Face The Music

Who Is She

 I finished doing my hair and makeup, then uploaded the pics to all my socials. I was so happy I had the glowing pregnancy skin and not the kind full of acne. I got up and took my daily bump pic in my full length mirror, trying to tighten up my sweater dress so it was more visible.

At twenty-two weeks, my stomach had officially "popped" and was looking super cute. I couldn't believe how much time was flying by. It was already my birthday and I was over halfway done with my pregnancy. Like, what?

My little girl fluttered around and rolled over. She was a little acrobat already. Hopefully she would be better at acro classes than her mommy. Arco wasn't my strong suit at all.

"Hey birthday girl! Almost ready to go? I don't want you guys to be late," my mom said, barging into my room because I forgot to lock the door...again.

"Yeah I'm basically done," I said, grabbing my purse from off my bed.

I rushed downstairs and put on my winter jacket, then grabbed my car keys.

"Have fun. I'll see you when you get back!" my mom said, waving as I walked out the door.

"Bye! See you later," I said.

I went into my car, which had already been running for a few minutes, so it was nice and toasty. I think I'd die if I didn't have a remote start option. My mom said when she was growing up, people would have to go outside, start their car to warm it up and defrost, go back inside, and then come back out to leave. What a nightmare.

I put on my favorite radio station and left the house. I picked up Natty first, who obviously called shotgun. She gave me a hug and handed me the first of two presents.

"Natty, seriously? The gift is literally you guys coming with me," I said.

"Oh puh-lease. It's your birthday!" she said.

I opened the first bag, and it was a sash that said "birthday girl" on it. I laughed and put it on. I was glad it didn't have my actual age on it. The last thing I needed was to advertise that I was seventeen and pregnant.

We moved on to Hudson's place, and then got onto the highway. For my birthday, I asked my mom for an experience instead of a gift. Of course, because she was my mom, she gave me both. So in addition to all the makeup, gift cards, and clothes I could ask for, she also got me what I actually asked for, which were tickets to the Winter Castles in the Adirondacks. None of us had ever been, so we thought it would be fun to check out.

I parked the car and we checked in, then started our journey through the park. It was freezing cold, so all the ice sculptures were holding steady. There was even a big ice castle you could walk through, but I was worried it would be too slippery, so waited while Hudson and Natty walked through it.

Once they were done with the castle, we walked down a pathway full of lights and over to the ice skating rink. I was Natty's photographer and purse holder while she danced around that rink. She was a figure skater when she was younger.

Hudson, on the other hand, had never been on ice skates, so he held the wall and screamed the whole time. He did one lap around the rink and then fell over as he got off the ice, so that was my entertainment for the night.

As soon as Natty was done showing off, we could sit down and enjoy the refreshments. Our tickets included a free funnel cake and a cup of hot chocolate. There was a whole lighted area full of picnic tables and those giant outdoor heaters so we could stay warm.

"Okay, so I have some big news," I said as we all sat down. Natty and Hudson leaned in, listening intently. "I think I came up with a name list."

"Ohmygosh, finally!" Natty said.

"Like I said, you're growing the baby in your body. If I hate the name, I'll tell you," Hudson said.

"So, where's the list?" Natty asked.

"Oh my phone," I said, taking it out. "Okay, so here's the logic behind this. I have a unique name, which I like a lot, but I kinda want her to not have to deal with that. The next thing is, you know, I'm Denali, but my friends and family call me Deni, and I don't really want her to deal with going back and forth with nicknames."

"So are you thinking like, Grace or Jill or something?" Hudson asked.

"Well even with Grace, people will call her Gracie, and what if she doesn't like that?" I said. "So every name on here is only three letters. Let me know what you guys think."

"The suspense is killing me," Natty said.

I cleared my throat. "Eve, Zoe, Ava, Ana, Sky, Lyn...and Mia."

Hudson smiled. "Well idk why you gave us a list. It sounds like you already know which one you want."

"I-I have to think about it some more," I said. "I'm not a hundred percent on it."

"I like it!" Natty said.

"I actually like it too," Hudson said.

"Thanks guys. I'm just gonna take more time to think on it and make sure it's the right one," I said.

"It's whatever you want, girly," Hudson said. "Let's finish these snacks and get out of here. I'm freezing."

"I second that," Natty said.

We scarfed down our funnel cakes, burned our tongues on the hot chocolate, and then took a bathroom break before getting back into my car. Then, it was another hour drive down the highway. I dropped Hudson off first.

"Bye ladies! And happy birthday, Deni!" he said as he opened the car door.

"Thanks, love ya!" I said.

"Same here!" he said, getting out of the car and shutting the door.

After that, I drove over to Natty's neighborhood. I punched in the gate code and pulled into her driveway.

"Thanks again for hanging out with me," I said.

"On your birthday? Stop. You know I'm down for anything on any day at any given time."

I smiled. "I had so much fun."

"Me too. We need to see if we can get Hudson back on an ice rink so we can see that again."

I laughed. "Yeah right. He's never gonna let that happen. Well...I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Yup. I should get to bed."

"Yes, you should. Goodnight."

"Bye! Goodnight!" she said, getting out of the car. But instead of shutting the door, she reached back in and put her hand on my baby bump. "And goodnight to you too, little miss Mia!"

Before I could say another word, she shut the car door and ran off into her house.