Ok... I know I said I'd have the next chapter up later this week and all, but I just can't stop playing this family. I have loads of new pictures and I can't wait to post them. Two Chapters in one day? Woohoo! This is a long one, too.
And Then There Were Five...
Chapter 2-The Good Times, The Bad Times
This morning was just like all the others. I awoke about an hour before the sun came up and when I rolled over to reach out for Dane, he was already about of bed. I heard noises in the kitchen and I sleepily shuffled to see what he was up to.
I smiled as I saw Dane already woken up and dressed in the kitchen. He was preparing some breakfast for us, and the smell flooded the house. It was an unseasonabley hot day and he was wearing nothing more than a tank top as he sweat over the hot stove. How sweet of him to make breakfast, I thought.
The omelettes were delicious but we ate in silence. We usually had millions of things to talk about, things going on in our busy lives. But there was something different about Dane this day. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he wasn't as cheery as usual.
After breakfast Dane led me into the living room and he told me to sit down. There was a certain look in his eye that told me something was troubling him.
"What's the matter, Boo?" I asked, worried.
"Well, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about, Linds..." His voice quivered, "I... uh... I'm not ready for this. I feel like I'm going to break down any minute. How can we hope to raise five babies at once? I don't know if I can deal with this pressure anymore."
I immediatley got off the couch and stood before Dane.
"Wha-what are you saying, Dane?" I was hoping not to hear what I thought he was about to say. But, I guess things don't always go the way we want them to.
"I'm saying that... I'm leaving you. Hun, you know I love you but I just can't deal with the pressure that's building up more and more everyday. I'm not ready for this, I never was and never will be."
I couldn't even believe the words that were coming out of his mouth. But, the seriousness in his eyes told me that he was for real. Does this mad man expect me to raise five babies on my own? I thought we were in this together. But, things aren't always as they seem. Dane sure wasn't too good to be true, like I thought.
I ran to the bedroom trying not to show how much I hurt. I broke down and cried in a heap on the floor as I felt sorry for myself. At first, I didn't want him to hear my crying but after a few minutes, I didn't care. But, he was gone before I knew it.
The funny thing is, he didn't even say goodbye.
The next few weeks were not among some of my proudest moments. I bummed around the house in my pajamas, playing video games, taking long naps, and eating potato chips and left over macaroni and cheese. It was my way of healing from the loss of a husband. I did gain quite a few pounds though, that I have to work off at some point. Definatley not something I'm looking foward to.
One day during my third week of lazying around, while I was in the middle of my favorite afternoon program, it happened. I felt pains and my screams rang through the house.
There was noone else in the house to help and as I struggled to get to a telephone, the pains got worse. I dialed the number for the local hospital that I had taped to the wall next to the phone, my list of emergency numbers.
The woman at the reception desk answered with a polite "Hello, What can I do for you today?"
The only word I could manage to blert out between my heavy breathing and screams was "BABIES!!!!"
