Excerpt: Straydog

Chapter One

I think the glow of a pregnant woman is the most beautiful thing in the world. The way her eyes shine, the way her lips tilt up at the corners when she talks about the baby, the way her belly pushes out with the growth of another human being inside of her? Stunning.

Luckily for me, I see it every day.

I shuffled across the floor of the old building, sunlight streaming in from the giant glass display up front. In the display were two mannequins, both female, fondly called Samantha and Mallory, sporting two of my favorite maternity pieces. Even they glowed (as much as a plastic white person without a head or arms can) with the roundness of child bearing. A soft blue silk shirt with white trim was stretched across one belly and a sporty black and white cotton top was on the other. Both designs of my line, "Glowe". I had plenty more where those came from.

I rested my hand on my own growing bulge and smiled. Four months. Our first ultrasound is scheduled for Friday. I'm hoping for a little girl. A girl to dress in frilly dresses and little socks with curly carmel hair just like mine. Hair to put in pigtails. I'm hoping she has Andrew's blue eyes.

A shadow fell across the floor. The twin bells on the door gave a chime as the door swung open. I glanced up and grinned at the face of my fiance. He looked a little pale, a little tired, his suit rumpled and his tie disheveled. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him, hugging the baby between us. He hugged me back, not quite as tight.

"Did you bring it?"

"Yes..." He looks mildly disgusted as he shoves a sandwhich into my hands. I lead him to the counter and unwrap the food, pulling the bread apart to reveal a pickle, munster and peanut butter sub. My stomach growled appreciatively. The baby was happy. And so was I. "Thank you, baby!"

"Anytime." He flashed his grin, lopsided and boyish. It looked a little strained. I adjusted my square-rimmed glasses and put the sandwhich back together. I bit into it and savored the perfect blend of flavors. Mm. "I gotta head back to the office. You know how Doug gets." He rolled his eyes a little and I hugged him once more. "I've gotta run a few errands after work. I probably won't be home til after 8."

"Okay. I'll get Chaz to come over if I get lonely." Chastity Cromwell had been my best friend since eighth grade. Sure, I'd known her since third, but it wasn't until Cory Tyler, freshman jock and overall dickhead (not that we knew it then) dumped us both, one after the other. We were left to pick up the pieces of our shattered middleschool hearts together. Chaz invited me to her Halloween party, and I invited her to go rollerskating. Things kinda just flowed from there.

"Good. Okay. Bye then."

"Love you."

"Love you too." This was automatic. A robot response. When he meant it, and I mean really meant it, his eyelashes fluttered just a bit. So sure, maybe things weren't exactly perfect between us, but it was nothing serious. Nothing that we couldn't handle. I waved. The bells dinged and I dug back into my sandwhich.