Verity's Book 2.0

Caitlin's Adventures, Part 3: Normal Life

I mean when I was ten my mom having a baby was completely normal.

I thought I would post this tomorrow and then in the middle of work today I had a revelation. I typed it all out for nightwraith17 last year already. But when I came home we had a power-outage so nothing happened till now.

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Chapter IX –
THE BEST SUPRISE

Life settled down to a normal pace – but not for long. Mother was going to have a baby!

She had been pregnant for awhile, but Caitlin didn't really notice it until a week before the due date. She wiggled all over with excitement, wishing th ebaby would come then and there. On Wednesday, they went to prayer meeting. Mother made sure they put their bags in the car, with clothes, pajamas, and anything else they might need if she started having contractions while they were gone.

Prayer meeting was finished. Caitlin picked out a book from the church library, and then they got in the car, waiting for Daddy to finish talking to the other people there. Caitlin was so engrossed in her library book, she did not hear Daddy open the door, say something, and close it. (By which I meant that I heard him, but did not notice what he said.) Immediately everyone else started jumping up and down and making a racket. Bewildered, Caitlin looked up and asked Anne why they were all yelling. Jumping up and down, Anne replied, "Mommy's having the baby! Mommy's having the baby!" Caitlin sat perfectly still for a moment. Then she jumped up and started shouting, just like everyone else.

Caitlin could hardy wait for Daddy to come back, but when he did, they were dropped off at the Van Tils. Lydia greeted them at the door. "Are you excited about the new baby?" she asked. Lydia liked babies too. Her eyes were shining. Anne wriggled and twirled, and Caitlin jumped up and down. Johnnie and Janie giggled and whispered, and Eddie and Lizzie shouted, "The new baby! The new baby!"

Daddy brought the bags in from the car, and Caitlin said, laughing, "Good idea Mommy told us to put our bags in the car before we left!" Beds were hurriedly fixed upstairs, and by 9:30 Caitlin and Anne were in a trundle at the foot of the double bed in Kaleh and Lydia's room. The light was out, but Caitlin could not sleep. A thunderstorm was raging outside. Rain battered the small window. Caitlin looked at the digital clock. It was 11:50. Time passed. The thunderstorm died out at 12:36. And then Caitlin heard something very strange. A sound like a guitar being played in the living room. Caitlin listened hard. It stopped. Then – Twoing-twang! Plink-plink! Plonk plunk! There it was again! Ever so faintly, the unearthly, ghostly sounds of a jazz song being played on a guitar floated up to the still bedroom. Now Caitlin really could not sleep. She didn't beleive in ghosts, but whatever that was, she wished it would stop. She looked at the digital clock again. It was only 12:35. (My memory is obviously whacked somewhere...) The minutes crept by, then the hours. The music continued. Then, at 6:00, it began to get fainter and fainter, until at 6:30 it could not be heard at all. Caitlin had not slept through a second of it. She jostled Anne, who was still sleeping, with her elbow, and Anne sat up immediately, not looking sleepy at all. Caitlin whispered the story to her, and Anne looked at her seriously. "I heard it too," she said. "I haven't slept since 2:45!"

Lydia sat up, rubbing her eyes. Kaleh slept on. "What's all this about? A whisper sleepover party?" Caitlin giggled quietly, but then, with a serious face, she told Lydia about the music. Lydia looked puzzled. "You sure that you didn't imagine it?" she asked. "Well," Caitlin said slowly. "I might think so, but Anne heard it too, and I thought she was asleep. And I was not sleeping! Don't tell me I was, unless you call lying on a trundle with your eyes wide open, slowly watching the minute pass by on the clock, sleeping!" Lydia laughed. Then she thought a moment. "I heard it a little too, I think. Could it have been a mouse?" "Look, you're kidding!" said Caitlin. "Does a mouse skittering about sound like guitar music?" Lydia shrugged. "I don't know what it is. Come on, it's time for breakfast."