Chapter 21: Classes and making friends

I'm currently thirty-one weeks pregnant and I'm feeling more and more tired as the days go on. I get my school work done, eat, and sleep. I don't really feel up to doing anything else. I decided to sign up for prenatal classes and Danny is surprisingly excited about them.

"I can't wait for this," Danny says excitedly as we walk into Childbirth Education Association. I laugh at how cute he is and go to get checked in. We get placed into a room and wait for the instructor, getting to know the other parents.

"Hey I'm Mardrianna, but you can call me Anna," I tell a girl who looks to be about sixteen.

"I'm Justice," the beautiful African American girl replies.

"Are you here alone," I ask her and she nods.

"Want to join my fiance and me? I don't want you to go through this alone," I say.

"I would like that, thanks," she tells me with a small smile.

She told Danny and me that her boyfriend dumped her and her parents disowned her when she found out she was pregnant. She's living with her grandparents right now and neither could make it because they both have work. She's about twenty weeks pregnant and goes to the other school in our area.

"If you ever need anything and I mean anything, just call one of us," I tell her, giving her both of our numbers.

"Thank you so much," she says with tears in her eyes. I bring her in for a big hug and tell her that it is no problem at all.

The instructor comes in and we all introduce ourselves and then get into today's "lesson", which is changing diapers.

"Why is this so hard," Danny says when he ends up putting the diaper on backward for the fifth time. Justice and I laugh at his cluelessness.

I give in and show him how to do it, making sure he's paying attention, and then have him try again.

"How are y'all so good at this," he asks, happy that he finally got it down.

"I do have younger siblings you know," I tell him while Justice says, "Lots of babysitting."

"Are all girls good at this kind of stuff," he asks.

"Not all but most," I tell him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the class ends we're waiting outside with Justice as her grandmother is running late.

She gets a call and it's her grandmother telling her that she's held up at work and won't be able to come and get her. We offer to take her home and she accepts thankfully.

We drop her off and then head to Danny's house to have dinner with his dad and my parents and the twins.

"Hey guys," Pat says when we walk into the kitchen.

"Hey dad," Danny says at the same time I say, "Hey Pat."

"Your parents should be here soon and then we can eat," he tells us.

"Okay cool. I'm gonna go lay down for a little bit," I say. I get in a thirty-minute nap and then head back down to see everyone chatting.

"Hey, sleepyhead. You're just in time for dinner," Danny says, coming over and helping me down the last of the stairs. I thank him and then head into the kitchen to sit down.

We all eat and have a good time.

"Your birthday is coming up next week, is there anything in particular that you want to do," my mom asks me.

"Maybe go out to eat and then come home and watch some movies," I tell her. "I don't really feel like going out and doing anything. I look and feel like a whale."

"You look beautiful, sissy," Greg tells me.

"Yeah, you don't look like a whale," Jane chimed in.

"Thank you lovelies," I tell them, kissing both of their cheeks. We're all sitting in the living room and watching Wonder Woman and I'm starting to fall asleep.

"I'm gonna go ahead and head upstairs to go to sleep," I tell everyone. I give my parents and the twins hugs and tell them to drive safely. I then head upstairs and go to sleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Justice, these are our friends Brian, Bethany, Ariel, and Jerrico. Guys, this is Justice, we met her at our prenatal class," I introduce everyone. I invited Justice to hang out with the gang today. I see her as a little sister and feel the need to protect her.

"Awe, she's adorable," Ariel says, hugging her.

"Welcome to the gang," Bri says, also hugging her.

Everyone gives her a warm welcome and we head to go play mini-golf. I can see Justice slowly letting her guard down and start to have fun.

"Has the deadbeat contacted you at all," Beth asks her. We're sitting down and eating some pizza, just chatting.

"He called the other day and asked how I was doing," she says, rolling her eyes. "I told him I was great and if he was ready to step up for his kid and all he said was 'I'm not ready to be a dad'."

"Does he think you wanted to be a mom," Jerrico asks appalled.

"You don't need him, honey. Boys are just idiots," Ariel says, making the guys yell, "Hey!"

"You know it's the truth," I tell them. They grumble under their breaths making us girls laugh.

"Want to come over to my house? My parents would love to meet you," I ask Justice.

"Umm, sure," she says a little apprehensive.

"No need to worry, they'll love you," Danny says, gently squeezing her shoulder.

"Thanks for all you have done for me guys. After I found out I was pregnant, I lost everyone in my life. My boyfriend dumped me and my so-called best friend jumped at the opportunity to start dating him and not to mention my parents kicked me out. I thought about getting an abortion, but I couldn't stand the thought of killing an innocent baby," she says, crying.

"I feel where you are coming from, I could never do that either and you have us now so forget everyone else," Brian tells her, pulling her in for a hug.

"I'm also getting bullied so much and it's getting harder and harder to keep my sanity. That's why I'm so grateful to have met you all when I did," she tells us.

I think of the perfect solution to her problem. "Why don't you transfer to our school? We can pick you up and drop you off and you won't have to deal with those idiots anymore."

Her eyes light up at my words. "That's a great idea," she says in excitement.

"We can help with the transfer process and talk to the principal, have him talk with your current principal," Ariel tells her.

"Thank you guys so much," Justice says, tears streaming down her face. "I'm so glad I went to that prenatal class and met you guys."

I give her a big hug, our bellies bumping together, making us laugh. I can tell that our kids are going to be the best of friends.