box carefully and found a pretty necklace with a heart shaped charm inside. "For me?" she asked.
"I just know this is hard for you and I wanted you to be happy," Adrian replied softly.
Jill's heart got all fluttery when he spoke like that. She set down the box and leaned over to hug him tightly. "You're gonna make me cry," she said.
"No, don't cry…I don't do well with crying," Adrian said with a chuckle as he rubbed her back.
She chuckled a little and pulled back. "Well, you better get used to a crying baby," she said.
"We don't have to worry about things like that," Adrian insisted. "I already told you she's going to be perfect."
…
"Too bad the baby never gets to be the size of a watermelon. That'd be a cool nickname," Adrian mused as they left the doctor's office.
"I, for one, am glad the baby never gets that big…do you know what I'd look like?" Jill asked him. Adrian tilted his head to get a good look at her and imagine the prospect. She rolled her eyes. "Speaking of food, we need to go feed."
After making their way to the feeders Jill checked them in and was immediately called back. Adrian flipped through an outdated magazine while he waited his turn. He looked up when he heard the door open. Jesse strolled in.
"I thought you were out of town," Adrian said.
"Hello to you too," Jesse said. He checked in and took a seat. The receptionist left the desk to see which feeder was available. "I'm back from my trip. Not that I need to check in with you."
"Jill's fine in case you were wondering. She had a check up today," he told him.
"Okay," Jesse said with a shrug.
"Nice way to show concern about your child," Adrian said.
"The kid's going to St. Vladimir's as soon as it's old enough. I'm not too invested," Jesse replied.
"What?" Adrian exclaimed.
"Did I stutter?" Jesse asked him.
"There is no way Jill is going to just ship the kid off," Adrian said.
"We all go there. It's not a punishment," Jesse said.
"Yeah, when the time is right," he said. "Not just to get rid of the child."
"Too bad you don't have a say," Jesse reminded him. He tilted his head to the side and looked at Adrian.
Adrian made a face. Jesse was looking at him pretty intensely. "Take a picture...it'll last longer," he said.
Jill emerged from the other room. "Jesse...you're back in town," she said.
"And you're VERY big," Jesse said, eying her protruding stomach.
"She's pregnant, you moron. She's supposed to gain weight. Come on, Jill. I can't be around this much stupid," Adrian said.
"But you didn't feed," Jill pointed out.
"I'll come back later," Adrian replied.
Jill started to follow Adrian out of the office. "Huh, you are capable of following directions," Jesse said. "You always seem to want to fight me, but whatever Adrian says goes, huh?"
Adrian spun around. "Maybe it's because I'm not a monster," he said.
"What did you call me?" Jesse asked.
Jill started panicking. If word of this got back to Lissa she was going to hear about it. "I need to go lay down. Let's go."
Jesse shook his head and walked back towards the feeder rooms while Adrian and Jill left.
"Sorry, Jailbait. I just can't stand that guy," Adrian apologized.
"You have to be more careful. I'm still in deep shit with Lissa. I don't want to make it worse," she said.
Adrian nodded his head and they walked quietly back towards Jill's new house.
"Apparently word travels faster than we thought," Adrian said when they found a very grouchy looking Lissa on the front porch.