by Tracey Smith
“Well you need to stay where I can see you.” Aunt Claire continued still upset with Tyler.
“Relax, Claire. We’re on a boat. Where’s he going to go?” Uncle Charlie was trying to calm her down.
“Oh, I don’t know, into the ocean!” She exclaimed turning her frustration on him. He just rolled his eyes.
“Mom, I’m fine.” Tyler muttered looking embarrassed.
“Who’s hungry?” Mom spoke up, changing the subject to most everyone’s relief.
Uncle Charlie put his arm around Aunt Claire and she seemed to calm down as we all sat down for lunch. She made Tyler sit right next to her, and I could tell he really didn’t like that. He didn’t say anything all through lunch.
After lunch it was time for my portrait. Every year Dad would paint a picture of me on my birthday. This year he had me stand in my sailor dress holding the captains wheel. I was an old pro at this, I knew how to hold very still while Dad sketched my picture. It was hard to hold perfectly still though, because we had left the harbor and the open ocean had some big swells. The boat rocked back and forth, but I was doing pretty good at keeping my balance. The captain said I had good sea legs.
It didn’t take Dad long to finish his sketch. I knew he would turn it into a beautiful painting in his art studio back home. Dad was an amazing artist. My favorite painting was the one he had done of Mom when she was pregnant with me. It hung over the stone fireplace in our living room and I loved to sit on Dad’s lap and hear him tell the story of how he would secretly paint her every night while she slept.
After Dad finished his sketch it was time to open my presents. Aunt Claire actually allowed Tyler to leave her side and come sit by me while I unwrapped my gifts. He still looked kind of weird though. I wondered if he was still mad.
Everyone else oooh’d and awww’d as I opened and displayed the beautiful clothes Aunt Amy had bought me. But Tyler just sat next to me, still looking funny. He didn’t react to anything, not even to make stupid little jokes like he usually did. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him, until suddenly he turned and threw up all over my pretty birthday dress. I guess he didn’t have such good sea legs! I was totally grossed out, but not surprised. Tyler always ruined everything!
Despite the disgusting ending to my 10th birthday party it had otherwise been a perfect day. Much like the first 10 years of my life had been. Occasionally Tyler would show up and knock over my cake or throw up on my dress, but the rest of the time I was exceptionally happy. I was surrounded by people who loved me and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I had always felt lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life, but it wasn’t until I was faced with losing what meant most to me that I really appreciated how lucky I was.
One night as I made my way down the corridor towards my parent’s bedroom I overheard my mom sobbing. Instantly I froze not sure how to react. I’d never heard her cry before.
“Oh, Michael.” Her voice was muffled and I crept a few steps forward to peer through the bedroom door. My parents sat on the edge of the bed, my dad had his arm around Mom as she cried into his shoulder.
“It’s all going to work out Katherine, Fate has a way of working these things out. We just have to have faith and take a chance.”
“Those would make good names.” My mother murmured, “Faith or Chance.” and it sounded like she laughed a little.
I strained closer to see her face, still trying to gauge the situation. She was smiling up at my father now.
What could possibly be going on that would have my mother crying and smiling at the same time? And what was she saying about names?
“What are we going to do?” my mom sighed, her smile fading again.
“We’re going to have a baby.” My dad replied and for some reason they both started laughing.
A baby?
I took several involuntary steps forward as I tried to process what I’d just heard.
“Oh Destiny!” my mom exclaimed when she saw me. Quickly she wiped the tears from her cheeks and smiled brightly. She extended her arms to me and instinctively I ran to her burying my face in her hair. Tears of confusion sprang into my eyes before I could stop them.
“There, there.” My mother soothed rocking me and stroking my head “What’s wrong Sweetheart?”
“You were crying.”
“Oh, Sweetheart, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. See.” She pushed me out at arm’s length to look me in the face and she smiled comfortingly at me. The ache in my heart eased a little.
“We have some great news, Destiny.” My dad said “We’re going to have another baby. You’re going to be a big sister!”
The words finally sunk in and I looked back at my mom, she was still smiling cheerfully at me.
“But I thought you couldn’t? I mean didn’t you say that the doctors said you couldn’t?” I asked my mom, beginning to tremble as the panic sunk in.
I remembered her telling me the story of how difficult her labor had been with me; she’d almost died and had been told not to have any more children.
“Oh it’s going to be fine!” my mom exclaimed a little too cheerfully.
“Then why were you crying?” I was only 10, but I wasn’t stupid.
Mom’s shoulders slumped a little and her smile wavered.
“There is a risk Destiny.” My mother said seriously, all false cheeriness gone from her voice. “But there’s also a chance that everything will go fine.” She assured me trying to smile again.
“What kind of risk?” I asked, my hands were visibly shaking now. I couldn’t even think about the possibility of losing my mother, she was everything to me and to my dad. I looked over at him desperately. He was smiling too, but his eyes were wary.
“Destiny, your Mom is going to be fine. Her doctor knows all about her medical history, he’ll know how to take care of her.” It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself by saying it out loud.
I buried my face back against my mom’s chest and she hugged me tightly. I felt Dad’s arm come around us both and I let myself cry. Even at 10 I realized how much I could lose. I had never before imagined it was possible to lose my mother, but suddenly she seemed so fragile everything seemed so fragile. I realized how easily my entire life could change in a heartbeat. Everything I had could be taken away from me. I had never experienced so much fear.
Eight months later Chance Michael Carter came into this world without a single complication. My mother swore that he smiled at the nurse who delivered him.
“Already has his Daddy’s charm.” She boasted.
I wasn’t sure what to think about having a little brother at first. For the previous eight months I’d been riddled with panic and the fear of losing my mother, I hadn’t really thought about what it would be like to have a sibling.
Now that the worst was over and I knew Mom was safe, I began to finally consider the possibilities of being a big sister. Of course I thought immediately of how obnoxious Tyler always was, but when I looked down at my new baby brother I just couldn’t believe anything so tiny and cute could ever be that bad.
Chapter 2: The Cabin
“Tyler, did you remember to pack your toothbrush?” my mother asked me for the third time.
“No, I think I’m just going to let my teeth rot. All the kids are doing it these days.” Mom just rolled her eyes at my sarcastic comment as she wandered off looking for Dad, probably to make sure he’d packed enough underwear.
I zipped up my suitcase and lugged it out to the car. As I passed my parent’s room I could hear Mom badgering poor Dad.
“Do you think we should pick up some more sun block before we leave town? I don’t want Tyler to burn.” I was the one to roll my eyes this time.
Sometimes I wondered if she realized I was 12 years old now. I wasn’t a baby. I didn’t need her to remind me to pack my toothbrush, and I could worry about my own sun block. She was always a little overprotective, but every year when we took our annual trip to the cabin i
t went into overdrive.
I knew once we hit the road she’d finally mellow out and I was glad we were leaving soon. I couldn’t take much more of this. Dad had amazing patience. He always just smiled at her when she was being neurotic. Nothing ever fazed him. I hadn’t inherited that gene. I loved my mom but sometimes she really drove me nuts.
Every summer for as long as I could remember we’d gone to the cabin. It belonged to my dad’s best friend, Uncle Mike. He wasn’t really my uncle, but I’d known him my whole life and that’s just what my parents had always called him. Uncle Mike was cool and so was Aunt Katherine. They had a daughter Destiny that was just a little older than me. She liked to act like she was way older but it was really barely a two year age difference. They also had a little boy named Chance who was three.
Destiny was cool, most of the time. I liked to hang out with her when she wasn’t acting all prissy. I guess she was kind of like a sister to me but less annoying because we didn’t have to live together. Not that I would have minded living with them. They had an awesome house. It was huge! Dad said Uncle Mike inherited a bunch of money when his dad died a long time ago.
Uncle Dan and Aunt Amy came to the cabin every year too, they had twin 4 year olds, Jaime and Kenzie. I wasn’t really related to any of them either. Aunt Amy had been friends with Aunt Katherine for like ever, just like my dad and Uncle Mike, and so all our parents had been inseparable before any of us were born.
Now it was time again for the annual trip to the cabin. I liked going to the cabin, there was a cool lake close by and lots of fun hiking trails. I wondered if Mom was actually going to let me hike on my own this year. Last year she was convinced I’d get kidnapped if an adult wasn’t within and 10-foot radius of me at all times. This year I was going to put my foot down. She needed to accept the fact that I was getting older and could do things on my own.
I finished loading the back of the car with my suitcase and headed back into the house to see if there was anything else I could help with.
“Do you think we should tell him now?” I heard my mother say from the other side of the bedroom door.
“Let’s not ruin the trip” my dad responded.
What were they talking about? Were they talking about me? What did they need to tell me that would ruin the trip? I hesitated just outside their door, waiting to hear if they would say any more.
“Well I thought we were going to tell everyone this weekend. Don’t you think Tyler should know first?” my mother continued. So they were talking about me.
“Do you really think this is the best time to tell everyone?” Dad asked.
I was getting nervous. What was going on? What had my parents been keeping from me?
“Summer is almost over Charlie.” Mom said. She only used his name when she was being very serious. I knew something big was going on.
My stomach was in knots. I was frozen just outside their bedroom door, my hand still half raised to knock. I wasn’t really sure what to do. Then Dad opened the door and saw me standing there.
“Oh, hey Ty.” Dad said obviously startled.
“I… was… uh… just wondering if you needed help getting anything else into the car.” I stumbled over the words as my mind raced through the conversation I had just overheard.
“Sure kid, why don’t you help me with these last two bags.” Dad said and I thought I saw him and Mom exchange a weird look.
When we got out to the car Dad tossed the bag he was holding into the back of the car and then turned to face me.
“So you know how I’ve always wanted to coach at the college level?” Dad started to say as he ran his hand through his black hair. That was something Dad always did when he was nervous and to see him do it now made me nervous.
“Well I’ve been offered a position as an assistant football coach.” Dad continued looking at the ground.
“That’s great Dad!” I exclaimed, relief washing through me. “It’s about time the University of San Diego recognized your talent!” I couldn’t believe I had been so sure that the news would be bad. Why had I thought that?
“The offer came from UCLA.” Dad said finally looking back up to meet my eyes.
UCLA? That was in Los Angeles. What did that mean?
“But that’s in LA.” I said confused.
“And that’s why we’re moving.” Dad told me, and the gravity of the situation finally hit me.
Moving? To LA! This couldn’t be possible. I had a life here. I had friends here. He had to be joking. I wasn’t moving to LA. I knew from the look on his face he was definitely not joking. I dropped the bag I was still holding and stormed back into the house. Of course Mom was waiting for me just inside the door but I ignored her and went straight to my room slamming the door behind me.
I flopped down on the bed and stared at the ceiling my eyes were burning, but I wasn’t going to cry I was too old for that. This couldn’t be happening. It was so unfair. I had to be dreaming, this could only be a nightmare! I was about to start Junior High. I had friends at my school. I was going to be on the baseball team, I had already qualified last season. And now what? All of that would change, just like that? How could they do this to me? As I lay there considering all the implications my anger grew. Finally Mom came and knocked on my door softly.
“It’s time to go Tyler.” She said from the doorway.
I just stood up and walked past her without saying anything. Maybe I would never speak again. That would teach them. From this day forward I would be a mute!
It was a quiet 3-hour drive to the cabin. I sat in the back seat fuming the whole way. When we pulled up everyone else was already there.
Aunt Amy was chasing the girls around outside. The twins were both wearing bathing suits and their mom was chasing behind them with a bottle of sun block in her hand. The twins golden curls were bobbing as they giggled and zig zagged around the yard avoiding their mom’s demands for them to hold still. It would have probably been funny if I weren’t still so furious.
I got out of the car and slammed the door, something Dad normally wouldn’t put up with but today he didn’t say anything. I started skulking toward the cabin and planned on just going straight in to my room to sulk the rest of the day. But Destiny had seen us pull up and she was skipping towards me now. She had a huge smile across her face and for some reason I smiled back without thinking.
“Hey Tyler!” she said excitedly
“Hi”
Oops! I wasn’t supposed to be talking. Oh well, Destiny didn’t count. I’d just give my parents the silent treatment. I could still talk to Destiny.
“I found something cool!” she exclaimed. “Come on!” she said grabbing my hand.
She obviously didn’t register my bad mood. Maybe it’s because for some reason I was smiling at her. It was so hard to stay mad when she seemed so excited and happy.
“Aunt Claire, can I take Tyler to see something? I promise we won’t go far.” She called over to my mom.
Mom actually nodded and allowed us to wander off without any long drawn out speech about not going too far and watching out for snakes and not talking to strangers. I was surprised at how easily she had allowed us to go. I had been prepared to have a standoff with her this weekend demanding exactly that, but it came so easy now it didn’t really feel like a victory.
“I found the prettiest little stream just down this path.” Destiny explained as she led me through the woods.
She was still practically skipping and it was hard not to get caught up in her excitement. I had planned on holding onto my anger all weekend, but it was so hard around her. I decided to compromise with myself. I could be happy when my parents couldn’t see.
It didn’t take long to reach the little stream she wanted to show me. It really was pretty cool. The tree canopy overhead was so dense that sunlight filtered down in visible rays. The crystal clear water flowed over the rocks and sparkled as the light hit it.
“Isn’t it the prettiest thing you’ve ever seen?
” Destiny asked excitedly.
“Yeah it’s pretty cool.” I agreed.
“I wonder how far it goes.” Destiny said as she strained to see through the trees downstream.
“We could follow it.” I said.
I heard my mother’s voice in my head telling me not to leave the path and I smiled at this small act of defiance.
We took off our shoes and left them on the edge of the stream then we waded through the water following it until we were nearly waist deep and the stream had widened into a pool.
“I wonder how deep it is.” Destiny said looking at the middle of the pool
“It doesn’t look too deep, I can see the bottom.” I said looking though the crystal clear water to the rocks below.
“Let’s find out!” Destiny’s eyes were sparkling with excitement and challenge, and I ignored my mother’s voice in my head telling me this wasn’t a good idea.
We both swam to the middle of the pool and looked down into the water. It really didn’t seem that far to the bottom. The water was perfectly clear. An old fallen tree lay across the bottom just below our feet.
“Beat you to the bottom!” Destiny declared just before taking a deep breath and diving into the water.
I took a breath and quickly followed after her swimming as fast as I could to catch up. I didn’t want to let her beat me, I wouldn’t hear the end of it all weekend. We reached the old tree at the same time and our eyes met under water. Destiny smiled at me and I smiled back before touching my feet to the bottom and propelling myself back up to the surface. The water was deeper than it had looked and it took me longer to reach the surface than I thought it should.
I exhaled a big gust of air as soon as my head broke the surface. It only took me a split second to realize Destiny hadn’t surfaced with me. I quickly sucked in another breath and stuck my head under the water. I looked down and saw Destiny was still at the bottom. Something was wrong.
I poked my head back out of the water and took a huge breath then dove down to Destiny. When I reached her I immediately saw what had happened, her hair was tangled in a branch of the tree. She was caught and she was panicking as she twisted and turned trying to pull herself loose. Bubbles were escaping from her mouth as she struggled and I knew she was out of air.