No room to bleed

Round 17: Days 81-85

Last update/James's last update/next update

Narrated by Madelyn Nihill

I'm sure my parents are sick of seeing me and James all over each other every time they enter the living room.



And I'm sure we made the people passing by the art museum absolutely sick with our PDA the other day. But in our defense, we've been living apart for our whole relationship so actually being together all the time is still somewhat of a novelty for us.

I think we may have got a little carried away though and been a bit careless in the process. I took a pregnancy test and it seems that we're going to be parents.

James's sister Naomi visited us not long after we found out, so she was the first one we told. It seems like she's in such a different place though. She wasn't much help in the way of advice.

I still haven't told Mum or Dad. I'm still sort of testing the waters with them, to gage what their reaction might be. I don't think they'll be upset that James and I aren't married. After all, I've seen their wedding pictures - Mum looked as if she was ready to go into labour at any moment. Then again, Mum wasn't newly graduated from high school when she had me - she was 35.

After a while, we realised we didn't have the luxury of time. I was way further along than I'd originally thought and had already begun to show. I had to tell my parents right away.

James was a little nervous about being around when the announcement was made, so I let him weasel out of it.

I told Dad first. He wasn't happy but I listened to his concerns and pretended to agree and that seemed to placate him.

Hours later, he was cooing at my belly, talking to his grandchild (who he insists will be a boy).

Mum...well, she wasn't too impressed when I told her I was pregnant. In the end, she agreed that we were both adults and that it was our decision.

She did, however, put the fear of God into James. She told him he'd better be in this relationship for the long haul now or he'd have her to deal with.

My friend Anna was home visiting her parents this week and she came by to pick me up so we could go out and have a late lunch. The first thing she said when she saw me walking (or waddling, as I'm more likely to be doing these days) down the steps was, "Wow, you are so huge!" Thanks, Anna. She's always been pretty blunt so I was hardly surprised.

We went to a little café in Exeter that just opened up recently. I think the host might have thought Anna and I were a couple because he seated us in this little corner table that looked like it might have been set up for couples who wanted a more intimate setting. So that was sort of funny!

It was fun to go out and actually to something again. I'm no workaholic but I do like to get out a lot and I haven't been doing that while on maternity leave.

I hope I'll still get to do that once this baby is born. I went into labour in the early evening, while James and I were getting ready to watch some TV. Neither of us had much of a clue what to do, each of us looking at the other for guidance.

It turns out these things pretty much take care of themselves and Aaron's birth was relatively drama-free.

I know I'm young but I think I'll make a good mother. Aaron isn't even a year old and I love him so much. I want to make sure he has the very best life possible.

Random Collette shenanigans:
Who is Collette's biggest fan? Unsurprisingly, it's Claudius Atkins, the nasty landlord who loathes each and every one of his tenants.

For reasons known only to him, he still decides it's a good idea to take on Collette.

And then, he laughs at her!

Oh...you messed with the wrong person, Atkins!

And then, what's this? An autonomous apology! Only Collette's rage could induce an autonomous apology. I've never seen that before.

Notes:

• Gah, I totally forgot to check in on Aphrodite's business! I got all caught up with Madelyn and her pregnancy.
• Madelyn is my second-youngest mother in Sullivan. The youngest was James' mother, Hanna Novak. Her circumstances were sort of different, given she and Augustin were in college at the time.
• Isn't it great to see Collette back in full force? She was a crotchety little girl and I would like her to one day be a crotchety old lady.