Fudge Brownies & Murder - Culinary Competition Mystery #4

Chapter 7

(Carla)

Riding in the car was a good lesson on what the baby would see in its car seat—basically treetops and roofs. Pretty boring stuff, especially in the winter when there weren't even any leaves. Carla made a mental note to buy plenty of toys to hang from the car seat handle.

Since she wasn't able to be transported on the couch, Amy had insisted Carla recline the Mini's seat to stay in a similar position. Her best friend might not be a mom, but she had the fierce protectiveness of one. Not only wouldn't she allow Carla to sit up like a normal person, a distinction she felt far away from, but Amy was also driving as if she was taking a driver's education test. Slow and steady would eventually get them to the doctor's office, if both of them didn't die of boredom before then.

"But you need a baby shower, now that you're on bed rest, more than ever. You can't get out yourself and buy the things you need."

So the view wasn't entertaining, but Amy's typical overreaction was very amusing. With her best friend, everything was served with a dose of drama. Not that Amy was an annoying drama queen. She simply tended to get very excited about some things. Her current focus was on engineering a baby shower. It wasn't that Carla necessarily didn't want one. She just didn't feel it was mandatory, especially since her immobile state often made her resemble a walrus hanging out onshore. Or at least that's how she imagined she looked. Amy said she was glowing. Bruce said she was gorgeous. Liars. Spending twenty-three hours a day sprawled on the couch sporting a permanent case of bed head was not pretty in any way.

"We already have the crib ordered and car seat bought, along with a pile of unisex clothing. We made it without a wedding shower. We'll be fine without a baby shower. If there's something critical that we've overlooked, I'm sure you or Mom can get it."

Amy's fingers drummed the steering wheel. She was getting aggravated. "I don't know anything about babies. Beyond buying cute outfits, I'm lost. People who are already parents give great gifts to first-time moms at showers. Things you don't even know you need but you won't be able to live without once you have them. Me shopping for a baby is the blind leading the blind. Besides, you and Shepler were both living on your own when you got married, so it wasn't bad setting up your household together. Neither of you has made babies before."

Well, that last part was true. She and Bruce had no idea what they were really getting into. Sure, they had read a bunch of books and even gone to parenting classes, but every baby was like a snowflake. Different. The books could tell her how to change a diaper like a professional but not how to expertly perform the task on a hungry, howling baby at 3:00 a.m. while sleep deprived. She had faced down knife-wielding mental patients in the emergency room, but nothing scared her more than becoming a mom. Actually, facing down strung-out addicts, knowing that a baby was at home depending on her to be its momma, was her number one fear. A topic she'd been mulling over more and more. But if she brought that up, too, Amy's head might explode. They would talk later about career choices. For now, she decided to take it easy on Amy and her always overactive mind by sticking to one topic.

"My mom can help. It's been a while since I was a baby, so she may be a bit rusty, but she at least has experience. I'm sure she'll be more than happy to spend time with her first grandchild while showing me the mommy ropes."

Amy actually took her eyes off the road for a few seconds to give Carla a withering look that would've made a soap opera actress jealous of her emoting abilities. "I don't know anything about your mom. You hardly ever talk about her."

"That would be because I haven't seen her in the entire time you and I have been friends."

It seemed as though her life was full of fears that compounded every day. Would she go into labor too early? Would the baby have problems? What was labor going to be like? How painful, exactly, would it be? And...how would she and her mother get along after not seeing each other in almost ten years?