June 1991
Eric stood in the master bedroom, doing a job Tami usually did - packing. As Eric threw outfits together in a bag, Tami laid still in the bed.
"Are you sure you still want to go?" Eric asked, throwing her string bikini into the bag.
Tami groaned hanging her head over the side of the bed towards the trashcan on the bedroom floor as she dry heaved.
"Ugh, I shouldn't have drank that much last night."
"There's a full glass of water and aspirin on the side table", Eric said.
"BABE! I can't move a muscle! Like when you pound into me like a meat grinder."
Eric chuckled, "I can pound the sobriety back into you".
Tami laughed, "OW! Eric, stop making me laugh."
Eric walked over to the bed, and sat on the edge. "Babe, we can still stay home. Stay in bed all day. Make love. Read the paper..."
Tami smiled, "Yeah?"
He smiled in response, "Yeah..."
Just before Eric has a chance to up his chances in wooing his wife in attempt to excuse theirselves from the Annual Hayes Family vacation, Shelley bursts into the bedroom.
"LET'S GO!" Shelley screamed and danced in the doorway. "We're going to the lake!"
Tami rolled her eyes, "I forgot that she crashed on the couch last night."
"Tami! Get your tight ass out of bed right now! We're gonna be late!" Shelley squealed with excitement.
"Shell, it's a house. It's not going to grow legs and walk away" Tami replied.
"I DON'T CARE! I'll be in the car", Shelley turned and ran out of the hallway.
"Is it still murder if she sits in the car willingly and dies?" Eric asked.
"Eric", Tami half-smiled and got out of bed. "Let's go.."
"We've only been married a month and I'm already getting cock-blocked", Eric whined.
Tami stumbled out of bed. "Babe, this will be the only time that happens, until we have kids, in five years."
Eric watched her intently, "You promise?"
Tami turned around and smiled, "I promise"
- A few hours later -
"Are we there yet?" Shelley, asked for the umpteenth time.
"NO!" Tami and Eric shouted, in unison.
"Babe..." Tami moved her hand over the console and into Eric's lap.
Eric glanced over at her, "Yeah?"
"I'm starving, can we stop for a bite somewhere?", Tami asked with puppy eyes.
"Again? We stopped and ate an hour ago, and an hour before that." Eric said.
"Only pregnant women eat every hour..." Shelley interrupted.
"Shut up, Shelley..you have to be careless to get pregnant and we are very careful!" Tami rolled eyes.
"Tam, I'm just saying..I have never seen you eat that much in my entire life, but then again if I had drank that much tequila and puked all of the contents of food in my system up. I'd be starving too." Shelley retorted slumping back down into the backseat of the car.
Tami ignored her younger sisters comment and turned her attention back to her husband.
"Babe, please?" The strawberry blonde asked softly. "I'll be extra nice to you when we get to the lake."
"We can stop and get you something to eat, baby." Eric replied and continued to drive down the long stretch of Texas Highway. "There's a gas station a little ways up the road."
Eric reached down for Tami's hand resting on his leg and gave it a little squeeze entangling his fingers with hers. A few miles up the road Eric spots a gas station and exits the freeway and pulls into the parking lot and parks the car.
"Alright. What do you want, baby?" Eric asked
Tami thought for a moment before settling on what her craving was.
"Dill pickle chips, please." Tami smiled over at him, "Oh, and a strawberry cheesecake popsicle."
"One bag of Dill pickle chips and a strawberry cheesecake popsicle coming up." Eric winked
"Dill pickle chips and a cheesecake popsicle?" Shelley mumbled to herself.
Eric got out of the car and started to head to the mini store of the gas station.
Shelley rolled down her window and stuck her head out, "Don't forget a pregnancy test!"
Eric shook his head and rolled his eyes as he made his way into the store.
Tami jolted her head back to face the backseat. "Shelley! Stop it! I'm not pregnant!"
Shelley laughed as she situated herself back into her seat. "There's a reason why momma always said we were going to Hell if a guy ever touched us...pregnancy before marriage."
Eric walked down the aisles grabbing the items on Tami's craving wish list. As he walked down
the family planning aisle, he paused and turned to the limited variety of pregnancy tests.
"There's no way it's possible" he softly said to himself.
He turned to face the register and slowly started walking to the clerk, he reached over and grabbed a test; taking the items up to the counter, the clerk greeted him.
"Baby on the way?"
"Wha...whaaa...what?" Eric stuttered.
"Pickle chips, ice cream and a pregnancy test. That screams baby on the way."
The clerk said and he rang up the items.
"My wife just has weird cravings." Eric stated as he paid the clerk.
The clerk gave him change and smiled, "congratulations son, nothing like being a daddy."
Eric grabbed the bag and walked out of the mini mart. More certain than ever, that Tami wasn't just hungover.
"Oh, boy...this can't be what I think it is."
He walked to the car and got inside.
"Everything you wanted, babe." He said, handing her the bag of goodies.
"Mmm! Thanks baby, I'm starving." She replied, digging into the bag of chips.
"Babe..." She said softly, grabbing the test and pulling out of the bag. "What's this?"
"It's a pregnancy test." He said, turning the car on and heading back onto the long stretch of highway.
"I know what it is, but why is it in this bag?"
"Just in case..." He replied.
Tami reached over the console and smacked his arm. "BABE! We don't need this. And, why did you listen to Shelley? You hate Shelley!" Tami started... "I'm not pregnant, I'm throwing this out the window.." She continued, rolling her window down.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Momma's gonna want proof of your indiscretion." Shelley said.
"I'M NOT PREGNANT!"
Tami rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest in the front seat and stared out the window. she was increasingly getting annoyed with Shelley and her comments. There was no possible way that she could be pregnant, she and Eric were always careful. They never forgot to use protection and she never forgot to take her pills ever. She let out a heavy sigh and turned to look at Eric.
"Babe..." She whispered lowly
Eric sat in the drivers seat, eyes locked on the long stretch of Texas highway. They'd only just begun, and still had hours to go. His mind raced with ideas of becoming a father, a title he wasn't prepared for. The soft sound of Tami's voice knocked him out of his daze.
"Yeah..." He whispered back, glancing at her face.
Tami reached across the console for his hand and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. She wasn't sure what was going through Eric's mind, he looked like he was a mixture of emotions and thoughts.
"Do you think we need to need to talk about this?" She asked softly
Eric tightened his hand on the steering wheel and took a deep breath. Tami's touch could always calm him down in a way no one else ever could before.
"Yeah," he replied and squeezed her hand. "I think we do and we will once we get to the lake and have some privacy."