𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃

꧁ TWENTY THREE ꧂

"No, that goes over here!".

Josh dips his head back down after redirecting the lost vender. He crosses off 'candy floss cart' from his self made checklist that he spent hours pondering over late last night / early in the am. The truth is he, he hasn't been sleeping well ever since finding out about Nessa's condition. Sometimes he has nightmares that horrible things happen to her and their baby so recently- more often than not- he finds himself pausing to listen out for her breathing and lifting the comforter every few minutes to ensure their white sheets aren't soaked with crimson red.

"So how is this thing going to work anyways?" Asks a curious Bryce as he sets up one of the beer kegs.

Josh takes a break from being the party planner and takes a seat on the side wall- taking a quick glance around his fairly large backyard as people help set up the decorations and carts. With everything Nessa has had to deal with recently, he thought that it would be nice for them to have a gender reveal party to help take her mind off of things and have a semi normal pregnancy for one day.

"Ive been doing my research. Balloons with colored confetti inside or cake with the sponge being the gender color are more traditional right? But Nessa and I are anything but traditional so I picked fireworks" Josh explains thoroughly. He's put more thought into this party than any he's ever thrown before.

Bryce raises his eyebrows while he takes in the information his best friend has just unloaded onto him. The idea is good and judging by the proud look on Josh's face, it's one that he's been trying to come up with for days but how hard can deciding which way you want to tell the world what you're having, really be?

Upstairs in the bedroom, Nessa stands in front of the  mirror with a frustrated expression. She's tried on that many dresses this morning that you'd think a bomb of fabric had gone off in her room. The truth is, every dress she's put on has been pretty and according but none have made her feel comfortable. Maybe it's the large circular shaped bump that sits where her stomach used to be thats making her second guess all of her potential looks or maybe it's that said bump reminds her of the reason she's even having this gender reveal  in the first place. To fake being normal.

All of Nessa's thoughts swirl around in her head in a messy motion until eventually it becomes too much for her to think about and she falls to the floor, her back pressed up against the bed, hot fresh tears making their way out of her sad green eyes and ruining the makeup she had spent so long trying to perfect.

"Ness? Are you in here?". The knock at the door is followed by the sound of Mads' question. The blonde doesn't wait long before opening the door and stepping inside, her eyes widening at the sight of all the mess. It takes a few seconds for her eyes to tear away from the pig sty and find a sniffling Nessa.

Worrying, Mads takes a seat beside her best friend after ditching her clutch purse on the bed. She knows that theres nothing physically wrong or else Nessa would have been asking for help. An advantage of being best friends for so long is that Mads knows all of Nessa's cries. When she's sad. When she's angry. When she's emotional.

"I want to be normal. I don't want to have to pretend" The smaller of the two girls mumbles as she leans her head onto Mads' shoulder.

Mads doesn't respond immediately. She lets the words linger in the air and collects her thoughts before she shares them.

"Nobody is normal Ness. I'm definitely not".

They chuckle softly.

"You know what I mean" she nudges, burying her face more into her friends surprisingly comfortable shoulder.

"Yeah I know. But what I also know is that this? this is just a minor bump in the road on the way to your destination. It's not the end of the world Ness, it's just a hiccup that we need to be cautious of that's all. You are normal, this pregnancy is normal and you're going to be fine. Both of you. Today isn't about making you feel better about the situation, it's about celebrating this insane happy accident that's giving you and Josh something that  you'll love forever."

Nessa smiles, holding her bump.

"I will love her forever" she confirms.

Mads beams, "So you think it's a girl?".

Nessa nods her head, recalling the conversation she and Josh had before. He's got his heart set on having a girl and she thinks he'll be the most amazing girl dad. Personally, Nessa doesn't mind what she's having as long as the baby is happy and healthy but for Josh's sake, she hopes it's a girl.

Nessa stands to her feet, scanning the pile of blue and pink dresses on the floor for a few minutes before picking one up and heading into the bathroom to change. Mads is right. Today's purpose isn't to make Nessa feel normal at all, it's purpose is to celebrate that she's not. Nothing about her pregnancy so far has been 'normal' and that's just fine for her because she's happy nonetheless.

After a few touch ups courtesy of her best friend and the taking of several selfies together, the two best friends head downstairs as guests start to arrive. Mads helps Nessa tackle the staircase in a pair of heels that don't make her seem that much taller at all. The doorbell rings as the two reach the bottom.

"I'll get it, you go on in. Tell Josh I won't be long".

Mads nods and walks towards the back door area with a satisfied smile on her face.

With the sound of her heels clanking against the tiled flooring, Nessa has a spring in her step as she looks forward to the night ahead.

Her welcoming smile however is wiped off of her face immediately when the front door swings open and she's met face to face with the last person she expected to see today.

"Hi baby".