Rebel

Chapter 20: Dear Mama

It had been years since I had seen this side of my mom. She was kind, loving, and concerned with my every move. She wasn't closed and distant anymore and on the inside, I was jumping for joy. On the outside, I was huffing and puffing and almost certain that I never wanted to see another flower or balloon for the rest of my life and I was dying for a pizza and a Pepsi. We'd spent an entire day in Bluefield and Princeton hopping from the Dollar Tree to every craft store she could find. I would whine about being tired and nauseous and she would simply say, "get over it Sydney Gayle. The walking is good for you. You'll have an easy labor." A part of me felt like this was all pure torture and another part was incredibly grateful that I was finally able to spend time with my mom again.

I hobbled into the kitchen, drenched in sweat, and sat down bundles of bags that I carried in from the car. My arms felt like they were going to break, but there was no way in hell I was going back outside in the scorching sun. I wouldn't have survived another trip to the car. Mom strolled in behind me, scanning the floor to make sure we got everything. "Talk about shopping til you drop,"she said with a chuckle. I plopped down in the floor on my ass, hoping that I would finally be able to catch my breath. "Mom, I feel like I'm going to die!" I shouted. Sweat continued to roll down my back and I felt like a huge hog, dying to roll around in a mud puddle to cool off.

I pulled out my phone, hoping that Danny wanted me to come back home so I could escape this mess. I unlocked the screen and there were no missed calls and no texts. I groaned and slid my phone across the floor. "I already told Danny not to bother us. We're having a girls day," she said proudly. My eyes grew wide and I dreaded what was left for us to do today considering the fact that it wasn't even three o'clock in the evening yet.

The house phone rang and I finally felt relieved. I would be able to spend more time catching my breath and gear up for whatever else she had up her sleeve. "Lil, you oughta see my baby! She's getting fat as a little bear!" Mom beamed with pride as she rambled on to Aunt Lily. Thank God. She was probably going to spend a pretty good amount of time talking to her sister.

I crawled across the floor and retrieved my phone. I crossed my legs and smiled when I thought of what Danny was probably up to and how I was going to have to pay him back for leaving me with my mom.

Me: You did me dirty..

D: Nope. I'm just afraid of your mom lol

Me: Whatever! She's all bark and no bite lol

D: Yeah, well she threatened my life so I'd rather not take any chances lol

Me: Alright. I'll remember that ;)

Their relationship was actually shocking. I never thought that it would have blossomed the way that it did, but I was grateful. She loved him like he was her own son.

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It actually turned out to be a pretty great night. We threw together a few bouquets for the vow renewal and my fingers were on fire from the hot glue gun, but overall, I hadn't had this much fun with her in years. After a while, we just faded into making conversation with each other and time flew right by us. We laughed about the ridiculous things I did as a kid like when I told Mom and Dad that there was a snake in the house and after hours of tearing apart the house searching for it, they decided to ask me what it looked like and I just rambled off a bunch of colors, revealing that I didn't actually see one. My mom proudly acknowledged all of her traits that she could see in me and she nearly hollered when I told her that Danny thought she was white.