Page 19 of December Wishes
“Lorri,” she whined, as they bypassed the pet section and went straight for babies and toddlers. “I really gotta pee.”
“Yeah. Okay. Hang on, we gotta double-back to the restroom.
Joan had to fight back the urge to pee in the wheelchair.Damn bladder. Always filling up, and as soon as I think about it, I gotta pee right now or risk the consequences.Another layer of joy to pregnancy.
Lorri parked her partner by the water fountain. They couldn’t take the wheelchair into the restroom with a basket full of product.What a happy coincidence. The only way I’m going in there is if I get up and use my own two feet.Was her stomach big enough to open the hands-free door by itself? Had any woman been as happy as Joan to step into a supermarket restroom?
“Ooooh!” squealed a stranger, as she turned around from the sinks and wiped her hands with a paper towel. “Look at you! You’re about ready to pop!”
“Oh, my God,” Lorri muttered. “Come on, Joanie, handicap stall is open.”
But Joan always loved a little attention. After all, she worked hard to get pregnant. Why shouldn’t people notice and tell her how great she looked?Okay, so some people are a little fetishy about it, including the women, but I take what I can get.Joan would never be pregnant again. This was her chance to be the center of maternal attention.You know, before I give birth and everyone judges me for how I parent.
“How far along are you, hon?” the stranger asked.
“Hit eight months about a week back.”
“You’re entering the home stretch! Trust me, I’ve had four kids, and they all came at different times! Even had a preemie in there. You’d never guess though. He grew up taller than all his siblings and now plays wide receiver at school.”
“It truly is something these, days, isn’t it?”Lady, don’t give me that energy.Joan was terrified of a premature birth. Every day, every week that went by and she was still pregnant was a small blessing.Not that it feels like it when this baby is pressing on my bladder. Oh. Oh, God, I’m gonna start peeing myself in T-minus…“Excuse me. I really gotta go.”
Lorri was already ahead of her, holding the stall door open. The stranger cooed at Joan’s stomach for two more seconds and helped herself out.
“Outta my way, Lor!” Joan cried, huffing down the short aisle of stalls to get to the handicap one. “I’m about to burst!”
She hated that she needed her partner’s help to pee, but they were well beyond the point of humiliation between one another. Lorri had seen things. Joan had seen things. They were about to see more things with childbirth and dirty diapers on the way.
“Oof.” Joan sat down with a pang in her lower back. “Didn’t realize I had to go that bad.”
“You okay?” Lorri asked from the other side of the stall.
“Dunno. Think so?”
“That’s not an answer.”
A wave of nausea came over Joan like a tsunami of back pain and a bad, ominous feeling. “Oh. Oh, man, Lor…”
“Don’t do that to me, Joanie. I need you to tell me that you’re feeling okay.”
“I haven’t felt okay since I first had morning sickness and my tits felt like two heavy sandbags on my chest.”
“Okay, I need you to tell me you’re not gonna be sick or have another problem!”
“Can’t say that if I’m not sure I’m lying!”
“Doooon’t do that, Joanie.”
Joan attempted to fold over her lap, but her bulging stomach was the first thing in the way. Something shifted within her. Only one thing came to mind.
If I give birth in a Wal-Mart bathroom…
“Hey, Lor?”
“What?”
“Remember that movie ‘Where the Heart Is?’”
“Huh?”
