Babies and Bottles

Chapter 2

To the right is Emilie de Ravin (A.K.A. Lori)

 I suppose whenever something horrible is going to happen life decides to cut you a break and let you eat your wheaties first, because that morning was rather uneventful.

As soon as I woke up, I thought of Sadie's upcoming birthday. Her very first. It wasn't going to be anything extravagant. Just Francesca, Sadie, Dad, and I. Fran would photograph every moment so Ryan wouldn't miss a drop of her childhood. Sadie would take a bath in the cake she was to eat. Dad would be forced to sit at the table, though he'd have a beer in his hand no doubt. And I would bake the short lived cake.

Speaking of Sadie...

I threw back my bed cover and stood up, stretching out my back. My hair had finally grown back to just above my elbow. The simple fact that my hair looked good, or as good as bed hair could actually look, when I woke up made me love it. Of course it would look deflated and unbrushed later, so I could never leave it as was.

I shook down the plaid pants leg that had crawled up to my thigh in the middle of the night before walking out of my room and into the adjacent one. The walls were a shocking zebra print compared to the soft pink carpet. Fran went a little overboard designing it for me, but it was a fun weekend project.

There, peeking over her crib railing in the corner of the room, was a little ray of sunshine. And, as only Sadie was capable of doing, the tiny grin on her face brought a smile to mine.

"Lawr!" The toddler reached for me over the railing, and I scooped her up into a hug. She could call me Lawr as long as she wanted. It was so much cuter than Lori. It was one of the few words she could say, anyway.

"Good morning, pumpkin." I told her as I carried her out of her room and into the bathroom across the hall, setting her down on the counter where she sat obediently. She looked up at me and smiled again. It was contagious, I swear.

"Wah fwesh ba!" She told me with a suddenly serious expression, flailing her hands around in exaggeration. I nodded, gently running a brush through her soft, blonde hair. There was just enough of it to pull into two tiny pigtails. I wasn't quite happy about the growing hair, though. It made her look more like me. Which was exactly what I didn't need.

Sighing, I put the brush away. "Ready for breakfast?"

Sadie reached out for me again. I picked her up and set her on the ground, making sure she had her balance before walking slowly to the kitchen. She toddled behind me, pausing several times to catch her balance.

I placed the little girl in her high chair and strapped her in. Grabbing a banana off the counter, I cut it into small pieces and gave it to her to eat. I then dragged her high chair into my room and proceeded to get ready for school.

I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and fixed my bangs. I used a little mascara so my blond eyelashes would show, applied some eyeshadow and eyeliner, then put on a pair of jeans and a green top.

Finding my shoes, I looked up to see that Sadie had finished eating. I slipped them on then cleaned her up, she babbling on through out the whole process. She must have found what she had said funny, because she let out a giggle.

I smiled and placed a kiss on the top of her head, then changed her out of her onesie and into a dress she could play in.

Letting her play with a small stuffed animal in her room and leaving the door open, I walked back into the hall and to the only door that had yet to be touched that morning. I opened it and heard a voice groan at the sliver of light that had entered.

The room wasn't the cleanest, but I never let it get too dirty. It was minimally decorated, with a bed and nightstand beside it. There was a picture of me from fifth grade on the opposite wall. A few pieces of clothing littered the ground. In the bed was my dad, drunk as always, bottle in hand. I was just relieved he was in the bed. On bad days he would only make it to the floor.