Mrs. Independent

Chapter Three: Jump

I can't believe I forgot to show you guys our sweet little Caiden <3

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Chapter Three: Jump

The door to Josh and I's suite shuts gently behind me and my husband turns on the light. Caiden is sleeping in my arms.
When we first booked the cruise, I was pregnant, but we planned ahead and asked the day we booked if we could have a crib in the room, and it's in here.
Josh opens the bathroom door and pulls the crib into the bathroom.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
He hesitates.
"I was gonna put him in the bathroom."
I pause.
"Our son is not sleeping in the bathroom.
"Well not all night." He says. "Just long enough for us to, you know..." he trails off.
I look wearily at the crib.
"I don't know. What if the boat rocks?"
"Honey, this ship is huge. It's going to take a huge wave to get us to feel like we're moving."
"Is this wrong?" I ask.
He pauses, "I don't think so. We're entitled to some alone time. It would be wrong if he kept him in the room."
I stand up straight and it really doesn't feel like the ship is moving at all.
"Okay." I say, walking into the bathroom.
I carefully lie our son in the crib, watching him for a minute.
He moves around for a couple of seconds and then stills, both hands above his head. His mouth is slightly parted and his chest rises and falls steadily.
I slip out of the bathroom and shut the door so there's only a crack left, and then I stand at the door listening for him.
He doesn't make a sound, so I give in and turn to my husband, who is waiting for me on the bed.
"Kate, if you're not comfortable with this-"
I climb right into his lap and start kissing him.

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A week sped past quickly and we spent the entire time swimming in the cruise ship pool and playing games on the deck. We watched a movie in the theatre, went to a karaoke show, and have been having so much fun. None of us had reception, and honestly, it was nice without our phones.
Now though, we're at the first stop in Southampton, United Kingdom.
We're already off the ship, Caiden is in the stroller, and we're exploring the town.
The place is marvelous and we're like a huge group of tourists with cameras and Josh is holding my hand and I'm happy.
What could go wrong?

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"We look like such basic tourists." I say later on that night when we all get back on the boat. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt with a hat on and I have a backpack with my wallet and my keys and my passport, and Josh has his stuff in the room because he said he didn't need it, which, he didn't, but I like to be prepared.
"I mean, this is probably the best vacation I've ever been on." I say.
"I agree." Claire nods.
"I'll be back, I gotta pee." Josh leans over and kisses my cheek.
"Okay." I smile at him.
He vanishes from sight.
"Who has Caiden?" Ashley, Josh's sister asks.
"What? He's right-" I cut off when I glance to my left and see the stroller is not right here.
"Where is he?" I ask. "Did Josh take him to the bathroom?!"
"No." Mom says, worried.
We all start looking around the deck for the stroller that is multiple shades of blue.
"Don't panic." Megan says. "I'm sure Josh took him."
"Yeah," I swallow, but I feel like I'm going to puke.
I have a bad feeling about this.
The ship's horn blows and the boat starts moving, and I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack.
I violently yank my hands through my hair, rushing around the deck to look in people's strollers.
I look back at the port on the land we're drifting away from, and that's when I see it.
A multicolored blue stroller sitting on the dock.
"No." I whisper. "No!"
"Whoa, whoa, what? Calm down, what's wrong?" Dad says.
And my mind flashes back to years ago when I went into withdrawal and I was shaking and my heart was pounding and I couldn't breathe.
Because my baby is in that stroller and he's alone.
"He's on shore! He's one shore!"
I'm screaming and it just turns to chaos
My Mom is yelling at workers to stop the ship and people are starting to realize what's happened and they're rushing to the railing and soon enough we're not even that close to land anymore.
And I don't even think about it.
I don't even slightly hesitate, I just clamber over the railing, shoving off the hands of my family and jump over a hundred feet into the ocean.
I feel my boy soaring down and I force myself to shore, accidentally sucking in some water, I start coughing, ignoring the protests in my lungs as I start swimming back to shore.
By now, everyone that knows what's happened is shoved against the railing, screaming at the boat to stop, and anybody who doesn't know what's happening is pressed against the trailing wondering why some blonde girl with a blackpack on jumped off the boat.
I reach the dock and use all of my strength to pull myself up onto it, running to close the distance between me and my son.
When I reach him, I'm still coughing, and I pull up the sunshade and he's just laying there sleeping, and I start crying, my hands trembling horribly as I unbuckle him from the stroller and pick him up.
He starts crying from the cold water.
"I'm sorry baby, Mama's so sorry, I'm so sorry."
I sit down on the dock, holding him like a lifeline until long after the cruise ship is out of sight.

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This chapter is so short but it made me start shaking too, I would've done exactly what Katherine did
~Sam