Plan B

31

"Come on. One last time. I promise it's the last one," Dale told me.

"A hug and that's it," I said to him. He hugged me tightly for a long time I almost stopped breathing, "Don't suck out all the magic. I'll still see you tomorrow."

"I have a tight practice schedule this week and you have school," Dale pointed out, "So I have to take advantage of every opportunity I get."

"I can show up during your practice tomorrow if you'd like."

"That would be great," he said kissing my forehead.

"I'll call you tonight," I said going into the house. I went straight into the kitchen because I was extremely hungry. I fished out some leftover chicken from the refrigerator, heated it up in the microwave and sat in my favorite seat.

There was nothing interesting on TV so I decided to go through my phone since I barely had time during the day.

I noticed I had several notifications, most of them being missed calls from my dad. That's strange, my dad only calls when there's an emergency, like when we're out of chicken. I looked at my food, that was definitely not the emergency this time. I returned his calls but he didn't pick up. Oh well, more chicken for me!

My dad called after half an hour and I hastily picked it up.

"Kristie! You have to come to the hospital immediately. Come quick!" And with that he hung up.

Something must have happened to my mom. I was immediately thrown into a wave of confusion and anxiety.

I decided to call Kelsie because I needed a ride to the hospital but Kelsie would take an hour to get ready and five minutes to get here, ironic.

I tried calling Dale but he wasn't picking up. This is the time I needed him the most!

I then gave Charlie a call, he was my last hope. Fortunately he answered his phone.

"Charlie I really need you to drive me to the hospital right away."

"Is everything alright?" He asked with concern in his voice.

"I don't know. I got a call from my dad telling me to go there. Please take me."

"I'm on my way. Just stay calm and breathe. I'm coming!"

Charlie arrived after ten minutes and we went to the hospital. The ride was silent as I was in deep thought about what could have possibly happened.

I found my dad at the reception with his head buried in his hands.

"Thank you Charlie. I'll see you later." I quickly said before running to my dad, "Dad I'm here. What's going on? Is mom alright?" I asked sitting.

"Yes mom's fine. The delivery went well."

"That's great! But why are you gloomy about it?"

"It's just that it's a lot to take in. Parenting from level one again wasn't planned for. We had planned to have you as the only child but now that he is here we... "

"It's a he!" I asked interrupting my father. I was super excited. This is exactly what I wanted, "What's his name?"

"We haven't decided on that yet."

"I get to pick then."

I saw a doctor coming out of my mom's room and I asked him if I could see my mom.

"Right this way," he said cheerfully. I found my mom with the little baby in her arms. He was so tiny and he had a very light complexion. It would probably darken with time.