mute » tomlinson ON HOLD

fourteen; welcoming

She nodded and ran out of the room; I followed after her as she opened the twin's door and woke them up. I reached my mother's room and as I opened the door, a loud groan ripped through the girls' hushed whispers.

My eyes first went to her bed where only a mess of sheets and scattered pillows remained. The bathroom light was lit, and I could hear water running. My legs carried me across the room and I slid to a halt when I saw my pregnant mother.

She was fully clothed and laying in the bathtub with water surrounding her large frame, only her protruding stomach and face stayed above the surface.

"Mom, we need to get you to the hospital," I grabbed a towel from the rack above the toilet and started to hoist my mother out of the tub.

She groaned, "No, no, I'm okay. Just some back pains," she looked over at me and gave me a pained smile. "They said water helps."

"Mom, you're in labor. We need to go."

"I am not! Dan isn't here, I am not!" She continued to lift herself from the tub anyway. Her hands were grasped tightly onto my arms and her eyes were cast down to her swollen feet.

"We're taking you to the hospital," I wrapped the towel around her shoulders and started to guide her out of the bathroom.

Fizzy was the only one still standing in the hallway shakily picking at her nails while her wide eyes were fixated on us.

"Call Dan," I spoke through gritted teeth while I carried the weight of my pregnant mother. When she kept standing there, I raised my voice, "Fizzy, come on."

With limited struggle, we made it to the car. Lottie stood next to me with her arms filled with blankets as I sat my mother in the passenger seat. After I fastened her seat belt, Lottie covered her with one of the blankets. The twins were fast asleep in the backseat, and Fizzy and Lottie hurried to climb in next to them. I ran around the front of the car to get to the driver's seat and swung myself in.

When the cold seat touched my bare thighs, I realized I was still only in my boxers. I screamed in frustration, "Oh, fuck!"

I didn't have time to run into the house as I put the car in reverse and backed out of the driveway roughly. I held my mother's hand throughout the entire ride.

The car was tense and silent while streetlights illuminated the road and cast occasional light rays through the windows. No one was on the road at this time, three in the morning, so I was able to speed to the hospital.

Halfway through the ride, a rumpled piece of clothing fell onto my lap. I looked back at Lottie. "It's a shirt and pants. I couldn't get shoes, sorry."

"Oh my god, thank you."

She just nodded and leaned up in her seat to run her fingers softly through our mother's hair. Fizzy had drifted back to sleep during what I didn't realize would be such a long drive.

My heartbeat pounded louder at the sight of the bright red "+" that hung on the side of the hospital. I pulled up along side the door of the emergency room and woke the girls up. "Phoebe, Daisy, go get a wheelchair. Fizzy, you called Dan right?" She nodded her head, and I sighed. "Good, can you get a nurse for us?"

Lottie stayed with me as we walked our mother to the wheel chair. "There you go, Mom," Lottie smiled and put the blanket back over her lap.

~*~

Fizzy and Lottie were asleep together on the couch in our mother's hospital room with blankets and pillows from home, and the twins played with some Barbies on the floor. Once our mom was safely in a room, I took the girls home to get some things that they would want at the hospital; which meant we all looked appropriate and not like we had just ran out of the house.