The Bennett Sisters

Chapter 5 - Charlotte Bennett

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5 – Charlotte Carolina

"Mommy I want these animal crackers!" Gwyneth shouted in the grocery store.

"Gwyn, you can't shout. We're in the store. Mommy can hear you just fine. You don't need to shout," I tried to hush my two year old.

"But mommy!" she shouted again.

I had a migraine from the whole shopping trip. I only needed groceries, but somehow it had taken me over an hour to get myself ready and wrangle Gwyneth, get her dressed and into her car seat. I'd had to bribe her with McDonald's to get her to behave at the previous grocery store, but when they didn't have everything I needed, I had to drag her along to a second.

"Okay, fine, put them in the cart, just please be quiet for Mommy," I said.

I'd wanted to wait until Drew could come and help out, but he was constantly busy at work, and I know I shouldn't complain. He had a great job that put food on our table, but sometimes I felt like a single parent with the number of hours that he was forced to put in at his job.

I was becoming increasingly exhausted these past couple of weeks, and I knew something had to give. I didn't think anything had really changed; Gwyn was the same rambunctious toddler as always, but she was exhausting me. I thought maybe it was just because I hadn't been getting enough sleep, but I'd ensured to go to bed early, and I was still constantly tired.

"Mommy, can I get a toy?" Gwyn asked.

"No, baby, you have plenty of toys at home," I said.

"But I want one. I want a doll!" she begged.

"No, Gwyn. If you're good, I'll let you ride the pony, but you have to be really good for Mommy," I tried to bribe her with a ride of the mechanical pony at the front of the store. It was only fifty cents compared to a twenty dollar toy. Money was a little tight, but not terribly so. Drew's job was good, but somehow the money didn't go as far as it had before they'd had Gwyn.

"Yeah yeah!" she cheered and clapped her hands.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked, looking around the aisles. We needed to leave the cookie aisle before she grabbed onto something else and threw a temper tantrum in the middle of the store until she got her way.

"Pizza!" Gwyn said.

"We had pizza yesterday. What else do you like?" I asked, the nausea at the back of my throat getting a little stronger. I'd felt dizzy and nauseous all morning and I thought maybe I'd caught a bug of some sort, but I didn't feel bad enough to stay home. Besides, I would have still had to take care of Gwyn and she was all out of snacks. You don't get a sick day when you're a mom, just have to keep on trucking.

It was days like today that made me miss my old job. You could get sick days at a real job. I'd been a jewelry salesperson, but when I'd become pregnant with Gwyn, the morning sickness had been so terrible I couldn't work, so I'd quit. And once Gwyn was born, the little blue eyed angel had stolen my heart and it only made sense for me to stop working permanently and take care of her as a stay at home mother.

"Fish and potatoes!" she said. I'd been blessed with Gwyn. She wasn't a particularly picky eater and was healthy more often than not.

"Good choice!" I said, steering the cart towards the store's meat and fish counter. They had a large display of fresh lobsters, and I knew Gwyn liked to look at them. Instantly, I was hit with a strong wave of gross raw fishy scent and I had to swallow to keep from vomiting. I was extremely nauseous.

"Can I help you, miss?" The man behind the counter asked, and I felt myself sweating. I was really struggling. I was afraid if I opened my mouth I'd end up puking and I couldn't think of anything more embarrassing. A grown ass woman puking in the middle of a grocery store.

"Can...I," I started.

"Mommy looks green!" Gwyn laughed, and continued looking mesmerized by the lobster tank.

"Get a salmon, please?" I managed out. The man looked in the frozen freezer display and pulled out two fish.

"With or without the head?" he asked.

"What?" I breathed, swallowing hard as bile rose in my throat.

"With or without the head?" he held up the two fish. I looked up and saw the nasty bloody headless fish and the beady eye of the fish who'd kept his head and I knew I was a goner. I gagged and the entirety of my Big Mac and fries ended up on the shiny white tile floor of the grocery store as I threw up. Me, a grown ass woman, emptied my guts on the floor of one of the biggest grocery chains in America. And I was mortified.