The Summer Of Us (Summer I Turned Pretty FanFiction)

Chapter 9: Boy

"He's moving, he's really moving," I said in absolute glee. It's weird suddenly noticing your body like that, taking a second to truly appreciate how amazing life is, that from nothing we are able to create something spectacular. And it really was spectacular. I will never forget this feeling, just one of the promises I told myself. The other, no matter what happens, "I will love you forever", I whispered under my breath silently to lump of love hidden beneath my shirt.

"How do you know it's a boy, Bells?" Conrad said smiling, approaching me from the other side of our bedroom. He placed his hand gently on my bulging belly like he'd done a million times throughout my pregnancy.

"I don't know...just a feeling I guess." As he flipped onto his... or I guess "her" other side. The baby always seemed to kick harder when Conrad was near. And to be honest I'm not sure if it's; my imagination, or pregnancy- starting to make me slightly delusional or simply the fact that I've been watching way too many romance movies. But the optimistic part of me believes it is the baby's way of communicating that he (or she) loves us too.

"We'll have to start thinking about names soon."

"Any good ones you've been thinking of?" I asked curiously. This was the part that totally stressed me out. I mean, whatever name we would eventually pick would be stuck with them for the rest of their adult life. Talk about a daunting task of sorts. And who's to say that this name will fit their completely individual personhood as they mature and develop into their own. And god forbid he (or she) gets stuck with a name that has a terrible nicknamed attached, totally unflattering to the real world, like Belly as a prime example. I mean sure it's cute and innocent until age three, but at sixteen, who wants to have a name which is basically a fancier word for a scar left from birth.

"Well, I really like Noah, or Liam, or Aiden." He spoke shyly.

I couldn't help but laugh a little, it was so like Con to search up the top ten baby names and regurgitate the list in chronological order. "And let me guess if it's a girl, Charlotte, Amelia, or Olivia."

He caught on fast. "We, darling, are going to be kick-ass parents, I can tell already." He said smirking his cool Conrad smile.

"I sincerely hope so," I said- too smiling, but between swallowing my words- prayed that like always, Conrad would be right.

...

Time Passes:

This is my third Conrad free weekend in two months. I must be getting bored as I invited my mother, brother, and apparently his new girlfriend to stay over for a couple of days. Conrad recently took a job in Boston, as Cousin's population year-round is too small to need another full-time doctor curing mild summer colds. And to summarize the short story...I missed him like crazy. More than crazy... like having a Conrad size hole, unbearable loneliness- being stuck with my own reoccurring thoughts with no one to share them with. Con faithfully called me every night from his dad's, the place where he was temporarily staying, and again every morning telling me to have "a good day". Yeah right, I rolled my eyes to myself- a good day of being miserable- watching cable t.v. and eating spoonfuls of ice cream right from the bucket. Pregnancy seemed to only heighten my unconditional love of sugar and all things sweet. But I certainly wasn't telling my mother that.

"Having any cravings lately?"

"Nope, nothing in particular," I said, the only thing in my mind is the large chocolate cake with mocha frosting sitting helplessly in the fridge.

"Well, then you have more will power than I did." When I weigh three-hundreds pounds, can I blame heredity? She said hugging me tightly, or as tightly as one could, being that there was mountain wedged between us.

It was weird having them here, even though it had been so for so many years prior, since the very beginning. The summer house was always ours, I thought. Beck's boys, us Conklin kids, and the friendship which was thought to last forever, and I'm not just speaking of my mother and Susannah. Besides they were more like blood sisters anyways.

There was no denying that whenever my mother was at the summer house, everything, including the smallest details became nostalgic somehow. The house was never cleaner, the laundry smelled of lemon and fresh ocean air, and the heavenly awakening to the smell of blueberry pancakes smothered in syrup. It reminded me of being a kid again, a kid who enjoyed melted popsicles, making sandcastles, swimming laps in the dim light pool at night with nothing but a blanket of stars above. But most of all -an indescribable youth, an ever-changing forever, and all the firsts I had here. Like the first time, you accidentally catch yourself in a mirror and you have the epiphany you're not as short and "acneish" as you used to be and you actually feel pretty. Or perhaps, the time you realize one the people you love most in the world is never coming back and death is unbiased, unfair, and downright cruel. Or the first time you fell in love. I like the last one the most.

...

9:15 pm on the dot the phone rings.

"Hi," I answered, already knowing the familiar voice greeting me on the other end- a few hours away.

"Just wanted to call and say goodnight."

"Goodnight," I said back, smiling. The baby kicks.

"Oh and Bells..." He paused.

"Yes, Conrad?" I asked warily.

"I love you." He said his voice sure. Conrad Fisher, you are perfect.

"I love you too."

...