Rules for Enduring the Sweenys

Rule #14: NEVER Trust a Sweeny - April 1st, 2005

“Girl, seriously!” Ariel laughed.

“Hey! Come on, it’s a cute name,” Bella defended. Ariel was cracking up on the other end of the line.

“Did Owen come up with it? Jeez! Honey, that boy must be handicapped or somethin’!” Bella laughed too as she glanced at the clock, it was just past noon.

“Alright Ari, I gotta go. Owen has some ridiculous surprise for me.” She rolled her eyes, still chuckling.

“Ooh Bells! I’m so excited for you. Tell me all about it. See ya soon. Happy birthday!” Something about the way she spoke made Bella realize that she’d been right. The past month and a half, it had felt like her family and friends were keeping a gigantic secret from her.

“Ariel!” Bella whined, but her best friend had already hung up the phone.

She pulled up to her parents’ house where Owen was supposed to pick her up, and spotted Anson sauntering up the front lawn, passed her mother’s garden. ‘Anson can’t keep a secret to save his life,’ she thought wickedly. She hated surprises.

“Hey Anson!” she called. Anson froze in his tracks. ‘Fuck,’ he thought. He forced a fake smile as he turned around.

“Hey Bells.”

“I know you’ve been avoiding me.”

“No… I haven’t really. I promise.”

Bella rolled her eyes. “Right.” She grinned at him. “So what’s this huge secret you’ve been keepin’ from me?”

Anson stared at her incredulously. “Bella,” he whined, “please don’t make me! Alright, I lied to you. I have been avoiding you.” His eyes were pleading. “Owen and the twins said they’d kick my ass if I said anything!” he groaned into his hands, making Bella feel guilty.

“Alright, fine,” she grumbled. Anson’s face brightened, his sea green eyes glowing. He grinned at her.

“Thanks Bells!” He shoved her playfully. “Happy birthday!” he shouted before running inside. Bella rolled her eyes.

She waddled into the house feeling like a fat cow. When Anna saw her she grinned, her eyes glowing. She immediately hurried to Bella’s side and guided her to a chair at the breakfast nook. “Happy birthday honey!” she cried, grabbing a glass and filling it with the “green juice” she’d made as soon as her daughter called to say she was on her way over. The juice was made up of organic greens (kale, wheat grass, dandelion greens, mallow etc.) and fresh lemonade.

“Oh mom,” Bella groaned. She opened her mouth to complain some more, but Anna Harken silenced her with a look as she set a handful of daunting vitamins in front of her.

“I made mango lemonade to make it sweeter for you.” Anna grinned at her daughter proudly. Bella smiled back and began taking the gigantic pills. Her mother set her face on her palms, her eyes glowing brightly. “So…” Anna dragged out the word, and Bella immediately knew what she was going to ask. “Have you guys chosen a name yet?”

Bella shrugged, taking a long drink of her green juice. ‘Wow, mom did make it taste yummy,’ she thought, surprised that she was actually enjoying it. “Well, we have a few names picked out, depending on the gender. It’s just so hard to decide.” Anna smiled, looking at her seriously.

“The baby is due any day now! You’ve gotta choose soon!”

“I just think we’ll know when it’s born.” Anna laughed.