Young Writers Society

Natalia/Nattie

I stayed at Chrissy's while she went to school. I was too terrified to go home. I can't be alone right now. At least here I can hear the muffled footsteps of her parents and Martin downstairs. I stayed in Chrissy's bed, curled up. My tears ran dry a long time ago, but my body still shakes with my sobs.

***

Chrissy came home early to check on me.

"Hey, babe." She sighed and rubbed my back. "Have you eaten anything today?"

I shake my head. I haven't moved at all.

"I think you should talk to Jace. He should know if you might be preg-"

"Don't say it!" I screamed, whipping around to look at Chrissy only to collapse in her arms bawling again.

"Honey, you can't live like this." She whispered. "Life will go on. It will be okay. I don't know what's going to happen but I promise you, I will be here for you. You should know I beat Anthony's ass today."

I didn't respond, but Chrissy's words meant the world to me.

"Come on." She gently pulled me out of bed. "Let's get you home."

She drove me home and made sure I was okay before leaving.

******

A week passes and I still haven't talked to Jace. I've ignored all of his texts and calls. I stayed home from school too. Chrissy's been bringing me my homework. Every morning I've woken up and thrown up. I told Chrissy and she's just as worried as I am.

Today when she came by she brought something wrapped in a paper bag.

"Here." She said, giving them to me. "We can't avoid this any longer."

I unwrap it ad find four different pregnancy tests.

"Chrissy I-"

"Don't worry. I'll help you. Come on." She pulled me towards the bathroom and handed me a stick. "Pee on it." she commanded.

I peed on all four and then we waited.

"You look at them." I told her. "I don't want to see."

Chrissy went into the bathroom and came out. "Nattie," She started. "They're all positive."

Chrissy

She cries and this was worse than she has ever cried in her entire life. Once she settles down after about an hour, I try to talk to her. "I do not think it is so bad if you are going to have a baby." I say. "You are very young, but you have so many people here that care about you."

"Like who?" She says.

"Well, you have me, Justin, My parents, your parents." I say. "You have Jace too."

When I say his name, she sobs more. "I can't do this." She says.

"Nattie, stop." I say. "You have not even processed this. I want you to trust me. I am going to help you through this."

"Chrissy, I am pregnant. You can not fix this. This is not something you rich parents can fix." She screams at me. "Will you please just let me be."

I bite my lip and nod. "Call me if you need me." I whisper. I run out and get in my car and drive home.

I messed seven calls from Justin and twenty five calls from Jace. I was just about to call Justin, but Jace calls me. "Hello?" I ask.

"Where is Nattie. I am sick of you not answering my questions." He says sternly.

I break down at that point. "Jace, I can't. Nattie does not want me to talk to you and I can't do that to her. Please do not yell at me. That is the last thing I need."

He sighs. "I am so sorry Chris." He says. "I trust you. It just sucks."

"Believe me, I know." I say, still crying.

Natalia/Nattie

"They're all positive."

At that moment my whole world crashed down around me. I didn't need the sticks to know. I had all the signs and my period was late, but somehow hearing Chrissy say it, tore me to pieces. I cried hysterically while Chrissy tried to help me. The whole world is spinning and I can't handle it anymore. I snap and scream hateful words to Chrissy that I knew would hurt her and just like that I'm alone again.

I curl up on the couch and scream, knowing no one could hear me. Fresh tears streamed down my cheeks and I feel like I'm falling apart.

There's a knock on the door and thinking it was Chrissy, I opened it.

It wasn't her. It was Jace.

"Oh my god, Nat!" He said, worry took over his eyes as he took my swollen face in his hands. "Baby, what's wrong? I thought you were just sick but then Chrissy didn't tell me anything-"

"Wait." I sniffed. "Chrissy didn't send you here?"

He shook his head. He scooped me up and carried me to the couch. I lied in his arms as he let me calm down. His fingers tracing my face made me relax in a way that Chrissy's words hadn't.

When I was calm, Jace looked at me. "Nat, please tell me what's wrong."

I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out. So I grabbed one of the tests and hid it behind my back.

"Please don't leave me." I whimpered, my voice cracking.

I handed him the test and watched as his face figured it out.

"Is this yours?" He asked slowly.

I gulped and nodded.

"You were the one at Chrissy's party.." He murmured. "Oh my god. Does that mean we.."

I nodded again, tears beginning to fall softly.

"Are you going to keep it?" He asked. Before I could answer he added, "Well of course not."

"What do you mean?" I raised my voice. "You want me to abort it? I don't have a choice?!"

The idea of me being pregnant was terrible but the thought of me giving it away was horrifying.

"I don't know, Natalia!" He sighed. "We can't have a kid! We're seventeen! We're supposed to graduate next year!"

Tears pounded down my face. "Please don't make this harder for me, Jace." I sobbed. "I didn't want this to happen either but whether you like it or not, I'm keeping this baby. I'm not going to give it away and I'm sure as hell not going to kill it. I think you should go. I'm sorry I told you."

Jace didn't say anything. I knew he was still processing everything and he might change his mind in a week or so. I lead him to the door and watched him leave.

I ran straight towards the bathroom and turned on the shower. The warm water rushed over me and I couldn't tell if I was crying or not anymore aside from the body raking sobs.

When I was done I changed and got into my car. I pulled up to Chrissy's and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

She opened the door and didn't say anything.

"Chrissy," I sobbed. "I'm sorry I said everything that I did. There's no way I can do this without you. Please I'm sorry! I told Jace and he said I shouldn't keep it and I can't be alone again, Chrissy. Please I need you."

Chrissy

I wrap my arms around her in a hug and she does the same. "It is fine. I forgave you the moment it happened. I know you are just scared and confused. I will do anything to help you." I tell her. We walk up to my room and sit on the bed again. My motherly nature starts kicking in. "First things first, you need to start to think good thoughts about this baby. We now know that you are going to keep the baby, so we should think happy thoughts."

"You are right." She says. "I cannot be like this for ever."

I smile and get up of the bed. "I made a chart. You are going to enjoy it." I say, smiling wider.

She rolls her eyes and gets comfortable. "I am prepared, go."

On the top of the chart is has to sides, negative and positive. I point to the negative side. "Okay here we go. The negative side is that you are going to have a big stomach, no one wants a big stomach. The baby is going to kick you from the inside. Now, that does not mean that it hates you, it just really wants to get out. It is going to hurt, but we have meds for that. And lastly, you have to give birth. It just does not look like any fun until you hold the baby." I say.

"Wait, what about," Nattie begins to say.

"No, save all questions to the end. I point to the positives and smile. "These are my favorite." I jump up and down. "You get to have a baby when you are young, so you will be a young and hot mom. You will get to wear comfortable clothes all the time, you know how you love that. when you have this child, you will have a lot of people to check on him at night so you will not be horribly tired all the time." I look at the last one and smile. "This is the best one." I grin.

"Oh, lord." Nattie says.

"The baby will have," I pause dramatically. "Aunt Chrissy!" I yell.

"Are you sure that is a positive?" She jokes.

"Of course it is." I say proudly.

Natalia/Nattie

"How should I tell my parents?" I asked.

"You haven't told them?" Chrissy replied.

I shook my head. I was too scared. "I'm just going to wait until I get big. Then I'll tell them."

My phone buzzes and it's Jace.

"Answer it." Chrissy encouraged. "Put it on speaker."

I did what she said. "Hello?"

"Nattie, I am so sorry." He sounded as if he had been crying. "I didn't mean it. I'm going to help you through this. It's our baby, we'll do this together."

I glanced at Chrissy and she nodded.

"It's okay, Jace." I said.

"I'll come by later, okay?"

"Yeah," I said softly and hung up.

"See?" Chrissy smiled. "It's going to be okay."

****

Jace came over to my house about two hours later. He scooped me up and spun me around making me laugh.

"We're gonna be okay, Nat." He smiled.

I nodded and kissed him. He pulled me closer and I tangled my fingers in his hair.

"I love you." He whispered as we pulled away.

"I love you too." I murmured and crashed my lips against his again.

******

A month passes and it's been seven weeks since Chrissy's party. My stomach has gotten way bigger but I am able to hide most of it with extra large sweatshirts. No one at school knows yet and I still haven't told my parents. I constantly have to pee and my morning sickness has gotten worse. It's finally hit me that I'm going to have a baby, but right now I have nothing prepared and zero funds. Tonight is the night I am supposed to tell my parents, according to Chrissy. Her parents already know and they've invited us over for dinner where we will break them the news. Chrissy says they will be forced to be calm due to the situation.

My parents and I drive to Chrissy's house and Martin sits us in the dinning room.

Chrissy squeezes my hand under the table.

Chrissy

I waited for Nattie and her parents to get here, but we were already at the table. "Can we make the guest room a nursery for when the baby comes over?" I ask.

My dad looks at me. "Well what will happen when we have a guest over?" He asks.

"We have five more guest rooms." I say. "Please, I want Nattie to have help when she has the baby. Her parents are never home and I do not want her to have to do this along. I want her to have as much help in this. I have to be a good aunt." I tell them.

"I love the idea, but I do not think the guest room will be good enough." My mom say. "I really love that you want to help her honey."

"Sir, you did save that you wanted to expand the house. This could be your change to do that." Martin says and he refills my dad's tea.

"Perfect, Martin!" My dad yells happily. "This kid will love to play hide and seek." He gets out his phone and calls someone. We were planning this for a while, but never did it. I guess we are now.

"Thank you guys. I just want this to be as easy as possible. We can go shopping for baby stuff, mom!"

"Oh, mother daughter bonding!" She says.

--

Nattie and her family arrived and we all take a seat. Both men sit at the ends of the table and our mom sit on the same side, leaving Nattie and I on the same side. We decided to have Mexican night so chips and salsa are every where.

I hold Nattie's hand under the table and tell her it is time. "Um, mom and dad?" She says.

"Yes?" They both say.

"I have something to tell you." She says.

"What is it dear?" He mom asks.

"Um, I'm," She cuts off. "I'm pregnant." She say, avoiding there eyes.

Natalia/Nattie

"I'm pregnant." I squeak, keeping my eyes on my napkin.

They didn't say anything. The table was full of anticipation and awkwardness.

"Honey, that's not a funny joke." My mom sighs.

My head snaps up. "Mom, I'm dead serious. I'm pregnant. I've been pregnant." I stand up and lift my shirt up, revealing the small bulge.

"Oh my god." Dad's face turns white and my mom's jaw hangs open.

"Natalia.. How? Why? Who's the father?" My mom said shocked.

They haven't started yelling yet but I know it's coming.

"I think you know how." I started. "And Jace." I said softly.

"Jace?" My dad almost spits out his water. "Best friend since third grade, Jace?!"

I nodded. "It was an accident! I didn't know what was going on-"

"You were drunk?!" My mom shrieks. "I don't understand! The liquor cabinet is closed! How did this-"

"I WASN'T DRUNK!" I screamed. "I was slipped something at a party. It wasn't my fault. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't even know me and Jace.."

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, I understand this is very confusing and scary for you, but I assure you it will be okay." Chrissy's mom smiled.

"You knew?" My dad raised his voice and turned to me. "You told them before us?"

"I-"

"Come on, Sharon." He excused himself. "We're leaving. We can deal with her later."

"There's nothing to do." I said, straining to keep my voice still. "Chrissy and I looked it up and we're ready. I'm keeping this baby."

"Sharon." He said louder. "We're leaving." He tugged her arm. "She is no daughter of mine, and that," He jabbed his finger at my stomach. "Is no grandkid of mine."

My mom shot me a sympathetic look and left with my dad.

"If it's okay with you," I whispered to Chrissy, my lip quivering. "I would like to stay here tonight." A silent tear trickled down my face and I furiously wiped it away.

Chrissy

"Dad, go outside." I say.

"Oh, shit." He says before running out the door. He knows the drill.

I run out side about to smack her dad so hard. "You dumb ass. That is your daughter." I yell. I try to run past my dad, Martin and him grab me before I do. "She deserves so much better and you are a horrible father." I wiggle around in his arms, trying to get out, but he just carries me inside. "She is more fit to raise a child than you." I yell.

My father sets me down and locks the door. We fist pound and he hugs me. "Thank you for being my daughter. I wish you would have punched him, but I could not let that happen." He say. He kisses me head.

I catch my breath and sigh. "I am glad you are my dad." I say. "Nattie just makes me beat people up. I did it to that guy that slipped things into her drink, too." I say.

"The guy from the party?" He asks and I nod. "Chris, he was like four times your size." He says.

I nod. "And I still beat his ass." I say.

He laughs and hugs me. "I love you." He says.

I smile. "I love you too." I go up to my room and find Nattie crying. I go and hug her. "I am so sorry, honey."

Natalia/Nattie

"I am so sorry, honey." Chrissy hugged me. "I promis you, it will be better. You can stay here if you want. We can even move you into the guest room if my parents are fine with it."

I dug my fists into my eyes like a child and sat up. "I love you so much, Chrissy. I don't know how I could do this without you."

"You wouldn't be able to!" She laughed.

****

Two weeks pass and I haven't talked to my parents. Jace, Justin, Chrissy, and I sometimes go out. I feel guilty because I know Chrissy isn't getting to spend lots of time with Justin because of me.

"Hey, Nat?" Chrissy smiled, peering into her room. I've been at her house since the dinner. I also feel guilty about that. "I think it's time we should visit a doctor. We need to make sure our little baby is doing okay."

I sigh, but I know she's right. Chrissy and I spent hours on the internet searching what to expect and what to do. I should've gone earlier but I haven't.

"We can go tomorrow. I'll have my mom schedule an appointment. Then we can shop for baby!" She squealed.

I smiled. "We also need to shop for me." I pointed to my belly. My shirts are getting too small, but thankfully I can still wear sweatshirts to school. Chrissy did the math and our little baby should arrive when school gets out for the summer. I plan on wearing sweatshirts until then.

I put my hands on my small bump and my heart flutters. My baby is in there. I'm going to have a baby.

"Come feel, Chrissy." I wave her over and place her hand on my stomach.

"I don't feel anything."

"You're not supposed to!" I laughed. "It's not big enough to kick yet!"

"We need to think of names." She popped up, grabbing a piece of paper.

"Nothing original." I say. "He or She will be unique!" I said.

"Okay. Girls first."

"Addaline." I say. "I've always liked that name. Or Addelyn. That could work too. Willa. That's pretty too. Oh, or maybe Alyvia. Pronounced Olivia, but spelled cooler!" I laugh. Chrissy scribbles down the names.

"What do you think?" I asked.

Chrissy

I smile at her. "Her middle name should be Chrissy." I say. "You know, because you love me so much."

She rolls her eyes. "I will think about it."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, come with me." I say. She gets up and we walk to the end of the house we are starting to expand. There is another section at the other end for my purposes, but I am far more excited about this one.

"What is this?" She asks.

"It is for you." I say, smiling. "We are making a nursery and a baby play room for you. It also has a mini kitchen for when you need to feed her at night." I say.

"Chrissy, I cannot believe you did this for me." She says, tearing up.

"Um, I am helping with this baby too. I am going to be the best Aunt on the planet." I say.

My parents come up and Nattie hugs them. "Thank you guys so much." She says.

"It was all Chrissy's idea, we are just glad to help." My mom says.

"It will done before the baby comes." My dad say. "We are going to go out to eat with a client of mine. It will not take long and I will be home before you go to bed." he tells me, kissing me on the forehead.

"Okay, have fun." I say.

"Martin is fixing you guys some dinner." My mom says. "I love you."

"Love you too." I say. We go down and sit at the table. "Martin is there enough food for three more people?" I ask.

"Yes, there is." He says.

"Is it okay if I ask Justin and Jace to come over?" I ask.

"Yes, who is the other meal for?" He asks.

"You, you never get to eat with us." I say. I text Justin and Jace and tell them to come over.

--

After we eat, Justin and I go into the other room to be alone for a few minutes. "I miss you." I say to him. He sits on the couch and I sit on him so that I am facing him.

"I miss you too." He says. "We only get to see each other at school and that is not enough time with you. I want to see you every second." He says..

I smile and kiss him hard, wrapping my arms around him. He does the same and kisses me hard back. I pull away and sigh. "I am sorry I have not been able to spend a lot of time with you. All this stuff with the baby has take up a lot of my time."

He brings me closer and kisses my neck. "I know and I am happy that you are helping her." He says. "When that baby is born, I am going to help too. I mean, I have to be a good uncle."

"Uncle?" I ask, smiling.

He pulls a box out of his pocket and my eyes go wide. "Don't worry it is not a wedding ring, but it is a promise ring. I know we have not been together for a long time, but I know that someday I will make you mine. You have me wrapped around your finger." He say.

I smile and kiss him again. He slips the ring on my hand and I bush. "I love you." I say.

"I love you too." He tells me.

Time passes and he tells me that he has to leave. I sigh and do not move. He laughs and pick me up and I cling to him. "Don't leave me." I say into his neck.

"You make it so hard for me to." He says. "I have to though. I will come back."

He takes me out to his car and I jump down. The cool air hits me skin and I cling to him for a warm hug. "Bye, I will call you." I say.

"Okay." He kisses me and I run back inside. I run right to Nattie and show her my ring.

Natalia/Nattie

Jace comes over and I lead him upstairs. "Look what Chrissy and her parents did for the baby." I beam and squeeze his hand. I open the door and show him the play room and nursery. "Isn't it the cutest thing? Chrissy and I will paint it when we find out what we're having. I'm thinking light green and pink."

Jace looked at me and smiled. "It's great." He took both of my hands and his chocolate brown eyes found mine. "I will be here for you, Nat. You, me, and the baby. We're going to make this work."

He kissed me and I grinned into the kiss. "You forgot Chrissy." I murmured as he continued to kiss me.

"Mmm." He nods. "This baby will have the greatest Aunt Chrissy ever."

I wrap my arms around him and we silently kiss for a while. We go into Chrissy's room and sit on her little couch.

"Here." I said softly and took Jace's hands. I placed them on my tummy and looked at him. "That's our baby." I smiled down at his hands.

He gave me a soft quick peck and then kissed my small bump.

"I need new clothes." I sigh, tugging my shirt back down from where it sat an inch from my waist line. "Oh, and we're going to the doctor tomorrow. Chrissy says we need to check on the baby. Do you want to come with?"

"You know I would, but my mom's birthday is tomorrow." He gave me a sad smile. "I want you to tell me all about it though when you get back, okay?"

I nod and lead him out the door. We kissed goodbye and I waved until his truck was out of sight.

"NATTIE!" Chrissy screamed from downstairs. "DOCTORS IS TOMORROW AT 11AM."

"Okay!" I yell.

****

We woke up in the morning to an alarm. Chrissy was not fond of setting the alarm on a Saturday but she did it for me anyways. She got dressed, fabulous as always, and I pulled on sweats, casual as always.

Her mom drove us to the doctors and my heart started to pound. What if my baby wasn't okay?

My hand moved protectively over my stomach as we walked inside. Chrissy's mom signed us in and then we waited.

"Natalia Anderson?" The nurse called.

I stood up hesitantly and Chrissy came with me as we walked to the room. The nurse had me sit down as she took my vitals and handed me a robe to change into. Then the doctor came in.

He waved at me. "Hello, Natalia."

I nodded back nervously.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen." I gulped.

"And how far along would you say you are?"

"Almost two months?" I looked over at Chrissy and she nodded in agreement. "Twelve weeks maybe?"

"Okay, I'm gonna have you put your feet up here," He moved my feet gently into the feet placement holders. He pulled out a long tube and turned on the screen. "Don't worry, this won't hurt."

I glanced at Chrissy, and she leaned over and grabbed my hand.

The doctor put the tube inside of me and moved it. It was the weirdest feeling ever.

"Yep. You are indeed pregnant." He smiled.

He pulled out the tube and there was a little blood on it. He must have seen my face because he added, "A little blood is fine. Would you like to hear your babies' heartbeats?"

He strapped a small band around my waist.

"Hang on," I held out my hand. "Heartbeats? As in plural?"

"Why yes, Miss. Anderson, you're expecting twins."

Chrissy

Twins, oh crap. I smile at the thought at two little kids running around my house. "Twins?" She asked.

"Yes, twins." The doctor says.

"Nattie, it is okay." I say, I squeeze her hand and smile.

The doctor lets her listen to the heart beat and that is when she calms down and smiles. She smiles and holds he belly.

The doctor sets a time for us to come back. "Next time can we do this in the afternoon?" I ask him.

Nattie rolls her eyes and laughs.

"Trust me, the world will be a lot better if we do this in the afternoon." I say.

We walk out and my mom smiles. "So, how is the baby?" She asks.

"It is not just one." Nattie says. "I am having twins."

My mother's face lights up. "We will see double." She smile. We go in the car and drive to the store.

We get a cart and go out separate ways. My mom will get all the strollers and car seats, play pins. I will get diapers bottles and all that jazz and Nattie will get her some bigger clothes. I get a lot of clothes that could go with either gender. I spot Nattie and walk over to her. "Her lady." I say

Natalia/Nattie

The doctor plugged in the speaker and turned it on. My babies' hearts sounded like soft little thumps. My heart fluttered again and I was no longer nervous.

****

"Here lady." Chrissy held up some white and pastel colored one-sies and tossed them in the cart. "These are temporary. Just until we find out the genders. These babies will be dressed properly. Speaking of dressing properly.." She eyed the nasty stretchy purple shirt I was trying on.

"I'm not this big yet!" I huffed.

"Look, Nattie. It stretches. It will fit you when you get bigger too." Chrissy looked through some of the shirts I put in the cart. "Why are all maternity clothes so ugly?"

I shrugged. "It's not like I'm wearing these to school. By the way, I really like your ring."

"Justin got it for me." She beamed.

My phone buzzed and it was a number I haven't seen before.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hello, Natalia. This is Dr. Sawyer. You came in earlier today. I just wanted to let you know that your babies look fine. If you want to find out the gender you can come back in four weeks, when you're 16 weeks along."

"Oh, okay. That's great!"

"They were there today, but I would like them to be a little bigger so I can be sure."

"Okay, thanks Doctor. Bye!"

I hung up and beamed at Chrissy. "We can find out the genders in four weeks!"

"Christmas is in four weeks!" She squealed. "It'll be like our Christmas present!"

*****

We checked out and lugged all the stuff home.

"Look what I got you, Natalia." Chrissy pulled out a small box. "It's a heartrate thing. Like at the doctors. We can listen to their hearts at home!"

I hugged Chrissy. "You're the best."

Two weeks pass and now it's late November. I'm in my second trimester according to Chrissy. My morning sickness has been better and my boobs aren't super sore anymore. My stomach is pushed out a little further.

I was in the middle of putting together a playpin we bought when Chrissy walked in.

"How the hell do I put this together?" I grunted, trying to squeeze it together.

"Did you read the instructions?" She asked.

"Yeah but I'm pretty sure they're in swedish."

Chrissy's phone rings and I can see that it's Justin.

"Go." I smiled. "Take the day off and go do something with him. I'll be fine."

"Okay!" She squealed and ran off.

*****

Chrissy had been gone for a couple hours and I managed to get one play pin together. I grabbed the heart rate thing and broke it open. I strapped it on and fell asleep holding my tummy and listening to the small thumps of their hearts.

Chrissy

I get in my car and I drive to a little smoothie place that Justin and I had discovered. When I see him, I jump it to his arms. "Hey." I say.

"Hey, princess." He says.

We sit down at our booth and they bring us the smoothies we always get. Yep, they know us that well. I drape my legs across Justin's lap and smile. "What should I get you for Christmas. Now, I do not what you to be indifferent and say, 'I do not want anything'. Or be all cute and say, 'all I want for Christmas is you baby' None of that." I say.

He just laughs and kisses my cheek. "I want you to get me whatever you want." He says. "What do you want?"

I smile. "I want a picture of us in goofy Christmas sweaters stand on the grand staircase." I say.

He smile and nods. "I can do that."

My face lights up and I smile. "Yay!"

--

I drive back home and find Nattie asleep. She wakes up when I open the door. My dad set up the cribs and put them in the two rooms.

"Hey, Nattie." I say.

"Hey. How was your date with Justin?" She asks.

"Very good." I say. "How was sleep?"

"Very good." She laughs.

I smile and look at the room. "This is going to be great." I say. "Best aunt ever."

"You are." She says. I laugh and sit next to her. We talk about the baby and random stuff for a while, just enjoying time together.

Natalia/Nattie

Another week flies by and now there's a week until Christmas and my appointment. School's out on break until January. Chrissy and I schedule a Christmas shopping spree tomorrow, but first I need money.

"Hey, Chris, I need to grab something at the store, okay?" I called down to the kitchen where Chrissy was helping Martin make dinner.

"Okie dokie!" She yelled back.

I grabbed my car keys and drove to my house. I haven't been inside here for a long time. I take a look around and I kind of miss it. I remind myself I was constantly alone and snap out of it. I go towards my parents bedroom and check the loose floorboard in their closet. They keep emergency money there for me just in case. It was roughly $200. I quickly grabbed it and got back into the car. I stopped at a gas station and bought a snickers bar, so Chrissy wouldn't be too suspicious.

I got back to Chrissy's and checked into the kitchen to see how dinner was.

"Oh, that was quick." Chrissy smiled. Her hands were covered in flour.

"What are you making?"

"Cookies! Do you want to help?"

I nodded and washed my hands.

"Here. Roll them into little balls and place them onto this." Chrissy handed me a baking sheet.

"I hope we're having salad too." I said. "I think I've gained ten pounds."

"You're supposed to!" Chrissy laughed. "Those little babies need food too!"

*****

We woke up the next morning and drove to the mall. When we got inside it was covered in Christmas decorations. Stockings, tinsel, and paper snowflakes hung everywhere.

"It looks like Santa's workshop exploded in here." Chrissy joked.

"I love it!" I squealed.

The first store we went to was J. Crew to grab some clothes for Justin and Jace. We quickly realized we didn't know their sizes so we just got them ties.

"Come on, Chrissy." I pulled her out of the store. "We can find something else to get Justin too!"

Chrissy got some pots and pans for Martin and office supplies for her parents. She even convinced me to buy a candle for my mom. I wasn't planning on buying them gifts but she said everyone deserves presents on Christmas.

We separated to find gifts for each other. I went into Tiffany's and found a beautiful charm bracelet. I got the bracelet and hid the signature blue box under the other gifts. When I walked past the Starbucks I noticed it had a help wanted sign. I went inside and applied. I needed money. I wasn't going to let Chrissy and her parents financially support my soon to be family of three any longer. The manager told me I would be the cashier and I said I would take it.

We met up again at the food court after we had both gotten each others gifts.

"Guess what I got?" I smiled.

"You're not supposed to tell me, dummy." Chrissy teased.

"A job!" I squealed. "At the Starbucks here in the mall! I can finally begin to pay your family back!"