Chapter 3
I was the first one up on Moving Day. I figured I would let Matty sleep, since she's the pregnant one. I know it sounds crazy, moving when you have a wife pregnant with twins and a four year old. But Matty got pregnant after we decided to move. It wasn't unplanned or anything, we were already taking about having another baby, but we didn't wanna force it. If it happened it happened. And it happened. It was the same way with Angel. We were ready for our first child, but we worried if we forced it to happen we wouldn't have as much luck.
I got up at 5:30, 15 years ago I wouldn't even think about getting up that early. But there was still some last minute packing to do. I had to do it quietly though so I wouldn't wake my girls up. I also wanted Angel to get some sleep, since she was up late for her the night before and nothing is worse then a cranky toddler on a long car ride. Yes, we were driving to San Diego. It would take nearly two days. Me and Matty must sound really crazy now. But luckily, Matty just got over the throwing up part of the pregnancy, so I wouldn't have to worry about her getting carsick. Plus we would stop at gas stations for bathroom breaks and to eat and we would probably stop at a motel to sleep for a night.
When I finished all the packing I put stuff in the car that Angel could do on the long ride. Books she could flip trough and try to read, coloring books, puzzles stuff like that. She doesn't play with Barbies too much. But she will play with them when she's with Dahlia or Melissa, so it isn't like she hates them or anything.
Angel woke up soon, then Matty shortly afterwards. Since there wasn't much time for a big breakfast, we all just had cereal. The guys with the moving van came just as Angel was sipping the last of her milk, and let half of it dribble down her chin. Then, one by one the boxes were rolled up into the big van. Some little things went into the back of our trunk, but not much. Angel watched the hairy men shove all our belongings into a truck on the front lawn. She sat with her legs criss-crossed and clutching the Mickey Mouse she got the day before. I think it was just hitting her now that she was really going to leave her friends and uncles and aunts. When it was time to go I picked her up and gave her a kiss. She wrapped one arm around my neck while holding her Mickey in the other.
I carried her into the car and buckled her up. "Daddy," She started. "What baby?" She didn't say anything.
I then got into the driver's seat, where Matty was waiting sitting shotgun. I shut my door. "You girls ready?" I asked them. Matty nodded. "Yes." she answered. I took her hand and kissed it. I then turned to Angel. She was staring out the window at our house.
"You ready, Angel?" I asked her, but she still wouldn't stop staring at the house. "Honey, you ok?" Matty asked her. "We know you're gonna miss the house and your friends and family, but we're still with you. And we'll come back to visit." I assured her. She looked over at me, she looked so sad. I hate to see her unhappy. Especially when I feel like I can't cheer her up. I decided to play when of our little games. I blew her a kiss, and she catches it then pressed it to her cheek. That was a good sign.
So I turned back around, buckled my seat belt and turned the car on and put it into gear.
"Here we go." I say.
The ride was well, what can I say? It was boring. There's not much to say. I remember being so excited to get my license so I can drive, but now it's just like walking. I just have to do it to get around. I also hate being in the car for too long. I get bored and want to do something else after awhile, but I gotta keep driving till I get to where I need to go. But we all tried to entertain ourselves though.
Matty read some books. A few were about parenting, others were fiction. Angel was still sad for the first hour or so of the car ride, but she snapped out of it. Luckily she doesn't stay upset for too long. She flipped trough her picture books. She tried making up her own stories for the pictures, maybe she'll become a writer like me. She also drew in some of the coloring books I gave her to do and did one of the puzzles.
I couldn't do much to entertain myself, since I was the one driving. All I really could do was put on the radio, which I did. My taste in music hasn't changed too much since I was a teenager. I still listen to Elvis, but I've also discovered some new bands. The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith. What I've really gotten into was Bruce Springsteen though.
Back when I was in college, Two-Bit talked me into going to a bar with him, I didn't drink much though. And there was this guy playing with a small band. He was good. I mean, really good. He had this great energy, he had everyone in the bar in the palm of his hand. If he played a upbeat song, everyone was in a good mood. He played a more sad song, people would be quiet. Two-Bit and I couldn't get over him. We both kept yapping about how he needed to get famous. Then a few years ago back in 1975, I'm in a record store and I hear a song playing on the radio and the voice sounded familiar. It took me a couple a minutes to realize who it was. I asked the guy at the cashier what album it was from, and he said Born to Run, so I bought it. Now I love this guy. Angel was a baby when I started getting into him, so she basically grew up listening to him and she likes him too. Matty does too, everyone does, even Sodapop. My favorite song is 'Thunder Road', Angel likes 'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out' Matty likes 'Born to Run', says it reminds her of us.
So we listened to the radio for awhile, and if a song came on we liked it, we all sang along. Luckily Angel doesn't get embarrassed by our bad singing yet.
Every hour we'd stop for a bathroom stop, being pregnant is not nice to a woman's bladder. For lunch and dinner we would stop at diners where the food was cheap but the burgers were still good. When we finished I even let Angel run around the building a few times. Just so she could stretch her legs and blow off all her energy so she wouldn't get restless in the car.
Around 10:00 angel conked out in her booster seat, and that's when we started looking for a good motel. We finally did, and I carried Angel into the room. I placed under the ugly floral covers on the bed, then me and Matty gave her good night kisses. Matty brushed her teeth and changed into a baggy t-shirt for pajamas. I just striped down to my boxes. Even though we spent the whole day in a car, we were tired. The past couple of days had been hectic busy and it was only gonna get crazy.
Matty and I both climbed in and got comfortable. I looked over at her. She had her head on the pillow with her golden brown hair spread out around her, it just automatically does that sometimes. She seemed tired, but not yet ready to go to sleep. But she was still, like always, beautiful. I looked and thought "How did I get so lucky?" I think this a lot when I see her and Angel.
I wanted her right now. We hadn't really had sex since we found out she was pregnant. But I couldn't right now anyway with our daughter in the bed right over. Instead I just wrapped her in my arms and kissed her for a little bit. But it was enough for me for now.
We woke up the next morning around 5:30, went to the bathroom, checked out, then it was back on the road. We were somewhere in Arizona now. There was a lot of sand and cactuses, reminded me of a desert. We unrolled some of the windows since it was pretty hot out. Once again, the girls read, I drove, the radio played, and we stopped every hour for a bathroom break. Most of the time it was Matty going.
That night we stopped at another motel, we were so close.
The next day we made it to our new house our 11:00, a start of a new life.
Hope everyone liked this chapter. I added my own favorite musician into the story, can you guess who it is ;). Also I havent been able to write much cause I'm in a play for school (Christmas Carol) and I have to be at practice alot. It's crazy I have to be at one on Sunday from 10 AM to 8 PM! Plus I have schoolwork and crap. but once this all blows over I'll find more time to write. thanks for reading! Stay Gold!
