September 4, 1975

I placed my hand against my forehead as I shut my eyes and let out a sigh. I fell back onto the couch and slumped down as far as I could into the corner of the couch. I jumped slightly when I felt the cushions of the couch move and my eyes snapped open when I felt that someone sat down on the couch too.

I looked to see who the other person was and it was Keith. He motioned with his hand for me to join in and that I could lean against him, and I hesitantly agreed. "Do ya feel any better since Tuesday?" he asked softly.

It was not the third day that I felt as bad as I did. I was thankful that I'd gotten sick the day after KJ's third birthday, so I didn't ruin it at all. The thing was, I still felt terrible- physically, I mean. I hadn't gone to a doctor yet and quite frankly, I didn't want to one. I never liked going to the doctor, and since Mrs. Mathews was a nurse, I didn't always have to- which I kinda preferred.

"No, not really," I mumbled and shut my eyes again.

I felt him press the palm of his hand against my forehead in three different positions. "What's weird is that your head ain't hot at all," he said in a slightly confused tone, "And it hasn't at all for the past couple days."

"Well, your mom's comin' over today, right?"

"Yeah, she is."

"If you're so worried, just ask her what might be wrong. She is a registered nurse, so there's a good chance that she knows what's wrong."

"Alright… and by the way, I called the radio station for you to tell them you can't come in again cause you're still sick."

I managed a small smile. "Thank you."

Keith left a little while after that. I waited for Mrs. Mathews on the couch, kinda just sitting there. I had the radio on to see- or more like here- what the track line up was for the morning show. I honestly thought it was a good selection: George Harrison, Styx, Elton John, Queen and a few others. All in all, I thought that it was a good selection of music- both vocally and instrumentally.

Hey, even though I'm not a musician, I still have to focus on those two things. You do in unconsciously after a while.

I guess I'd fallen asleep, due to the fact that I nearly jumped outta my skin and off the couch when I heard someone knock on the door. I let myself calm down when I heard Mrs. Mathews call through the door that it was her. I was happy that we'd given her a key, cause I really didn't feel like getting up to open the door. It's not that I didn't want to open the door for her in general, it's just that I felt that terrible.

I heard the door open and close and Mrs. Mathews entered my point of view. She set her bag and light jacket against the edge of the couch like she always did and sat in the armchair that was closest to where I was on the couch. When I looked up at her, she had a comforting smile on her face and I couldn't help but give her a small smile back. "I heard you're still not feeling well," she said in a soft tone. The way she was talking kinda made me feel like I was back in the nurses office at school in junior high, but I didn't find it annoying from her- it was comforting.

I nodded slowly. "That's correct," I mumbled as I sat up on the couch, "Today's the third day I've felt this sick?"

"Do you remember any other time you've felt this sick before?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Alright," she said quietly, "I'm gonna let you rest for a little while, alright?"

"Ok… and just to be sure, KJ is with Keilah today, right?"

She gave me a small smile, nodded, got up from her seat and left the room.

I kinda felt bad that I wasn't completely sure when KJ was at first. I had kinda been trying not to get to close to him for the past two days since I was sick, and I didn't want to get him sick. I had been trying to distance myself from everyone since I got sick cause I didn't want to get anyone else sick.

It also made me feel a bit better knowing KJ was with Keilah. She was really good with him, which didn't actually shock me too much, but it was definitely a nice thought. The fact that he got along great with his only biological aunt would always be a nice thought to remember. At least to me it was. I mean, cause there's always a possibility that someone won't like their aunt- I had one when I was younger, and I didn't like her.

I guessed that I'd fallen asleep again because the next thing I remember is jumping at the sound of the phone. Mrs. Mathews came into the room to answer it but I told her that I would since it had already woke me up. "Hello?" I asked in an unintentional tired tone.

"Hey Rain," I heard in Candy's voice.

"Hey Candy, how ya feelin' lately?"

"I'm doin' ok. Soda won't let me do anything, so does dying of boredom and starting to become stir crazy count as doing ok?"

That managed to make me laugh. "You know he has good intentions."

"Yeah, I know. Anyway, how're you feeling? I know you haven't been feeling too hot since the day after KJ's birthday."

"Honestly, I feel terrible. I haven't felt this terrible in years?"

"When was the last time then that you felt as terrible?"

"I don't know when exactly. I just know I was already married, but KJ wasn't born yet."

"Aw, I'm sorry. I wish I could see you, maybe try to make you feel better. I mean, you're my best friend, it's my job to do that."

"Well, I appreciate, but you can't. You definitely can't get sick at this point."

"You sounded like Soda when you said that," she chuckled, "It's weird."

"Well, realize that I've known the guy for nearly twenty years of my life, which is about ten years more than you," I joked.

"You just made me feel old, Rain."

The two of us stayed on the phone for another hour or so. We hadn't seen each other in a while, so we mostly caught up on events. The reason we hadn't seen each other was due to the fact that she was due soon and Soda wanted her just to rest. Nothing else. If you knew Candy as long as I did, she could never do that- that's why they were just like each other. I had planned on visiting her during the week, but once I got sick, that plan was quickly shot down as if it were a duck during duck season.

Once I had gotten off the phone with Candy, Mrs. Mathews came back into the room. She had a large book in her hand with a bookmark on multiple pages. She sat down next to me on the couch and set the book down on the coffee table. When I looked at the book cover, I saw that it was one of those medical books that had every currently known illness and everything about them in between the pages.

I looked at Mrs. Mathews with a confused look. "We have one of those?" I asked curiously.

"I gave it to my son when you had KJ," she answered nonchalantly, "Anyway, I've been going through the book and I've narrowed down the possibilities of what you have to, I think, three things."

"Ok… so what are they?"

"Well, based off your symptoms, I have a pretty good idea what it is. But I wanna see if you remember any other time you felt this sick. Cause you said over the phone a little while ago that you were already married, but KJ wasn't born yet."

"Mrs. Mathews, I really appreciate this, but can't you just tell me-"

"Trust me."

I let out a slight sigh and nodded. I then did as she said, and tried to remember any other time I'd felt this bad before.

I'd sat there trying to remember the specific time I'd felt like I did for nearly ten minutes. I'd given up three times due to the fact that it was starting to make my head hurt even more than it already did. Mrs. Mathews just kept telling me to try and remember. When I finally did remember, you should've seen the look on my face. My reaction was something straight out of an Abbott and Costello act- more like the Lou Costello half, but you get what I mean.

"Do you remember?" Mrs. Mathews asked, obviously trying to hold back a smile.

Opposite from her, I let my smile show. "Yeah," I nodded, "Yeah, I do." I got up from my seat on the couch and started toward the bedroom.

"Where're you going?" she called out from the other room.

"I have to go to the store right away."

"I thought you were still feeling sick?"

I smiled and let out a laugh. "I'm feeling a lot better."

I quickly changed into a pair of jeans, a tank top, and a plain blue t-shirt. I slipped on a pair of converse sneakers and tied up the laces. Once I finished getting dressed, I went to comb out my hair again and everything else I had to do. Once I finished everything, I left the house and drove to the closest store in the area.

I ended up going to the pharmacy in town, bought what I needed and drove back to the house as fast as I could without breaking the law on the speed limit. All of this took a total of ten to fifteen minutes due to my urgency. Once I got back to the house, I quickly ran inside and to the bathroom. I feel my hands start to shake out of nervousness.

A few minutes later, my hands were still shaking. I picked up the test slowly, my eyes closed. Mrs. Mathews now stood in the doorway and waited, except she probably wasn't as nervous as I was at the moment. "So what does it say?" she asked curiously.

I let out a breath, opened my eyes and looked down. When I did, I felt myself start to smile. "It's positive," I chuckled.

I looked at Mrs. Mathews, who was smiling too. "It is?"

"Yeah, it does. KJ's gonna be a big brother!"

Aw, cute :3

The next chapter is gonna be KJ's first day of preschool X3 also, just so you know, at the beginning I said that Tuesday was at this point three days earlier- I literally go on google images, search the month and year I'll be writing in for the next chapter, and look up the date I want and see what day of the week it was/will be.

I like be accurate ok? I have OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) with these sorts of these things. I do that with songs and movies too for these things. I make sure I'm right about when they were released and if they did or didn't exist at certain points. My two best friends say it's good that I like to be so accurate, and I trust them so yay.

So yeah, I'm going to Alice's Teacup this Sunday in New York City with my two best friends and their family for one of my best friend's birthday :3 she's turning 22 (yes I have a best friend who's six years older than me)

Anyway, hope you like the chapter. Peace from all the hippies of the world! =^-^=