"Oh my god! I swear if this gremlin doesn't get out of me this weekend, I'm going to force it out," Ashley spat in frustration as she plopped down on the couch next to me.
Ashley is usually the calmest, most kind person I have ever known, so hearing her frustration was something very out of character for her. The gremlin she was referring to was Abigail, her unborn daughter who was three days past her due date. Hearing her call her a gremlin was also a bit out of character.
Abigail, while not yet born, was the shining star of Ashley's life. Every moment of every day since she had gotten pregnant was all about how she could get ready for Abigail. How did she need to take care of herself so Abigail would be healthy? What things did she need to buy?
Ashley and I had been best friends since second grade when our mothers became friends. While I had never known her to be less than one hundred percent on anything she had ever taken on, she was giving a hundred and thirty for this baby, and to be a little honest it had started to drive me bonkers.
Now before you make any judgments, Abigail isn't mine. Ashley and I have never been more than friends and have never been physical in any way. Abigail is from Ashley's long-term boyfriend Dean, who true to character, split the moment he found out Ashley was pregnant and keeping the baby. What she had ever seen in Dean, I nor any of our friends, family, or the rest of the entire world would know.
Anyway, I digress and you don't want to hear that part of this story anyway.
I paused my game and leaned forward putting my controller on my coffee table. It was Saturday, and for once, I hadn't had any other commitments, so I had been taking some time to play a new game.
Ashley was here because after Dean broke up with her, she needed a place to stay. I had a spare bedroom in my condo, so I had let her move in here. It wasn't the first time we had been roommates, and I honestly enjoyed having the company around.
I looked over at her and gave her a smile. "What did the doctor say?" I asked knowing she had an appointment yesterday afternoon.
"He said they will give her a week and then induce labor, but I swear, I don't think I can last another week," she said, now sounding more exhausted than frustrated.
"I'm sorry Ash, I can't imagine," I began, "Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?" I asked, knowing full well what was likely to come from that question.
"Can you rub my feet again?" she asked as she slowly turned towards me on the couch and plopped her legs in my lap.
Yep, that's what I expected. It didn't matter if she had spent all day sitting/lying down, she would want her feet rubbed. Some might balk at constantly being asked to rub a friend's feet, hell they might balk at having to do it for a girlfriend or wife. I didn't mind so much. It gave us time to hang out and chat, and honestly was a bit relaxing.
So we sat and talked as I rubbed her feet. She asked about the game I was playing and apologized for interrupting. I of course told her it wasn't a big deal, and I didn't mind. Then we talked about her go bag for the hospital, and if she had any special foods she wanted me to bring her. All stuff we had been over before.
She signed, dropped one leg to the ground, and laid her head back on the armrest. "Oh Thomas, why couldn't I ever get a guy like you? You would be such a great husband and father," she said.
I turned my head to smile at her, and quickly turned beat red and turned away.
"What was that?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Umm Ash, your nightgown," I said with some embarrassment.
"Oh! Sorry!" she said, realizing that when she had put her leg down, the nightgown she was wearing had pulled up, giving me a full view of her without panties on. She dropped her other foot to the floor and then reached a hand towards me for help getting upright in the seat.
"Sorry didn't mean to give you an eye full of untamed jungle," she chuckled.
"I didn't see anything," I tried to assure her, even though I had.
"How could you, I haven't shaved in months, the only thing you would see is a hairy mess," she half laughed out.
"Oh god! That's what my doctor is going to see, and all the nurses and it's going to get so messy, I need to go shave," she rambled off mostly to herself as she pushed herself up off the couch.
"I'm pretty sure they don't care," I tried to assure her.
"I care! I can't go to the hospital looking like this," she said as she pounded off towards her bedroom.
Now I didn't go with her to her doctors appointments usually, and when I did, I wasn't in the room, but I am pretty sure they would have done at least one or two exams over the last few months. Wouldn't they have checked her cervix for dilation just yesterday? Anyway I chuckled to myself and returned to my game.
It was probably fifteen minutes later when I heard her calling my name. So I got up and headed over to her bedroom door. "Did you call for me?" I asked as I knocked.
Then I heard her call my name again, and I could tell she must have been in her bathroom by the way it was muffled. So I opened the bedroom door and yelled so she could hear me through the bathroom door, "Ash, everything ok?"
"Can you come help me?" she responded.
Worried she might have slipped and fallen in the shower or something I rushed to the bathroom door and opened it.
I was absolutely not prepared for what greeted me as I opened that bathroom door. Standing in the shower completely nude was my best friend. She was facing the door, one leg lifted up on the edge of the tub, razor in one hand, and her pubic hair lathered in shaving cream.
Now I am a guy, so I can't say that I am not fully aware that my best friend is a full-on ten out of ten. And I have done my absolute best over the years to make sure that I've never tried to take things beyond being friends because I know that's a surefire way to ruin a friendship. But let me tell you, seeing her standing there, her oh-so-adorable brunette ringlets shaping her face, her glowing skin, her breasts which had swollen at least a full cup in the last few months, my heart skipped a beat and my blood rushed straight down from my big brain to my small brain.
"Are you just going to stand there and stare, or do you think you could come to help me?" she asked breaking me from my complete and utter brain crash.
"Umm, sorry, umm, what do you need?" I asked as I still tried to get my brain back to functioning.
"I can't reach!" she proclaimed in exaggerated frustration.
"Can't reach what?" I asked trying to fully understand.
"Look!" she said as she tried to reach around her belly with the razor.
"Oh, umm, ok, so how do you want me to help?" I nearly stuttered out. Understanding the problem, but not really comprehending what she was asking of me.
"Come shave me silly," she responded like it was the most obvious thing I should have fully understood already.
"Umm, Ash, I'm not sure that's really appropriate for me to do," I started.