Sister City

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

Even though I’d been kept extremely busy with school and gymnastics practice; when the phone call came telling me I’d made the freshman cheerleading squad, I jumped at the opportunity. I was a little bit concerned when Mom wanted to sit down and talk with me about my decision. It turned out she just wanted to make sure I thought I could handle the added commitment. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I’d give it ‘the old college try’. She smiled and told me how proud she was of me. Then she ran to the bathroom to puke.

Mom told us all the great news at the next family meeting. It was unexpected and, in my opinion, unbelievable.

“Way to go, Dad” Luka said, laughing. “We didn’t know you had it in you.”

“This is definitely our last,” Mom said, snacking on saltine crackers and string cheese. “I’m too old for this.”

“That’s what you said when you were pregnant with Charlie,” James said. “When are you due?”

“I’m due in October.”

“Boy or girl?” I asked.

“We won’t find out until our next appointment.”

“I think it will be a boy,” Inara announced.

“There are too many boys already,” Mom argued. “We need a girl.”

I agreed wholeheartedly.

“It’s going to be a surprise.”

Everyone looked at Dad. It wasn’t often that he spoke up, let alone made a decision without asking everyone’s input.

“You really don’t want to know?” Mom asked in surprise.

“Nope.”

“Then we wait,” Mom said, looking befuddled.

Four months later, nearly eight months pregnant, Mom ended up in the hospital. Her nausea had never relented and she had to be put on IV nutrition to keep the baby healthy. The doctors were baffled at her pregnancy. This pregnancy was even worse than when she was pregnant with Charlie. They decided to put her on bed rest again.

Mom was mainly irritated at being stuck in bed for six weeks. Her OB promised that they would induce at thirty-six weeks, when she was full term, if the baby appeared healthy. With no choice but to agree, Mom spent her last few hours of freedom at the bookstore shopping for six weeks of entertainment.

Practice started a few weeks before school so we would be ready for the first football scrimmage. I was coming home exhausted, but it was well worth it. I noticed the changes at school immediately. People would stop me in the hallway and say hi.

There was one unexpected drawback to being a cheerleader. Our practices were the same days as the football team. I saw Marcus every day. I had to watch him stretch, lift weights and run up and down the length of the field. I know that I wasn’t the only one watching him. He had quite a few admirers, not all of them freshmen, either.

There was a pang in my heart each time I saw him on the sidelines flirting with one of the varsity cheerleaders. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I followed the advice Mom gave me the day we went shopping. I ignored him and his antics. I threw myself into being the best cheerleader I could be. I even went so far as to let the other girls show me tips and tricks for hairstyles and makeup.

The first game wasn’t even a real game. It was a Saturday evening scrimmage against Marin Catholic High School, a school that didn’t play in our league. I had an early morning workout at the gym followed by a quick halftime rehearsal which meant I had to leave long before Luka and Marcus rolled out of bed. Dad gave me a ride to the gym before heading to Kaiser to check on Mom. Maria, one of my fellow gymnasts, was going to give me a ride to rehearsal since she was going to stay for the football game anyway. Her brother, Martin – though everyone called him Marty, was a wide receiver on the second string of the freshman team. After we had run through the halftime routine several times and practiced a couple of sideline cheers complete with stunts, the squad went to Sarah’s house. She lived a block away from the school and we needed a place to get ready. She and I had been walking a bit ahead of the other girls, so we reached the house first. She opened the front door, breezed past her little sister building a Lego Death Star and opened her bathroom door.