wand before there was a loud thumping sound coming from the machine.
“What’s that?” I asked, with my eyes glued to the screen as I watched a little sac come into view.
“That’d be the baby’s heartbeat.”
The baby’s heartbeat.
I looked down to Jasmine whose eyes were also on the screen. A little tear ran down her cheek and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and swipe it for her. Her eyes darted over to me and there was nothing she could do to hide the fearfulness they held. It was then that I realized the whole purpose of me being there was so that I could make her more comfortable.
I grazed her cheek with the back of my hand and whispered, “I got you.”
)~o~(
“No freakin’ way, Rich. I can take an unexpected baby, but I cannot take a whole new, fully-grown person moving in with us.” I had a strong feeling Rae wasn’t gonna approve but I knew I at least had to give her a heads up before approaching Jasmine about it.
Rae was the easier target of the two.
“I’m not raising my child in two different households and I’m not going anywhere, so that means Jasmine is gonna have to come here. Besides, you’ll really only be here for the rest of the school year plus the summer before I’ll be shipping you off to college anyway so it’ll just be a temporary thing for you.” I could tell those additional facts had her at least contemplating the idea.
She crossed her legs on the bed before asking, “How far along is she?”
“About 12 weeks.” The better mood she seemed to be in quickly faded at that information
“So you’re tellin’ me I’ll have to spend my last few weeks here with a crying newborn and spend the six to seven-ish months before that with his overly-emotional mother? How much are you paying me?” Though I couldn’t knock her effort to get something more in exchange, I also knew I was already giving her plenty.
“I’m paying you eight months of life somewhere other than the streets of California. That’s what I’m paying you.”
“You wouldn’t put me on the streets, Rich.”
“I wouldn’t put you there, but that’s surely an option if you don’t wanna be here with your future sister-in-law and nephew.”
“Hold on. Sister-in-law? Now you’re gonna marry the girl?! You hardly even know her!” Rae was stating nothing but facts but that certainly wasn’t gonna stop me from making it happen.
“But I’ll get to know her. And so will you. I’m gonna invite her over for dinner on Friday night and I want you to join us.”
“Are you serious, Rich? You know good and well I always have plans on Friday nights.”
“Well you can consider them cancelled.”
“But Rich…”
“But Rich, nothin’. This is very important to me, Rae. All you have to do is show up and maybe I’ll let you out early so you can still hang with your friends.”
“I’m gonna need that in writing just in case you try to change your mind.”
I guess we have two future lawyers in the family.
jasmine.
The last thing I needed to be attending was another damn dinner party.
Yet here I was, trembling on my already expanding ankles as I mentally prepped myself for the visit.
Though I knew I would only be sharing the table with Rich and his little sister, I also knew that could get just as ugly as the one with my own family, especially considering the capacity of my initial interactions with the both of them. But after consulting with Ariel, she made it sound like a no-brainer that I get to know his family. I mean, what if they had a crazy gene I needed to know about? Or a weird mole that everyone in their family shared that I could identify in pictures sprawled amongst the walls?
I took a deep breath before I rang the doorbell of his actually flawless ass house in a pretty flawless ass neighborhood. Everyone had fresh, plush landscaping, three-plus car garages, columns as a part of their entryway; everything that rang upper-middle class. I guess in a way I had lucked out
“What’s that?” I asked, with my eyes glued to the screen as I watched a little sac come into view.
“That’d be the baby’s heartbeat.”
The baby’s heartbeat.
I looked down to Jasmine whose eyes were also on the screen. A little tear ran down her cheek and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean in and swipe it for her. Her eyes darted over to me and there was nothing she could do to hide the fearfulness they held. It was then that I realized the whole purpose of me being there was so that I could make her more comfortable.
I grazed her cheek with the back of my hand and whispered, “I got you.”
)~o~(
“No freakin’ way, Rich. I can take an unexpected baby, but I cannot take a whole new, fully-grown person moving in with us.” I had a strong feeling Rae wasn’t gonna approve but I knew I at least had to give her a heads up before approaching Jasmine about it.
Rae was the easier target of the two.
“I’m not raising my child in two different households and I’m not going anywhere, so that means Jasmine is gonna have to come here. Besides, you’ll really only be here for the rest of the school year plus the summer before I’ll be shipping you off to college anyway so it’ll just be a temporary thing for you.” I could tell those additional facts had her at least contemplating the idea.
She crossed her legs on the bed before asking, “How far along is she?”
“About 12 weeks.” The better mood she seemed to be in quickly faded at that information
“So you’re tellin’ me I’ll have to spend my last few weeks here with a crying newborn and spend the six to seven-ish months before that with his overly-emotional mother? How much are you paying me?” Though I couldn’t knock her effort to get something more in exchange, I also knew I was already giving her plenty.
“I’m paying you eight months of life somewhere other than the streets of California. That’s what I’m paying you.”
“You wouldn’t put me on the streets, Rich.”
“I wouldn’t put you there, but that’s surely an option if you don’t wanna be here with your future sister-in-law and nephew.”
“Hold on. Sister-in-law? Now you’re gonna marry the girl?! You hardly even know her!” Rae was stating nothing but facts but that certainly wasn’t gonna stop me from making it happen.
“But I’ll get to know her. And so will you. I’m gonna invite her over for dinner on Friday night and I want you to join us.”
“Are you serious, Rich? You know good and well I always have plans on Friday nights.”
“Well you can consider them cancelled.”
“But Rich…”
“But Rich, nothin’. This is very important to me, Rae. All you have to do is show up and maybe I’ll let you out early so you can still hang with your friends.”
“I’m gonna need that in writing just in case you try to change your mind.”
I guess we have two future lawyers in the family.
jasmine.
The last thing I needed to be attending was another damn dinner party.
Yet here I was, trembling on my already expanding ankles as I mentally prepped myself for the visit.
Though I knew I would only be sharing the table with Rich and his little sister, I also knew that could get just as ugly as the one with my own family, especially considering the capacity of my initial interactions with the both of them. But after consulting with Ariel, she made it sound like a no-brainer that I get to know his family. I mean, what if they had a crazy gene I needed to know about? Or a weird mole that everyone in their family shared that I could identify in pictures sprawled amongst the walls?
I took a deep breath before I rang the doorbell of his actually flawless ass house in a pretty flawless ass neighborhood. Everyone had fresh, plush landscaping, three-plus car garages, columns as a part of their entryway; everything that rang upper-middle class. I guess in a way I had lucked out
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