A Melwood Story

/chapter nineteen/

A Melwood Story
Chapter 19

Melissa

The past couple months have been very busy with the kids and planning a wedding, which is now in two days. I'm going to pick up my dress today, along with Chris's tuxedo. I apparently have to do it because he wants to be surprised by my dress and his tux is just standard black and white.

I piled all three kids into the car this morning to take them to preschool and daycare. Then I went to work. And I'm still here. It's been almost four hours. I have to pick the kids up and the other stuff in a little less than two hours.

"Melissa," one of the crew members says to me.
"Yes?" I ask, looking up from my book.
"It looks like they've decided to add a few more scenes in today. It'll be another couple hours."
"All right," I say. "Thank you."

I call Chris.
"Looks like I'm going to be here for awhile longer than I thought," I tell him.
"That's okay. I can just pick up the kids."
"I won't be able to go get the dress or the tux either."
"I can do that too."
"It's fine. I'll do it tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll see you soon."
"I love you."
"I love you too," he says, then hangs up.

Chris

I leave the house to go pick up Max and Lulu from daycare first.

"Hey you two," I say as I pick them both up. "I missed you."
Lulu smiles, then rests her head on my shoulder. Max says, "I'm hungry, dadda."
"Okay, well, we have to go pick up your sister first, then we can get food," I tell him.
He nods slightly as I set him down to put Lulu in her car seat first, then pick him up and take him to the other side to put him in his own car seat.

"Hi, daddy!" Nya says as she hops in the car.
"Hey, Ny. How was your day?" I ask.
"Good."
"Just good?"
"Yeah," she says as she buckles her seat belt. "A kid in my class, Damian, threw food across the room and it almost hit a teacher."
"That's not good," I say as I drive off.
"He got in trouble."
"Well, that's what happens when you throw food at a teacher." I glance up at her in the mirror. She smiles. "Where's mommy? I thought she was picking us up today."

"Mommy had to stay at work longer today," I tell her.
She nods, then looks over out the window.

Melissa

After a long day at work, I speed walk to my trailer. My stomach has been feeling off all day.

I collapse on the couch in my trailer as soon as the door closes. I don't feel good. Maybe it's something I ate today? Maybe it's nerves for the event that's occurring in the next two days.

I drive home at almost 7:00 p.m.

"Hey!" Chris calls from the kitchen when I open the front door.
I slip off my shoes and walk down the hallway to the kitchen. "Are you just making dinner now?"
"I'm making dinner for you," he says. "I already made dinner for the kids and they're brushing their teeth now, then getting to bed. Hopefully."

I decide to just eat his dinner, even though I don't feel in the mood to eat. Anything. Not Chris's cooking precisely.

"Okay, then," I say as I sit down on a stool in the kitchen,
"How was work?" he asks.
"Long."
"I wish I could've been there."
"Me too."

He turns and faces me. "Are you excited for Saturday?"
I smile. "Of course."
He smiles back, then continues to cook whatever he's cooking.

I can't sleep. It's just not happening. Not in the next seven hours it's not.

I push the blankets off me and slowly slip out into the hallway.

I wish I didn't feel so weird. It can't be nerves. I'm not nervous to marry the man I love. It can't be what I ate because I didn't eat anything today that I hadn't eaten before.

I decide to go to the doctors tomorrow if this doesn't get better. I need my sleep and I need to feel better before my wedding.
—the next day—

I didn't sleep at all last night. Not even for a  second. I wish I had, because now I'm just putting myself through more unnecessary pain for no reason except for a stupid stomach flu.

"Did you sleep last night?" Chris asks.
"No. Not at all."
"You should try to get some sleep sometime today."
"I know. I will. I just have to go drop the kids off, pick up some stuff, then I'll come home and take a nap. If my body will let me in the middle of the day."

He kisses me softly. "Okay."

I go to the doctor first, although my stomach doesn't feel as bad today, I just want to make sure it's nothing bad before I go to my own wedding tomorrow.

I follow a doctor to a room where I sit on a table covered in paper.
"How are you today?" the doctor asks.
"Fine, but my stomach was feeling off yesterday and I just want to make sure it's nothing."
"Okay. I'll do some tests quickly and see if I can find the source of your pain."
I nod.

After a couple minutes, the doctor stops. "I have one more test to do."
"Okay?"
She moves across the room on her rolling chair to her desk, where she pulls out a cup. I immediately what she's thinking.

Not now. Not when I'm getting married tomorrow.

I take the cup and go down the hall to the bathroom.

It's been almost twenty minutes since I left to go the bathroom now. I'm waiting for the results quietly in the doctor's office. The silence and the suspense is painful.
Ten minutes later, the doctor enters the room again. "Sorry that took so long. I have the results now."
"Okay..." I say with a slight nod.
"The results came out positive."