"Hey Nora, how are you?"
"I am good Brian, thank you. Haven't seen you in so long."
"I know! Oh hey, here you go... these are the papers for Nick."
"Thank you, you wanna come in?"
"Nah, I really should get home soon."
"Come in, you just drove, what? An hour and a half? That's crazy. Come in! Nick will be home soon."
"Actually I do have to use the bathroom. Hmmmm... I guess I'll wait for Nick. Haven't seen him in a few weeks anyway."
"Great, come on in. We have beer and wine."
"Thanks."
************
"I am glad you washed up. You want something to eat?"
"Oh no, Nora, thank you! Nothing at all. I promised my parents I'd have dinner with them."
"Well, make yourself comfortable. I'll pour you some wine unless you want a beer?"
"Oh no, wine would be great."
"Alright."
************
"So tell me... how's the pregnancy going?"
"Well Brian, it's going. The second trimester just started. Hopefully everything goes well."
"Yeah I hope so too! Best of luck!"
"Thanks."
"You just got home from work, right?"
"Yeah, it was a long day."
"Tell me about it. Are you planning to take some time off as the due date gets closer?"
"Yeah I am looking forward to it."
"I bet. By the way, this is great wine." "Yeah Nick got it from his boss".
"Sorry you can't drink..."
"(-Sigh-) It's ok. I don't even crave drinking anymore."
"Hey, it'll all be over soon."
"Yeah, and don't get me wrong. I complain but I am super excited to be a Mom! But Brian, the biggest thing I am dreading is getting fat!"
"Oh shut up, a person with your figure won't look all that... uh... fat."
"Dude even the hottest girls look big when they're pregnant."
"Yeah but I know for a fact that YOU won't."
"(Laugh) Shut up."
"I am serious, you're so little."
"Don't call me short, I'll hit you!"
"Come on! Have I ever?"
"Ok you're right. You're the nicest friend Nick has. You're the one friend of Nick's who never calls me short."
"Thanks for recognizing! Plus I am too short to call anyone that."
"OK now you shut up! You're not short!"
"I SO am! But anyway, the point is that you can never look bad."
"Why, thank you! But I am just scared what if I don't lose the weight after the birth?"
"With your genes, you'll be back to looking as good as you do now, in no time."
"I am still scared."
"Don't be! So many people go through it. I mean, you know when Anne was pregnant she used to complain to me all the time. And believe me; she had a pretty tough time with it. Plus you know how our mom is. She was so pissed at Anne for getting pregnant so early to begin with. But thankfully everything went ok. And see, Anne even lost weight. I've never seen my sister this light since we were kids."
"I know. Doesn't make it hurt any less. You know?"
"Oh yeah, well that... I can't even imagine giving birth."
"You're a guy, you'll never know, Brian."
"Right. But hey! What if it's a Caesarian? That won't hurt giving birth at least."
"Yeah that's what Nick's mom was saying too, but the surgery isn't easy to come back from!"
"Oh God, yeah I bet."
"But least, you know, with a Caesarian... I'll stay tight down there."
"(Laugh) I bet Nick will appreciate that. Lucky guy."
"(Laugh) Well, we'll see."
"Oh I bet Nick's totally rooting for a C-section."
"Yeah he might now but the scar will look hideous on me. Wait 'til he sees the scar!"
"Why worry about it now? I bet it won't look bad."
"Not sure what the heck Nick wants though. It's not like he didn't know what pregnant ladies look like. Now I am dreading the scar. Plus, he thinks I am fat already!"
"What? But you barely look pregnant now!"
"Well not according to him!"
"Come on, is he blind?"
"You tell me! See? How big is it? Tell me? Here, see..."
"Well, Nora..."
"Hmm?"
"Well you're only in the first trimester.You look as normal to me as always! You have great skin. Plus you have an innie."
"Yeah I'd hate to have a bulging pregnant belly button."
"I wanna see your belly in the 8th month. I'll remind you again. (Laugh)"
"Oh hell no, you aren't seeing it after today!"
"OK fine but if you still look hot, and you decide that, then you can show me."
"Like anyone looks hot in their 8th month of pregnancy."
"Well, we'll see. (Smile)"
"You're funny."
"Any time."
"You want more wine?"
"Sure. Nick better come home soon though. I should really get going."
"Let me call him. Hang on; I'll get you another glass first".
************
"The wine's great."
"Thanks."
"So Nora... Like we were talking about before, if you could, which option would you pick, purely physically?"
"Hmmm... what do you mean, physically?"
"Based on physical preference. You know, like you said you don't want the scar but you still wanna stay tight down there."
"Oh that?"
"Yeah."
"You know, it's tough. Who the hell wants that scar?"
"Yeah."
"But right now I am thinking I don't want my thingy-thing to be split open all loose either!"
"(Laugh) Of course!"
"I still wanna be able to feel Nick inside of me, you know?"
"Damn right! You wanna be able to enjoy sex even after giving birth."
"Exactly. I won't even be able to have sex properly in a few months. I'd be completely immobile. Like a freaking ice cream van parked in the same spot!"
"Again, stop freaking out! It doesn't look big at all now! You'll just be normal, is all!"
"You keep saying that, and thanks, but what am I gonna do then? Just lay flat on my back? (Laugh) I am dreading that."