Vegas Baby

“I mean, if you want to,” I responded. “I’m still kinda getting used to this, you buy things whenever I need it, so it’s a little weird.”

“To me it’s weird that you wouldn’t just go and get them.”

“Two different lives, I guess.” I reached over and patted his hand. “Let’s go get some shoes so I stop being a big baby while having a baby inside of me.”

He smirked at that and we drove off, heading back to the mall. I was pretty sure that James had been to the shopping center more times with me than the rest of his years combined.

We arrived on the side of the mall opposite of the food court -my least favorite side- and where a lot of the higher end stores were. I followed James in, and instantly recognized the store we were walking towards.

It was one of those super fancy stores with entire rooms for dressing areas, and refreshments set about. The kind where if you went in without looking like one of their clients, they’d have someone tail you to make sure you found your way out quickly.

I remembered registering for a few things in there and they were just so expensive. It figured that this was the one place that James remembered.

We made our way to the maternity area, which of course was right next to the baby area that we had spent so much time exploring previously. I had to be honest, their selection was great, but I could already feel sticker shock starting to sink in.

“Ah, I think I see shoes over here,” James said, pointing.

I looked over but was surprised to see that the racks and displays were too tall for me to make out where he was pointing. That was impressive considering that I was no shorty myself. How were the average women, or shorties like my mother, supposed to reach anything?

I didn’t know, but I supposed it didn’t matter, because I followed James and sure enough, there was a whole section of cushioned and specially designed shoes for pregnant women.

And they weren’t hideous either, which seemed pretty amazing. They ranged from practical to full glam, but none of them were the overly designed shoe-boats I expected. Whoever said money couldn’t buy happiness didn’t take into consideration that it could certainly buy a lot of style and comfort.

James picked out several pairs and I willed myself not to look at the tags attached to the overly pricey box.

“Shall we try these on?”

“Sure,” I answered, wobbling over to the lush seats they had next to the shoe displays.

But before I could quite make it, something caught my eye. It was a pair of teal, leathery type pregnancy leggings and they just looked so nice.

I reached over, feeling the material, and despite it’s leathery look, the inside was soft and buttery. I bet it would be so comfortable to wear, but a quick glance at the price tag had me grimacing and walking away. The day I spent a hundred and fifty dollars on leggings was the day I was dressing to meet the Lord himself.

“What were you looking at?” James asked from behind me.

Oh no, I knew that tone. He was about to do that billionaire thing again, wasn’t he? “Nothing,” I answered quickly. “Let’s go try on these shoes!”

“What are these, leggings? They seem nice.”

Damn. That man really never missed a beat. I turned to him, smiling sheepishly. “I guess they might have caught my eye.”

“Why don’t you try them on?”

“Eh… that seems like a lot of work. I have to take off my current pants, put those on and then take them off and put my original ones back on.”

He fixed me with such a charming look that my legs almost went out from under me. “Would you try them on? For me?”

I licked my lips, trying to think if I could refuse him, but I decided it would be less work and stress to just try on the thing. “Sure.”

He handed them to me and wrapped one of his arms around my waist, guiding me towards some other area which I guessed was where the dressing room was. We walked together, stride in stride despite the difference in our leg lengths, until we were in the fanciest dressing room that I had ever seen.

It was basically the size of a small bedroom with one of those trifold-mirrors and a little stage. There was the type of lighting that made you feel good in anything rather than making you feel like a washed out, beached whale.

There were two, thick and comfy chairs, complete with plenty of pillows, a small corner table with a bucket of ice and sparkling water in it, really anything you could ask for.

“Here you are,” James said, handing me the leggings and closing the door behind him. I knew once I put those leggings on I would absolutely love them, but for some reason -even after everything he had already done for me- I still felt guilty for him spending money on something just for me and not our child.