That night, Miranda cooked dinner. She was having chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. I can have all of those during my pregnancy.
"This is a good idea for me to be here so I can have company," I said.
"I agree with you," said Stephanie.
"We have a guest room you'll be staying while you're here," said Miranda. "Stephanie can show you after dinner."
"Okay," I said.
"Too bad my room is too small to have twin beds like your mom's otherwise we'd share it," said Stephanie.
"I know," I agreed. "That's okay, at least we can be roommates on weekends. I'm not worried about it."
"True," said Stephanie.
So far, this week, we did very well being together at her house. We had no issues. We both think we would be fine if we ever live together. It would be fun to be stepsisters. She's an only child like me.
"I bet if your dad and my mom get married, you'd have to move in with me and Mom, since you live in a two-bedroom house," said Stephanie.
"Me, too, although my room is big enough for twin beds. Let's wait and see what would happen first before they decide since they'll start dating soon," I said.
"Oh, yeah," said Stephanie as we giggled.
We were on our way to Mom's that Friday afternoon after school. Dad is set to be released from the hospital on Monday, so I'd see him when I get out of school that day. That's the few days before I turn 15. I'll be celebrating my birthday with Stephanie, Eliza, and Samuel anyway. We got plans to see a movie and have dinner.
"I heard Samuel wants to purpose you," said Stephanie.
"At our age?" I asked.
"Samuel claimed that's false," said Stephanie. "He said it's a rumor."
"I would say so, too," I said.
"Samuel had no plans to do that until after college if you both want to be together for the rest of your lives," said Stephanie.
"And, how would he pay a ring? We don't want to work yet. It's illegal to hire students under 16 in current places," I said.
"That's what he said, too," said Stephanie.
"I wonder how he heard that," I said.
"He wanted to know about that as well," said Stephanie.
When we got to Mom's, we went in. We agreed not to tell Mom yet about our parents dating until another time. We just figured she'd be upset.
"Do you plan to start decorate the room this weekend?" asked Stephanie.
"Yes," I replied. "Mom plans to take us out after she gets out of work in an hour."
"It's cool that you got a spare key for here to let us in ourselves," said Stephanie.
"Yeah," I said.
"Maybe we can go meet her at Dave and Buster's to make that easier for her," said Stephanie.
"Good idea," I said. "I'll text her to tell her that before leave."
I did and she replied saying we can do that, so Stephanie and I left for the mall.
When we got there, we walked around a bit until it was time to meet Mom. We told her we'll be in the food court when she gets out of work. She said we can eat in the food court then we can get the stuff we need to decorate. She doesn't have any paint for flower colors.
"We can go to the hardware store down the hall to buy paint," said Mom.
"Okay, sounds good," I said.
"Do you plan to change the comforters?" asked Mom.
"No, we like the comforters to be honest with you," I replied.
"Yes, we do," said Stephanie.
"But I might add some posters when the paint is dry," I said.
"Okay, that's fine," said Mom.
"I'll wait until tomorrow to add flowers," I continued.
"Alright. I don't mind," said Mom.
"We can buy a few posters on Sunday," said Stephanie.
"Good idea. It would give time for the paint to dry. It could take overnight," I said.
"That's true. Or we can buy them now ahead of time to be all set," suggested Mom.
"Either way works for us," I said.
After we ate, we got some paint and were able to get a couple of posters. I get to pick them. I'm a fan of pets, movies, and books. They were nice looking. Stephanie loved the posters that I choose. Mom liked them as well.
When we got back to her house, we put paint in the living room. I didn't want it in my room while I'm pregnant. I was afraid it would make me feel nauseous. Mom didn't blame me. We might take a few times when we paint to let me get some air.
"I have an ultrasound tomorrow, so maybe I'll go for it while you continue," I said.
"That's a good idea to do. What is that?" asked Stephanie.
"At 1:00 pm. It doesn't take long," I replied. "I'll try to continue helping when I get back."
"That's fine. If not, we'll let you relax," said Mom.
"We'll manage to finish it off," said Stephanie.
A few hours later, I was already in bed because I was tired.
The next day, I did blueprints to do some flowers until it was time for me to leave for my ultrasound appointment. It's odd to have that on a Saturday, but they have been doing that sometimes instead of during the week. At the ultrasound, I learned that I was having a girl. I'll keep that as a secret until I give birth. The doctor didn't want me to paint while I'm pregnant when I asked her about it.
"It could harm the baby," said the doctor.
"Okay. I figured I'd ask first. My mom and my friend would be doing that," I said.
On the way out, my cell vibrated and I answered. It was Dad.
"I'm getting better, so I might be released tomorrow," said Dad.
"That's good," I said.
"I know," said Dad.
"I just got out from my ultrasound," I said. "Everything is fine."
We talked for a bit. After that was done, I talked back to Mom's.
"How did it go?" asked Mom.
"Good. The doctor wanted me to refrain from painting during pregnancy in case it harms the baby. I figured I'd ask before I do that while I was there," I said.
"That's okay. We already finished some anyway," said Mom.
When she showed, it was nice the way I had it on the blueprints.
"I like it," I said.
"Maybe if the paint is dry tonight, we'll put the posters on the wall," said Stephanie.
"Sounds like a good plan to me," I agreed.
"I put did a paint an initial on both twin beds. Like, I got R on one bed and S on the other one. It was my idea," said Stephanie.
"I like that idea since we're sharing that room when we visit here," I said.
"Your mom also liked the idea of that," said Stephanie.
"It's always good to come up with creative ideas," said Mom.
"I agree with you," I said. "While I was at the doctor's, I had a call that Dad's getting better and might be able to come home tomorrow."
"That's good," said Stephanie.
"Yeah," I said.
"Do you need to get back to my house to get your suitcase since you didn't need one here?" asked Stephanie.
"I'll get it when I go back home sometime tomorrow," I said.
"Okay. No problem," said Stephanie.
The next day, Stephanie and I left Mom's house around 2:00 pm so I can get my suitcase before I went back to my house. Dad wasn't home yet. Stephanie's mom was getting him at the time. He came back home nearly 30 minutes later. He was put on Aspirin before he was released. It would help him prevent from having any more heart attacks. His boss already knows that he would be off from work for three more weeks to get some rest.
We had Chinese for dinner. Dad invited Miranda and Stephanie for supper so he can take it easy tonight. He's not allowed to drive this week. He had to wait until next Sunday.
"I can't believe your birthday would be in three days already," said Stephanie.
"I know. Time flies," I said.
"Any plans?" asked Miranda.
"Yes, hanging-out with Eliza, Stephanie, and Samuel. We're planning to see a movie and get dinner. I don't know where I want to go for dinner yet," I replied.
"And, one more year until you start getting your learner's permit," added Stephanie.
"That's true. I might want to do that for my birthday next week," I said.
"That's a good way to celebrate," said Miranda.
"Yeah," I said.
"When your father and I start dating this week, I'll do the driving until he can drive again. The doctor said he's allowed to leave the house as long as someone drives for him. They were concerned he could suffer a heart attack while driving and might cause a car accident, which is why they wanted him to wait until next Sunday to drive again," explained Miranda.
"That's a good idea to avoid the car crash," I said.
After dinner, Miranda and Stephanie stayed for a bit until it was time for them to go home.
"I'll see you at school tomorrow," I said.
"Bye. We had a fun time being together," said Stephanie.
"We sure did," I said.
Two hours later, my cell phone rang and I answered.
"Hello," I said.
"Hi, Becky, it's Janet," said Janet.
"I knew it was you, I could hear your voice. What's going on?" I asked.
"It's Mary Jane. She doesn't have much time to live. The doctors suspected she has a few weeks," said Janet.
"Wow," I said. "I thought she was fighting to survive."
"She has been too weak for that. She was no longer allowed to attend school for the time being," said Janet. "She's terrified. She doesn't want to die."
"I don't blame her," I said.
"Me either. Are you and Stephanie coming this weekend? Mary Jane wanted you both before she passes on," said Janet.
"I'll talk to her about that tomorrow at school and I'll text you after school," I said.
"Okay," said Janet.
After we talked, I was in shock that I could lose Mary Jane any day. The next day, I told Stephanie and told her Mary Jane wanted to see us.
"It's my weekend to spend with Dad anyway, so it would be perfect for us to see Mary Jane," said Stephanie.
"Alright. I told Janet I'd text her after school," I said.
That's what I did after school ended for the day and she replied saying it would be a perfect timing for us to do.
Two days later, I got up when Dad said, "Here's my birthday girl."
I giggled and said, "Thanks, Dad."
He made a birthday breakfast for me. He did pancakes. He always did that on my birthday during the school week and go out for dinner every year on my birthday. That was neat. Since he can't drive until Sunday, at least I can enjoy my day with Eliza, Stephanie, and Samuel. We plan to do so after school. I'll just do homework when I get home from all that. At school, I felt my cell phone vibrate, but I don't answer while I'm in school. It would disturb the class. Vibrate is the best thing to do. It's probably a text message. If it's about Mary Jane, I'll wait until much later so I can focus on school and my birthday, I didn't want it to ruin.
At lunch, Stephanie probably suspected something was happening because she didn't tell me what was going on. She must have gotten a text message, but she waits until lunch to answer. I was at my locker and I meet her in the lunch room.
"Boy, I bet you and your boyfriend would get married one day," said a voice.
When I turned, it was one of my classmates and I got a feeling Frank was the one who started the rumor.
"Says who?" I asked.
"Me," said Frank.
"Um, did you forget how old we are?" I asked. "I don't think my father would want that at our age. Besides, Samuel and I just started going out this past summer. That would've been too soon. I'm sure he prefers to wait until college to do so. Same with me. We're much too young to get married."
I shut my locker and went to join Samuel, who was waiting for me.
"I think I found out who started the rumor," I said.
"Who?" asked Samuel.
"Frank. I was at my locker when he mentioned it," I said as I told him what I said to Frank.
"Whoa, I wondered who started that," said Samuel.
"Doesn't he know that friends shouldn't spread lies or rumors?" I asked.
"I agree with you," said Samuel.
Then, after we grabbed our lunch, we went to sit with Stephanie. We told her who started the rumor the other day.
"What's gotten into your own friend?" asked Stephanie. "I think you shouldn't keep him as a friend because he's going to keep on doing things to you."
"I know. I'm thinking about that," said Samuel.
"My cell vibrated while I was in class. Whatever is it, it can wait so I can concentrate in school and enjoy my birthday," I said. "Or I might even wait until tomorrow."
"I don't blame you," said Samuel.
"I don't answer while I'm in school. I don't want it to disrupt the class while the teacher is giving the lessons. I didn't want to get in trouble," I added on.
"I agree," said Samuel.
"I always wait until lunch to check," said Stephanie.
"But you're not supposed to use your cell phone in school. You could get caught anytime, even when we're at lunch," I said. "It's against the school rules."
"Yeah, you don't want to be kept after school for a detention," added Samuel.
"I don't reply until after school though. I only read messages during lunch," said Stephanie.
"You can still get caught for breaking any rules in school," said Samuel. "The student handbook says so."
After lunch, Samuel got mad at Frank for spreading lies and said, "Don't you realize that we're only teenagers?"
"So?" asked Frank.
"What do you mean so?" asked Samuel. "Becky's father would not like that at all. My parents won't like that idea either. We rather wait until after college to get married if we know we want to be together forever. What happens if it didn't work out in the future? Marriage might not happen."
"But-," started Frank.
"No buts. As I thought about it, I think you and I should take a break from each other for the time being. If you keep it up, we're done with being friends. And, I mean it," interrupted Samuel. "You should think about what I said."
He walked away after that to get to class. He told me what he said to Frank and I agreed taking breaks from him would be the best thing to do.
"I also told him that if he keeps it up, we're done being with friends," added Samuel.
"Exactly," I agreed. "Stephanie got caught from checking her cell phone. It happened when we left the lunchroom. I knew that was going to happen."
"Me, too. They'll probably either warn or keep her after school," said Samuel.
"Stephanie claimed it was something important," I said. "The principal didn't care what she said."
"Good thing we wait until after school ends for the day to check our phones," said Samuel. "We're trying to set a good example for the other students."
"I know," I said.
After school, I heard the principal gave Stephanie a warning. If she gets caught again, she'll be kept after school for a detention. I told the principal that I told her to wait until after school like Samuel and I do. He agreed with me she should've listened to me.
"When my cell phone vibrated, I didn't answer it. I pretended not to hear. Samuel and I are trying to teach the others not to answer. Even if it's important, I don't check it until later," I said. "I don't even wait until lunch."
"I give you and Samuel credit to wait until after school," said the principal.
We waited outside for Eliza. She was at her locker and we told her she can meet us outside after school. She came out ten minutes later. Then, we took off to the mall.
"We can check the times for the movies," I said.
At the mall, we checked the times for the movies. I picked the movie. It would start in an hour, so what we did was buy the ticket ahead of time and walked around for a while. We went back there ten minutes before the movie and went to sit. We had popcorn. The movie was very good. After that was over, we went to go eat dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which I picked as well. It's good to pick anything on your birthday.
"That movie was funny," said Eliza.
"I know," I said.
We just ordered our meals.
"I had a fun time today," I said.
"What was the best part?" asked Stephanie.
"It's not over yet, so it would be hard to tell right now," I said.
"Oh, yeah, we'll just have to wait to see after dinner," said Stephanie.
We just giggled.
After we finished with dinner, I said, "I think everything's the best part of my birthday."
"I believe it," said Samuel.
"It's so hard to pick," I said.
"I agree with you," said Samuel.
"Me, too," said Eliza.
"It can be hard for anyone," said Stephanie.
"True," I agreed.
Then, we went back to my house where Miranda surprised me with a cake. She remembered my favorite one: chocolate cake with vanilla icing. We had so much fun that I didn't go to bed until 11:00 pm.