Full Bloom

Baby Shower Chaos

 Time was flying by. I felt like I blinked and somehow my pregnancy was half over, and now it was time for my baby shower. We gathered a small group on our back deck. Grandpa invited a bunch of family members, and even the ones who lived close by didn't want to come.

Seeing our small little party really hurt my feelings. My cousin's baby shower the year before was so much better. We filled up an entire event room at a firehouse. There had to be fifty people. All I had were my grandpa, Karen, Nassi, Mary, Annie, and Oliver's mom, Jeanette. Grandpa would be going in and out to bring food. He said he didn't want to participate because baby showers were a "girls' thing."

I could understand that a teenage pregnancy wasn't ideal, but it didn't mean my little girl shouldn't be celebrated. She was going to be just as cuddly and cute as my cousin's baby. Oliver and I were just as excited to be parents as my cousin and her husband, even though we were teens.

"Hey, open our present first!" Annie said, handing me a big box as her and Mary came up the deck.

"It's just like a birthday party. Presents are at the end," I said, chuckling.

"Yes, yes!" my grandma said, clapping her hands as she sat on the bench in the corner of the deck. "Happy birthday!"

I shook my head. "No, Grandma. It's a baby shower. Not a birthday party."

She looked over at me, confused, but didn't answer. I tried to focus on being happy with my friends and other guests. We played a few different games, one of which was just guessing the amount of candies Grandpa put into a baby bottle. Annie guessed three hundred, and there were two hundred and fifty in there, so we let her have it. She was thrilled.

We had everyone guess the weight of the baby and when she'll be born. I wanted to do something fun and silly, so we got a bunch of paint and paintbrushes to let everyone do some "belly painting" of my baby bump.

Well, I thought it would be fun, but I kinda forgot just how ticklish I was. I was laughing and moving the whole time. My belly turned out to be a masterpiece of smiley faces and flowers. We took some pictures and had a lot of laughs.

I noticed that once we were done, my grandma was missing. I shrugged it off. She was probably just inside using the bathroom and I didn't notice her go in.

Next, it was finally time for presents. At Annie's request, I opened her and Mary's box first. They got me a lot of cute outfits (picked out by fashion consultant Annie, of course) and a really high-tech baby monitor.

"Wow! This is awesome! Thanks, you guys!" I said as my grandpa came out of the door. Something about his demeanor was off. "Grandpa, look!" He was looking around the deck, then over my shoulder at the backyard. "Grandpa?"

"Where's Grandma?" he whispered.

"Huh? What do you mean? She's not in the bathroom?" I asked.

When he shook his head. My body was overwhelmed with a sense of terror. Grandpa shut the sliding door behind him and came over to me.

"I walked past the keyholder and saw that my keys were gone," he whispered.

"Don't...don't tell me the car isn't in the driveway..."

"I haven't checked. I thought I just misplaced my keys again and she was out here with all of you. I—"

"What's going on?" Karen asked.

"We don't know where my grandma is!" I said, getting to my feet. Everyone gasped. "Did anyone see where she went?"

Everyone shook their heads. Someone said we needed to go look. I couldn't remember. It was all a blur. We all ran out from the back gate and to the driveway. My grandpa's car was, in fact, gone. I pinched my arm. No. This wasn't a bad dream. I fell to my knees and started crying.

"I can't believe this is happening! I said I'd keep an eye on her! It's all my fault! God knows where she is!" I said.

"Don't worry, we'll find her. She couldn't have gone far," Jeanette said, putting her arm around me.

I tried to wipe away my tears, but they kept coming. "She hasn't driven in a year. She probably has no idea where she is right now! She's gonna get herself killed!"

"I need to go call the police!" Grandpa said, running back inside the house.

"Let's all split up," Mary said. "We'll drive around the back of the neighborhood."

"I'll take the front entrance to the neighborhood," Jeanette said. "Jen, is there anyplace you think she might be?"

"She...she used to love going to the outlets. She might've driven there," I said.

"Then let's go," Karen said, taking my arm. "To the hippie bus! Let's go rescue your confused grandma!"

We all went our separate ways. I sat in the passenger's seat so I had a good view out the window.

"Poppy! Grandma Poppy!" I cried out from the rolled-down window as we drove down the road.

When we were right around the corner from the outlets, my heart jumped into my throat. Debris was all over the road. There it was: Grandpa's silver buick crumpled up after colliding with a very expensive-looking rolls-royce.