Medicine
"I can't believe how well-behaved Jason was while we were shopping," Carly said as her and Sam drove out of the mall parking lot.
"He's six-months old; he sat in his stroller the whole time," Sam pointed out. "How bad could he have been?"
"Well some babies just scream and scream and scream when they're out in public," Carly reasoned. "But little Jason was perfectly happy sitting in his stroller playing with his little toys."
She turned and smiled at the infant, who was sleeping peacefully in his car seat in the back. "God, he's so cute."
"I know," Sam said proudly. "Oh, speaking of Jason, I need to run by the pharmacy real quick. I need to get a refill on his eardrops. Do you mind? It's just up here."
"Nah," Carly replied. "So he still has that ear infection?"
"Yeah, but its gotten better," Sam nodded. "After this refill he should be fine."
They pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and into a spot right up front.
"Hey!" Carly said suddenly just as Sam parked. "Look at that little baby bird up there on the curb!"
"Huh? Oh yeah," Sam said, craning her neck. There was a small bird hopping haphazardly right in front of her parked car. "You think it's hurt?"
"Let's go see," Carly said, unbuckling her seatbelt and heading up to the bird. "Oh, it looks like his wing is a little bent. You think we should take it to a vet?"
"Actually, Freddie and I were watching the nature channel last night," Sam said, stepping out of the car as well. "And they were talking about this! Ha, I'll have to tell the nub…"
"You watch the nature channel?"
"Eh, we were both too tired to try and find the remote," Sam shrugged. "But anyway, if a bird's wing is ben and it doesn't look too, too bad, you're supposed to let it heal on its own. You know, nature."
"Oh," Carly said. "But this little guy is so small. What if a cat or something comes by? I wonder where his mom is?"
Sam looked around. "Hey!" I think that might be his nest there!" She pointed up to the small, nearby tree.
"I bet his mom is out looking for him," Carly said sadly. "You know, I think the nest is low enough…I'll go put him back!"
"Careful," Sam warned as Carly bent down and gently picked up the bird. She stepped over to the nest and very slowly placed him back in.
"Nice, Carly!" Sam grinned.
"I feel like a hero," Carly beamed proudly. "Although now my hands smell like bird…"
"I have hand sanitizer in Jason's diaper bag," Sam said. "Hang on just one second."
She turned back to her car and made to open up the door. The door didn't budge though; it was locked.
"What the-" Sam frowned, pulling harder on the door handled.
"What?" Carly asked.
"Oh no…" Sam aid. "No, no, no! I-I locked my keys in the car! I can't get in! I can't get Jason!"
She peered into the back window, where Jason was still fast asleep.
"Okay, Sam, calm-"
"I've got to get to him!" Sam exclaimed. "Quick, find a rock or something that I can use to break the window!"
"Sam, that's just going to be even worse; a shard of glass can hit Jason," Carly said. "Look, just calm down and we'll-"
"How can I calm down, Carly? I locked my baby in the car!" Sam snapped. "People go to jail for locking their pets in the car!"
"Yes, but the car is still running; the air conditioning is on," Carly pointed out. "Jason's fine. He's not going to overheat or anything."
"But what if he gets hungry?" Sam said shakily. "Or needs a new diaper. What if he gets scared that he's in the car all by himself."
"Well Freddie has a set of keys to your car, doesn't he?" Carly said.
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"Great," Carly said. "So just call Freddie, explain what happened, and he can bring his keys over."
"Okay, okay," Sam said, her voice still quivering. "Hopefully he won't freak out too much. I can just-wait…oh no! No! My phone is in the car! It's right there in the cup holder! Oh, and yours is in there too! How can we call for help now? Oh, I'm the worst mother ever! I locked my baby in the car and now he's trapped in there!"
"Sam, Sam, easy," Carly said. "Look, I'll just run into the pharmacy and ask to use a phone in there. You stay out here and keep an eye on Jason."
"Okay," Sam said helplessly.
As Carly ran off, Sam turned and looked back in at Jason. The infant was still asleep.
"I'm so sorry, Jason," Sam mumbled. "Mommy was so stupid…dumb old bird…look what you did!"
….
About twenty minutes later Freddie's car pulled up next to Sam's.
"Do you have the key?" Sam asked right away, rushing over to Freddie. "Did you bring it?"
"Yes, yes, I've got it," Freddie nodded, pulling the key out of his pocket. "Just let me-"
But Sam quickly grabbed the key and raced back over to her car. She quickly unlocked the car and pulled Jason out of his car seat.
"Jason!" Sam exclaimed, hugging her son close to her. "Oh Jason, I'm so, so sorry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?"
Jason, who had slept through the entire ordeal, had now started to wake up. He looked sleepily up at his mother and gave her a soft coo.
"He looks fine, Sam" Freddie told her, rustling Jason's hair.
"I locked him in the car, Freddie," Sam said. "He is not fine!"
"But the air was on the whole time," Freddie said.
"And he was asleep!" Carly added.
"Exactly," Freddie nodded. "Seriously, Sam. He's fine."
"Let's just go home," Sam said, still hugging Jason close to her. "I just want to forget about this whole thing."
….
"Sam, baby, you need to ease up on yourself," Freddie said a short while later as him and Sam stepped up to their front door. "You're not a terrible mother just because you made one tiny mistake. It really wasn't a big deal."
"Well what if the air hadn't been on still?" Sam sighed. "It's June! The sun's been beaming down for weeks now. He could've gotten heat stroke! Or what if he had put something in his mouth and started to choke and I couldn't get to him? Huh?"
"Sam, none of those things happened," Freddie said gently. "So don't beat yourself up. Look, it was an accident; it could've happened to any parent. It's not like you purposely meant to do anything to Jason."
Sam sighed. "Well…I guess he is okay."
"There you go," Freddie smiled, giving her a quick kiss as he unlocked the front door. "So just stop-"
"There's my precious baby!"
The second Freddie opened the door the couple was suddenly ambushed by Marissa Benson. She rushed over to Sam and plucked Jason right from her arms.
"Oh Jason, I can't believe you were carelessly locked in a car for hours like that!" she said, examining the infant all over. "Don't you worry, sweetheart. Grandma is here to make sure you're all safe and sound."
"What is she doing here?" Sam hissed, glaring at her husband. "You told her about this?"
"She-She was sort of here when Carly called…" Freddie mumbled lamely. He turned to his mother. "Mom, Jason wasn't locked in the car for hours. It was twenty minutes with the air on. He slept the entire time! He's-"
"I wish I could say I'm shocked, Samantha," Marissa said in a disapproving tone, cutting her son's comments short. "How many times have I told you; it's one thing when your irresponsible actions affect you. It's another when they effect your child."
"Mom, Sam's not irresponsible with Jason," Freddie said firmly. "She's a fantastic mom! She-"
"Maybe this wouldn't have happened if you attended those parenting classes I've invited you to," Marissa sighed.
"Okay, Sam doesn't need parenting classes, mom," Freddie said, rolling his eyes as he reached over and took his son. "And maybe it's best if you go back home now and-"
"I'll go," Sam said suddenly.
"What?" Freddie frowned.
"Um, I-I'll go to one of those parenting classes with you, Marissa," Sam sighed.
"Oh, that's wonderful news!" Marissa smiled. "There's one this Saturday at the community center. I'll bring us some celery sticks for snacks!"
"How fun…" Sam mumbled.
"Alright, well, thanks for stopping by," Freddie said, gently leading his mom to the front door. "Bye, mom!"
He closed the door behind her and looked over at Sam.
"Sam, are you nuts?"
"Well Freddie, maybe I do need extra help with this whole 'mom' thing," Sam said.
"No, you don't!" Freddie said. "You're a great mom! Jason loves you so much. See?"
He handed Jason over to Sam, who instantly looked up at her face with a toothless grin that Sam couldn't help but return.
"Well right now he doesn't know any better," Sam said. "But in a few years he's going to realize what an irresponsible mother he has. I don't want that! When I realized what a freak my mom is it completely changed how I thought about her."
"Yes, but Sam, you aren't your mom," Freddie said. "You would never leave Jason at a gas station in Fresno or make him sit for hours in a tattoo parlor."
"Dude, you're always telling me to spend more time with your mom," Sam pointed out. "So what's the big deal if I go to a parenting class with her?"
"The big deal is that you're seriously doubting your abilities as a mother!" Freddie said. "All because you made one, tiny mistake."
"Freddie-"
"Sam, don't you remember back when Jason was first born?" Freddie asked. "And-And I thought I was a terrible father because no matter what I did, Jason would only calm down for you?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
"Well, you told me that I was being ridiculous," Freddie said. "You told me that I was obviously a good father to Jason because you knew how much I loved him. And Sam, I know you love Jason more than anything. You'd do anything for him."
"I-I just can't believe that I-"
"Sam, how many times have you had Jason in the car with you?" Freddie said. "Hundreds, right?"
Sam nodded.
"And this is the only time you've ever done something like this," Freddie said.
"Yeah, but-"
"All parents have moments where they just…where they mess up," Freddie said.
"Not according to your mom," Sam mumbled.
"Hey," Freddie said, giving her a small smile. "My mom's not perfect either when it comes to parenting, despite what she wants to believe. There's a time when I was four years old that she conveniently likes to forget ever happened."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Well," Freddie said. "When I was four we went on a vacation to the Grand Canyon. That was back before she started protesting all outdoor phenomenons. Anyway, we were looking down at one of those really deep drops, and I loved being so high up."
"But you're afraid of heights," Sam pointed out.
"Well now I am," Freddie chuckled. "I was a little more fearless as a kid."
"I don't buy it, but go on," Sam said.
"Right, well, I didn't seem to understand that I needed to stay away from the ledge to keep from falling hundreds of feet down," Freddie said. "So I was constantly running over to the ledge to get better looks. And of course my mom would yell at me every time. But at some point she had her back turned to me because she was trying to take some picture, and I took that as an opportunity to get back out on the ledge. I was actually sitting with my legs dangling out over the canyon; it was pretty cool. I would be too terrified to do it now, of course, but at the time…Well, while I was sitting there, I accidently wound up kicking off one of my shoes, and it fell all the way down. I was pretty bummed out, because they were my favorite pair of shoes, so I decided I was going to climb down and get it…"
"No!" Sam gasped.
"Yup," Freddie nodded. "I found a spot with a few jagged rocks sticking out that I figured I could use to climb down. But, being the uncoordinated klutz that I am, I wound up falling."
"You fell down the Grand Canyon?" Sam exclaimed, her eyes bulging.
"Well not all the way down," Freddie said quickly. "It was actually just a few feet. Luckily I landed on another rock that was sticking out. But I wound up scraping up my arm real badly and they had to call in the fire department to come get me."
He rolled up his sleeve and showed Sam a small scar by his elbow. "That's how I got this."
"Holy chiz…your mom-your mom-"
"My mom messed up," Freddie said. "I think turning your back on your child at the Grand Canyon is a little worse than accidently locking Jason in a car that's turned on, but, well, you get the point. Sometimes things happen. Yeah, you should do everything you can to keep those things from happening, because they can turn into pretty bad situations, but it's impossible to never make a single mistake as a parent."
"I can't believe this…" Sam said. "After all those lectures your mom gave me, she's no better! She's worse! I would never let Jason out of my sight at the Grand Canyon!"
"I think that's when she started being super overprotective," Freddie said. "But don't you see my point? You're not a terrible mom because you messed up once! You don't need to go to some parenting class."
"Shoosh yeah I don't!" Sam said. "And you know what? Give me my phone! I'm calling your mom up right now and I'm going to rub this in her face. She's a huge hypocrite!"
"Er, Sam, maybe that's not-"
"Unbelievable!" Sam said, grabbing her phone from Freddie. "Oh I can't wait to hear what she has to say!"
"Oh jeez," Freddie sighed as Sam stormed off.
