Shifted #Wattys2016

XXXIX

Maxine

The ride home was so much faster than the ride to Chicago. Maybe it was because we were tired, maybe because we drove a little faster, maybe because we slept more, stopped less.

Bloom dropped me off at Julie's and I went straight for a shower and then the longest nap in the history of the world.

I spent a week calling back home twice a day, asking mom how she was doing, then talking to Mandy and asked her how Mom was doing. After that first week, though, I relaxed a lot, told Mandy that she could relax a little and not have to check on my mother so much. I asked her still to drop by every once in a while. I'd still call every once in a while too.

I didn't talk to Felix until after that week, but when I did, he told me that Emmett and Bloom were leaving for a bit. Going to Colorado where there's a werewolf who specializes in pregnancy. Werewolf pregnancy is much different than human.

"First," Felix tells me, "gestation is a hell of a lot shorter. Second, you can't go to a regular doctor because of the wolf genetics mixed with human. Third, even if you got away with going to a regular doctor, the baby looks different than a human baby. Hair all over, pointed ears, more of a square nose. These things would freak all doctors out."

"It's so interesting." I said. "Is she pregnant yet?"

Felix shrugged. "I don't know, and she probably won't say anything until after she gets back, just in case something doesn't work out, you know?"

I nodded. "It'll be different."

Felix nodded his head a little. "Yeah. I know."

It was just Felix and I at the home. Wane was at the neighbor's house, Caven was out with friends, and Bloom and Emmett were in Colorado.

I stood up from the couch and walked to the bathroom. I paused in the door way and looked at Ronnie's door. It has remained closed since she left.

After the bathroom, I walked back down the hall and leaned on the wall. "Hey, Fe, has anyone cleaned Ronnie's room yet?"

Felix looked at me. "No."

"Would you have a problem if I went in there?"

Felix stood up and walked over to me. "It's time anyway."

I opened up the door and looked around. The bed was half made, a pillow tossed on the ground. There were charging cords on the floor, t-shirts strewn about, overflowing laundry hamper, overflowing trashcan, the closet light still on.

It felt... rushed.

It felt like if she dirtied the room just to make a show out of it all. It didn't feel at all like this was how Ronnie was. Messy. Careless. Lazy.

But she was. Messy. Careless. Lazy.

Felix looked down.

I started to pick up clothes and put them in the hamper. I took out the trash and made the bed. Even that alone was enough to make it look much better. I flipped off the closet light and continued to clean up the stuff on the floor.

I looked around. I laundry was still overflowing, but the trashcan was not. The bed was made and the clothing on the floor was gone. It now felt empty.

Felix walked out of her room and I shut the door.

"Fe, it was time."

 Felix nodded. "I know."