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the rest of my very pink baby shower.

    By the end of the day, I’m exhausted. I’ve opened so many gifts and said thank you more times than I can count. The best thing about all the gifts, is that my baby girl will have lots of new cute outfits. And shoes. And socks. This little girl has so many things already that I have no clue where I’m going to put all of this. Not to mention the tons of diapers and wipes. I feel so blessed having my family give me so much stuff and I’m so grateful for it all. I worried before that I wouldn’t have enough money to buy the things I knew I’d need, but now, I pretty much have it all. Malcolm had bought a crib a few weeks ago. I think it was his way of apologizing for not being there. I wonder if he’ll come home with something new since this week’s disappearance. I always feel bad asking him to buy things that I know we need. I think that’s another thing we need to work on. I know we’re both in this together, but at times I think he regrets asking me to marry him. Overall the baby shower went great. Well, if I ignore Tina’s snotty comments and acting like a snob. No one said anything to her, and I hope people didn’t take the things she said to heart.
    I help mom clean up and I tune in to the sports on the TV that dad’s listening to. It makes me miss home more and more. I’ve enjoyed staying with them and I wish I knew what was going happen if or when Malcolm decides to come back. It’s also has made it harder on me knowing I’ll have to go back to the guest house. Sooner or later, Malcolm and I have to sit down and talk about things. Whether or not Malcolm is ready, this baby is coming. That’s something I cannot control. To be honest, I’m ready for her to be here. Wobbling around like a drunk duck is not fun. I swear I’m never doing this again. Ever.
    I’m putting the last of the dishes into the dishwasher when we all hear the doorbell chime. I look at the clock wondering who in the world is ringing the doorbell at eight at night. I think maybe someone left something behind as I go to answer the door. I open it and the last person I expect to see is Malcolm.
    “What are you doing here?” I ask. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea why he would come here. Malcolm looks just as exhausted as I do. His hair is all over the place, he has bags under his eyes, and he seriously needs to shave.
    “We need to talk, Ava. I want you to come home.”
    I look back at mom and she nods her head as if she’s encouraging me to talk to him. I walk outside and I shut the door. I don’t want my parents hearing anything he has to say. “What do you want to talk about?”
    “It’s time to come home. I’m sorry for not being there for you. But I promise I’ll do better. Please, Ava. I miss you.”
    “I don’t understand, Malcolm. You’re always gone. You’ve yet to go to a doctor’s appointment with me. You don’t even know what we’re having. How do you expect me to come back if you’re not in this with me?”
    “I am. I really am. I … I’ve just had some things to take care of. I’ll do better. Please, Ava. Go get your things and I’ll drive you back.”
    I shake my head, giving up. I know he won’t give me the answers I need or want to know. I don’t want to fight with him anymore. I nod at him and I walk inside. I pull mom aside and I tell her what’s going on. She seems happy that I’m going back with him. I know mom thinks that Malcolm wants to do the right thing by me and the baby. She’s told me before, but I haven’t really told her how he acts or stays gone all the time. When she would ask I would say he had something else to do. I always would tell her he had school to focus on or doing something for his mother. I would always come up with an excuse for him when he wasn’t there at an appointment. I don’t know why I didn’t just tell her the truth. I knew mom would understand and give me advice. For whatever reason, I didn’t want