Alright, so I know this chapter was a little boring, or at least I thought it was, and I wrote it. But sometimes, chapters have to be boring in order to get to the good stuff. Next chapter will be Zoey starting school and I have some exciting/dramatic stuff planned. So stick with me and we will get to the fun stuff. Leave a review and let me know what you think!
Random fun fact: I wrote half of this chapter and posted it while I was at the hospital.
A few hours later Zoey sat in Violet's office while Aunt Amelia got some baby time. For the first few minutes they sat in silence. Violet thought it would be better for Zoey to begin the conversation, but Zoey was determined to make Violet begin, seeing as she didn't really want to be there in the first place. After another ten minutes had passed Violet finally spoke up,
"So your mom told me she's worried about you."
"Well she shouldn't be. I'm fine." Violet looked at her doubtfully.
"She told me she saw you crying earlier. It seemed like you were really upset. Want to tell me what happened?" Zoey sighed; she knew it would be best to just go ahead and tell Violet what she wanted to know. It would get them off her back and might even make her feel better.
"I was at the store with Lily earlier. And it started out fine and everything, but then it just seemed like everyone was staring at me and judging me. I heard one woman call me a slut. I let it get to me, I should have just ignored it, but it really hurt." Violet looked at the younger girl and smiled sadly,
"Sweetie, I'm sorry that people are so mean. It's terrible that they can't look past the fact that you're a teenager with a baby and see the amazing young woman that we all see,"
"Amelia told me almost the same thing," Zoey said, smiling slightly.
"Well it's the truth. But it's also the truth that people are going to judge you no matter what. Even if you didn't have a baby, people would still judge you without knowing you. It's just how they are. So you can't let it get to you. And if it does you just need to talk to someone about it. You can always talk to me, or Amelia, your mom, anyone here will always be willing to help you with anything. You know that right?"
"Yeah I know. And I love you all for it. You've all been so supportive through everything. I would never have made it without you guys."
"Well we don't plan on leaving you alone any time soon, so you're good for quite a while. How about we talk about school," Violet suggested.
"What about it?"
"How do you feel about going back? Do you think you're ready?" Zoey looked at her lap,
"I think so," she looked at Violet, "I feel like I am. I know I need to do something with my life. I can't just be the teen mom who lives off her parent's money and I am not going to wait tables or anything like that. School has to happen." Violet laughed a little,
"Well you certainly are determined. What do you plan on doing after high school?"
"College, of course. Then med school, I've always wanted to go to Yale like my mom."
"So you want to be a doctor?"
"Surgeon, I'm going to be a surgeon," she said confidently, a hint of nervousness in her voice that Violet picked up on.
"So what about Lily?" Violet asked. Zoey fidgeted with her hands nervously,
"Mom is bringing her to work when she can. But obviously she won't be able to watch her all the time, so I hired a nanny for when we need someone. But Violet?"
"What is it Zoey?"
"Every time I think about leaving her for more than an hour I get knots in my stomach and I start to panic."
"Oh sweetie, that's normal. Especially for first time moms. I would be more worried about you if you weren't feeling that way. Lily will be ok, and it's only for a few hours a day,"
"Seven," Zoey interrupted, "It's seven hours a day, five days a week that I can't be with my baby and it scares the crap out of me," she said tearfully.
"Spending that time away from Lily will be good, for both of you. It will allow you to get used to the idea of leaving her with someone you trust and it will help to not cause her any separation issues. It will be hard at first, but you will get used to it and it will get easier," Violet said reassuringly, Zoey nodded. "What about the kids at school. Are you going to tell them that you have a baby?" she asked, knowing this was an issue that Zoey would be faced with.
"I hadn't really thought about it," She said, "I don't want to keep her a secret, but at the same time I can't just go around telling everyone about my daughter. High school kids are mean, really really mean. And if they find out that I have a baby there is no telling what will happen."
"You don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to. That's totally your decision. And if you chose not to tell anyone about Lily, that's ok."
"What if when she gets older she thinks I'm ashamed of her?"
"Well then you will explain your reasoning to her. But I doubt she will think that." Zoey nodded,
"You're right. But can we maybe be done talking now? No offense, but I'm all talked out." Violet laughed and stood up,
"Yeah of course. But you know you can talk to me if you need to, ok?"
"Yeah I know," Zoey smiled at her,
"Good. Let's go see that beautiful daughter of yours." They made their way to Amelia's office where they found every other doctor in the practice.
"What are you all doing in here?" Zoey asked.
"We all wanted some baby time," Charlotte, who was currently holding Lily, told her. Zoey laughed as Charlotte handed her the infant.
"Hi baby girl," she cooed to the tiny child, "Did you have fun with all these people?" Lily gurgled and waved her hands around in front of her. "How was she?" Zoey asked the room at large.
"She was good," Amelia offered, "She didn't fuss at all."
"That's good. I'm gonna get ready to go mom," she told Addison.
"Alright, I'll be there soon," she waited until Zoey had left then turned to Violet, "How'd it go?"
"It went alright," she told Addison, not wanting to tell her too much since she did not want to break doctor patient confidentiality with Zoey. Addison nodded,
"Thanks for talking to her Violet," she said sincerely.
"Anytime," Violet agreed.
"Alright, I will see you all tomorrow then," Addison said, leaving the room and walking towards her office. Zoey was buckling Lily's car seat and gathering their belongings. "So what else did you buy?" Addison asked, knowing her daughter would not have stopped at just one dress. Zoey smiled as they walked towards the elevator,
"A few dresses, some shirts and jeans. Oh and the cutest bathing suite ever! I know she can't really go swimming or out to the beach yet though, so I bought it a few sizes too big so it will fit her when she can." Addison nodded, everyone had bought a ton of baby clothes, but they had done the same thing as Zoey and bought things a few sizes bigger than the infant needed right now. She probably wouldn't need new clothes until she was about three.
"Well I'm sure she will love it," Addison said as she started the car, "Remember, she has a checkup with Cooper tomorrow," Addison reminded.
"Yeah I know, Cooper reminded me every time he saw me today. I think he just wants baby time without everyone crowding into his office like they did to Amelia today," Zoey said with a laugh. Addison smiled,
"You know, if you don't want everyone passing her around like that all you have to do is say so."
"I don't mind," Zoey said, "I mean, I trust everyone at the practice, so it doesn't worry me that much. And they all care about her and love her, so she'll be safe. So I don't mind," she assured Addison.
"Alright, just making sure you knew. How does Chinese sound for dinner? Amelia's coming over too"
"That sounds wonderful," Zoey said as Addison steered the car towards the restaurant. They got their food to go and made their way back to the house where Amelia was waiting for them. They made themselves comfortable on the floor around the coffee table with Lily lying in a bouncy seat between Addison and Zoey. They spent the next few hours just enjoying each other's company and playing with the baby before she fell asleep and then they went to bed themselves.
So what did you think? REVIEW PLEASE!