Kate felt like the worst mother in the world. Here her daughter had this exciting news that was such a big deal for her, and Kate had acted like a jerk at the dinner table in front of everyone.
She stood outside of Evie’s door, knocking for the third time. “Honey, please let me in. I’m so sorry. I was just in shock.”
Nothing. Complete silence.
“I know you’re mad at me, and you should be, but we need to talk this out. I’m excited for you, Evie.”
Nothing.
In desperation, Kate jiggled the handle, and the door opened immediately. It wasn’t even locked. Evie’s lamp was on, and her car keys were in the little dish beside her door. Her backpack was still downstairs on the hook, which made Kate wonder how she was doing homework. Her bed was made, and her TV was off.
“Evie?” she called as she walked around the door. She opened the door to her closet, expecting to see her in there reading, but she wasn’t there. “Evie!” She ran back into the hallway toward the shared bathroom, but Mrs. Lampton walked out with a towel on her head.
“Kate, are you okay, hon?” Mrs. Lampton was a frequent guest as she came to visit her elderly father in the local nursing home.
"Have you seen Evie?”
"Can't say that I have. Is everything all right?"
"I'm not sure," Kate said, running down the hallway and then down the stairs. "Has anybody seen Evie?"
Mia was standing at the kitchen counter. "Not since she left the dinner table. Why?"
"I can't find her. She was supposed to be in her room doing homework."
"Her car is still in the driveway," Travis said, peeking out the window.
Cooper walked over and put his hands on Kate’s upper arms. “I’m sure she's fine. You know where she probably is."
The treehouse. Whenever anything upsetting happened, Evie almost always went to the treehouse.
"I'm going over there," Kate said.
"I'll go with you," Cooper replied, following her.
Kate held up her hand. "No. I want to do this alone. I'm still mad at you, by the way."
He nodded. "I'm sure you are."
Kate didn't have time for a long conversation about how it was a terrible thing for him to do to keep such important information from her. She had to find her daughter.
As she ran down the gravel driveway toward the treehouse, she prayed Evie was there. If she wasn't, she didn't know what she would do. It was getting dark, and there were all kinds of dangerous things in the forest.
She got to the bottom of the treehouse ladder and started climbing up. It was impossible to see whether Evie was up there until she got to the top. Sure enough, there her daughter sat, cross-legged, staring out over the mountain range.
"Evie, you scared me to death!"
She looked at her mother like she was crazy. "Why? Where else would I go?"
"You told me you were in your room doing homework," Kate said, finally making her way to the top and sitting down. The older she got, the harder physical activity became. First thing Monday, she was joining a gym.
"Sorry. Just another one of my terrible secrets, I guess."
There was a long moment of silence between them before Kate finally spoke. "I'm sorry for how I reacted at the dinner table. I should've spoken to you in private instead of acting like a child. I'm just under a lot of stress today."
"I know, which is why I didn't want to tell you. I was waiting until your business meeting was over."
"How long have you known?"
"Literally a few days. I had no idea this was a possibility. I'm stressed out too because I don't know what the next step is. I've missed all the college deadlines."
"Oh, honey, I'm sorry. I didn't think about it from your perspective. I just figured you were really excited to get away from me."
Evie looked at her, tears in her eyes. "Are you serious? You're like my best friend, Mom. Of course, if you tell anybody I said that, I will totally deny it."
Kate laughed and put her arm around Evie. "You're my best friend, too. Don't tell Mia I said that."
"It's not that I want to leave. I fully expected to stay another year. But when somebody tells you that you can avoid an entire year of high school, any normal person would do that, right?"
"I would."
"I just needed a little time to figure out how to tell you. I'm sorry you found out about it the way you did."
"We both made some mistakes. Now we just need to move on and get you to that graduation!"
"And then what? UGA was where I wanted to go, but they’ve already passed their application date."
"Well, I guess we need to do some thinking to figure it out."
"I'm not even sure the college is the right place for me."
"Really? I thought you were excited about going next year."
"I mean, the experience of living in a dorm would be cool. But I'm not sure what I want to do. I've changed my mind a million times."
Kate laughed. "Everybody changes their mind. When I was your age, I wanted to be a pediatric cardiologist."
Evie laughed. "A pediatric cardiologist? Where did that come from?"
"One of my friend’s dads was in that line of work, and they had a huge house, a nice boat, and they went to Disney World three times a year. I figured you needed to be a pediatric cardiologist if you wanted that kind of lifestyle."
"Well, I think that ship has sailed, Mom."
"I think you're right. Then, in my early twenties, I thought about going into real estate, working on a cruise ship, grooming dogs…"
"Those are all very different things," Evie said, giggling.
"This is the time of your life where you get to choose. The whole world is right in front of you, and you're only limited by your own imagination. Don't be afraid. The choice you make right now may not be where you end up. That's okay. It's okay to try different things. It's okay to fail. This is that time of your life where you're figuring out who you are, and there is no rush."
"Thanks. And for what it's worth, I really am going to miss you no matter where I go. I'll always come home."
Kate smiled and felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she hugged her daughter tightly. Why did life have to change? Why couldn’t babies stay small forever? In fact, why couldn’t her waist have stayed small forever too?
* * *
Mia sat on the sofa while Travis rubbed her aching feet. Even though she was petite in stature, she found her legs and feet getting worn out at the end of the day.
"Dinner was great," Travis said, working out a knot on the arch of her foot.
"Thank you. Of course, Kate helped. I hope things are going okay with her and Evie.”
"I think they are. She texted me and told me they were having a nice chat," Cooper said as he walked into the living room. He plopped down in the armchair next to the fireplace.
"That had to be quite a shock to her system to find out that Evie is graduating early. I can't imagine," Mia said.
"Well, pretty soon we will have our own child to think about. You don't think this little bundle of joy will ever lie to us, do you?" Travis said, laughing.
"Never!"
"Well, I think I'm going to head out. Tell Kate I'll text her later." Cooper stood up to head for the door. Mia attempted to stand up, ready to give him a hug to congratulate him for the big deal he and Travis were going to sign for the adventure center.
As she went to stand, she got a stabbing pain right in the center of her belly. It took her breath away, and she yelped.
"Mia, what's wrong?" Travis said, standing up beside her. She continued holding her stomach tight.
"I don't know. When I went to stand, I got a really bad pain."
"Maybe it was just a muscle?"
"I don't know. This feels weird. Ouch!” Pain shot through her midsection again, only worse this time.
"I hate to ask this question, but do you think it's…" Cooper started to say.
Mia glared at him, her lips pursed and her eyebrows knitted together. "It is not gas this time!"
Cooper held up his hands. "Okay, Okay. I had to ask."
"Do you think you can sit back down?" Travis asked. She shook her head.
"I can barely move. I don't feel the baby kicking anymore. Something is wrong. We need to get to the hospital."
Without another word, Travis ran across the room and grabbed her purse."Let's go."
"Y'all go on to the hospital. I'll tell Kate and Evie what's going on, and I'll bring them in my truck."
Within seconds, Travis carried her out the door, pain shooting through her stomach and lower back with every movement. Mia was terrified. She was so close to having her baby, but it was still too early to give birth safely. She needed to wait at least a few more weeks.
What if something was wrong? What if she was losing her baby? Oh, how she wished it was just gas this time, but she knew better. Something was definitely wrong.
* * *
Kate sat stoically in the car, staring straight ahead, trying to keep herself from crying. She was so worried about her sister and the baby.
"I'm sure she'll be fine. The doctors will know exactly what to do," Cooper said. He had spent the entire drive saying positive things while Kate prayed over and over in her mind.
"Aunt Mia is strong. Everything's going to be okay,” Evie said, reaching up into the front and rubbing her mother’s arm.
"My sister won't survive if something happens to this baby," Kate said, shaking her head.
Cooper reached over and patted her knee. "We can't think like that. We have skilled doctors at this hospital. They'll know what to do."
They rode in silence the rest of the way. When Cooper pulled into the hospital parking lot, Kate had to restrain herself from opening the door and jumping out while the car was still moving.
They parked as close as they could and ran inside. Kate immediately approached the woman at the front desk.
"I'm here to see my sister. Her husband brought her in with pains. She's pregnant."
"Name?"
"Mia Carter. Actually, Mia Norton. She got married not so long ago."
The woman stared at her for a long moment, like she was annoyed by all the extra information. "They've put her in a room in the women's center." The hospital had done a recent renovation, building a huge women's center where women could give birth and have access to things like large tubs and those big exercise balls.
"Can I see her?"
"No, sorry. You're gonna have to wait out here. When her husband comes out, you can go in."
"Are you going to tell me anything? Is she having the baby right now?"
"I'm sorry. I can't give any information."
Kate groaned and walked away, frustrated. She knew the woman was only doing her job, but she really wanted to know what was going on with her sister. Was she okay? Was she having the baby right now? Was the baby okay?
Cooper put his arm around Kate, and they walked over to a small waiting area. “We’ll get information soon. I'm sure Travis will come out here when he can."
"I hate this. We missed so much of each other’s lives, and I want to be there for her."
He smiled. "I think that's wonderful, honey. But she has a husband now. You kind of have to allow him to take care of his wife."
"I'm going to go get a drink. Does anybody want anything from the vending machine?" Evie asked.
They both shook their heads. "No, but thanks. Keep your phone on," Kate said.
She watched her daughter walk down the hallway and turn the corner. How appropriate it was that Mia was about to have her first child, and Kate was about to say goodbye to hers. Actually, that sounded a little morbid. Maybe it wasn't quite as dramatic as that.
"Kate, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Evie. I didn't know for very long."
She waved her hand. "That's old news. I'm not worried about it right now."
"You're not mad at me anymore?"
"No. I understand what happened, and I forgive you for not telling me immediately. But if my daughter ever tells you anything again that I should know…”
"It won't happen again. Even if she tells me what she's buying you for Christmas, I will immediately report it."
Kate chuckled. "You know what I mean." They sat for over an hour, Kate trying to occupy her mind with anything else. She needed to know how Mia was, and the waiting was excruciating.
"Hey, guys," Travis said, walking out from a door behind them. Kate immediately stood up, and Cooper followed.
"Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”
"She's fine, and the baby is fine."
"So it was gas again?" Cooper asked.
Travis laughed. "No, it wasn't gas. The doctor said that her cervix has shortened more than it should've at this point in the pregnancy. They had to give her some medication to stop the contractions she was having. Her blood pressure is also a bit high. They're going to keep her for observation for a few hours, and then she will go home on bedrest."
"Bedrest? For how long?"
"They would like to keep the baby in for at least another three to four weeks. Mia will need to be on bedrest the whole time."
"Oh, she will not like that at all."
"Trust me, she had some choice words for the doctor about how she had to manage the B&B."
"We're all going to pull together to take up the slack," Kate said. Her level of stress was getting higher by the minute. In just a few hours, she would welcome Talia Simon from the Deacon’s grocery store chain to the B&B. She needed to be on her game, and right now she wasn't even sure if she would get any sleep before the meeting.
"Mia knows you have your big meeting in a few hours. She thought you might want to come see her so you would know she's okay and go home."
"I'm not going home."
"You have to. She’ll worry all night if you're sitting out here. She wants that deal with Deacon’s to go through. You would do her a favor by going home and getting some sleep."
"I'll make sure she does just that,” Cooper said. “Okay, go see your sister, see that she's fine, and let's go home."
She wanted to argue, but she was too tired.
* * *
Evie stood over by the vending machines, going for her second snack of the night. Her mom and Cooper said they would go home as soon as her mom finished visiting with Aunt Mia. She had school in the morning, but being a teenager, she was used to getting very little sleep.
"Hey, Evie."
She turned around to see one of her friends from school standing there.
"Sarah, what are you doing here?"
Sarah was super smart and in all the gifted classes. She’d been very nice to Evie since the beginning, and they had become better friends this year.
"My grandma is in the hospital. Her blood sugar got too high."
"Oh no! I hope she's going to be okay?”
"She will. This happens at least once a year. I don't know why she can't stop eating pound cake."
Evie laughed. "I'm here with my aunt. She went into early labor."
“Is she going to be all right?"
"I think so. They should send her home for bed rest in a few hours."
"I heard you're graduating early. I am too."
"That's great. I'm a little nervous. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my life after I graduate. I wasn't expecting to get out of there a whole year early."
"Yeah, I planned for it. I've known since earlier this year. I got into UGA!"
"Really? That’s great. I’m so happy for you. I thought about going there, but I missed the application deadline. I don't know, maybe I'll just do community college for a year and then apply."
“What do you want to major in?"
Evie had been thinking a lot about that. She didn't really know what she wanted to do with her future. So many of her friends at school knew exactly what career fields they wanted to go into, and she didn't have any idea.
"Honestly, I don't know. I just want to do something that makes a difference, you know?"
"What about the medical field?"
Evie scrunched her nose. "I don't think I would want to deal with sick people. Plus, I'm not smart enough to go to medical school."
"You're definitely smart enough. I'm going to be majoring in engineering. Maybe you could look into that?"
"I don't think that's my thing either. I want to do something where every day is different. Something where I'm helping other people. Something where I'm not stuck in an office all day."
Sarah laughed. "Well, that certainly narrows it down."
"Yeah, as you can see, I don't really know what in the world I want to do."
"That's how my brother was. He's five years older than me. When it came time to graduate, he tried a couple of different majors at college and ended up dropping out. Now he's a police officer."
"How does he like it?"
"He loves it. It scares my mother to death, of course."
"Sarah? Your grandmother wants to see you before we leave," a woman said, poking her head out from a doorway. She assumed it was Sarah's mother. The woman waved and smiled before disappearing again.
"Well, I’d better go see my nana. Good luck with your decision. And I hope everything goes okay with your aunt and the baby."
"Thanks," Evie said, waving as Sarah walked away.
She turned and looked out the window at the night sky. One of the most beautiful things about living in the Blue Ridge Mountains was being able to see the stars. When she looked at the stars, it made her think that anything was possible. She was just a tiny little dot in the universe.
Sometimes she wondered what her life would look like five or ten years from now. Would she be happy? Or would she settle for doing something that other people wanted her to do?