Bring It On Home To Me

Off We Go

February 27, 1968

Washington D.C.

4:47 A.M.

"Hey, sweetheart, we need to go." I could hear John whisper in my ear as I groaned and rolled over.

"Five more minutes, please." I pleaded.

"No, we have to get a move on," he ran his hand through the ends of my hair and down my back, "now."

I felt his weight lift off the bed. His footsteps were loud as he went to the closet and opened the squeaky doors. The light in the closeted space shone bright, causing me to groan and squint at the sudden light. John grabbed a random dress, closed the closet, ran to the dresser, then pulled out underwear and a bra for me. In a moment, the blond was in front of me, helping my nightgown off my body. I whined, seeing myself in the mirror that was set up beside the closet.

"Why am I so fat?"

"You're not fat, Sofia, you have a baby in your belly right now." John whispered, clipping on my bra. Stretch marks had made their way on my stretched out stomach, my breasts, and my upper arms. Lately, sweets were a favorite choice of food of mine, and I couldn't control it. I tried to, but it never worked. I would always wind up cranky, moody, or even annoyed. It wasn't fair to treat John like that, so I went ahead and ate whatever I was craving.

I stared at myself in the mirror after I got out of bed. I pulled up a new pair of underwear with an unsatisfied expression upon my face. How did I let myself get like this? Why did I let myself get like this?

'I'm so ugly. Right as soon as this baby's born, John's gonna neglect me then divorce me. He won't love me like he used to, and I'll be alone forever. I never should've got with him in the first place.' My vision got blurry, my brown eyes hid behind a waterfall of tears, but I pushed them away. I'm not going to cry, I'm hormonal, that's all. He'll still love me. He loves me for me.

End of discussion.

I grabbed the dress that John picked out. The top of dress was a light baby blue. The top half was a sleevless halter neckline, with the skirt of the dress changed to snow white at the waistline. I had to admit, my boy had a sense of style. John knew it would get hotter when we reached Chattanooga, Tennessee. The route John chose was a sixteen hour drive.

A sixteen hour drive.

This kid better like car rides, is all I gotta say.

"Alright, baby, I got the car running. It should be warm. I got the bags in the trunk, along with some other stuff. I got your favorite books in the glove compartment for you to read." John's voice became louder when he walked into the bathroom. I was busy brushing my teeth when I noticed his cherry red nose and pale pink cheeks from Jack Frost nipping at them.

I spat out the remaining toothpaste and cleaned my mouth with a towel that I had laid out. Taking my toothbrush and John's, I walked downstairs. I wasn't in as much of a hurry as my husband, who was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. He double-checked everything.

"Okay- okay, baby girl, let's go." He whispered, taking my faux fur coat off the coat racket and holding it out for me. I grabbed my heels and headed out to the car. John followed behind, opening up the car door for me. I took my time getting into the car. Anytime I do something too quick, my back would pop and it would cause a major wave of pain to wash over my spine. John began to shut the door before his eyes widened in realization.

"Shit, I'll be right back." John shut the door and turned around, running back into the house. I snuggled into my seat, closing my eyes. In a minute, I began to drift off to sleep. Now, I could catch up on rest, and be by my two babies. One, who will be driving, and the one that has resided in my tummy. What did he forget, anyway? It must have been important, since he had been gone for a minute now.