Mary Elyse gathered as much of the beach supplies as she could while 33-year-old Katie tended to her 2-year-old daughter. Kellie was getting fussy after a long day at the beach. The tall woman swept the tiny toddler up in her arms.
“My, my, you were such a good girl for your first trip to the beach!” Katie said. “Mommy’s very proud of you.”
“Mommy pwetty,” was the response from Kellie. “Potty.”
“Oh Kelliebear do you have to go potty?” Katie asked, placing the toddler down.
“Potty,” the 2-year-old responded, and just then that’s exactly what she did.
“Oh Kellie … dammit, we’re so close to having you trained,” Katie said. “Come on now, let’s go clean you up. Mary Elyse, I’m going to wash Kellie off in the water, can you find me some diapers?”
“Sure thing, Miss O’Toole,” the teenager said.
Mary Elyse searched through the entire car but couldn’t find a single diaper. In fact, all the kids’ stuff she found seemed to be for an older child, closer to 7 or 8 than 2. She couldn’t figure it out. And then, she noticed something else strange. There was no car seat in the car.
Mary Elyse started to rack her brain. Why was there no car seat and no diapers? How did they get the baby to the beach? She was having a hard time remembering the ride over. She remembered … nothing about the baby. She couldn’t even remember Katie driving. Why couldn’t she remember her boss driving? She felt like she remembered an older blonde lady, at least 60. But that’s not right … was it?
Soon the mother and baby returned. The 1-year-old’s face brightened when she saw Mary Elyse. Mary Else was quite happy that the young girl recognized her.
“Hi cutie!” Mary Elyse said. “You wanna say your first words to me?”
“I think it’s going to happen any day now,” the 34-year-old said. “My little Kelliebear is so smart. She’s going to be a lawyer like mommy. Isn’t that right?”
The baby just giggled. The mommy was funny. But Kellie was hungry. Kellie wanted milk. She began to touch where milk comes from.
“Oh dear, she’s hungry,” Katie said. “Mary I hate to impose but I need to feed her before we leave. I hope I’m not holding you up.
“No worries,” Mary Elyse said. “I’ll read my Kindle.”
Katie brought the baby over to a secluded bench and began to breastfeed. Kellie instantly latched and began feeding hungrily.
The more Kellie suckled, the brighter the ring glowed on Katie’s hand, but neither child nor mother noticed. Both seemed lost in the experience. Nor did Mary Elyse – now approaching 14 ½ for the second time that day – notice, as she had her nose buried in the Kindle (which, by the way, she couldn’t recall how she got).
Katie was in awe of her young daughter. She thought about the hard times ahead of her as a single mother of a young girl. But she was glad that if she had to end up in the single mother situation that she had waited until she was nearly 35 and was more firmly established in life.
Katie shifted the 7-month-old from one breast to the other, as she could sense somehow that tiny Kellie was extremely hungry.
Six months.
Five months
Katie was ignorant to the slight bit of post pregnancy weight appearing around her tummy area, the stretch marks appearing fresher, more recent. Both breasts swelled plump with fresh milk, despite Kellie having just finished off one. Her hip bones shifted slightly apart.
Four months.
Three months.
Katie unconsciously moved her hands to cradle Kellie’s head more carefully. Young infants are extremely delicate, and even though her baby was a few months old, Katie wanted to treat this new love of her life with extra care.
Mary Elyse started to get a funny feeling. She couldn’t quite explain it, but things were starting to get hazy in her mind. It was as if she was slowly drifting into a trance. She became less and less aware of what was going on with the O’Tooles as her eyes zoned out.
Two months.
One month.
The ring glowed blindingly but none of the three noticed.
Katie was just a month away from turning 36 years old. She was overwhelmed by the newfound joy in her life in the form of her infant daughter Kellie Marie O’Toole. The little pink creature in her arms was so tiny, pink, and delicate. All of Katie’s instincts told her to protect her. Care for her. Nurture her.
Three weeks.
Two weeks.
Katie was so pleased with the weight the baby had been gaining. She was almost up to 12 pounds. She still wasn’t sleeping through the night yet, leaving Katie exhausted most of the time. Perhaps that’s why she felt so tired, why things seemed so hazy.
Things were different this time. Jake, Andie, Robert, Claudia, the rest … none of them had blood relatives with them at the time.
Six days.
Five days.
Katie slowly, without thinking about what she was doing, gently laid the tiny newborn on the ground. She stood in a daze, almost automatically, and lowered her bikini bottoms to her feet. She then picked up the child, sat down, laid on her back, and spread her legs.
One day. Twenty-four hours, twenty hours, 16 hours …
Katie moved the child toward her pelvis. This little pink miracle, this sweet … what should she name her? It’s a girl? Is it a boy or a girl? She’s crowning! The pain! The contractions are coming so close together! The contractions! The… is it labor? What’s happening? Indigestion?
Katie pulled up her bikini bottoms still in a daze, the ring glowing brighter than the sun. Why had she come to the beach 8 months pregnant? What possessed her to wear such a revealing swimsuit? She bent down and grabbed a discarded one piece where did that come from? It mostly fit, much better than the bikini. It certainly covered her 5-month-pregnant stomach; it helped her maintain a semblance of modesty?
Why did her stomach hurt? Could it be? Could she be pregnant? But she was so careful! And yet, her period hadn’t come in more than two months! Katie threw up on the sand. What was happening? Why on earth was she sick? It must be cramps. She must be getting her period. What a time to menstruate! Even at 36, it was embarrassing to get your period at the beach.
The world flashed purple and white bright as the sun. The ring crumbled to dust on her finger, and the dust evaporated like fading ashes …..