020: Megan and Melia

Megan flushed and then zipped her jeans, straightened her top and then waited for the girl in the adjoining stall to leave. This bathroom, the one in the lobby and scheduling area of her mother's Southern California Alternate Birthing Center, was always busy. It was for women, she reminded herself in slight annoyance, liking privacy more and more these days.

She washed her hands, and dried them on a paper and then turned to go out, catching her own reflection in the mirror. She looked haggard. What a lovely thought, she winced. Well, why shouldn't she? Melia had them on this schedule that literally felt like it was from hell. They were traveling, filming, recording and doing shows, speaking at universities, and women's conferences. They did television interviews, and cable interviews, blogs and book signings. Yes, they'd managed to write a book.

And it absolutely wore her and Maille out following in Melia's wake. They couldn't push it that much further. See? Even Melia was at the doctor's, maybe they would tell her she had chronic exhaustion, and force her to rest! She hoped to step outside and have a breath of air while she waited for Melia.

She and Maille had quit once and then joined her again, and nothing had changed. Melia just didn't get it, did she?

There was Tom Roberson, always calling, always wanting one or the other of them to come to his house... stupid Roberson, she really didn't like him, but Mia did, so he hung around, still married, or separated, or whatever, and kind of infatuated with Melia.

Weren't they all?

Then there was Matthew, but lately it seemed he was doing his own thing more. Especially now that Ryan was home. But even Ryan couldn't keep up with them. They talked on the phone all the time though, all the time, when she wasn't filming, wasn't nursing, wasn't exercising... when was that?

She left the bathroom and saw that Melia was standing on the other side of the counter, the scheduling side. A few other women were still waiting, even though it was late in the day, ABCSC was open twenty-four hours a day. She blew out her breath, disappointed, but wanting to act supportive.

"So... did you get any answers? Is it exhaustion?"

Megan would have gone in with her, but Melia was even more private about her health these days than she ever had been before she had a baby. Megan had actually been relieved when Melia had taken the day off and decided to visit one of the doctors at her mother's clinic. It seemed a little spur of the moment, but she'd take whatever break she could get. If Melia felt like she had an ulcer--- that was her main complaint; she thought her constant nausea and tiredness were due to an ulcer. She definitely had a bump in her lower abdomen, maybe it was an ulcer. Megan wasn't completely sure what an ulcer would look like on the outside if Melia did have one. What caused ulcers? Stress? Maybe she had one too.

Melia closed her purse, pulled her sunglasses over her eyes and took Megan's hand, squeezing hard, very hard. Her mother thought it might be a cyst or an enlarged uterus. Megan's eyes widened in alarm. A cyst could be very painful, and an enlarged uterus could be many things, cancer not being ruled out.

They made it out the small door and into the hallway before Melia pulled the shades down on her face and stared into her sister's bewildered eyes.

"What is it?" Megan was beginning to feel frightened .

"You won't believe it." Melia said, but there was a small smile in her eyes that hadn't been there before.

"Is it cancer?" She knew it wasn't or Melia wouldn't have that particular smile.

"Nope, let's walk on the beach." She said and pulled Megan out the front doors and started skipping around the corner of the huge building toward the beach a quarter of a mile away. They were both wearing sandals and Capri's and should have told somebody they were going out alone, as they stood out these days so much, but Melia obviously didn't care.

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