Chapter Two
We’ll Be A Dream
It tookme a moment to process everything. I had to sit down. Cleo came and plopped down next to me and took my hands. I looked at her and she was grinning ear to ear.
“Renee, I can’t tell you how honored I am that you would consider me for something so important. I can’t wait to help you start a family. It’s going to be so much fun!” She said.
“Fun? You think being pregnant is fun?” I asked skeptically. She rolled her eyes and sighed deeply.
“No, and I don’t even want to think about going through labor again, but that’s just a tiny detail. What’s gonna be fun is the gender reveal party, the baby shower, and everything in between! You get to make a nursery and we are going to go shopping for everything. I am going to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the great things that comes with expecting a baby.”
I hugged her tightly again and despite me trying to hold it in, I began crying. “Oh! Don’t start crying, you’ll make me cry!” She sniffled, making me chuckle and of course, making me cry harder. I pulled away and she began rubbing my back to try calm me down.
“Thank you so much Cleo,” was all I could muster.
“Babe, you wanna go? We probably gotta go make some calls. Get some appointments scheduled,” Mark said from the doorway. I looked up to see him standing there uncomfortably. I glanced at Ethan who, although not happy, he wasn’t furious anymore. Cleo’s mind was made up. I stood up and after giving her another giant hug, followed Mark out.
Once we were in the car, I began bombarding him with questions. “What happened in there? How badly did Ethan flip out? Was it a negotiation of some sort?” Mark chuckled and took my hand.
“Sort of. Ethan was pissed. He was still yelling at me, but eventually Cleo put him in his place. She told him that she was doing it whether he wanted to be here for it or not. He sat down and turned his seat around to pout for awhile.
When he stopped yelling, we were able to actually talk. She asked what exactly was going on. I told her about your medical diagnosis and that we’ve already tried all the medicines, and nothing has worked. She thought about it for a minute and then said she’d do it again. Ethan then whipped around and started complaining again.
I assured him that we’d be paying all of her medical bills and anything else she needed we’d be there. Midnight food runs, foot massages, buying her maternity clothes. Anything she needs we’ll get.
Then she got the genius idea of naming the baby. That’s what took so long. We argued for a bit, but I didn’t really have a leg to stand on.”
I gulped. That was an issue. We had names picked out years ago before we realized getting pregnant wasn’t an option.
“I guess that means no Pearl,” I sighed.
“Or Oliver.”
There was a pause while we let that sink in. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she’d come up with. Her own kid’s names weren’t exactly normal.
“They aren’t that bad,” Mark argued.
“Yeah, but they aren’t something you can get a day job with. Those kids are destined to be musicians. I don’t want to force something on my child.”
“She’ll pick something normal,” he said hesitantly. We both knew that he couldn’t know that for sure.
Walking into the house we saw Derek was just waking up. He was sitting in his boxers, smoking a cigarette and petting Duchess. He glanced up from the TV when we came in.
“What’s up, losers?”
I rolled my eyes and went upstairs to nap. I couldn’t deal with Derek’s idiocy right now. A few hours later I dragged my feet downstairs. I went to sit with the guys when my phone started ringing. I answered it and was surprised to hear Jimmy’s little voice on the other line.
“Aunt Renee?”
“Hey Jimmy, what are you up to?” I asked.
“Nothing, we just had dinner.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Is there something you called for?”
“Oh yeah! My friend at school Arielle told me that the theatre is doing Peter Pan. Can you take me and Dallas to audition?”
“Of course! I’d love to. That sounds like so much fun, Jimmy. When are they?”
