Conveniently Inspired

Chapter Seventeen

 Ms. Lin thought the morning sickness was over, but it returned (viciously) during her third trimester. She was glued to her bed, trashcan within one feet, leaving Skylar to take over the store full time on weekends and after school. Aaron stopped by more frequently as well, bringing home cooked meals and yet another unisex baby onesie. Their growing unisex onesie collection was growing larger by the day.

Thanks to Kaden's genius marketing idea, their family business was back in the works. Skylar had just finished making a supply list order for next week when Aaron came bustling through the front door. "Hey Skylar, can we talk for a second?" Those words were never good. Mixed in with the fact that his face was wrinkled with worry, her mind went to the worst: he was leaving her. He cheated on her. He wasn't ready to be a father and was going to elope with a much younger woman from the states. The envelope in his hand was probably a pity cheque for his unborn child. A weekly deposit for child support.

"Um, sure." She closed her notebook.

"In this envelope is the sex of my future child."

"Oh. OH."

"Yeah." Aaron's hands shook as he said this. No wonder he was sweating. He stared at the piece of paper like it was an actual human being. "You know your mother is old-fashioned. She wants it to be a surprise. But... I don't know... this is my first kid, and probably my last too, so.... I just want it to be special."

"So- what do you want me to do, exactly?"

He put the envelope on the counter and slid it to her, the way they do in movies when drug dealers start bidding their top price. "Can I ask you a favour? Would you take a look at this and plan something for your mother and I?"

"You want me to execute your gender reveal party?" Skylar tentatively picked up the envelope. She'd never thought a piece of paper could bring so much potential.

"It doesn't have to be something huge! Maybe you could even put a color in a cake and we can cut it out? Or get one of those colored powder guns and shoot it in the backyard? I don't know. I think that'd be fun." Aaron was wringing his hands, sweat gleaming from his neck. In that instant, Skylar saw herself in her mother's boyfriend (as weird as it sounded). Aaron, like her, was an overthinker. Huh. Maybe they did have something in common after all.

"Of course. I'll plan it sometime this weekend."

"Thanks, kid. It means a lot to me. I don't know anyone else who'd do this for me."

Skylar knew that Aaron's family had disowned him when he ran off to marry Ms. Lin. Being both low-income and a widowed women of color with two kids was baggage that Aaron's family didn't want. Aaron cut off all contact with his parents and siblings when the ugly side of him was revealed, and for that reason, she couldn't not respect him for that.

Skylar asked her mother how she met Aaron, and while most people spiced up the story to recreate some dramatic Hallmark plot, Ms. Lin was brutally honest: "I see the lump on my boobie. I think is breast cancer, right? I go to doctor and see him in the waiting room. We talk. He handsome, so he exchange number with me. Then, when I go in for my x-ray scan, the lady say no cancer. I so happy. It must be a message from God. Aaron was my good luck charm."

So essentially, Ms. Lin only married Aaron because he single-handedly prevented her from developing cancer. (Allegedly).

Skylar didn't think Aaron had many close friends. Co-workers sure, but none of them intimate enough to ask for a gender reveal party. It was kind of sad. She cleared her throat and asked, "Does my mother know about this?"

"No. But hopefully it'll be a nice surprise for her, too. She claims she doesn't want a gender reveal extravaganza, but I know she just doesn't want to burden anyone." Skylar smiled then. Maybe Aaron wasn't so bad. He balanced out his mother well.