Lemon Cake

Chapter Four

If doing too much was a place, it would be Tulip's living room. Target, Gap Kids, Pottery Barn, and Barnes & Noble bags cluttered the floor. At ten-something on a Saturday morning, she even made a stop at Sugar Rush on her whirlwind tour of the mall because they sold candy. All kids loved candy. Right? At least, she remembered loving candy as a kid. Starburst, Skittles, Resse's Cups, and M&Ms all made her smile and she wanted to make Sidney smile, too.

She looked down at all the bags hoping she was right. Hoping she did the right thing by buying all the clothes, toys, and bedding to make Sidney feel at home. Hoping she was doing the right thing by going along with the final wishes of Sidney's adoptive mother, the only mother she'd known.

Her real mother. Her conscience corrected her and she knew it was right. Amelia King was Sidney's mother. The only mother she knew. The one that raised her, cared for her, and taught her for nine whole years. She was just the one that carried her in utero, that didn't make her a mother. She wasn't a mother. She wasn't Sidney's mother. She didn't expect her to think of her as one.

Tulip flicked her wrist to wake up her Apple watch, checking the time. She had a busy schedule ahead of her, which was why she hit up the stores before everyone had their first cup of coffee.

"12:09! Shit," She fumed dropping her arm back to her side. Time was getting away from her. That's what happened when extra tasks were added to an already full plate.

She needed to get to the event location at two and hadn't even had breakfast yet. The neon orange Sugar Rush bag on the chair called her eyes and she knew blue raspberry sour strips were going to be her fuel for the day.

As she dug in in the bag her Echo in the on the side table woke up.

"Big Head is calling," The monotone feminine voice articulated.

"Alexa, answer." She instructed fiddling with the tie around the plastic bag.

The IA followed directions and her brother's face materialized on the eight-inch screen. William was the same deep brown, kissed by the sun complexion as her with midnight eyes and a wide nose that was a gift from their late mother. His chin was speckled with a light stubble that she knew he would grow into a full bread while school was out for the summer. He was the Assistant Coach for the female soccer team at Mississippi State University and didn't let anyone forget it.

"Pancakes, eggs, oatmeal. Malt-O-Meal. That's breakfast,." He said as she pushed an entire strip of candy in her mouth.

Tulip gagged at the utterance of the latter dish. He knew she couldn't stand the grainy hot cereal.

She flashed her middle finger as she chewed on the sour yet slightly sweet treat. She maneuvered the mass to the side of her mouth and said, "Breakfast is whatever I eat in the morning." 

"Good nutrition in the morning is a necc—"

"William." She called his name loudly, cutting him off. "I know you didn't call me to give me a dietary lecture. It's Saturday and you know I'm busy. Can I call you later."

"Busy shopping." He gestured to the bags she picked at and started reading the bags. "Gap Kids? You know your nephew is two months, right. He can't wear any of those things."

"Babies grow fast, don't they?" She sarcastically said, knowing nothing in those bags was for a baby boy but he didn't need to know that. He didn't need to know any of the recent developments. At least right now, she was sure telling her older brother she had a baby in college and put it up for adoption was a conversation that needed to be had when she had more than fifteen minutes to spare.