*Chelsea's POV*
It's only been about two weeks since the halloween party, and my stomach has grown so much that I wouldn't be able to fit in my costume anymore. The first three months were great, no morning sickness, I was barely showing, nothing bad. Now that I hit four months, every single night my stomach would get bigger and bigger. My back started aching more often if I did too much physical activity, not only that but my feet would get swollen at the end of the day depending on how long I was on my feet and what shoes I was wearing that day. That's what happens when you're pregnant though, and I'm a tough girl. I can handle it, well, I do complain sometimes. Not always though.
The boys have been doing pretty good with their first few games. I had initially hoped I could still be out there with them doing my Ice Crew duties, but I hadn't anticipated my stomach being this big. Brittany, Andrew, Brandon and I had some pretty big plans for Thanksgiving this year. Brandon and I would be having two Thanksgivings, as would Brittany and Andrew. First we would be heading up to Gibsonia to spend a few days with Brandon and Brittany's family, then back to Chicago so the guys could get some practices in before their games. Then, Brandon, Patrick, Stacey and I would all be going up to Buffalo to spend actual Thanksgiving with Patrick and I's family.
The morning of the day we would start out, started with all of us at Johnny's Ice House watching the guys at their morning practice. From there, we would get on the road to Gibsonia. Brittany and I sat in the back of the big SUV, while Andrew had shot-gun and Brandon drove. I was utterly thankful for the multiple stops we had to take to fill the car up, as I had to use the restroom a lot. Something I'm not very used to doing so often.
"So, have you thought of any plans for the wedding?" I ask, tearing my eyes away from the window. The landscape outside was rather boring anyways, we were passing through Indiana and it's all just cornfield after cornfield.
"I've only thought of colors so far. Royal Blue, Silver and White." Brittany lazily replies, her eyes closed and her head resting on the head rest.
"You have your dress picked out Britt. You've had it picked out since you were seven." Brandon interjects, laughing as Brittany smacks his arm.
"Don't be such a smartass Brandon." Brittany hissed. "He's partially right, but I don't think I like that dress much anymore. I'm more into Vintage dresses now, not those giant ball gowns."
"Understandable." I reply, laughing lightly at Brandon and Britt's little sibling banter.
We all stayed relatively quiet, with an occasional game of perdittle or I spy. No stripping was involved when we played perdittle. That would have been way too awkward, considering Brandon and Brittany are siblings, Brittany and Andrew are engaged, and I'm pregnant.
- - - x - - -
After a few more hours of driving, we finally made it to the Saad Residence. It's a cute little house, a little farther out of the city but that's what added to it in my opinion. The land they had around the house was large enough they could put in a small rink in their backyard. I bet that was a lot of fun to have when they were younger.
Entering the house, we were greeted by silence. The kind of silence that made it seem like no one was home. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind me ear, I smile as I look around the hallway. One picture of Brandon catches my eye. Walking towards it to get a closer look, a light laugh escapes me. He was such a cute kid, an even cuter toddler. He had a chubby little face as a toddler, so did Brittany though.
"What's so funny?" Brandon asks, noticing my laughter.
"Probably the baby pictures of you." George implies, laughing.
"Not cool man. I was a cute baby. Unlike you." Brandon retorts, faking looking hurt.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that bro." Brittany quips, joining in the sibling argument.
I shake my head, placing one hand on my cheek and the other on my small little baby bump. They go at it for another good ten minutes before two older adults walk through the front door.
"Children! Stop arguing! What have I told you about arguing with each other?" Mrs. Saad scolds, swatting at Brittany, Brandon and George. It isn't until then that she notices Andrew and I in the background. "I'm so sorry you two had to deal with that. Although I'm sure you're used to it by now."
Andrew and I exchange a brief glance at each other before nodding vigourously in response to Mrs. Saad's statement. No sooner after we nod, do Brandon and Brittany simultaneously shout "HEY!" at us.
"Hay is for horses." Andrew replies crossing his arms over his chest. His expression set in a stern way.
I stifle a laugh at Brittany's expression and Brandon's disgruntled eye roll. I knew there was a reason I loved this family so much. Then again, when Brandon joins my family for Thanksgiving the sibling banter will move up a few notches considering there are five of us in the family, instead of three. Four girls, one boy. Patrick was stuck playing Barbie's and having Tea Parties with us growing up. I don't think he really minded, to be honest. He doesn't talk much of it today, though. He probably just wants to keep his manhood in tact.
- - - x - - -
After a few hours of sitting around the fireplace with everyone getting caught up, I start to feel tired. Brittany catches on quickly, after I've yawned about fifty million times and motions for me to follow her.
"Excuse us girls, but we're just going to go get ready for bed." Brittany cuts in, standing up and moving to the other side of the couch where I was sitting. She helps me up, which I'm very thankful for being as tired as I am.
She leads me upstairs and around the corner at the end of the hallway opens the door revealing what must be her room. Looking around, it looked like it could be a teenagers room instead of a young adult's room. She must not have changed it much since she left, nor her parents.
"The bathroom is just through that door over there, all of our things have already been brought up here by the boys." Brittany speaks up, breaking me from my trance.
"O-oh thanks Britt." I say quietly, walking towards where my bags were placed.
"If you need me, I'll be down the hall in the boys' bathroom. You can thank me later for protecting you from that grossness." Britt teases, pinching her nose and making a sour face as she grabs a few things of her own before closing the bedroom door behind her.
Once I'm done with my shower, I go back into Brittanys room to find her already back and lounging on the air mattress.
"You weren't kidding when you said I could have the bed, were you?" I inquire as I sit down on the edge of the bed.
"Why would I make you sleep on this uncomfortable piece of garbage? I'll be lucky if I'm not sleeping on the gound come morning." Brittany replies making a face.
Laughing I shake my head as I get up, lightly tossing a pillow at her. Quickly jumping into bed and covering myself with the blankets, I use the blankets as a shield in case Brittany decides to throw the pillow back at me. Fortunately she doesn't, and she promises she won't.
- - - x - - -
Waking up the next morning, I glance over at the clock to see it's only nine. How could it be so early? I fell asleep pretty early, considering I usually go to bed around one or two in the morning, eleven was pretty early for me. I look over at the air mattress only to find it neatly made and no Brittany to be found. Getting out of bed myself, I grab one of Brandon's sweatshirts that he let me have and head downstairs.
"Well goodmorning sleepyhead." Brittany teases, munching on her banana.
"Oh shush Brittany. You know I like to sleep late." I retort smacking her arm lightly as I walk past her to sit down next to Brandon.
"Finally wearing one of my hoodies I see?" Brandon inquires, a sly smile forming on his lips.
"Yupp. It's extremely comfortable. How come us Ice Girls don't get sweatshirts like this?" I ask, pouting a little.
"Aren't those se-erm, um, cute outfits enough for you?" Brandon asks, catching himself before he slipped up and said 'sexy'. Since his sister just so happened to be an Ice Girl, that would have gotten real awkward, real quickly.
Brittany gives him a pointed look like 'Good job, idiot' while Andrew and I crack up laughing. His parent's and George just shake their heads, not bothering to ask. It was probably best for them not to ask in the first place.
"So, Chelsea, how far along are you again?" Brandon's mom, Sandra, asked before she finished her last sip of coffee.
"About.. four and a half to five months now." I reply as Brandon wraps his arm around my shoulder.
"Do you know the gender?" Brandon's dad, George, asked, his eyes lighting up as he asked the question.
"No, not yet. It's too soon to tell, in two weeks though I was planning to go find out." I say, placing a hand on top of my stomach. "Well, not really. Brandon and I don't want to find out right away, and Stacey and Brittany came up with a good idea of throwing a gender reveal party."
"Yupp! Only Stacey and I will know." Brittany states happily, her expression perking up a bit. "And don't even try getting me to tell you dad. Because I won't"
Brandon, Andrew, George, Sandra and I all start laughing as Mr. Saad makes a pouty face.
"Don't worry, the party will only be a day or two after we initially get the ultrasound done." I say, reassuring Mr. Saad. Everyone seemed to be excited to find out whether or not it's a girl, like Brandon, Andrew, Brittany and Sophia think. I, on the other hand, think it's a boy. I'm not sure why, I just do.
- - - x - - -
The rest of the morning passes and the rest of the afternoon is spent preparing our little Thanksgiving dinner. Momma Saad takes care of the turkey while Brittany and I make the stuffing, mashed potatos, a mixed vegetable side and a giant salad. Papa Saad comes in after a while, surprising me by making a couple pumpkin pies.
Once everythings done, the pies are cooling off for after dinner, and everyone is seated around the table in semi-dressed up clothes, Papa Saad says Grace and then we start saying at least one thing we are grateful for this year.
"I'm grateful that I have two great sons, and a beautiful daughter to make me proud no matter what they do." Papa Saad says to start us out, "I'm also grateful to Andrew and Chelsea for making Brandon and Brittany so happy, and especially to Chelsea for providing me with my first grandchild."
Moving clock-wise around the dinner table, Mama Saad is up next.
"I'm grateful to have such wonderful children and I'm so very grateful for the partners that they have found." Mama Saad says, smiling at Andrew and I in a warm and happy manner.
"I'm grateful to have such great parents who put up with me still living at home with them while I go to college. If it wasn't for you guys, I don't know where I'd be." George says, squeezing his mom's hand gently.
"I'm grateful for Chelsea, everything about our relationship is perfect. I love you Chels." Brandon says as he squeezes my hand. "I'm also grateful for the brat of a twin sister I have, if it wasn't for her urging me, I don't think I would have ever asked Chelsea on a date."
"I'm grateful for my brother, who is not here with us, and my sisters. Together, we made the best of our childhood, making Patrick play Barbie's with us all of the time. He's such a great brother. I'm also grateful for Brittany and Brandon being in my life. Without them, life would be so boring." I say smiling at Brittany and Brandon. "I love you too, Brandon."
"I'm grateful for Brandon always being there for me when we were kids. George too. I'm so lucky to have such awesome brothers. And of course Mom and Dad, you always wanted the best for us. Thank you." Brittany states, looking around the table. "Oh and of course, Andrew, I'm so grateful to have you in my life. You make everyday so, so much better."
"I'm grateful for my two brothers, and my parent's who pushed me to do what I truly believed in. Also, I'm grateful to have Brittany in my life. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with her." Andrew says, finishing off the group in saying what we're grateful for.
The rest of the dinner went extremely well. Papa Saad sure knows how to make great pumpkin pie, even the baby seemed to like it as I felt a little fluttering movement in my stomach. I had checked my pregnancy app earlier in the day and it said I would start feeling more movement, and it sure was right. I hadn't felt a distinct 'kick' just yet, just the fluttering movement. I couldn't wait to get back home to find out the gender. Of course, I'd have to wait until the party, but I was totally okay with that.
- - - x - - -
As the evening hours crept on, we all went back to our rooms to rest up for our late departure tomorrow. We didn't have to leave too early, Andrew and Brandon decided it would be okay to miss the late afternoon practice before their game the day after. Jonathan was okay with it too, which surprised me a little.
Instead of Brittany re-entering our room, Brandon's the one who comes in. Not going to lie, that took me a bit off guard as I wasn't expecting him to come in here. I could only guess that Brittany was with Andrew, as it only seemed fair for her to be with him if Brandon's in here with me.
"Hey Chels. I'm not interuppting anything am I?" Brandon asks, half of his body in the room, the other half still in the hallway.
"No, no. Come on in." I say, waving him over.
"Mind if I join you?" He asks once again, sounding a bit cautious.
"Yeah, of course." I reply with a cheery smile, patting the empty space next to me in bed. I toss back the covers so he could be under them as well, and so I could be closer to him than if he sat above the covers.
Taking a seat next to me, he wraps his arm around my shoulders while pulling the covers back over himself with his other hand. Leaning into him I drape my arm over his abdomen, resting my head on his chest in an effort to get more comfortable.
"This is nice, y'know. Just the two of us lying here. We don't even have to talk, it just feels nice being here with you." Brandon says after a few minutes of us just laying here in silence, enjoying each others company.
"Yeah, it is pretty nice. Soon we'll have a third person intruding in on our alone time. But I think we'll enjoy having that third wheel." I say, mentioning the fact we won't be able to do this much once the baby is born.
"Of course we'll enjoy that third wheel. Our child could never be a third wheel though, we'll be a happy little family. You, me and little Emma." Brandon murmurs, kissing the top of my head.
"Emma? That's a cute name, if we have a girl. Maybe instead of Emma, it'll be Dylan or Patrick." I say quietly, "But Patrick after my father of course, not my bonehead of a brother."
"What about if it's a boy, Patrick Dylan and if it's a girl Emma Michelle?" Brandon suggested.
Thinking about the names for a moment, I nod. "You're really good at this Brandon. I'm putting you in charge of naming all of our kids." I say informing him of my decision. Sure, Patrick and Dylan were my suggestions but he put together Emma Michelle, which would be adorable if we were having a girl.
We talk a bit more about baby stuff, and then just life in general before I end up falling asleep. It didn't talk long for me to fall asleep though. He makes a very comfortable pillow, even if he doesn't know that. I couldn't wait for the next five months to pass so we could meet our little angel. Also, because in the next month Stacey and Patrick would be tying the knot, as well as Sophia and Jonathan who have been planning their wedding to be on Valentines day for the past year. Even though I would be six and seven months along during both of their weddings, I couldn't wait to party it up. I already know how fun both weddings will be. It made me think about Brandon and I's future, which caused me to dream about our wedding, even though we aren't even engaged yet.
I didn't think that would be happening any time soon though. There's just way too much going on in both of our lives, and we have only been dating for a total of three months now. Sure, we're having a kid together, but we still needed to see if we would work well as a couple. So far, so good. More like extremely good.

Notes