thirty-four

"Good luck at work and have fun," Wyatt told me through the phone as I sat on the parking lot of the store I was hired at. The entire week seemed to fly by and before I knew it, it was Saturday morning and I was starting at my new job.

I giggled, "Thank you, I will."

"Also, don't go on a baby clothes shopping spree without me," He warned.

"I won't," I started, "Speaking of which, will I see you after work?" I asked him.

"Probably not, my parents want me home because my sisters are coming into town for the long weekend and I have to help clean the house before they show up later today," He informed me.

"Okay, tell them I say hi."

"I'm sure they'll want to see you in person at some point this weekend, so don't be surprised if you get invited over to my house," Wyatt laughed.

"Alright, I'll put it on my calendar now," I joked. I glanced at the clock in my car and realized I was starting work in five minutes. "I have to go. My shift starts in five minutes."

"Alright, have fun. I love you," Wyatt told me.

"I love you too," I said before ending the call. I grabbed my wallet and keys before heading into the building.

"Hello?" I called, not seeing anyone when I walked into the store. A girl who looked to be in her early twenties popped her head out of what I assumed was the back storage room.

"Hi! Are you Kennedy?" She asked me.

"Yes I am," I confirmed.

"Hi Kennedy! It's so great to meet you! My name is Lilah, I'm the store manager," She informed me, holding her hand out for me to shake. I took her and shook it with a smile on my face.

"We're so excited to have you here! As you can see, we aren't very busy right now, so this is the perfect time to give you the rundown on everything," She explained.

I nodded, "Sounds good!"

She lead me to the door she had come out of and I followed her into the back room.

"So, this is our back storage room. You typically won't need to come back here unless a customer is looking for an item in a different size. Aiden comes in and restocks the shelves for us in the afternoon, you'll probably see him later today. That being said, you don't need to worry about that. Your main job is helping customers find what they need and checking them out," Lilah pushed the back door open and we went out to the front again, "The store is divided into gender and size. Boys clothes are on the left and girls on the right."

I looked around the store and nodded, it wasn't very difficult to tell the difference between the boys and girls side, since the girls side had way more frills and pink than the boys side. Looking at all the cute girls clothes definitely made me want a girl, but I was perfectly content with the boy in my belly. I had also read on multiple mommy type blogs that they felt raising a boy was easier than raising a girl. Of course I wanted a girl, but maybe having a boy first was a good thing for Wyatt and I.

"I think I can remember all of that," I commented, nodding my head.

"Good! Next we have the cash register," Lilah said, leading me over the the counter. "It's your basic kind of cash register, you scan the items tag with the scanner and then you just click this button on the screen to open the money drawer."

She looked at me and smiled, "Do you have any questions?"

"Not right now," I answered.

"That's alright, if you do have any please don't hesitate to ask." She glanced around the store, "Alright, well, I guess we can just chill for a little bit and then you can shadow me when a customer comes in."

"Sounds good!" I chirped. We sat waiting and talking for probably about twenty minutes before somebody entered the store. I watched as Lilah greeted the woman and showed her where she wanted to go in the store. Lilah did it with such ease, it made me feel like I would be able to do it too with minimal issues.

Lilah finished up checking the customer out and when the customer walked out the door Lilah turned to me, "The next one is yours."

"What if I mess up?" I asked.

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you. If you have any issues, I'll step in and help," Lilah promised me. I nodded before sitting back down behind the cash register. Only a few moments later the bell rang.

I stood up from behind the counter and found an older woman standing at the front of the store, glancing around.

"Hello! Is there something in particular that I can help you find today?" I asked the lady.

She glanced over at me and smiled.

"Could you possibly show me where I can find baby headbands? My daughter is having her first and it's a girl," She asked me.

"Of course, they are right over this way, if you'd like to follow me," I smiled, recalling in my head where I had seen the headbands during my tour of the small store.

I stepped out from behind the counter and I watched at the lady's smile fell off of her face. Her eyes glued to my growing baby bump. She shook her head before meeting my eyes again.

"You know what, I think I should be able to find them myself," She said, sending me a slight glare.

"Are you sure? It is really no problem for me to bring you to them," I informed her. I kept a smile plastered on my face even though I really wanted to drop it.

"If I need help, I'll ask somebody else. I don't need some foolish teenager who went and got herself pregnant showing me thing for my married daughters baby," the lady snapped.

Lilah, who had been standing behind the counter the whole time, took the opportunity to finally step in, since the lady took things too far. She stepped in front of me and motioned for me to go back behind the counter.

"I'm very sorry ma'am. I understand that you want to buy items for your daughter at our establishment. If you wish to do so, you have to treat our employees with respect, as it is store policy. If you are unable to do that, I am going to have to ask you to leave the store," She told the lady in a calm tone.

The flames in the lady's eyes only grew stronger, "You're going to stand up for the lousy girl who went and got herself pregnant? She probably doesn't even know who the father is!"

"Ma'am, I am going to have to ask you to leave the store," Lilah told the woman.

"Fine, you will not be seeing me back here!" She huffed before heading back out the exit.

I hadn't realized I was crying until Lilah spoke to me, "Kennedy, are you alright?" She asked, hurrying over to me.

"She doesn't even know what she's talking about," I mumbled, wiping my eyes.

Lilah stopped rubbing my back for a moment to look at me, "What do you mean?"

"I know who the father is. He's my boyfriend and he isn't out of the picture. He's been nothing but supportive," I sighed.

"Trust me, I know how you feel," Lilah started, "Maybe one day you can come and meet my daughter," She smiled.

"You have a daughter?" I asked her.

She nodded, "I got pregnant towards the end of my senior year and had her a few months before I turned nineteen. She's three, almost four now."

"That's amazing," I smiled.

"And her dad is more than just in the background of the picture," She smiled, holding up her left hand ring finger. She had a wedding ring on.

"You're going to make me cry happy tears!" I laughed.

"That's okay, cry all you want. I just wanted you to know that there are happy teen pregnancy stories, not all of them end with the parents being separated, or the dad disappearing, or the parents fighting all of the time," She informed me.

"It's good to know that there is somebody else who understands me," I told her.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to reach out to me," She smiled.

I nodded, "Of course." Just then, the doorbell rang and a customer walked in.

"Let's get back to work," Lilah smiled, helping me stand up.

"Hi! Is there anything I can help you with today?" I asked the pregnant woman who had just entered the store.

"Yes! I'm having a boy and I want to get an outfit similar to one that his dad has so they can match," She informed me.

"Do you have a picture of the outfit you're trying to match?" I asked her, walking over to meet her. She showed me a picture and I nodded.

"I think I have seen something that looks similar to that. You can follow me," I told her.

"What are you having?" She asked as she followed me into the store.

"A boy," I smiled.

"That's so exciting! Honestly, I'm so happy to be having a boy because they make such cute boys clothes now!" She smiled.

"I know right! These overalls are to die for!" I laughed, holding out a pair of baby overalls that I honestly may just have to buy for myself.

As I helped the lady, it made me remember that not all people would judge me, some would be nice and supportive. It was definitely better if I focused on the supportive people and but the negative people in the past.

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Hey everyone! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I was spending time with family and friends over this past weekend and didn't even think about writing. But, here is an extra long update to make up for it! Thank you all so much for reading 118k reads honestly blows my mind away! If you all are enjoying this story don't forget to vote and comment!!

xx - Sidney