Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Episode 16 (10 page)

She stared at the boxes of cereal on the table.
“
Do you realize how many boxes we have?
It
’
ll take forever to eat all of this!
”

Chad grinned.
“
But think of the fun we
’
ll have
.”

As much as she wished she felt the same, Willow was dismayed to think of many more breakfasts with cold and dry cereal growing soggy before she could get to the final bites.
She shuddered inwardly just thinking about it.
Carrying the boxes to the pantry, she set them on a shelf at eye level so she wouldn
’
t forget about them.
It
’
d be wasteful to let them get stale and inedible no matter how appealing the idea seemed.

She sank into her chair and reached for her glass.
Willow sighed as she realized she
’
d have to rinse it again before she could fill it with water.
Chad noticed, and took it to the sink rinsing well, and then brought it back.
“
Keep drinking.
I want to see those circles gone from under your eyes
.”

“
I need another nap.
I think I
’
ll go back upstairs
.”

As she disappeared from the kitchen, Chad stared at the empty doorway.
She acted so pregnant!
The test said no
,
but she was tired, she
’
d been so sick, and the dizziness all seemed like symptoms he
’
d heard over the years.
Uncertain of what else to do, he dialed home.

“
Mom?
”

“
Chaddie!
I
’
ve been going crazy!
What did the test say?
”

“
Test was negative
,
M
om but she
’
s still acting so weird.
She is sleeping so much, she has dark circles under her eyes, she
’
s gotten dizzy a couple of times, and milk tastes funny to her
.”

“
Well, her milk tastes funny to me too but
—
”

“
No mom,
”
Chad interrupted impatiently.
“
I brought home
real
milk to put on cold cereal
—
did you know she
’
s never had cold cereal?
”

“
Did you get her Cap
’
n Crunch?
”

“
She didn
’
t like it any more than the others I bought.
She hardly commented on it at all
,
which tells me she
’
s still sick.
Willow never keeps her opinions to herself with me.

“
So maybe it
’
s just too early.
If she doesn
’
t start in a few days, have her take another one
.”

“
But if she
’
s too early to show up on a test, wouldn
’
t she be too early to get sick?
”

“
Well, for most women, yes.
But who knows with her?
Maybe she
’
s one of those women who
gets
sick within a few hours.
I
’
ve heard of women who start vomiting within minutes
,
but I admit
that
it
’
s rare
.”

Chad thought about that.
“
Oh M
om, we can
’
t have her that sick.
There is too much here for me to do myself
,
and she was totally incapacitated
.”

“
So you
’
ll buy canned tomatoes and peaches and whatever else she does.
The gal who buys from the garden can do her own picking
,
and when you
’
re working, that boy can come feed and milk.
It
’
ll work
.”

His mother
’
s words, while logical and practical, were not encouraging.
“
I hope this is just some kind of stomach bug.
Maybe she ate something fishy in Rockland during her deposition
.”

“
This being
‘
just a bug
’
isn
’
t going to erase the possibility of a difficult pregnancy
,
Chad.
You have to…
”

“
To what mom?
”

“
Well, I just thought of something.
Did Kari keep journals that far back?
”

“
Yes.
She has journals from her college days
.”

Marianne added,
“
I
’
d find the right months and look and see how she reacted to pregnancy.
See if she mentions getting sick, how bad, and that kind of stuff.
Willow might remember
,
but I
’
d look it up myself.
That must be hard
—”

“
Willow hasn
’
t ever read them and therefore
;
neither have I.
She just skipped to the one when she was about to give birth and ignored the rest
.”

“
Read it,
son,
”
Marianne urged.
“
It can only help.
If her mother was this sick this early, you
’
ve got a better idea of what might be happening.
It doesn
’
t mean anything if she wasn
’
t
,
but it
’
s a starting place
.”

Before he could say another word, the horrible sounds of retching reached him.
“
Gotta go
,
M
om, there she goes again
.”

“
Sick?
”

“
Yeah,
”
he groaned
,
rushing to dampen a washcloth as he tried to extricate himself from the conversation.

“
Praying
.”
The phone clicked.

Willow sat up in bed looking tiny, miserable, and confused.
“
I thought I was done
,
but
—”
Another heave sent the rest of her breakfast from her stomach.
“
I guess not
.”

Chad glanced at the clock.
It was nearly ten and he had to be at work by two.
They had to get to the bottom of this and soon.
He laid the cloth across her forehead and told her to lie back and rest.
Fighting the urge to lose his own breakfast, he dumped and scrubbed
—
again.

“
I
’
m sorry, Chad.
I don
’
t know what is wrong with me…
”

“
You
’
re sick.
Either with a stomach bug, some kind of food poisoning, or possibly a baby or two
.”

“
Two?
”

“
Mom said something about twins maybe being why everything was so bad so fast if you are pregnant
.”
Chad remembered the sinking feeling he had trying to imagine two babies at once and how it had mingled with a momentary feeling of excitement.
Two!
He couldn
’
t let himself think about it.

“
I guess twice the children, twice the misery makes sense
.”

He laughed.
“
That
’
s encouraging.
Hey, she also suggested we check your mother
’
s journals
from during
that time.
She thought maybe if your mom got sick quickly, maybe it
’
s genetic or something
.”

“
You do it.
I tried to read them once
,
and I haven
’
t tried again.
It was horrible.
If they don
’
t say anything, maybe Grandmother Finley would know
if it’s a family thing
.”