I feel very self-conscious throwing up in the bathroom. I'm trying to be as quiet as possible so that Mom doesn't hear me. She's not as neurotic as Josh but she's already worried about me and I don't want to freak her out any more than necessary.
I figured Josh would spill the secret the minute we picked his Mom up for the airport yesterday but he's mostly kept a lid on it- other than calling her Ima when he hugged her. He only uses the Hebrew word for Mother occasionally, and usually when he has something important to tell her. So when it slipped out she'd raised her eyebrows in surprise but just hugged him back.
Then she took one look at me and started fussing at him.
"Joshua! Are you taking good care of our Donna? She looks tired. Has she been eating enough? She's too skinny."
But she'd wrapped me up in a comforting hug, and said "my beautiful girl, Ima's here now, I'll take care of you." Which of course had tears streaming down my face in the middle of the airport.
We were planning on eating out, but she'd said- "stop at the Deli. I want this one in bed with some soup." I'd let her fuss over me the rest of the night and I'll freely admit it gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.
Anyway, I don't know how we are going to keep this a secret until tomorrow night. The smell from the coffee brewing already set me off on round one. And pretty much any car ride is going to set off another round. So unless we let her think I have the flu, Mom's probably going to have an idea by the end of the day. But, Josh wants to make it special when we tell her, so I'll try to put on a good front. I wash my face and brush my teeth. It's a good thing the mint doesn't bother me.
When I get out to the kitchen I find Mom and Josh enjoying their coffee and reading the Sunday paper together. They are so much alike I can't help but smile.
"Good morning!" I greet them.
They peer over the newspaper and each give me a once over with identical expressions, love mixed with worry. It makes me giggle.
"What?" They both say at the same time which just intensifies my mirth.
"Nothing," I manage to get out past the laughter. "I just love you both very much." In response they give me identical bemused smiles.
"Do you want some coffee, dear?" Mom asks.
"No!" Josh shouts. I give him a glare. Way to play it cool there, honey. Nothing suspicious about that. Not to mention how unfair it is that he has a cup of coffee and I don't. I'm letting him keep his coffee even though I'm cutting back to one cup per day, but I already warned him that since I have to give up alcohol, so does he.
"No thanks, Mom. I've been trying to drink more water." She just raises one eyebrow at me and says nothing.
Josh gets up and pours me a glass as I look around the kitchen for something to eat so I can take the prenatal vitamins.
Josh had been smug when the OB had a cancellation and was actually able to see me the same day I called. I don't know if he pulled strings or not. She's not too worried about the morning sickness yet. Sometimes when it comes on early it goes away faster. She just wants me to try to keep eating and to drink as much water as I can to stay hydrated. She gave us a list of symptoms to watch for on dehydration and I think Josh already has them memorized.
I pick up a cinnamon muffin and sigh. At least it will taste good going down.
"I'm taking my Mom grocery shopping." Josh announces. Mom looks up in surprise, while I look at him gratefully. With her out of the house, I won't have to hide the puking. Plus just the thought of looking at all that food has me a little queasy. Josh gives his Mom a wink, and then she smiles. She must think he plans to surprise me with something.
I finish the muffin slowly, take the vitamins and drink a full glass of water while they are getting ready. Once I'm done I head back to the bedroom. I'll just lay on the bed for a while and wait. I was pleasantly surprised when the Matzo Ball soup stayed down last night. It might have helped that I didn't have to smell it cooking and I didn't have to move around a lot after I ate it.
Josh comes in and puts another glass of water on the nightstand. He kisses my forehead.
"Are you okay with this? I know the car makes you sick right now."
"Yes. . . . I mean I'd like to spend more time with Mom, but I know she needs to get the groceries. Don't be gone too long though, okay?"
"We won't. Susan will be right outside the door. Here's your panic button." He puts it on the nightstand. "I'm only taking the town car. Mark and Susan will be staying here with the SUV."
He looks nervous. This is the first he's left me alone at home. I can tell he's rethinking it.
"I'll be fine. He's locked up. Nothing to worry about." He doesn't look convinced.
"Or I can go with you if you want." I start to sit up, and that's all it takes for my stomach to rebel. I shove him out of the way and run to the bathroom.
"Dammit." He mutters as he rubs my back while the muffin and vitamins make a comeback.
"Well," I say smiling. "I really could go now. Nothing left to puke anyway."
He frowns. I head back into the bedroom. And sit down in the chair in the corner.
"Or, I could stay here. Drink the glass of water and lay quietly in bed. And you and your Mom can bring me back some Matzo Ball Soup."
He looks torn. I imagine this is a tough one for him. He doesn't want to leave me here but He doesn't want to take me out and have me throw up again.
"Or, I could leave Mom here with you." He smiles, pleased with himself for solving the problem. "She can give me a list. I'll go shopping on my own."
Wow. He must really love me. I smile at him and he leaves the room to go get his Mother.
A few minutes later Mom comes scurrying into the room. She tuts over me. Smoothing the hair off my face and kissing my forehead.
"No fever, but you are very pale. Definitely over-tired. Back into bed with you." She flips the covers open and I climb back into bed. Part of me wants to argue just out of habit, but I realize that I am tired. I really could take a little nap.
I climb in and Mom hands me the glass. "Take a few sips." She instructs. I obey then snuggle into under the covers.
Mom kisses my forehead, then Josh softly kisses my lips.
When I open my eyes again, I hear Mom and Josh quietly talking at the table. I have no idea how long I slept, but I'm kind of thirsty. I take several slow sips of the water and wait a few minutes.
Little bits of their conversation floats through the room. Ah. I think Josh is practicing the Hebrew. That's really sweet.
After a few minutes, I decide to get up. Mom is only here for a few days. I don't want to complete sleep through them. I get up and make my way out to the kitchen.
"Hey." Josh greets me with a smile. "How're you?"
"I'm doing okay. Did you guys eat lunch?" It's kind of a rhetorical question. They both have plates next to them. I bet they shared a sandwich from the Deli. I'm kind of glad I didn't have to watch them eat.
"Yeah. We didn't want to wake you. But I got you some soup. Do you want some?"
I wrinkle my nose a little and go sit on the couch. Josh and Mom exchange a look. She picks up the plates and takes them to the sink while Josh comes and joins me on the couch.
"We'd both feel better if you tried to eat a little, and drink some water."
"Okay." I feel kind of bad I don't want anyone to worry but I really don't want to eat. I'm pretty sick of throwing up.
Josh settles me in on the couch, tucking my blanket around me and fussing over me. Mom brings me a glass of water and a mug of soup. It's really just the broth. It actually smells good. Not that many things do right now. I sip it slowly, waiting for my stomach to roll over, but it stays fairly calm.
"So tell me all about your trip!" Mom says. I do have some funny stories. I just need to leave out how closely I examined the bathrooms at each of the schools we visited.
"Well, we visited 15 schools in 10 states in 4 days! It's amazing how similar, yet different they are. And some of them just break your heart. These eager, bright children, sitting in run-down classrooms, with no supplies." I feel tears gathering in my eyes and my breath hitches. I meant to tell something funny. I don't know what just happened. I look at Josh.
"We've got to do something, you know!" I tell him. He takes my hand and smiles gently at me.
"We will."