There's Something About You (Ashley Purdy)

Chapter 9

We go into the bike shop and I see an array of helmets of all shapes, sizes, and colors.

"Your size would be over here," Ashley points to a rack at the back of the store. I follow him back there and he points to a black one with a sugar skull on the back. "You like this one?"

"It's cute. How much is it?" I ask.

"Don't worry about it. I know the manager, he'll give us a discount," he assures me.

"Okay. Let's get it," I say with a smile. I pick up the helmet from the rack and we go to the front to pay.

"Ash!" a man, probably the manager says. "Nice to see you again. Is this your girl?"

"Yes, she is," Ashley says proudly, putting his arm around me. I blush. "We're getting her a helmet for the bike."

"I'll give it to you for 20," the manager says.

"How much was the original price?" I whisper to him as he takes out his wallet.

"Around 75."

"Holy shit, Ash. That's a pretty good deal," I say excitedly.

"I told you it would be!" he laughs.

He pays with his credit card and we go back out to his bike. He puts his spare helmet in a storage compartment and I put on my new helmet. It's comfortable, and it fits my head perfectly.

"Are you sure you don't think you can handle tour?" he asks.

"I'm pregnant. I don't think it's a good idea. I have a lot of preparing to do. I'm going to call the doctor and we'll get an ultrasound set up for before you leave, okay?" I assure him.

"Okay. I'm just excited. I want to be a dad," he admits.

"Just a few hours ago, you were freaking out. What's changed?" I laugh.

"I've gotten used to the idea. When it came down to it, I'm the baby's father, and I have to accept that. I'm ready to take this challenge, head on," he says.

"That's good. I'm gonna call the doctor now, before we go. Okay?" I suggest.

"Perfect!" Ashley says excitedly.

I dial the doctor's number into my phone and a woman picks up on the second ring.

"Hello, this is Renew Pregnancy Center. How may I help you?" a woman's voice says.

"I'd like to make an ultrasound appointment for Alexandra Kimberly for tomorrow, if that's possible," I say with a smile. Ashley waits eagerly for what comes next.

"I have one open for 11 in the morning tomorrow. Would you like that one? Or I have a 4:30 opening."

"Let's go with the 11, thank you," I say.

"We look forward to seeing you, Alexandra. Thank you," the operator says.

"Thank you, bye!" I say, hanging up the phone. I turn to Ashley. "Tomorrow at 11. We gotta be there."

"Yes!" he says excitedly. "I'm ready now," Ashley throws his head back.

"Let's go to Barnes and Noble or something. We can look for baby name books while we're there," I suggest, trying to cheer him up.

"Sure, let's go," he says. I put on my new helmet and he puts on his and we take off towards Barnes and Noble.

He drives up to the store, and lets me out in front of it before going to park the bike. I walk in and wait for him at the entrance. He comes in and holds my hand. I lead him to where all the baby-related stuff is. We find a bunch of name books and I pick one out that says 100,000+ Names for Your New Baby! and go sit at a table to read it. We begin to flip through, starting at the most popular boy's names. I point to the name Tristan.

"Too classy. It sounds like the name of a preppy boy. Try something else. How about this one?" Ashley asks, pointing to Carson.

"Sounds too country in my opinion. How about Noah?" I suggest.

"I like that one. Let's add it to a list. I'll keep it on my phone," he says, pulling his phone out to a notes app. He titles it Baby Names and writes down Noah. He looks to me for another suggestion. I shrug. "I'll pick one. How about Mason?"

"I like that one," I nod. "Colton?"

"No, I just don't like that name. It doesn't sound right."

"Okay. How about Ethan?"

"Okay. Let's go to the girls, now," Ashley says.

I flip the page and the first name that I see is Sophia.

"How about Sophia?" I ask.

"I'll add it to the list. Madelyn?" he suggests.

"Sure," I say. "Chloe?"

"No, too common. That name's been around forever. I know a bunch of girls named Chloe. This name has to be special to us," he says. "Do you like Avery?"

"Avery was the name of the mall owner. No," I say. "Hannah?"

"Sure. Hailey?"

"I like that one. I think we have enough for one day. We can do a more intense search when it comes closer to the time. Okay?" I suggest.

"Okay," he looks at his phone to see the time. "We've been here for two hours."

"How? We didn't even find that many names!" I say. I look at my phone. Sure enough. It's almost 6. "Let's go get some dinner. Where do you want to go?"

"Let's go to my house. I'll cook something for you. What do you want?"

"How about spaghetti?" I suggest.

"If that's what sounds good. You got it," he winks at me. We go out to his bike and put our helmets on. "Let's take the scenic route. It's a nice night."

"Okay," I say. We begin riding down the highway, then he turns out to a back road. I can see lots of trees, and the open road ahead of us. I wouldn't rather be anywhere else.

Tomorrow, we have more adventures to have.