I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I had less than an hour to finish getting ready, pick up Laura, and get us to our dinner reservation on time. Today was not only Valentine's Day, but Laura's birthday, as well. I wanted everything to be perfect.
"Tay! Phone!" Zac shouted from the kitchen.
I took the phone from him. "Yeah?"
"Tay? It's Laura," said the voice.
"What's up, Hon?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm gonna have to cancel our plans for tonight," she said.
I dropped the receiver. I picked it up, annoyed. "Why? What is it now?"
"Maddy. She just got sick. Threw up all over the place. I can't leave her with a sitter, so I'm gonna have to back out."
I sighed. "What about your parents?"
"They left already, and are spending the night in a hotel."
"Well, isn't there someone else you could leave her with?" Of all nights, Maddy HAD to pick TONIGHT to be sick.
"No, Taylor. And even if there was, I wouldn't leave her. I'd only spend the entire night worrying about her."
"Laura! This is the third time in the past two weeks that you've cancelled on me!" I was rather aggravated by this turn of events, and I was tired of ranking second.
"I know, Tay. But do you think I want to? You think I enjoy this? I really want to spend tonight with you. But I can't, Tay. Maddy needs me. My life revolves around her now. My needs and wants are secondary." Laura sounded both annoyed and frustrated.
"I know. I know," I said, feeling slightly guilty about my reaction. After all, I wasn't the only one suffering here.
"Look, my mom will be home tomorrow night. I'll get her to watch Maddy, and we'll do a belated birthday thing," she suggested.
I sighed. "Can't. We're recording all day tomorrow. We'll probably work most of the night, too, since we turned Ike's basement into a studio."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Tay, but my hands are tied." Laura sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "I gotta go. Maddy's getting sick again."
"Okay. I'll call you later."
"Bye."
"Bye." I hung up the phone with a frown on my face.
"What's wrong?" asked Zac.
"Maddy's sick, so Laura can't go out to dinner," I explained, loosening my tie.
"So, why don't you bring dinner to her?" Zac asked.
I grinned from ear to ear. "Zac, you are a genius."
I sat down on the end of the couch. Laura stretched out on her back, her head in my lap. I stroked her hair.
"That was the best birthday dinner ever! Thank you," she said.
I don't know why, but I suddenly got an urge. I put my left hand on her stomach and pulled her shirt up towards the ceiling, making room for a pillow to fit underneath.
"What are you doing?" she asked, looking at me quizzingly.
"Trying to see what you looked like pregnant."
Laura got up and walked to the bookshelf. She came back and sat next to me, photo album in hand. In it were pictures from the baby shower. She looked so different, yet exactly the same. Her arms and legs were the same size as when she was in school, but she had gained about twenty pounds in the abdominal area. Then there were pictures of her in the hospital holding Madeline.
"That one was taken just after Maddy was born. I look like hell. I was in labor for thirty-six hours and seriously thought I was going to split in half."
"Well, you look great now. In fact, if I didn't know already, I would never suspect you had a baby. You snapped back into your original shape like a rubberband," I said.
With that, she got up and stood in front of me. Her left hip was facing me. She pulled down her sweatpants on that side just past her hip, revealing some white, semi-squiggily lines. They looked almost like scars.
"What..."
"Stretch marks from having Madeline," she explained.
I gently traced them with my finger. I kissed them, and she pulled up her sweatpants. I circled my arms around her waist and pulled her into my lap. She put her arms around my neck.
"So, it really hurt?" I asked.
She laughed. "Let me put it to you this way. I had the nurse by the neck, and I told her if she didn't give me epidural she'd die a horrible death."
"That bad?"
"Taylor, take two fingers and grab your bottom lip." After hesitating a bit, I did. "Now pull it up over your head," she instructed.
"Okay. Okay. I get your point," I said laughing. I kissed her. We pulled apart and I wrinkled my nose.
"What?" she asked.
"Your breath stinks."
Laura laughed. "Well, yours is no better. Besides, you're the Einstein who brought the chinese food."
Before she could go on, I kissed her again. Just as things started to get heavy, a voice from upstairs drifted into the living room.
"Mommy!!"
"Man, she has immpecable timing," I said, frustrated.
Laura raised an eyebrow at me. "What EXACTLY is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, it's just that everytime I have something special planned for us, you have to cancel because of her. Or if we're at my place and things get heavy, you suddenly have to get home to her. If we're here, we never get THERE because she always interupts us."
Laura got off my lap. "What are you saying, Taylor? Please, don't hold anything back." The expression on her face said that she knew where this was going though.
"Well, it's just, why can't it ever be just the two of us? I mean, Maddy's a great kid and all, but..."
"Taylor, Maddy and I are a package deal. I thought you understood that." Laura was maintaining a level voice.
"I did, I mean, I do. I just... I just guess I'm not really ready for this... to make all the sacrafices you made."
"Mommy!!"
"Just a sec, Sweetie!"
"You see? I can't... I want to come first for once," I said. "I should go."
Laura nodded her head and went upstairs to tend to Madeline. I let myself out, once again.