Confessions of Ashlee: Part One FINISHED
Katie:
hey give me some of that... *steals* I just read the whole thing through again!
milie529:
Oh my god!! Can't wait to see what's gonna happen with the baby! Hope she'll be okay! :-\
SenkoTwiik:
Thanks for all the comments guys!
And now for....
Chapter 7:
I hadn’t mentioned it before, but mom had been on a waiting list for almost three years, waiting for a house that was big enough for the family to live in. Finally, they found a home that was approved for the housing assistance program. It had been vacant for years and finally was up for sale. The house had belonged to an old, rich couple that used it for a summer home. One summer, years ago, the couple got into an argument because the man was going to leave his wife for his 23 year old secretary. The wife, understandably upset, shot her husband dead in the basement.
The house was passed on to one of their children, who didn’t want it, and let it sit for three years before putting it up for sale. The place is real nice. It’s a single story with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a den and a basement. It has been neglected over the years, but it’s still a really nice place, much better than the trailer we lived in.
The housing assistance program (HUD) allowed us to move in faster than normal, because the septic tank at our old house blew a pipe and the landlord said that we had to pay to fix it, which is illegal. So we got out of there and moved into our new home just in time for winter break from school! The best part of all is, the house is affordable. HUD only makes mom pay $300 a month for it, when monthly payments would usually be outstanding for a house like that.
You’re all probably wondering about Aubrey. I’ll get to that now.
The doctor scheduled an appointment with Aubrey a day before school let out for the holidays. She was only at her appointment for a short time, and when she came home, she didn’t look sad, happy or anything. Aubrey was blank when she came home and sat down. Mom sat down beside her for support and told her that she “supported her, no matter what”. Of course I didn’t go to the appointment, so I had no idea what they were talking about.
“Is the baby okay?” is all I asked.
“Yeah,” Aubrey said slowly, still with a blank voice, “The doctor said that she is going to be just fine. She’s just a little different, that’s all.”
I didn’t know what she meant, and so I waited for a moment to see if Aubrey would continue on her own. But she seemed so lost in thought, it was almost like she didn’t know we were even there with her.
“The baby has a disorder, Ash.” Mom said, since Aubrey was still quiet. “They said that they checked everything out and that her heart was strong as could be, and her neck and face grew totally normally. She won’t be deformed physically at all. But according to her brain tests, she is going to live with mild mental retardation.”
Whoa! That was crazy! The baby was going to have a mental disability. I honestly couldn’t believe it.
“They said that it’s not going to be severe.” Aubrey finally said. “She will still be able to function, and eventually live on her own when she becomes an adult. She just won’t ever have a high IQ. But other than that, she should be pretty much normal. The doctor said that if she is worked with, her speech won’t even be impaired. Somebody might still want to adopt her…Excuse me.” Aubrey said in a cracking voice, standing up and heading into her room. Mom gave her the double door den, because it was the biggest room besides her room.
“She just needs some time to herself. She’s okay.” Mom assured me.
“How did…how did this happen? I mean, what caused it? Do you know?” I asked, not really sure what would be the most appropriate way to address my curiosity.
“It was a genetic disorder. It was nothing that Aubrey did wrong. She couldn’t have prevented this. Something just didn’t come together right when the baby was being formed. These things happen.”
I didn’t think it was something that Aubrey did. She was a healthy girl. She exercised, got plenty of rest, ate right, took her vitamins, didn’t drink or smoke (and I never smoked around her). I could only wonder how she was feeling right now. I could tell she was upset, and I could see why she needed time to herself to just think. But I wished that I could have done or said something to help her out. But you know, what exactly do you say to something like that? I didn’t know, I’m not sure anyone in the house knew. Mom sure didn’t.
For the first week and a half of winter break, I saw very little of Aubrey and was starting to get worried. Mom said to just leave her alone and let her have her space. She said Aubrey would come around when she felt like it. She would come to dinner, and sit and talk and be friendly, but mom still suggested that we don’t talk to her about the baby until she mentions it again. She was having a hard time, and she was the only one that could deal with it.
Time went by and before we knew it, Christmas was around the bend. We had already put the tree up the second day that we lived in the house and things were looking a little brighter. Aubrey came out of her room to laugh and wrap presents with me and mom, while baby Andrew napped and Adam played cars with Abbey. For a little while, things seemed to be going much better. It was almost like nothing was there to worry about. We were having a good time, happy in our new house.
“Shoot, Ashlee will you go down to the basement and get the extra roll of tape out of one of the boxes?” Mom asked.
“But mom, I still have this present to wrap and you don’t have anything to do right now.” I answered.
“Yeah, but…I don’t want to go down there.” Mom said, looking back and forth nervously. “It’s haunted.”
I raised an eyebrow and looked at her. “The basement is haunted?” I asked, in a disbelieving manner.
“Yeah. I think it is anyway.” She said quietly, and I saw she was completely serious.
“Mom, what’s wrong with you?” I asked, trying not to laugh. “You’re a fully grown woman. There’s nothing down there. I honestly can’t believe that you are scared of some silly ghost fantasy.” I said, chuckling to myself and getting up.
I went down to the basement and found the tape, only moments later in one of the boxes.
“Ooooooh, ghost tape.” I said, tossing the roll over to her. I was just being silly, but Mom cut her eyes and looked at me like I was the meanest girl on Earth.
“Come on, the basement is ghost free, I promise.” I said with a smile, trying to encourage her to act like less of a wuss.
“Yeah, says you.” Mom grumbled, continuing to wrap presents.
Christmas came faster than I thought it would, with Adam waking everyone up at 6 in the morning because he wanted to open presents. I remembered being his age and being so excited to see what ‘Santa’ brought me. It was actually refreshing to see someone in the house happy as could be about something.
We exchanged gifts and had a lot of fun that morning. I got a couple new pairs of jeans, nose stud set, more acrylic to do my nails with, a pair of shoes, new backpack and some money. It was a good haul that year, usually I didn’t get that much, but mom won the $2,000 Christmas prize playing bingo earlier that month.
“Whoa! What the hay?” Aubrey exclaimed, just about to open her 4th present.
“What?” Mom said, looking at her in concern. “Are you okay, hun?”
“Yeah, I just felt like… a twitch in my belly.” Aubrey replied, placing a hand on her growing abdomen.
“That’s called the baby kicking. Get used to that, it’s going to happen more and more.” Mom said honestly.
“There it was again! Wow…” Aubrey said, now smiling. “What a weird Christmas present, huh?”
“That’s just her wanting to wish you a Merry Christmas, mommy.” Mom replied happily, glad to see Aubrey smiling again, genuinely smiling.
The rest of the day went uneventfully. Mom spent the day in the kitchen cooking dinner, Adam and Abbey played with all their new toys in their rooms, and Aubrey cleaned up all the boxes and wrapping paper, as well as watching Andrew while Mom was busy.
I was free to do my own thing, because Ayah came over to have dinner with me and my family. Her mom and dad both had to work Christmas evening. She was glad to spend the morning with them, but didn’t want to be alone for the rest of the day. It was fine with my mom, she loved Ayah. It was a fun day being with her, and being with my happy, insane family. This was the first day of peace we had in a good while.
Katie:
awww~! I was getting really worried, but then, Aubrey felt the baby I was like AWW~! i Loved this chapter~!
Dmcclure1:
This chapter was realy cute. i love the pictures you take. :)
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page