Chapter One: Mother
Being thirteen was something that most girls were supposed to enjoy. The biggest problems were supposed to consist of who to be friends with and whether or not you looked good enough to catch the attention of the boy you liked.
Norma Calhoun never got to experience any of that. She never got to have many friends. She had lost her mother at a young age and had to take over all of the house chores since her father was always either working, drinking, or sleeping. That meant that she was always home, alone with her brother Caleb. There was no one to protect her, no one for her to talk to, and that's how Caleb got away with raping her.
She would never tell though, she couldn't. Her father would be mad at the both of them and it just wasn't worth it. Besides, it wasn't so bad, she learned how to just bear with it, get through it.
It was a week ago when Norma began getting sick. She had missed a week of school thinking that she had the flu. As she was standing in the kitchen doing the kitchen, it had finally occurred to her that she was late. She was just happy that she was alone when everything came together in her head. It gave her the chance to take ten minutes to herself and curl up in her room and sob.
Now here she was, on her way to go stay with a relative because her father was ashamed of her, thought of her as nothing but a whore. Her brother raped her, her father was a violent drunk, and she was the family embarrassment. She had to pay for the wrong things that they had done.
As all of this was happening, she couldn't help but think that if she had a mother that none of this would be happening, she would have had someone to protect her. She would have someone on her side. She wouldn't be traveling a long distance to have her brother's baby.
Sitting on the train, she stared out the window, lifelessly watching as they passed through the countryside. It was tree after tree, field after field. The scenery that would normally become mind numbingly boring to her was now calming to her. It was something that kept her mind from dwelling on the situation.
She hadn't realized it yet, but her hands were resting on her still flat belly. Her first reaction to finding out about the baby was that she didn't want it. All the thing was was a reminder of everything that she had been through. The more she had begun to think about it though, she started to see that this baby was going to be the only person that actually loved her, that needed her and would keep her from being all alone. It was also her way of getting away from that house, from her so called family. This baby was truly a blessing in disguise.
The train slowed, eventually coming to a halt. She was now all the way in Oregon where her Aunt was to pick her up to take her to stay with her in White Pine Bay.
Aunt Celeste was not the best person to be staying with. She was a rather prudish woman, uptight. Everything had be a certain way, rather proper. Celeste had her opinions and they were right and if you didn't agree with her, you were wrong. If you did something that she didn't like, you heard about for weeks. Staying with her ensured that the next eight months were going to be hell.
Norma could hear it now, she would enter the room right after a bout of morning sickness to see Celeste sitting there reading, not even bothering to look up to her because she was better than her. The elder woman would mention how she should have thought about that before being a little tramp and then tell her that she deserves to get sick. Then if she had any mood swings Celeste would simply tell her that she was being ridiculous and to grow up and learn to handle her emotions.
There was a reason that Celeste was never married, never had children. No one wanted to be that one to mentioned it to her.
Norma got to her feet, sighing as she grabbed her purse. There was a moment of dizziness that quickly subsided. As bad as it sounded, she was actually hoping to get sick. It would buy her a few more minutes before she had to go out there and face her Aunt.
She had never gotten along with Celeste. No one really got along with her, but Celeste always had this way of being a little more judgmental Norma. There was one time where it was extremely obvious, when Norma was eight and her cousin Molly was nine. They were both helping to set the table for Thanksgiving dinner. Celeste came over and told Molly what she was doing wrong. She then went over to Norma and told her that she never bother looking for a man because she's never going to be able to keep a house.
It was a rather over the top comment for the time. That was how everything was with the elder woman, over the top and irritating. She was simply the rudest person that Norma had ever met and she went out of her way to be even worse to the young girl. It didn't hurt Norma, it was just annoying. The ridicule and criticism was unnecessary and tiresome.
Reaching up, she took her backpack and suitcase and slowly made her way down the aisle way towards the door. On her way there, she saw a young couple, the woman visibly pregnant. The man was happily grabbing her luggage for her and carrying it. He even kissed her before they started walking. The image caused a pang of jealousy to stab at her. All she was going to get while she was pregnant was insulted.
Stepping off the train with her backpack slung on her shoulder and her suitcase in hand, she heavily exhaled. Her Aunt was probably already there waiting for her. She was never one for being tardy, which right now was very unfortunate.
The blonde barely had time to breathe before she heard her Aunt calling for her. "Norma! You're late!" She scolded as she began walking towards her.
The teenager bit her tongue and fought back the urge to roll her eyes. "The train just arrived Aunt Celeste," she replied. She didn't even move, instead she waited for the woman to approach her. There was no reason for her to make anything easier on the woman.
"Well come on now. I have to get home and get dinner started. No need to stand here wasting time." Celeste took hold of her niece's hand and began nearly dragging her along towards her car.
"Is someone coming over?" Norma inquired. There probably wasn't. She just wanted to vocalize how absurd it sounded. They couldn't be late when they had nobody waiting for them.
"No." Her pace hastened as she spoke. "We need to get you fed and settled in do that you can get to bed early. You need your rest now that you went out and decided to be a whore."
There it was, the insults. There was nothing that she could do about it though, she was stuck with this.
"I'm actually not hungry," she argued. It was true. She felt sick to her stomach. All she wanted to do was lay down and take a nap. Her neck and back were aching and she was tired. The last thing she wanted was to sit there and be told how she deserved everything that she was getting.
"It does not matter. You need to eat. A girl as young as you is going to have a hard enough time with that baby as it is. Not eating will only make matters worse," she curtly replied.
She wouldn't even get a say in when she got to eat. Norma sighed, trying her best to quicken her speed and keep up with her Aunt, but she was tired and her luggage was weighing her down. "Are you trying to get me to run to the car?" She asked.
Celeste stopped, turning as she frowned to the girl. "Don't tell me you're already getting weak. You have months left to go. If you can't handle this now there's no way that you'll make it in a few months, let alone after the baby's born."
Norma swallowed, taking a second to fully absorb what she had just heard. She had just that, eight months left of pregnancy and then eighteen years to raise the child. Up until now, most of her thoughts centered around just getting through this time with her Aunt. She had yet to think of actually taking care of a baby, getting a job when she was old enough and getting her own place and supporting her and her child. She was going to have to be a mother.
"Yes ma'am," she absently responded. Her eyes moved down towards the ground as she began walking. She had no idea what she was going to do from this point onward.