Lola ripped back the lid to the yogurt container, wafting herself with a creamy strawberry scent, then immediately changed her mind as the nausea spread through her stomach. She choked back the acid in her throat, and grabbed a hold of the counter.
"Lola?" Gloria rounded the corner and into the kitchen. "Honey, what is it?"
"Sorry, Mom," Lola said through slow even breaths. "It was just nausea again, I thought it would be all done by now. I hate throwing up."
Gloria stepped over to the sink and ran the dishrag under cold water, then placed it on the back of her neck.
"There we go," she whispered gently. "I was really hoping it would have left you by now. With you, well, you know this story so well, but with you I didn't have one day of morning sickness. But your brother! Oh my, I threw up everyday until he was born. Everyone kept telling me how lucky I was, so much sickness meant a healthy baby...but I wanted to tell them exactly where
they could shove all their healthy baby tripe. So, I won't say that to you."
"Thanks Mom." Lola said straightening herself back up again, then rested her hip against the counter looking out the window.
"For what? The rag or not telling you to be thankful?" she asked with a smirk.
Lola shrugged. "Both, I think." She shifted her weight between her feet. "You know Tommy wants to give the baby Tiger?"
"It doesn't surprise me. Did he tell you that the other night the two of you snuck out?"
Lola looked at her in surprise. "You knew?"
"Honey, your dad is a detective."
Lola narrowed her eyes.
"Ok, fine, we heard Tom flush the toilet then stomp down the hallway. He doesn't realize how big he's gotten. I waited for him to clunk his way back to his room, but I heard a car start up instead. That's when I found both of you gone."
"But you didn't want to say anything until now?"
"Oh sweetie, I want whatever is going to help." she said grabbing a hold of her daughter's hand. "When I saw you the next morning and you smiled at me, not your ghost smile...don't look at me like that, you've been a ghost, but you smiled at me and it reached your eyes. I almost choked right there on my cereal, but I held it together so you wouldn't suspect. It only happened once that day, but it came back again the next morning. And well...I knew whatever
happened that night was good."
Lola took a small step into her mother's arms. "Mom, I'm sorry...I never meant..."she said quietly as a light stream of tears dampened her mother's shoulder.
"I know...honey...I know." she stroked her blonde curls.
"I need to - I need to find my way again, but I can't see what it is. I don't know what to do." she cried harder now.
Gloria straigtened her arms and pulled Lola so she could see her daughter's face.
"You need to understand that there is no rush. You grow that baby, you start to love that baby...no listen." Gloria said firmly as Lola began to interrupt. "You start to love that baby, and we'll start to talk about what you need to do next."
Thank you so much for reading! If you would like to start from the beginning to see a fuller picture, I've linked all the parts below! And thank you to all my readers! @freedompoint, @cecicastor, @dreemsteem, @bennettitalia, @thefarmerswife, and @thegreatdayne
If you would like to be tagged so that you know when a new part is out...or if you would like me to take you off the list, haha, please tell me in the comments!
