handle it. I’ll buy if you come save me.”
Who could resist an invitation like that?
I headed to my second home, Asheville Mall. As a kid and then a teenager, I spent entire Saturdays here, shopping, examining the kiosks, eating junk food, and sometimes just sitting in the food court reading books. My home away from home, and I liked it a lot better. Not much had changed over the years, as kids still considered this the place to hang out and be seen. Groups of teenage girls and boys circled the stores, eyeing each other as much as the store items. I spotted Abby and her friends through the window of Old Navy. Abby treated clothes shopping like I did, as an Olympic event. Bevvie treated it like a torturous chore. She used to get a lot of her clothes from Goodwill because of money issues. She didn’t have to now, but she still didn’t get the finesse of modern style.
Bevvie sat at one table just inside the coffee shop and waved when I entered. She already had a cup for me plus a chocolate brownie. I loved my BFF!
She sipped at the frothy latte. “Abby is in Old Navy looking at jeans. I expect I’ll have to send a search party if she goes more than an hour in there.”
I smiled. “You don’t understand the complexities of jeans shopping. There’s skinny, high rise, low rise, straight leg, boot cut, relaxed fit….”
She stuck her fingers in her ears and recited, “La-la-la-la.”
My laugh came out, and with that, the rest of my tension. “Where are the other kids?”
“Connor has them at the pool. We drew straws to see which one of us got Abby and the girls or swimming. I lost.”
I laughed as I broke off a part of the brownie and stuffed it into my mouth. Her mouth grew pensive. “Any news about Peter?”
I shook my head and swallowed. “That ship has sailed so far, it’s fallen off the edge of flat earth. He’s not interested and plans on signing any paternal rights away as soon as possible.”
“I’m sorry, Mellie-Jellie.”
I waved a hand as I gulped at the coffee. Decaf? Not too bad. “I don’t need that shit to deal with, anyway. I’m better off on my own than trying to coparent with an asshole like him.”
Bevvie picked her plastic stirring stick to bend and twist it in her fingers. “I’m still sorry you had to go through that meeting with him, but, you know, we are at the mall. I’m not the expert on the intricacies of teenage fashion, but I’m very familiar with maternity clothes. If you’re game, we can go look at mommy and baby stuff.”
I hadn’t thought about that yet. The upcoming changes meant a whole new wardrobe. “Bevvie-Levvie, you are my hero. My credit card balance is currently at zero. Time to load it up. Let’s go.”
I never imagined in my wildest dreams there would be such a plethora of stylish clothes for pregnant women. I always thought maternal wear was comprised of tent-like shirts and stretchy yoga pants. I was wrong. Skirts, jackets, pants, dresses, lots of clothes designed with growing bellies in mind. I bought a pile of new stuff including some T-shirts with cute sayings like Baby on Board and Under Construction with an arrow pointing to my belly button. Even though my condition didn’t show yet, it didn’t hurt to be prepared, right?
The baby clothes were even cuter. Yellow floral gowns, green striped onesies, zip-up fuzzy pajamas with feet, tiny socks with lacy frills, pink bows, blue baseball shirts…. With this many options, my kid would be the best-dressed newborn ever. This was a whole new world of shopping. Time to give my Amazon Prime account a serious workout.
Bevvie picked up a doll-sized pink shirt that said Spoiled Princess on the front. “Which do you want? Boy or girl?”
I lifted and displayed a yellow onesie with pink bows all over the butt. “I’m not sure I care as long as it’s healthy. Is it better to find out ahead of time?”
Bev folded the shirt and picked up another that declared Ain’t no Auntie Like Mine. “It helps for showers and things like that. Some people will want to do the pink girly girl stuff or the sporty blue boy stuff. You might want something more neutral for your nursery. I had Disney for all my kids. What better way to go than the happiest place on earth?”
I thumbed through a pile