Dinopocalypse - Children of the Egg

Chapter Three

When I returned from the basement to let Mom know we would be looking for her suitcase, I found them both in the bathroom. Aunt Mary was huddled against the toilet, her face over the bowl and Mom was helping to keep her steady. I retreated back to the hallway when I heard Mary beginning to retch.

“This is just another sign that you’re making great progress,” Mom told her. “You are already dilated and the throwing up means you’re going through transition.”

Mary’s response was difficult to understand. I was about to interrupt them when Dad emerged from the basement with Frank. They were both wearing winter jackets. Dad walked past me and peeked around the door.

“Beth, we’re going to get the suitcase down from the garage attic,” he said. He shot a glance back at me, then added, “Are you sure you want it?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Mom answered. “We’re going to need it. And, have Shawn bring me the phone.”

I grabbed the phone off its base on the wall next to the refrigerator. When I walked by the living room, I noticed that all of the furniture had been moved. The coffee table, especially, had been moved out of the way. It was sitting directly under one of the windows looking out of the front of the house.  All of the blankets had been laid out in layers. The pillows and couch cushions were stacked on each other in the very center. I was struck by how all of this reminded me of a bird’s nest. The fire was still going strong. I could hear the blower running at full strength, as if Mom and Aunt Mary had wanted to warm up the room as quickly as possible.

Mom was still talking to Dad and Uncle Frank when I returned with the phone. She grabbed it from me, then entered in a speed dial code. Mary said something, and Frank excused himself to attend to her.

Dad looked at me. “Get your winter coat, son,” he said. “This will be a two man job.”

A few summers ago, Dad had installed a folding ladder into the garage which made it a lot easier to access the attic. By the time I had gotten my coat and boots back on, Dad had already pulled down the ladder and was about to climb up. “There is a lot of fragile equipment in the suitcase,” Dad said. “We’ll need to be careful when we move it. Lot’s of glass.”

He clambered up the ladder and disappeared from view. In a heartbeat the light in the attic had been turned on. I started up the ladder and joined Dad.

There was a narrow walkway just wide enough for one person to move back and forth. There were several large items and sealed boxes located to the left and right of the walkway. Dad was already in the middle of the attic, searching for the suitcase. One thing I hadn’t anticipated was how cold it would be in the attic. My hands were turning numb inside my gloves.

“What color is the suitcase?” I asked.

“Greenish blue,” Dad said. “It’s quite large; hard to miss.”

I chuckled at the irony of us freezing our butts off looking for a suitcase that should just leap out at us. I wondered if it could be buried underneath one of the boxes. I reached down and moved away a box of canning jars.

“We need some more light,” Dad said. “Run down and grab a flashlight, please.”

I hesitated. I wasn’t having any trouble at all seeing. But, this didn’t seem like the time to point out something like that. “Right, I’ll be back up.”

I climbed down the ladder, then headed back in the house to find flashlights. They would either be in the coat closet or in the basement next to Dad’s area.

When I was walking through the kitchen, Mom was still on the phone. “Things are progressing much faster for her than they did with me. She is halfway dilated.” I began to rummage around the coat closet for flashlights, still listening to Mom’s side of the conversation. “I don’t think we have a choice other than to try to move her. We’re not ready.”