A Time of Seasons

by Kay Edwards

The women found themselves in the kitchen making supper together. They were laughing and having fun. Liz noticed Darby grab the counter. “Are you dizzy?”

  Darby looked at Liz. “I am. It just kind of came out of nowhere. I think I over did it with the candy.”

  Liz smiled. “I don’t think you were the only one. I know I did.”

  Misty started to fry the chicken. Darby looked over at her and smiled. She was just getting ready to say something when the smell of the chicken overwhelmed her. She covered her nose and then realized she was going to be sick.

  Liz and Jeanie followed her to the bathroom. Jeanie looked at her. “Are you ok?”

  Darby looked up. “I can’t believe the candy is making me sick still. I took one whiff of that chicken and….”

  Liz walked over to her and touched her brow. “You are kind of sweaty.”

  Darby nodded and then stood up. A wave of dizziness caught her again. She fell forward, and her mom helped Liz catch her. Jeanie looked at her daughter. “This is more than candy. I think we need to get you some help.”

  Darby was getting ready to disagree when the smells from the kitchen hit her. She covered her mouth, and Liz helped her back down to the floor. Jeanie and Liz looked at each other with concern as Darby started to dry heave.

  Terry watched from the doorway. “I’ll tell Misty and then get the car.”

  Darby tried to stand, but the dizziness would not leave. She looked up at her mother. “I’m kind of scared. I have never felt like this.”

  Jeanie knelt beside her daughter. “It will be ok. Let Liz, and I help you up. We need to get you to the car.”

  Misty had Rachel on her hip. She had turned everything in the kitchen off and headed toward the porch. “Let me help get her off the porch. I just need to get Rachel in the car.”

  Terry had the car at the porch. She got out and took Rachel from Misty and put her in her car seat. Darby’s face was horribly pale. “We should go get Grant.”

  Darby shook her head. “Not yet. Let’s just see what they say at the ER. If it is serious, then someone can get him.”

  Jeanie agreed. “We stopped a couple of times on the way here. It could be food poisoning that just needs to pass.”

  Everyone was in the car now and buckled. Terry drove down the drive and toward the ER. Darby leaned on Misty. “It will be ok. They will take care of you.” Misty assured Darby.

  When they got to the ER Darby still felt dizzy, but the nausea seemed to have passed. She stood and with just a little help walked in. “I’m feeling better. Maybe we should go.”

  Jeanie looked at her daughter. “I think we need to have you checked just in case. You still look a bit pale.”

  The receptionist recognized Misty and smiled. She handed them clipboard. “You can just follow me back and fill it out in the room.”

  One of the younger doctors came in. She smiled at the group and introduced herself. “I’m Dr. Kurtz. What is the problem today?”

  Darby explained what was going on. She tried to describe what she was feeling as best she could. An odor reached her, and she put her hand over her mouth. Dr. Kurtz saw what happened and helped her to the sink.

  Jeanie was starting to get worried as she watched her daughter get sick again. She felt Liz grab her hand.

  Dr. Kurtz looked at the worried ladies. She smiled as she handed Darby a urine cup. “Why don’t we start with the basics? I’ll help you to the bathroom. I’ll have them draw some blood after we get this specimen.”

  Once the specimen was obtained, a nurse came in and drew some blood. She smiled at Darby. “Your brother is very nice to work with. We will take excellent care of you.”

  Ten minutes had passed before Dr. Kurtz came back in. She smiled at Darby. “We have some results for you. I first need to ask you if it is ok for me to tell you with everyone on here. Is that a problem?”

  Darby was worried. Her tests needed to be discussed. She wanted everyone there. “It is ok.” She said as she held tight to Misty’s hand. She looked at her mom who was holding Rachel.

  Dr. Kurtz smiled. “Darby, you are pregnant. I promise you that everything looks ok.”

  Jeanie started to cry. “Another baby…”

  Misty smiled. She had a thought, and her smile vanished. “Umm… I have a question.”

  Dr. Kurtz looked at Misty. “Ok.”

  Darby realized what they had done. She watched as Misty asked. “We kind of went overboard last night with candy and soda. When I say that I mean, eight packs of candy and all of us had at least two sodas.”

  Dr. Kurtz’s eyebrows raised in surprise. That was a lot of sugar. She smiled as she answered. “It should not do anything. From here on out though you need to be careful. How in the world did Dr. Nelson respond to that?”

  Misty gave her a sheepish grin. “He doesn’t exactly know since he and the guys are camping. If we could keep it that way…?”

  Dr. Kurtz laughed. “He won’t hear it from me but trust me husbands always find out.”

  Darby was released, and the women started walking to the car. Darby looked at the women. “She is right they are so going to find out. When Grant realizes I’m pregnant, he is going to flip. Not about the pregnancy but about what he walked into this morning.”

  Misty looked at her mom. “Weren’t they going to go over I Corinthians 13?”

  Terry nodded as she buckled Rachel into her seat. “That was the plan.”

  Misty’s face was determined. “I guess we need to go over it too.”

  Darby looked at her. “Why?”

  “While it is fresh in their memories we need to remind them that love is patient and kind and so on and so forth,” Misty answered.

  Liz shook her head. “Maybe while you are at it you can learn from it too. Misty, it is not right to learn it just not to get into trouble.”

  Misty knew she was right. “Ok. Then we will learn it. I say we go for honesty. We can tell them exactly what we are doing.”

  They were all in the car now. Terry was pulling out and heading home. “I don’t know. It still feels kind of deceptive.”

  Misty frowned. “If we are being honest how can it be deceptive?”

  Terry answered. “We have to ask ourselves if we are doing it for the right reasons.”

  Darby felt miserable. “This is all my fault.” She said.

  Misty looked at her. “I happen to know from experience that getting pregnant takes two people.”

  Darby grinned. “That is not what I meant. Maybe we can keep the pregnancy a secret, and I can tell him on the way back?”

  Misty shook her head. “No. Don’t do that. You are having a baby he needs to know that.”

  “I guess you’re right,” Darby said reluctantly.

  Terry pulled into the drive. She actually had an idea. “What if we are worried for nothing? The sugar fest was probably not the best choice, but I don’t think they will be all that upset. It isn’t like we were doing something that was going to get us killed.”

  Misty thought about it. “You know she is right. Maybe we are worried for nothing. I mean the doctor didn’t seem concerned about it. Dalton and Rodney are doctors. They can reassure all the parties involved that it isn’t that bad.”

  Liz started laughing. She would start to gain control and then start all over. As Terry parked in front of the house, she looked over at the woman. “Care to share.”

  “I just realized all of our boys married or are getting married to women like their mothers. We are actually all on the same page. We don’t just get into to trouble we do it knowingly. When we decided to eat and drink all that sugar, we knew it was probably not a good idea, but we still did it anyway.”

  Terry started to laugh. “Poor Rodney, Brock, and Wyatt are in so much trouble.”

  Liz caught her breath. “It is like they have seen it their entire lives and are drawn to i
t or something.”

  The women all giggled as they got out of the car. Making their way into the house, they continued to laugh. After cooking supper and eating they sat and continued to talk and enjoy the company. Misty put Rachel to bed, and the ladies continued to talk well into the night.