STAMP OF APPROVAL - a selection story

tough choices lie ahead

C H A R L O T T E

written by animationchic/aOK706

round fourteen ||

June 19th

7:24 am

"Why did you get in so late last night? You were only coming in from Calgary?" Helena asks as she sinks onto my bed, sighing as she rubs her stomach. Her enormous stomach. I mentally do the math. At this point she's probably about eight months along which means before too much longer, little one is going to be here. Then it hits me.

I should throw her a baby shower.

We never got to do anything like that for her. We never got to throw her a bridal shower or a wedding or a baby shower or anything like that. We missed all of it. But here's our second chance, staring us in the face. Literally, staring us in the face.

"Hello, are you going to answer me?" Hellie chuckles and hits me in the face with a pillow.

"Yeah, sorry," I laugh and throw the pillow back. I clear my throat. "Dad had me stop in Belcourt and Fennely on my way back and Ambassador Sanchez is a real talker when you get red wine in her."

"Ah yes, red wine, the friend maker," Helena says as she rubs her stomach. She grins down at it and chuckles. "And a baby maker."

"Eww," I cry, laughing as I throw another pillow at her. "Keep that to yourself."

Helena just laughs. "Hey, you'll be singing a different tune soon enough."

"If she's not already," Madeleine says from my closet as she walks out from unpacking my bags. There's a knowing look on her face and something tells me there's trouble ahead for me. I squint at her, confused when she holds something up against her chest. She looks at me. "Hey, Charlotte, where did this come from?"

Hellie sits up, a grin lighting up her face. "Oooh, yes Charlotte, where did that come from?"

I scramble off my bed and stumble towards her, snatching Levi's sweatshirt from her. I can feel my face flush as Hellie chuckles at my reaction. She and Madeleine share a knowing look and I can feel my face burn hotter.

"It's nothing," I mumble as I hold the sweatshirt to my chest, trying not to smell it in front of them. "I don't know how it got in my bags."

Lie. I had debated a lot about whether or not to pack it. It's not mine, it doesn't belong to me. But it feels like mine. Well, it feels like a hug everytime I wear it and it's made even better when Levi actually hugs me when I wear it.

Okay, I stole it. I stole it from Levi and honestly, I'm not sorry. I love that sweatshirt. I wanted to keep a little part of my Calgary visit forever, so I lept the sweatshirt.

"Yeah, okay, it's nothing." Hellie chuckles as she leans back against the pillows I've thrown at her. She gives me a look. "You know Charlotte, you don't have to hide your feelings."

I look up at her, a feeling of fear and dread settling in me. "You know I do."

"I know," she whispers, rubbing at her stomach, a sadness settling into her own expression. "I know."

—

"Princessa, I don't think I can get it out fully," Anri, my hairdresser, sighs as he lifts my hair, taking in the red dye. He clucks and tilts his head. "It's well done, I'll say that, but I do not think it is coming out properly."