Tags
adoption, Ame, baby, couple, creative writing., drama, gay, gay rights, Humor, James, Lipstick Lies!, lovers, parenting, positive, real life, role play., Shopping, Simone, theme, Thomas
With the changes in the lives of Erica and Simone, a new couple is about to become part of the scene. Thomas and James; a gay couple from the UK who are looking to adopt a baby of their own. Has Simone’s pregnancy answered their prayers? Welcome to Lipstick Lies!
The sight of the metal claws that appeared to come right from between Ame’s knuckles and then force their way into the air, was shocking to see. In the movies, sure they had seen Wolverine do it, and it was part of his charm. It made many a woman into a quivering mess, but this…to see Ame do it, was enough to elicit gasps from Erica and a loud cough from Simone.
“I didn’t think you would do that….I mean, you really are like Wolverine.”
Thoughts entered Simone’s mind. Wouldn’t something like that make getting dressed up a nightmare, if you got spooked, and then…~Whoosh!~ The blonde model could hardly stop staring as Ame drew them back down into her hand. “Does that hurt?” Course that would be the next question, but from the look on Ame’s face it was a perfectly natural thing. Thankfully, no one else witnessed it, as they were all too absorbed in their own conversations and coffees. That in itself was a blessing.
Erica was still blinking, her mouth opening as though she had a question, then changing her mind again as she tried to get her head around it. She herself couldn’t do anything like that.
Getting out her purse, Erica set down some notes, before pushing her chair out and rising to standing.
“I’ll head on back to the apartment, Sim and start on your packing. You can finish your coffee and shopping with Ame.”
“You’re leaving?” Simone looked surprised that Erica would just dump and run on her, but Erica had other ideas.
“Mhm. I have to pack all your shit in three hours. I’m on the clock.” She then turned to Ame and said. “Good luck with her. You’re going to need it.”
Erica smirked and grabbed her coat, before heading out the door, leaving Simone with Ame. Simone felt abandoned and pouted a little. “Is it me, or was she a bit too eager to have me move out?”
<3>
“Simone, keep it down. I do not want the whole world to know that,” She gave a glare towards Simone, not liking that she was a bit loud about her being like the fictional character Wolverine.
Ame gave a sigh, looking down to only rub the back of her neck for she does not know what to do if people found out that she was not human. She looked up at Simone, hearing her ask if it hurt then chuckled, shaking her head in response.
“It does not hurt at all for it it natural thing that occurs when I choose to use them.”
She turned her gaze to Erica, who clearly was caught off by surprise by this and tilted her head for she looked like she was going to ask a question. Ame watched Erica as she rose from the table to only announce that she was heading back to the apartment to pack Simone’s things and that she could stay with her and finish the shopping.
She gave a gentle nod towards Erica who has wished her luck and Ame began to have this gut feeling that Simone would be a handful. She began to chew on her lip, the gears of her mind starting to turn within her head.
“Well by the looks of it, honey, Erica seemed to be way to eager to have you move out and seemed to be ecstatic to help pack your things,” Ame spoke in a soft tone as she lifted a hand to only place it on Simone’s back and began to rub in attempt to comfort her.
Simone felt a little better by Ame’s affections after Erica’s hasty exit from the Milstead coffee house. It was hard to imagine that Erica could even box up Simone’s belongings in just three hours. It took her three days to move into the apartment. The blonde let out a sigh and pushed her empty coffee cup forward, as she apologized for her loud outburst.
“Really sorry. Kind of shocked by the whole.blade thing.” Simone offered. Glancing out the window, she could see Erica hailing down a cab and then going off rather quickly like her ass was on fire. A light shake of her head and she tried to refocus on what was going to happen now. She had not lived with anyone else apart from Erica, and she had to wonder if Ame could handle her outrageous behavior.
“I promise to be good, Ame.” If she had a halo, Simone would be polishing the crap out of it, with her fingers crossed behind her back. She had always been so irresponsible with everything from men to money, so Ame taking her on like this was a big ask.
Another thought crossed her mind. “So when are you meeting up with Pandora again?” She asked, genuinely curious about their friendship. Simone knew that Pandora might find it hard to swallow, that Ame was being so charitable with Simone, after everything.
<3>
“It will happen since this is the first time I came open to one of the girls,” she nodded as she pushed her empty cup away from her to only grab her purse to search through her purse to get money to pay for her coffee. She got up to walk to the cashier to pay for her coffee.
Ame soon returned to the table and looked at Simone, “Are you ready to finish shopping, Sim?”
She grabbed her coat and put it on since she was in the mood to do some shopping and now she had someone to go shopping with. Maybe she should take Simone shopping where she usually shops for her steam punk clothing.
Simone was more than ready to tackle some more shopping, since she didn’t have to race home to the apartment. If Erica was going to do all the packing, then let her. Simone rose up from her chair and then threaded her jacket back on as she watched Ame leave some money for the waitress. Donning her dark shades, and a light pat of her hair, Simone then followed Ame out of the coffee house and onto the street footpath outside.
“So…what did you want to shop for?” Simone inquired, wondering if she was after more vintage style steam punk clothes or accessories, like what she already had on.
The street was particularly busy this time of day, and Simone wondered if Ame was going to take her car, or leave it there as the girls might set off on foot. Simone could spend hours trawling the various shops for a good buy. She knew soon however, she would have to start looking at things for the baby. That was if she was going to keep it. The jury was still out on that one.
<3>
Felicity pulled her phone away from her ear, staring at it as if it were a live snake about to bite her. She had been busy working at the time Muriel had called her so she didn’t hear the message Muriel left until some time after the fact.
When she finally did hear the message, it took everything she had in her not to storm to Muriel’s and rip out the fake blonde’s hair…with tweezers. She began to understand now where most of Max’s issues stemmed from. Muriel was definitely an Enabler.
She would have to mention this to Doctor Monroe when she next spoke with him.
Ame placed a hand on her hip, looking at Simone and gave her a wide smile as she pointed to her car, “We are taking a trip to somewhere that I buy my steam punk clothing. I bet you will like it. After we do that, we are going to come back and buy some maternity items for you.”
She then pointed to her car which sat in the sun and its paint glistened like it had been freshly painted and coated with protection wax. She walked over to her car, taking out her keys and unlocked the passenger side to let Simone get in and sit down. She picked up the box of liquor out of the passenger side to only place it in the bucket seat and slipped out of the way for Simone to sit down. Ame then walked to the other side and sat down in her seat. She reached into her purse to fish out her car keys and placed them in the ignition, turning it to only hear the car roar to life as she waited for Simone to take her seat and shut the door.
At the suggestion that Ame wanted to take Simone maternity wear shopping, Simone made a gagging sound. You know, like when a cat is trying to bring up a fur ball. This went on for a solid minute before she ran her hand over what was a very small baby bump. The idea that Simone was looking…pregnant had the blonde dancer feeling physically sick. Finally catching her breath, she countered;
“But I am not that far along to warrant maternity clothes. They are for…women that look like they have watermelons shoved up their dresses.” This was Simone’s version of a protest. Simone was still trying to come to grips with the fact she was pregnant. Now abandoned by Erica, she felt a little bit lost in it all. Ame, had already gotten in her mind that she wanted to shop for more clothing like what she already had on. Simone followed Ame to her car, and then got into the passenger side after Ame unlocked the door. Closing the door with a loud thud, Simone hastily drew her seat belt across herself, and then glanced at Ame who seemed to be waiting for the cue to go.
“How many of these cars do you have?” Simone inquired, as she figured Ame had a few. Simone was not really into cars. She knew that they were costly, and got you from A to B, but she much rather ride around in taxis or be picked up by her beau of the day. Being pregnant was going to curb the amount of beaus she was going to have. Had Simone sworn off men?
That remained to be seen.
<3>
“Simone, you are three months along. And you will be needing to start wearing maternity clothes. Whither you like it or not.” She looked in the side mirror to see if any cars were driving by. When she saw none, she pulled out of her parking spot to head towards where she likes to shop for one of her favorite style of clothing.
“Simone, I have to many cars in general to count. And all of them are from differnt years of America’s automotive culture,” She glanced at Sim then returned her attention to the road, “And if you want, you can put on any music you desire to listen too.” She pointed out since there was rock music playing.
Simone was about to put on some music, when a sweet looking shop caught her eye. It was called the Once upon a time store. “Ame…pull over here.” Seeing something that she was actually interested in, she smirked as she saw two good looking men through the store window. “I think baby shopping just got interesting.” Trust Simone to spot a hunk or two whilst being driven around town.
Inside Once upon a time
Walking through the gorgeous aisle filled with baby toys and knick knacks, Thomas picked up a pink hippo fluffy toy and rubbed it against his cheek. The fabric was so plush and soft, Tom simply couldn’t resist. “:Hun, look at this. Pink fluffy hippo” His voice had a slight high pitch to it as he beamed at his lover. “This would look so cute in the nursery. Ooo…matching cot quilts. Hippo fever has hit Seattle, I swear.” Skipping off to the cot section with the Pink Hippo in his hand, the sales lady came up to James, and chortled. “First time fathers. You have to love them. Is he your brother?”she asked, not realizing that James and Thomas were a couple.
From the cot department, you could hear Thomas squeal over the hippo cot quilts. “Babe…we so have to get a mural of a pink hippo in the nursery!” On hearing Thomas sing out to Jason, the sales lady then put two and two together. Ohhhhh!”Yes, oh. Registering that they were a gay couple, the sales lady then added. “Which one of you is the Daddy?”
<3>
Ame blinked and pulled over to in front of the store, turning off her engine as she looked through her windshield. She was taken by surprise that Simone spot two men (of course) walking into the store then shook her head, “Simone, you honestly thinking of going after those two gentlemen?” she looked over at her with a cocked head.
She got a bit worried when she heard that baby shopping just got interesting right from Simone’s lips to only reach behind her seat to grab her purse. “Well? You going to get out and look inside the store to see what you like for your child or what?” Ame was going to get serious about Simone’s baby shopping and was going to help her in any way she could.
James had been skeptical about Tom’s suggestion that they visit the local baby store, but his long-time lover had given him the kicked puppy look and James had caved like a house of cards.
And now he found himself wandering the racks of Once Upon A Time as Tom squealed over this item and that item.
“Hun, look at this. Pink fluffy hippo!” Tom grinned, waving a stuffed hippo over his head. James grinned and shook his head.
“You and your hippo obsession, I swear.” James chuckled. Tom waved him off and went off to look for more hippo-themed items. James browsed the racks nearest to where he was standing as a sales clerk wandered over.
“First time fathers. You have to love them. Is he your brother?”
Before James could answer, his lover’s voice nearly shouted across the store. “Babe…we so have to get a mural of a pink hippo in the nursery!”
James shook his head and laughed at Tom’s enthusiasm and the clues finally clicked for the clerk.
“Ohhhhh!…Which one of you is the Daddy?”
“Neither of us actually.” James stated. “We’re on a waiting list for adoption. We’ve been wanting to adopt for a few years now.” he explained, leaving out the more heartbreaking aspects: how they had come so close to adopting a baby boy the year before, but the mother changed her mind at the last second. Tom had been devestated, James had been heartbroken. James picked up a small baby toy and gazed at it with longing.
“We’re hoping this time around that something pans out.” James smiled, thrilled at the prospect at finally becoming a parent.
As Ame turned off the car engine and suggested that Simone get out and go shopping, Simone gave her one of those cheeky grins. She pulled the handle and the door opened, allowing Sim to step out onto the curb. Closing the door again, she did a little head bob to see if she could catch sight of the two hunky fellows again, but they must have gone further into the store. One thing that Simone loved was shopping, the other was chasing good looking men, and the two in the store counted as that. Little did she know what she was getting herself into.
Waiting for Ame to get out of her car, Simone patted her blonde locks in place, and then went to the front door of Once a upon a time. A sweet bell chimed as the door swung open, and Simone was gracious enough to hold the door open for Ame.
On entering, Simone was off like a shot trying to hunt down the two good looking guys and this would mean she was up to her usual tricks. But of course, when she reached the cot area, she could see Thomas now gushing over a pink hippo cot quilt. He was also holding a small hippo plushie and making eyes at a blonde man over by the sales assistant. Simone was quick..really quick to put two and two together. Just as she was about to turn around, Thomas happened to recognize her.
“Simone?!….The Simone Jackson?!” Thomas came up behind her and Simone swung around with a polite smile. “In the flesh. Baby shopping?” She asked, trying to keep things polite. Thomas realized he was holding a pink hippo and then brought it up to his cheek playfully. “More like…window shopping, or dreaming…or both. Heh. Actually, my love and I…that is him over there. The blonde. We are hoping to adopt this year. That is if the line ever gets shortened by some miracle. Heh.”
It was then that Thomas noticed Simone’s baby bulge. Course, news of her pregnancy had not yet reached the tabloids.“Oh my goodness. You are pregnant? Congrats..That is just magical. You must be so excited.” Thomas gushed, bopping Simone’s shoulder with the hippo plushie. At this point, Simone could not hide the fact that she wasn’t excited, in fact the whole idea turned her cold. She didn’t want to burst Thomas’s bubble, since he was so excited for her and all, but she couldn’t lie either. “To be honest, I am thinking of giving the child up for adoption. I have a career and, well a baby wouldn’t exactly fit in with my schedule. I am hardly ever home as it is.” She said, brushing back a lock of her blonde hair. At this moment, the wheels in Thomas’s mind started to turn. He suddenly had the biggest grin you could ever see on a man. “Would you like to meet my partner, I know he would love to meet you.”
Whistling loudly, Thomas then sung out. “Babe…come meet Simone Jackson. I think she is the answer to our prayers.”
<3>
Jim discovered the sales clerk was a seasoned mom, having recently given birth to her second girl and was very happy to give him tips and advice on child rearing and clothing. It was probably one of the most enlightening and pleasant conversations Jim had ever experienced with a store employee.
Tom whistled at him from across the store and he glanced up to see him chatting with a woman with blonde hair, another woman with dark hair standing slightly behind her. If he wasn’t assured of his lover’s sexual orientation, Jim would have almost been jealous of the attention being paid. He excused himself from the clerk and casually strolled to Tom’s side.
“Babe…come meet Simone Jackson. I think she is the answer to our prayers.” Jim looked from Tom to the woman standing before him and instantly recognized her.
“Yes, of course! Tom and I saw you in that production of ‘Chicago’ last fall. You were fantastic!” Jim smiled, reaching out to shake the woman’s hand. “So what’s this about being the answer to our prayers?” Jim wondered.
It wasn’t unusual for Simone to run into fans here and there. She was pretty well known as being an aspiring and upcoming talent on the Broadway and of course in Seattle her home town. Autograph hunters often caught her out the stage door after a performance, but out in public she tried to keep a fairly anonymous figure and that is where the big hats and glasses came in when shopping on a day like today. So, when Thomas called over his lover, Simone showed a slight smile and did a saucy hair flip. The guys may have been gay, but she was one for keeping up appearances.
Tom and I saw you in that production of ‘Chicago’ last fall. You were fantastic!” Jim gushed and Thomas was nodding along enthusiastically as he slid his arm around his partner’s waist. Thomas was practically giddy as he tried to point out Simone’s obvious baby bump.
“Guess who is looking to give her baby up for adoption?”
Thomas chewed his bottom lip as he gave Jim a nudge. Simone blinked a few times at how bold Thomas was about the fact she had shared such a personal part of her life. Then she couldn’t see the harm in explaining to Jim.
“The father is married…apparently.” Simone was not at all proud of that. She felt kind of foolish for not knowing such a thing about him. “And …me being…well me, I just don’t think I am cut out to be a Mommy. So yes, I am going to be giving the baby up for adoption.”
Thomas let out a squeal of delight, and then he said the first thing that popped into his head.
“How…would you like to make one very loving gay couple the happiest two men on the planet?’ It was all asked so quickly, that even Simone was taken aback. “You want to adopt my baby?” Thomas started nodding vigorously. “The baby would have the best of everything, and all the love in the world. We really have been trying such a long time. Even surrogacy.”
At this, Simone looked back at Ame, and wiggled her finger for her friend to come closer and join the conversation.
“Is it legal for gay men to adopt a baby in this state?” Simone wasn’t even sure if that was the case. She quickly looked back at the pair and said. “I have nothing against it, in all honesty. So long as there are no laws being broken. Mind you, I have never really been one that did what she was told anyways.”
<3>
“Guess who is looking to give her baby up for adoption?” Thomas grinned as he slid an arm around Jim’s waist. Shocked by this turn of events, Jim looked at Simone and for the first time, saw the slight bump beneath her clothing, indicating she was quite a bit along in pregnancy.
Simone looked a bit surprised that Thomas had just blurted that out and even Jim was taken aback at his partner’s exuberance. But he couldn’t fault him for it. They had wanted a baby for so long.
“You don’t want the child?” Jim wondered, his tone of voice one of curiosity and not condemnation.
“The father is married…apparently….And …me being…well me, I just don’t think I am cut out to be a Mommy. So yes, I am going to be giving the baby up for adoption.” Tom was right, it was their prayers answered.
Thomas became even more excited beside him and the words left his mouth before Jim could stop him.
“How…would you like to make one very loving gay couple the happiest two men on the planet?”
“You want to adopt my baby?” Simone was genuinely shocked by this. Obviously she hadn’t expected an offer like this just out of the blue.
“The baby would have the best of everything, and all the love in the world. We really have been trying such a long time. Even surrogacy.”
It was like watching a freight train run out of control and in imminent danger of crashing. Jim needed to calm his lover down before that happened. Simone was already waving over the woman who had come in the store with her, waiting till she moved closer before she spoke again.
“Is it legal for gay men to adopt a baby in this state?” she wondered. “I have nothing against it, in all honesty. So long as there are no laws being broken. Mind you, I have never really been one that did what she was told anyways.”
Jim answered her before anyone else could. “Yes, it is legal…but…I’m sorry, we barely know you and who’s to say you won’t change your mind later down the road.” Thomas looked stricken by that and opened his mouth to protest but Jim cut him off before he could. “I’m not saying she would do that, love, but it’s happened to us before and it nearly destroyed us. You ended up sick in the hospital for a week and I…”
Jim shook his head to dispel the memories. He looked at Simone. “If we do this, we are going to want a contract drawn up saying you will give up all rights to the child the moment you find out the gender and won’t change your mind at the last minute.” He pulled a business card from his pocket and passed it to her. “This is the name and address of my lawyer. If you’d like to bring that to him to look over once it’s finished, then we can talk about adopting your baby.”
Simone tapped the business card on the open palm of her left hand as she heard Jim’s account of what life was like when the pair got their hopes up for adopting a baby before, only to have them crushed. Thomas seemed to have lost his boyish smile while James took the lead and put forward how he would like to have things proceed if Simone agreed to allow the pair to adopt the baby. Glancing down at the card, Simone read the name of their lawyer and gave a slight nod of the head.
“Okay, well….I guess we’ll keep in touch.” Seeing Ame, she turned back to her friend, and was unsure of what to say about the encounter. Choosing instead to try to guide Ame to the door. “We could look at baby things some other time. How about we go find that steam punk clothing store you were talking about.” She gave a last glance back at the two men, and went to go outside back to the pavement near Ame’s car.
Inside the store, Thomas placed the pink hippo fluffy toy on the nearest shelf. He lowered his hand slowly and then had something of a sad expression.
“I got carried away again, didn’t I?’ It was not unusual for Thomas to get so excited about the prospect of the chance at adopting a baby, especially when the baby’s mother was someone as famous as Simone Jackson. What he didn’t take into account was the fact she may well change her mind, or worse. Nothing was every concrete in this world, and it was a shame that it had to become a serious case with lawyers and others that would just be making money out of the whole deal.
Jamming his hands into his pockets, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay in the shop much longer. The winds had truly gone from his happy sails. “You …wanna go get a bite?…A coffee?” Thomas asked. Memories of his stint in hospital after the last efforts to adopt going sour were now filling his mind, and he hated it.
Thomas waited quietly for his lover to answer.
<3>
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“My bad.” Simone made cat paw like gestures with her hands. “I shall remove the claws, if you tell me your name.” She then waved her hand and bobbed her head, her mood improving.
