Doorstep Baby

Shopping Spree

I put on a white tank top and one of my plaid button up shirts, and I squeezed into a pair of dark skinny jeans...maybe for the last time, since that was not easy.

"Mommy why can't I go with you?" Carter asked as she ran into my room holding her bunny.

"Well, Mommy has to go spend time with Aunt Gretchen, and you get to spend time with Aunt Lauren and Cole. They haven't seen you in a while, and they miss you so much," I said as I bent down to her height.

"Okay. You gonna be okay?" That made me choke up. She was worried about how I was going to be without her. And when I thought about it, it did make me a little sad.

"Yes, I'll be okay because I know I will get to see you tonight and then spend all the rest of the weekend with you and Daddy. Now go get dressed, and I'll make you pancakes, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Mommy. You have the bestest pancakes," she shouted as she ran off.  As I stood up, I felt Jason's arms wrap around me from behind.

"Hey, you, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Great, considering I'm eleven weeks along." I said. "No morning sickness, no swelling, and so far I feel great." I said.

"Is that normal? Because I remember when one of my foster moms was pregnant, she was blowing chunks something like every hour. I'm pretty sure they kicked me out for commenting on it," he said.

"I'm sure it wasn't that. But yes, that's normal. Every pregnancy is different." I had been reading every pregnancy-related book I could get my hands on. I learned a lot during Lauren's pregnancy, but I was still going to do everything I could to be prepared. I looked at my watch. "Oh I've got to go, or I'm going to be late." I gave him a kiss, then hurried back to Carter's room.

"How do I look, Mommy?" she asked. She was wearing a bright t-shirt with her pink skirt and black tights along with her tied pink sneakers.

"You look wonderful, Baby." She looked ridiculous, but in the cutest way, and I let her express herself, within reason.

I dropped Carter off at Lauren's house, then went on to Gretchen's house, where the she and the girls were waiting out front. The twins were, as usual, flipping and cartwheeling in the yard. I parked and we all hopped into Gretchen's SUV, but not before a real hug-fest.

"Wow, I'm never going to get tired of that," she said. 

I smiled at her. "I don't think I'm going to get used to it anytime soon, either," I said. Gretchen suddenly looked worried, and then I realized it must have sounded like I wasn't enjoying it. "Don't worry! I love all of this, and you guys. It's just so...new." Gretchen looked a little relieved, but not entirely.

If I thought the girls were energetic before, it's just because I hadn't seen them in their natural habitat--the mall. The first place we shopped was a popular ladies' and kids' clothing store, and they got a mountain of stuff and had a fashion show. They would both run in and change, and never into the same outfit. They loved looking different, and wouldn't hear of anything matching. They had a running commentary, like they were narrating some cable program. We had a blast, and we didn't eat lunch until around 1 o'clock. We all sat down to eat some fried rice from the food court.

"Sydney?" Brianna asked me.  Gretchen had gone off to the public restroom.

"Yes?"

"Well, at school there is this boy." Oh, boy. "And his name is Scott, and he's one of the coolest kids in school. He doesn't normally talk to me, but a couple of weeks ago he started talking to me. We're kind of friends now, but..."

"You like him in a different way?" She seemed to be struggling to explain, and in a hurry to get it out before her mom came back.

"She luuuuvvvs him," Bethany taunted.

"Bethany, don't tease," I said, but they were both laughing, and I laughed, too.

"Aunt Sydney, what do I do?" she sounded so desperate.

"I don't suppose you could just ask if he likes you?" They both rolled their eyes. I knew better, actually.

"Oh, I am so not qualified to give you advice. Maybe you can try just talking to him. But not when his friends are around. He might not feel comfortable talking to a girl when his buddies are watching."

"Hmm, maybe." Brianna seemed to consider that, and about that time, her mom came back to the table.

"So how did Jason tell you he like you?" Brianna craftily switched the subject.

"Oh well, I bumped into him with my hands full of groceries, and he helped me pick them up." 

She said, "Really. Okay..." and she turned and started whispering to Bethany.

Gretchen looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and I just shrugged and giggled. "Girl talk."

We put the trays on top of the garbage cans, grabbed our shopping bags, and started making our way to the exit.

"Thanks Sydney. Oh, and the girls wondered if you all would do us the favor of coming to the summer program's talent show next month.

"We're doing a gymnastics routine," said Bethany. 

"Well of course you are. I would love to, and I'm sure Jason and Carter will be thrilled as well," I said as we approached the car. 

Gretchen and I hugged, and she thanked me for coming along. "It's the best time I've had shopping with them in forever. Usually it's them against me, and I hate shopping. I'd rather have a root canal. But this time, it was actually fun."

"Are you kidding? The girls are cool, funny, and hyper. I feel like I've been to boot camp, but it was fantastic." We said our goodbyes, and I headed back home.

"They even tried on the high heels and feather boas, and I swear to you they almost pulled it off!" I said to Jason later, as I was cooking the spaghetti sauce and he was coloring with Carter. I'd filled him in on mostly the highlights. He was your average dude, after all, when it came to shopping. Search and destroy was his shopping style...Needed shirt, found shirt, bought in 3 colors, done shopping. The male shopping mantra.

"They sound great. How does Gretchen feel about being an aunt, and about becoming an aunt again?" he asked.

"It was all I could do to keep them out of the baby stores. It's not that I don't appreciate it, but we have so much left over from Carter, and we don't even know the baby's sex yet. I'd say they're all really excited. "

"I'm excited too, Mommy." Carter added.

"I know, Baby." I said. 

"Mommy, I'm not a baby anymore." Sword in the heart! 

I smiled at her. "I know, but you'll always be my baby, Carter. My big girl."

"That's right, Mommy, I'm your big girl."