Dancing in the Florida Sun (Completed)

4- FS Home Sweet Home

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     "Home sweet home!" Grams announced as they approached the gatehouse of her apartment complex.

     Brooke checked in at the guard house; she would have to get a resident's sticker for the future. The apartment complex looked just the same as it had almost two years earlier, when she came for spring break just weeks after finding out she was pregnant. It had been a last minute decision to get away from things, after Tyler flipped out about the pregnancy. In some ways it seemed like a lifetime ago. For the break, she and Tyler had been planning to go to Panama City Beach with some other couples. She had been feeling off for weeks, and thought it was from pushing herself too hard with school. But when she started getting sick to her stomach several days in a row, deep down she knew she was pregnant. After a home test and visit to the doctor, it was confirmed she was nine weeks along. Brooke had always had irregular periods, so had thought nothing of it. That was when her life was turned upside down.

     "Brooke? Brooke? Are you okay?" Grams looked at her granddaughter with concern when she saw the hurt in Brooke's face.

     Brooke blinked back tears and thoughts of yet another difficult point in her life, then forced a smile and nodded as she parked the car beside her grandmother's building.

     Grams looked doubtful, and pulled her granddaughter into a hug. "We're going to make it, precious. The Florida sun is good for healing broken hearts."

~~~

     Stepping into the apartment brought back happy memories of the few times she had been there. Her grandmother moved into it after her grandfather died, so she had only lived there four years. Brooke looked around it with new eyes, as she analyzed everything to make sure it was toddler proof. She noticed outlet covers, and all of Gram's breakables had been moved to a higher shelf. "I was worried about Noah getting into things, but your place seems to already be childproof." She looked at her grandmother with surprise.

     Grams broke into a smile. "You remember my dear friend, Ann? The one that lives in the apartment diagonally across from mine?" Brooke nodded then Grams continued, "She and her grandson came by and worked on things for me so it would be ready for our arrival. She even borrowed a pack-n-play for Noah to sleep in until your things arrive tomorrow. It's in the bedroom that has the desk. We'll use that as Noah's room."

     Smiling, but feeling a bit envious of her own grandmother, Brooke commented, "You're lucky to have such a true friend. I'd like to stop by and thank her after dinner."

     She thought about the fact that her friends had abandoned her after finding out she was pregnant and intended to keep the baby. A single pregnant mom didn't fit the image her sorority wanted. Her last year at school, she buried herself in her studies, being a mom, and working part time at her father's law firm. Even at work she felt like people ostracized her as the unwed mom. For a fairly large city, sometimes Memphis felt so "small town," and she was hoping central Florida would offer her a chance at a new start where people didn't automatically judge her.

     "That will have to wait, dear. She left yesterday to help her sister in Palm Beach. Her sister took a fall and has a broken ankle, so she's going to stay there for a few weeks I think. But we can certainly call her so you can thank her."

     It took Brooke a minute to remember what they had been talking about, then she nodded before being drawn to the pictures on her grandmother's bookshelf. Pictures of her with her mom, and some of her grandparents before her Papa died. One that caught her eye was of her when she was eleven, twirling around outside at her grandparents home. The water was glistening on the driveway from the rain that had just ended, and she was dancing with joy that the sun had just peeked out.