The Bad Boy's Little Pumpkin

Fall Carnival

All I could do was waddle at this point, but nothing was going to stop me from enjoying the Fall Carnival. We went every year as a family, but now that we were old enough to drive, we could all go without our parents.

Apple and I rode with Damien in his convertible. We got a warm enough night that we could have the top down and just enjoy the drive through the country. It was nearly a two-hour, but totally worth it, drive to Harvest Hill ranch.

We waited in the parking lot for the rest of our cheer and football friends who were coming, and then it was time for my waddly pregnant self to indulge on a butt ton of funnel cake. I could smell the dough frying and the powered sugar from the parking area.

"What are we doing first?" asked Cane as we waited in line for tickets.

"Haunted house!"

"Ferris wheel!"

"Roller coaster!"

"Nuh-uh. Food," I said.

"Kinzie, you know we love you and we get that you're preggers but we can't revolve the night around you because of it," said Hazel, the cheer team captain.

"Well we're definitely not going through that haunted house, or at least not with my Little Pumpkin," Damien said.

"Why the hell not? That's like, one of my favorite things!" I said.

"Because she's hella pregnant. Literally due soon. The baby could get scared right out of her!" he said.

Apple fell against one of the sidewalls and was holding her gut as she laughed. I would've looked down at my feet, if my belly wasn't blocking the way.

I was the only one not laughing, because as his partner, deep down I knew Damien was actually serious. I loved him, but yes, he was dumb sometimes.

I patted him on the shoulder, because he looked confused.

"That's not how it works, babe," I said. "Listen up! New idea! We'll just do things in the order that we see them."

No one argued. We paid for our tickets and walked through the entrance lined with cornstalks and hay bales. The grass was full of stray yellow leaves that weren't caught in the path of the blower.

The first thing we saw and smelled was the candy apple stand, and that's right where we went. I got one covered in orange and black sprinkles. Damien got one covered in white chocolate that looked like a ghost. They were perfectly sweet. A great snack to eat as a pregame for all the funnel cake I was about to devour.

We took our apples and went into the corn maze, which had a scavenger hunt with landmarks included. We found almost none of them because we were too busy getting lost like last year and trying to find our way out.

Then we split up. A group went to the haunted house, another went to get ice cream, and I went off with Damien to get funnel cake. He paid for me, of course.

Each bite was pure bliss. It was warm and sugary and everything I wanted. I mean, I wanted my back to not hurt so much and my feet to not swell, but that was life, whether I liked it or not.

It was hard sitting at a table and watching all my friends go into the haunted house. But I was legit just too tired and my feet hurt too much.

But no amount of back pain could stop me from going on the nighttime hayride. I snuggled up next to Damien as the horses pulled us through the windy trails of the forest and past a pond, which was decorated with floating jack-o-lanterns.

We ended the night with pictures in the pumpkin patch and some warm apple cider. It was the perfect night, despite the fact that I was bigger than a whale.