“You better be cozy by tomorrow folks, this blizzard is going to be a bit of a road block for the next week. Stay safe and warm!”
The TV in the corner of Ande’s small living room was turned down low, but I still could hear the blizzard warnings. I looked outside the window and saw the snow piling up on the ground.
Ande and Dahlia had been so kind to me these past couple of weeks. Ande had opened up her house to let me stay with her. It was so much warmer than the little shack I stayed in.. and there were lights… and food. And an actual bed for me to sleep in instead of a cold sleeping bag.
“Did you like the lights Delilah and I hung up, Remmi? They’re my favorite color!” Earlier today when the snow had taken a break, Ande and I had gone outside and strung green Christmas lights from her roof. Though it wasn’t too close to Christmas, we were way too excited to wait any longer.
Dahlia nodded as she took a bit more of my hair into her hands. “Ok, Lilah. Here goes nothing!”
I closed my eyes tightly as I heard my hair falling to the ground. Dahlia had needed practice since she was studying to be a cosmetologist and I had volunteered, seeing as I had a baby on the way and long hair would just be a great thing for the baby to grab ahold of.
“Good god, Delilah! You look horrible!” Ande shrieked, applying makeup on my face. I don’t know why I had decided to let these two do this to me, but it felt good to have friends taking care of me.
After about thirty minutes of continuous shrieks from Ande and a few “Girl, you can pull off any hairstyle. I am so jealous.”‘s from Dahlia, I was finally done.
Ande jumped up to go get a mirror to show me. “Oh god,” I winced, leaning over in the chair. The little one was not having as much fun as I was. Ande came back into the room holding the mirror, but stopped in her tracks when she saw my face. “…You okay, Lilac?”
I nodded and grabbed the mirror. What I saw before me was not me.
Ande started laughing and Dahlia peered over my head to see my face before doubling over in laughter herself. I glared at Ande and chucked the mirror at her. “Whoa there, killer! Take it easy! You don’t want seven years of bad luck!”
After things had calmed down, I still had to lean over to keep the pain from making me cringe. Dahlia teased my hair a little more and Ande still looked interested with my face.
“Ande, wash it off now.”
I wasn’t happy with her and she could tell. She started over on my face and started applying what I hoped to be was normal makeup. Except this time, I made her sit the mirror in front of me so I could tell.
“Lilah?” Dahlia asked, siting next to me. “Ande and I wanted to see your house. I mean, we think that maybe we could all stay at your house during the blizzard for a change.”
I bit down on my bottom lip and stared at the ground. “Eyes up,” Ande snapped, applying mascara.
“Uh, well, the thing is..”
“Great! Let’s head over there now!”
And with that, I was pushed out the front door to lead my two closest friends to a shack where they wanted to stay.
–
I could almost swear that inside the shack was colder than it was outside.
“L-Lilac? This is where you… live?” Ande said with a shiver. I nodded and shoved my hands into my pockets for warmth.
Dahlia peered over Ande’s shoulder and looked around the place as if she was scared something was going to pop out at her. Or maybe she was trying to figure out how I’d even survive here.
“It didn’t get bad until the winter hit. I actually was comfortable during the summer,” I spoke barely above a whisper, not daring to look at my friends horrified faces.
Ande walked over to where my sleeping bag sat, unfolded, and squatted down. “This is where you sleep?” She asked, shivering a little as she spoke. When I nodded, she buried her face in her hands and groaned.
“Why didn’t you tell us? We’re going to make this place a home.”
“But-“
“And no buts, Lilac. I don’t care what you say. This is going to be a home for a baby, for God’s sake. So come on, we’re going shopping.”
–
The endless day of shopping finally came to an end after about five hours of shopping. We called it a day after the snow started really getting heavy. The heat was now on in my house and we were very grateful for that because the blizzard had trapped all three of us in my sha- house…
We spent the next several days working on the house. It went from looking like a rat hole to a beautiful house that I’d love to call my own. Too bad I don’t know who owns it.
After the final day of decorating, we all sat down in front of my new TV. Dahlia turned on the weather to see if the blizzard was letting up anytime soon.
“Still cozy and warm” The weatherman asked, laughing at his own joke that he has repeated every day for the past week. “You better be, because this snow isn’t going to let up for another day or two.”
Ande looked over at me with a weary look as I laid my head on the side of the rocking chair. “When is your due date?”
I stared at her for a few minutes before my eyes got too heavy to keep them open. I slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep… except I could hear more voices than what I had heard before I fell asleep.
“When will she wake up?” A desperate plea. It almost sounded like me when my mother died.. I wanted her to wake up.
“I have told you again and again, I don’t know. She has been asleep for a very long time, we have no way to tell if she will wake up.”
I tried to open my eyes but they seemed to be matted shut. It hurt a little to breathe. For a second, I worried that my baby was hurt. But then that memory seemed to fade… as if I wasn’t even pregnant.
“I just miss her, that’s all…” the worried voice cried out. I could almost hear her choking on tears, but I couldn’t tell who it was.
“We all do,” the other voice replied. “But the most we can do right now is try to talk to her. She seems to show more signs of waking up.”
“Ande? Is she awake?” I heard a girl ask… no, that was Dahlia!
“Delilah… wake up….”
“Please wake up! PLEASE!”
I sat up taking deep breaths, only to find Dahlia sitting on the couch next to me, a cat in her lap.
“Wow, you slept for a long time.” She said, smiling at me.
“Where’s Ande?” I asked, trying to sit up straight.
“She went to bed. It’s probably around four in the morning, I just couldn’t sleep. Oh! And I hope you don’t mind, but this stray cat wouldn’t stop meowing on your front porch, and I just felt so bad, I mean it’s so cold and-“
I cut her off with a laugh. “I don’t care Remmi.”
She smiled as her gaze went back down to the cat. The cat purred as Dahlia scratched behind it’s ear. I sat and listened to it until my eyes started to close again.
“Oh, Delilah?” Dahlia asked, placing her hand on my arm. “When is your due date? We asked before you fell asleep but you acted like you couldn’t answer.”
“I don’t know… I haven’t- Oh my god!” I sat bolt straight up in my chair, a pain shooting through me.
“Delilah? What’s wrong?! Oh god, please tell me you’re not in labor, please! The blizzard will keep us from getting to the hospital! Oh please… ANDE! GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE!”
Dahlia took my hand in hers and kept talking to me, but all I could do was stare at her. Her face slowly started disappearing as darkness took over.
I embraced it.
itsawoodslife 