Sunday, December 15th, 2035

11 Days to Baby

On Sunday morning, I woke up, had breakfast, and went to church with Tobs. We couldn't stay the entire time because we had to head to the other side of town to see Brooke.

"So remind me again, what part does she have?" he asked as the car drove us downtown.

"She's a small mouse," I said.

"There's different mice?"

"Apparently. There's large mice and small mice. She's disappointed because her costume isn't scary like the bigger girls. She said she doesn't like that there's pink bows on it."

He chuckled. "That's so cute."

"I know, but she's a villain. She doesn't want to be cute, she wants to be scary. I told her that maybe she'll get a growth spurt and she can try again next year. She's having a lot of fun so she wants to audition again next year and see if she gets a bigger part."

"So, how long is she on stage?"

"Like ten minutes."

"And how long is this whole thing?"

"Babe, I told you, it's like two hours. Don't you pay attention to literally anything?" I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Sorry," he said, lowering his head.

"No, it's okay. I'm just cranky, pregnant, and hormonal. I know you've been really busy since it's the Christmas season on the ranch."

We made a quick stop at the florist so I could pick up the flowers for Brooke, and I needed a snack, so we had to stop at Starbucks too, for a decaf coffee and a cinnamon bun. Once we were running nice and late, we were on the highway going towards downtown.

We approached the Royal Theater, the historic venue in downtown Oak Falls. The car dropped us off and found a spot in the parking garage across the way. We went inside, where an attendant scanned the tickets on my phone and pointed out the direction of our section.

It was really high up, so we got directed to an ancient elevator that looked like it had been around since medieval times. It shook and creaked the entire way up to our section. I held onto Tobias for dear life.

When the doors opened, I couldn't get out of there fast enough. We followed the signs to our section, which was a private box near the very top of the theater. When we went out to large public places, my parents liked to keep us in private sections as much as they could, just to give us more privacy in case someone recognized us.

The paparazzi definitely didn't need to know that a former TV star was pregnant. But honestly, I was surprised no one found out by now. I kept my bump pictures off social media, but still. When I was little, those people swarmed our house all the time.

Maybe they just didn't care anymore, now that we'd been off TV for so long? Sometimes I missed the attention and all the fun crew members we got to work with, like our producer Jamie and Dave, our sound guy that would always bring us presents. I've never been able to bring myself to watch it, but my mom said the fist fight she got in with Janelle on the Dr. Drew special that resulted in our contract getting voided was a blessing in disguise.

I think I'm rambling. Ugh. Post-pregnancy brain. Anyway, we got to our seats and the show began. About thirty minutes in, the battle with the mice started. Brooke said the was the tallest, and even though we were in the nosebleed sections, we could still spot her pretty quickly. She did so good, and I was so proud of her. I couldn't wait to give her the gift I'd ordered for her, in addition to the flowers, of course.

I went to the bathroom during the intermission, because this baby was starting to really love sitting on my bladder. I also needed to get another snack, but there was no way I could handle the stairs and I was too scared to ride the medieval elevator on my own, so I just went back to my seat and suffered in silence.

Tobias and I cuddled, kissed, and enjoyed the rest of the show. Once everyone came out and did their final bows, we rode the elevator down to the main lobby, thankful to be alive. I went to the bathroom, got a popcorn from the concession stand, and we went to the area where families were picking up performers.

Tobias held the flowers and the special gift while I chowed down on my popcorn, hoping we wouldn't be waiting too long, since my feet were starting to hurt. I was getting too pregnant to be standing for more than thirty seconds at a time.

The kids and teens started coming down the stairway and greeting their parents. I quickly finished my popcorn and held the gifts for Brooke, who came down the stairs with a few other girls her age. She hugged them goodbye, then came running over to us.

"You did so good, Brookie Cookie!" I said, giving her the biggest hug I could with my huge belly in the way.

"Well yeah, of course I did. The choreography was so easy," she said. "Oh, you got me flowers?"

"And something else," I said, giving her the small wrapped present. "Go ahead, you can open it now."

She tore the paper open and held up the nutcracker ornament in her hands.

"So kitch! Thanks Ella!" she said.

"And each year that you do this show, I'll get you another one to add to our tree, like a commemorative thing," I said. "So are you ready to get out of here and get some food? I'm starving."

"Yup," she said. "McDonalds?"

"Hell yes! Let's go!" I said.

We had the car get us and take us to the nearest one, where I ordered three double cheeseburgers and fries. Brooke ordered a regular adult-sized nugget meal and I got a little emotional about it. It wasn't just because I was pregnant. It's because she's my baby sister who's not a baby anymore.

I rubbed my baby bump. There'd be a new baby of the family soon enough, though.