𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐔𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐃

꧁ E I G H T E E N ꧂

"I still think it's too early for all this".

Josh glances over his shoulder at a tired looking Nessa who's rubbing her stomach more than usual today as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other every few minutes. He rolls his baby blue eyes at her, wishing he could drown out the complaining that she's been doing since they arrived at the mall half an hour ago.

"Your fifteen weeks today" he reminds her while staring at two different baby bottles, trying to decided which one is better. "I want to start getting the nursery decorated".

It's now Nessa's turn to roll her eyes as she reaches for the bottle he holds in his left hand. The impatient girl waves it slightly in front of his face before placing it in the shopping cart, getting ready to move on to the next item. Josh murmurs a thank you while he grabs another couple of bottles from the same brand and also dumps them into the cart before following behind while his eyes dart around the different shelves- browsing for more necessities to buy.

"Just because I'm fifteen weeks doesn't mean it has to be done now. Anyways, we're supposed to be furniture shopping, we don't need all these little bits and pieces until it's closer to my due date" she rambles, picking up a Winnie the Pooh baby book. Nessa's thumb strokes the front cover while a smile tugs at her lips. She knew coming baby shopping was a bad idea but she can't help but feel her heart grow warm at the thought of the tiny human inside of her being read the book by Josh.

Interrupting her moment, Josh takes the book from her hand and places it in the basket. "I already ordered the furniture last night while you were sleeping, I got too excited" The boy confesses, shrugging his shoulder.

Nessa stifles a laugh, wondering why she never saw it coming as it's a very Joshua move to make. She shakes her head, her hand glued to her stomach like always as the pair continue to wonder around the different aisles, picking up anything that makes them pout or say 'awe".

꧁꧂

"Dude what is a diaper bin?" Bryce asks as he takes out the funny looking object from its box, it confusing him momentarily.

From across the room, Jaden and Anthony share an annoyed look before sighing- continuing to build the crib that Josh asked them to pick up on their way over. Currently, the group of friends are crammed into the baby's nursery, helping Josh build the furniture and catching up. They haven't had much time to spend together recently -what with exams coming up at school, football practice, and Josh already being in full dad mode most days.

Josh was very specific when it came to giving his friends instructions for the nursery. The second he knew that the baby was going to be living with him, he started creating all sorts of designs in his head for what he wanted it to look like. Nessa even found a Pinterest board on his computer when she borrowed it a few days ago and hasn't stopped teasing him about it since although she does find it comforting and adorable. The theme is gender neutral- tones of grey both light and dark shades. The furniture is white with accents of the lighter grey shades and the curtains are on the darker side so that they block out as much sunlight as possible which will come in handy for the early mornings.

"Done with the diaper changing station" Kio grins as he steps back to admire his work. This is the first time he's built any furniture and not royally screwed it up. He stands like a proud dad as Josh comes over to examine its sturdiness. Nodding in satisfaction, the dad to be hands his friend a large box with a smile on his face.

"Diapers and wipes go in the top drawer- neatly- then rash creams and diaper bags go in the second and then finally, the extra changing pad goes in the last drawer along with extra pacifiers, baby grows and other stuff".

The group of boys watch in amusement as Josh bosses more orders around before returning to his task of building the drawers where the baby's clothes will be stored. It's a weird sight for them to see but a nice one nonetheless. People at school can call Josh all the jerks and douchebag's under the sun if they want but if they had to see him now, in his element, they wouldn't be long in closing their mouths.

꧁꧂

"Josh, can we go get some-".

Stopping mid- sentence in the doorway, Nessa holds a hand up to her mouth as she resists the urge to cry at the sight in front of her. All day she was banned from entering the nursery until it was finished and now, she's staring at the most perfect nursery she's ever seen in her entire life. The tall white panel crib sits against the main wall of the room with two windows on either side- both with thick grey curtains hanging from them and pulled back neatly with silky ties. There's a thin white canopy hanging from above the crib that Nessa seems to fall in love with instantly. She takes a second to admire all the furniture, placed in various parts of the room. Her eyes finally land on a sleeping Josh who's sitting in the nursing chair with a stuffed elephant toy in his arms.

After she takes out her phone and snaps a quick picture, Nessa gently shakes him awake. He jolts awake- startled- falling off the chair in the process. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Is the baby okay?" He asks in a panic while trying to scramble back to his feet.

Resting her hands on each of his shoulders, she steadies him- calming him down with a soft smile. "I'm okay Josh, it's just late and you should go to sleep. The nursery's perfect" she beams, taking another look around.

Josh- not fully satisfied- takes another look at his work. His friends left hours ago and he was determined to finish it himself but he must have fallen asleep at some point.

He opens up one of the drawers slowly, a sly smirk teasing on his lips. He looks over in Nessa's direction, continuing to take out the object when he notices she's too busy starting at the small details. In his hands, Josh holds a mobile that'll hang above the baby's crib. He holds one of the cushioned figures attached to the sturdy string in his hands.

Nessa turns away from the wall where empty photo frames hang and contorts her brows at the boy standing in front of her with a grin. She looks down at his hands, her heart beating and eyes tearing up when she sees the cushioned figure is none other than Bambi, the very character she's nicknamed after.

"What's this?" She questions quietly, taking the mobile from him gently. Josh smiles with contentment when he sees that she likes it.

He puts the fallen elephant toy back onto the chair before explaining. "I know you don't want the baby to be in your life and I've come to accept that but I couldn't let you not be in the babys so the closest thing that I could come up with that wouldn't raise flags later on or cause questions to be asked is to fill the room with little bits of Bambi because...well you know, that's you".

The smaller girl stands in the center of the room while Josh stretches his arms and mumbles something about heading to bed before telling her goodnight, placing a kiss on the top of her head and leaving her alone in the nursery.

A variety of new and old emotions overwhelm Nessa all at once. Tears form in her eyes as she tries to push the thoughts and feelings back down to wherever they escaped from. Her knees start to wobble like jelly, her pulse pacing at a rapid beat. To ease herself, she takes a seat on the nursing chair and sinks into the soft cushion, her head resting on the large pillow. For a moment she allows herself to imagine what her life could be if she were to be apart of this baby's life. Her hand places itself on her ever-growing bump as it does routinely. Without meaning to, she closes her heavy eyes and drifts slowly to sleep, holding onto her bump.