Preg-Not

12

"Thank you," she spoke into the disconnected line. Viktor didn't hear her, but she still said it out of respect. Asshole or not, he was helping her, and she had to remember that.

Tiffany drilled her with questions. She couldn't believe her luck.

Needing a break, Rae took a shower. She soaked in the tub. As her belly became submerged in warm water, her bump began to dance with kicks.

"Are you trying to swim?" she asked with a smile. She made a mental note to look up "swim" in Russian, so she could continue her silly hobby of teaching her bump the language.

She carefully lathered her belly, wondering how in the world she was going to hide it. It was only October, so New Yorkers were pulling out their jackets from their closets. If she walked around with a puffy coat, she'd turn enough necks to snap a few.

Things would've been easier if Viktor called months earlier, but she was grateful that she at least had a chance.

After showering, she took her vitamins and went to bed. She brought the house phone into her room. It was propped on her nightstand, ready to be snatched any minute.

She tossed and turned for hours. When the sound of her ruffling sheets was interrupted by a loud ringing, she jerked up. She tried to roll over, but her belly made it impossible. Crawling across the bed, she picked up the phone and hurt her head from how fast she brought it to her ear.

"Hello?"

The call took five minutes. There were introductions and salary negotiations, skipping right over the interview portion. She was given a date and time to show up, and a goodbye from the bored manager that was probably as nest-haired and foul-breathed as she was.

She stared at the dead phone, and then at her belly, and back at the phone.

She got in. Now, she just had to stay in.

After returning the phone to her nightstand, she picked up her coat. She buttoned it on. It hid her belly well, but she couldn't wear it. She'd have to layer the hell out of her outfits.

She picked up her purse and tip-toed across the creaky hall. It only took fifteen minutes to reach the nearest thrift shop. It was practically empty, and she appreciated the silence. She had enough noise in her head.

She took a shopping cart and shoveled clothing into it. She chose flare dress pants to blur her legs, button-up shirts with prints to trick the eye, waterfall cardigans, peplum tops, and scarves.

In the dressing room, she tried on flare pants with a button-up shirt, making sure to tuck the shirt in but letting it sag. She finished with a cardigan and a fluffy scarf. When she turned to the side to check the results, she still saw questionable signs of roundness. The problem was with her arms. They were so thin that they didn't look normal beside her belly.

After digging through her pile of clothes, she found another scarf. Taking the cardigan off, she wrapped the scarf around one of her arms, and then pulled the cardigan back on. The padded arm looked more natural beside her torso than her bare arm.

She sighed with relief. She did it. To Maksim, it would look like she gained a few pounds over the months. She still had a lot to do, like wrap the scarf around her arm more seamlessly, and use rubber bands to shape it, but it wasn't impossible.

The total of her shopping spree was $80– a slaughter of her budget, but it had to be done. She spent the day washing the clothes, planning her outfits, and mastering how to bind the scarf down.

By six o'clock, her back was killing her. She sat down on the couch and instantly knew she wouldn't be able to get up by herself.

She ran her hands up her shirt and palmed her bulge. "Time to meet daddy. Let's hope he doesn't throw more jewelry at us." She chuckled, because she knew that her bump would kick back if it felt Maksim throw something at her. It was stubborn, just like its father.

"Rae, go to bed," Tiffany told her.

"You're going to have to wheelchair me out of here. My knees have gone offline."

"You can't sleep on the couch, girl. Come." Tiffany helped her up, and she groaned all the way to her bed. The mattress was hard and lumpy. The one she shared with Maksim had been lumpy, too, but at least she had him to snuggle with.

The next day, she quit her job at the supermarket. The manager was pissed off that she gave no two-week notice. She apologized profusely, but there was nothing else that could be done. The more she waited, the bigger her belly grew.

One week later, she stared at the mirror and turned about thirty different angles to make sure the bump was hidden and her arms looked natural. After what felt like an hour of obsessive inspection, she picked up her bag and went to the door.

She paused when her hand reached the doorknob, because her costume felt all types of wrong. She was a farce; using someone's identity for her profit; turning insecurities into a disguise.

With an uneasy swallow, she turned the doorknob and walked out the door.

The train that would take her to Manhattan was packed– typical during rush hour. With her breath caught, she waited for someone to offer her a seat. It never happened. She didn't look pregnant to onlookers, which meant the clothes were working.

She spent an hour clutching onto a metal pole and fighting the urge to touch her belly. She never went this long without doing so, and having to hold back was torture.

The train stopped at a station every two minutes. People scurried to get out, occasionally knocking into her and increasing her paranoia of the bump getting hurt. It was hot in there, too. The AC wasn't working, and her layers were suffocating her.

She practically flew out of the train when it reached her station. As she walked around, she blended in with the rushing, annoyed, sleepy zombies that the world called New Yorkers.

When she reached the building, she glared at it from across the street.

"Be good," she whispered to her bump. "No kicking parties today, okay? Please. I have to focus."

A passerby gave her an odd look, and she realized she looked crazy since she was talking to herself with no headset on.

Raelynn swung her purse in front of her and marched forward.

Please vote if you enjoy the story! ❤️