The Middle Child (The Offspring Series)

A Missing Baby Hood

Most babies share the same life, sleep, poop, coo, cry, eat, get doted over, and in general be loved for absolutely nothing.

I guess my babyhood was cursed from the start though. My mother wasn't in her right mind and went drinking one night with her friends. She was drunk when she met a man and they had a fun night together.

Next week she found out she was pregnant and she never told her husband she cheated on him with another man.

Well nine months later I entered into the world.

So during happy hour I was born in the back of a bar. It was a miracle that I came out relatively normal seeing as my mother drank an awful lot during pregnancy.

An ambulance was called but my mother was so drunk and prideful she refused to go with them to the hospital.

Her husband finally got her into his car to take her to the hospital with my older brother Conner.
In short they forgot me at the bar.

The bartender knew my family from how often they arrive at the bar so he called them repeatedly until they finally answered a few hours later when they were home and safe in their beds. They told him they couldn't come get me because it was too late and they couldn't get me the next day because they had work and had to drop my older brother off at school.

I spent my first twenty-four hours of my life with a total stranger. My mother forgot to name me for the first three months of my life as well! My family would refer to me as "Baby". They never had need of my name until my grandmother showed up and asked what it was.

So instead of naming me after my great grandfather like Conner was, I was named after the man my mother cheated on with. Lloyd. She didn't bother to give me a second name either. I think that explains the kick start into my story.

My lovely experience with being forgotten didn't end there though.

Conner was my older brother by seven years. He was a celebrity to my parents and they adored everything he did. I think my father suspected my mom to have cheated on him so he never cared for me. Mom never cared for me either but kept me because she kept lying to dad that I was his kid and getting rid of me would be proof that I didn't belong to them.

When I was still new to the world my mother was painting my brother's room and left me in the room while it dried. The windows were not open, there weren't any fans, she left a new born in a room with intoxicating wet paint.

My grandmother found me and took me out later.

My grandmother would babysit Conner and I on many occasions because she lived so close and she made sure to watch over me like a normal grandmother should look over a baby. She once told me I was her favorite and that made me feel special all the way down to my core. If at least my grandmother liked me, than that was enough for me.

I say 'grandmother' like that was all I had. I had a grandfather also, he just didn't like me. He believed that if I was in the civil war I would die first.

Grandfather liked the strong types, not weak babies.
I mean, I was only an infant but managed to disappoint my entire family in my existence! That deserves to be a guineas world record right there. 

I believe my parents particularly disliked me because I got the police on their tail multiple times. First off I didn't look like my family. I had brown hair due to my biological father, and pale fair skin unlike my tanned family who all had blonde hair. Second, they forgot me everywhere and almost got child protective services called on them many times.

My parents argued a lot over me because mom claimed I was dad's child but dad never believed it because I didn't inherit his muscles, his hair, his eyes, his athleticism, or anything.

Well when I was two they thought since I was causing so much trouble they should just make another child that was definitely there's! They loved Conner and thought they'd try to make another perfect child.

I guess they got it because on my second birthday my family left for a few months to a special hospital where she gave birth to the "perfect" daughter of her dreams. Her name was Tory. It was our great grandmother's name who was extremely wealthy and successful. Well everything was perfect in their world. Mom had her perfect daughter, Tory, and Dad had his perfect son, Conner, not me. But I got grandma.

Though I spent my second birthday without my brother, mom, or dad, my grandma came and babysat me. She gave me a toy Batman figure and I remember it because when my family got back with Tory, Conner stole my figure and claimed it was his.

I never got that figure back and cried but my mother just put me in my room and closed the door.

And just like that, my babyhood was over. There was a new baby in my place and I swear Tory got a better babyhood than me! My room was given to her and I was given a baby mattress on the floor of my brother's room.

When I was four on my birthday they decided to take two year old Tory to the mall for baby clothes to celebrate the day my mother leaving to go to the hospital.

I was brought along and wandered off in the store. I was found by a manager who tried to find my mother but they had already left to the next store.

The police were called and with the commotion it signal led my mother who acted extremely concerned but after we were in the car she just said I had just cheated Tory out of a shoe sale. My four year old brain had no idea what had happened but when we got home I remember not being able to open the van door.

My mohmther had sneered at me and said "Serves you right!" And she slammed the door.

I was locked in the car and cried until I fell asleep.

There were many more times like these.  When I was five I had learned to walk to the library. There were many times when I would wander the neighborhood and one of these times I had found the library where I found books galore!

I pulled one off the shelf and walked home. I never once returned the book because I had no idea I was supposed to. The book cover was ripped and pulled off and under it was just a normal blue book. It was missing the key pages for the auther and title so I didn't know for most of my life. I still have that book and now that I can actually read it I found out that this book is called Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham. It was the one thing that stuck with me for most of my life and the funny thing is that I don't even like the story, I just remember wondering what the book was about for so long and now I can't get rid of it because it has been with me for so long.

Other than that book I don't remember any childhood blankets, stuffed animals, or toys. I didn't really get any. If Conner didn't like it than I could play with it unless he wanted it back once he saw me playing with it.

Conner's friends would come over to play too, I always wanted to play with them, I never got to.

Once, Conner and his friends were over they needed his room. I was six and didn't want to get out of the room but he wanted the room for video games and kicked me out. They got bored of playing video games and decided to get me to do something stupid.

Conner wanted me to go outside where it was raining and cold. I refused but then he said that mom was outside and asked me to help her. Since mom never asked me to help her I lept for the opportunity and went outside without a coat, shoes, or anything. Conner than locked me outside and ran away.

I was outside there for most of the day until dad got home and saw me. He just sighed and opened the door then told someone to deal with me.

Conner was laughing and his friends had run back home through the backdoor. Dad didn't even ask me how I ended up outside though I tried to tell him. He just refused to hear me and said I just locked myself out because Conner would never do that to me.

Conner did a lot of stuff like that and I couldn't do any thing about it. Wenever Conner was bored he would find me and truck me to do something. I stopped falling for it when I turned six but he found other ways to ruin my life and when Tory grew old enough to and she enjoyed helping him.