"Tummy mommy. You have a baby!"
One week later Mellie balanced a car seat in one hand and a diaper bag in her other hand. She was tired of dealing with the baby. Jake was ignoring her calls. Mellie was desperate.
"Where's Olivia?"
"Mom and dad are sleeping."
It was 6:00 in the morning. The house was quiet. Karen was not sleeping late on a Saturday.
"Can I have your baby?"
Mellie laughed until she cried. Karen took the car seat and put it on the floor.
"You can have my doll, and I can have your baby."
"You want to have the baby?"
"I'm a good mom."
"Sure. You're probably a better mom than me."
"Can I have your baby?"
"Yeah."
"Cool! I'm getting a real baby."
"She has to stay in her car seat. You cannot pick her up without Olivia and Fitz being down here."
"Can I give her a bottle?"
"She's not hungry."
"Are you staying here?"
"No, goodbye Karen. Be a good mom to your baby."
Mellie wiped her tears again and left the baby with Karen. The baby looked around. Karen looked in the diaper bag. She found a pacifier and put it in the baby's mouth. The baby spit the pacifier out and whined. Karen looked for a bottle. Olivia was in the hallway slowly making her way to the stairs. She wanted to start walking without leaning on Fitz. She thought the TV was loud downstairs when she heard the baby. Olivia reached the last step and willed herself to keep walking ignoring the stomach cramps.
She looked around confused trying to find out where the noise was coming from. The TV wasn't on. The whining stopped. Olivia could see Karen on the floor next to the car seat. Karen hadn't played with the reborn doll in months. Olivia smiled and kept walking to the kitchen. She heard the whine again. The babies were upstairs in the nursery. Where was that whining coming from?
"Karen, what toy is making that noise?"
"She's a real baby."
"Your toy is making too much noise. The babies are sleeping."
Olivia looked around for the toy, and she lowered herself to the floor when she heard the noise again. She looked at the car seat.
"That is a real baby!"
"She's my baby. I have everything she needs in this bag."
