I got home at around 2. My mom knows I skip school, she doesn’t necessarily approve
of it, but she knows I do it to take care of the kids, and has even talked to the school
a few times. So I don’t get in much trouble if I do skip. I walked into our small house.
My dog Sugar was tied up outside, sitting in the rain. I unleashed her and she ran
inside, immediately shaking the excess water off of her white coat.
I walked over to the answering machine and lazily hit the play button. One
message was from my aunt in Florida, wondering how we were doing because she
hadn’t seen us in “decades”. I rolled my eyes and muttered, ‘Great. We are having a
blast. Mom’s pregnant for the sixth time and I feel fucking wonderful.’
The second message was from the restaurant my mom works at.
“Karen, this is Bill, your manager. We have noticed that you haven’t been
showing up to work on time, and that affects your pay. Either show up on time or
don’t show up anymore.”
I froze. Great, just what the family needed, a mother without a job. I looked at
the clock. It was 2:15, she was supposed to be at work at 2:30. I stomped down the
hall to her bedroom and peeked through the door that was slightly open.
“Mom?” I asked. I saw her silloutte on the bed, but couldn’t see what she was
doing.
“I’m in here Kyla.” she replied. I could tell she was crying. I immediately began
to panic.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” I asked, sitting on the bed next to her. I put my hand
on her shoulder and she started to cry again.
“I had my doctor’s appointment today, you know.” she replied, pulling a
Kleenex out of her purse that was next to her. I wondered what could have possibly
happened that would make her cry.
“And?” I asked, pleading for more information.
“Kyla, I’m having twins.”