Toby woke Mara around eight o'clock in the evening. "Hey, sleepy, time to go see Mom. Brush your hair and take a pee, then come down. We're running late."
"Yes, Dad, I'll be right down."
She took his advice, also brushing her teeth and putting on lip gloss. She was ready in less than ten minutes and plodded down the stairs wearily.
"Livi's not going?" She looked around for her sister-in-law.
"She's not feeling so hot. I think the stress and running around the last couple days has caught up with her. She went to bed with her feet elevated."
"Will she be all right here alone?"
"Her sister's coming over. She has a key, so Liv won't have to get up. She'll be okay, Polly should be here any second."
They heard a car pull up outside. It was Olivia's sister. She was carrying a heavy backpack full of books and a grocery bag of junk food.
"I figure if I'm going to be here, I'll take the time to study. I'll keep an eye on her, Toby. Don't worry. Women have babies every day."
"Yeah, I know. Thanks Polly." He hugged her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Good to see you, Mara." She waved and went in the dining room, plopping her stuff down on the table. She was heading to the bedroom to check on Olivia when they left.
Traffic wasn't too bad on their way to the hospital, but they had a hard time finding a parking place. They ended up parking quite far from the building, but found one of the shuttles to take them up to the front door.
"Jeff called while you were sleeping. He said Mom has been moved to a room."
"Fantastic! When will she be allowed to go home?"
"Probably day after tomorrow. She should be up and walking around soon."
"That's great news!" Mara was grinning happily when she and Toby got off the elevator. Relief was a far better companion than worry.
Their mother was sitting up in bed, the color back in her face. She looked so much better, Mara almost wept. She kissed her mother's cheek and sat on the edge of the bed while Toby explained why Olivia wasn't with them.
"That baby is coming sooner than the doctors think," Rosaline said with confidence. "Having had five of you, I know what I'm talking about. They told me Mara would be born in September and there's my little August baby. The only one they got right was Toby. In fact he was born on his due date! That doesn't happen often, I can tell you."
"So where are they boys and Cissy?" Mara asked.
"I told your brothers to go home and rest. They've been here all day. Cissy said she isn't coming. What's wrong with that girl now? She said her feelings were hurt."
"My fault," Mara waved her hand. "She was having one of her maddening spells earlier, and we kind of ganked her. I'll apologize and see if I can get her to calm down."
"She sounded genuinely upset, Mara. This wasn't just one of Cissy's hysterical scenes. Something you said really hurt her feelings."
Mara explained her argument with Cissy. "I'm sorry if I hurt her, but she said some nasty things to me, as well."
"It sounds like an awful conversation all the way around," Toby agreed. "Cissy was in a state this morning. I guess we were all kind of harsh."
"I'm finding it hard to be very sympathetic," Mara said, her anger rising. "She said horrible things to me, and I'm not sitting around snuffling with my feelings hurt." She got up and started to pace, then decided that wouldn't be the nicest thing to do in front of her mother. "I'll be back in a moment. I'm getting a cup of coffee."
Her mother and Toby didn't try to stop her. They realized she needed a chance to calm down. Mara couldn't understand why her mother seemed to be siding with Cissy. Her sister had started the confrontation and the argument. Mara had defended herself. Probably, as usually happened, Cissy put herself in the best light, making Mara look like the villain.
She stopped and leaned against a wall, unwanted tears falling fast and furious down her cheeks. She was angry with Cissy for causing this much discontent. Her vacation had been intended to relieve stress, instead she felt even more burdened than before. Normally, she would have called her mother and cried until she felt better, but that option wasn't open to her. She couldn't call Livi, either.
Hurt and frustrated, she bought a cup of coffee and walked back to her mother's room, trying hard to wipe her tears and stop hyperventilating. She was getting concerned looks from visitors and hospital staff, but she couldn't quit sobbing. Her steps took her toward the chapel. On an impulse, she headed to the door, throwing her untouched coffee into a nearby trash can. Soft music was playing in the background filling the cool air with the comforting strains of familiar gospel songs wrapped around her. She walked to the nearest pew and knelt on the kneeling bench. It wasn't the most comfortable, but she had to stop and think in solitude for a few minutes. Kneeling seemed the best position to do that.
It had been years since she'd been to church. It was yet another casualty of her career. Jack didn't care what day it was, if a project was on a deadline. She found herself resenting him along with Cissy's histrionics and tried hard to force both from her mind. She focused on the music, the tune was familiar and she tried to remember the name. Words started to form in her mind, allowing themselves to flow with the instrumental music.
©2021 Dellani Oakes
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