(written by Lacy) "Mommy, what are you doing?" Scott asked, following his mother around their apartment as she picked up random things and threw them into the box she was carrying. "Huh? Oh, honey, we're going on a little trip," she muttered, circling the tiny living room once more, looking for any stray objects that might have missed her eye. "Where?" he asked, putting his thumb into his mouth and taking hold of Jade's shirt with his tiny hand. She stopped what she was doing when she felt the tug on her shirt and set the box down on the couch. Picking her son up, she held him close to her and sighed. "Florida," she whispered, trying hard not to let the lump that was rising in her throat block out her voice. "Okay, mommy," Scott said in his quiet voice, and then Jade couldn't stop the tears from coming. She hadn't counted on her son's passiveness to bring the tears that had been threatening to come for days spilling from her eyes.
Mommy, don't cry," Scott whispered, wrapping his small arms around Jade. She let out a choked laugh and kissed his forhead before setting him back down. "Mommy'll be okay, honey," she said, picking the box back up and wiping the tears from her face. Just then there was a knock at the door, which caught Jade by surprise. "Come in!" she yelled. "I can't, the door's locked!" came the reply.
Sighing, Jade walked over to the door and opened it to see Jess standing in front of her with a parka on. "The taxi's here. It's raining, too," Jess said, walking around Jess and grabbing some of the suitcases that were on the floor. "Perfect," Jade muttered to herself, grabbing her and Scott's raincoats from one of the boxes. "Oh, the movers are here, too. I saw the van pull up as I was leaving my apartment," Jess said. "I don't know if I trust those movers alone in my apartment, Jess," Jade said, struggling to get Scott's coat on him. "Well, we have to leave now, so I guess there's nothing we can do about it," Jess said. She wasn't in a very good mood. The day before she had sent all of her belongings down to their house in Florida and the bill had been a little more than she had expected... like a couple hundred dollars more.
Jade closed her eyes tightly to keep from screaming out in frustration. Breathing in deeply, she opened her eyes back up and walked into the other room with Scott in her arms. She and Jess had been getting on each other's nerves lately, simply because they were both nervous about going back to Orlando. If it wasn't bad enough, they were even moving back into their old house!
"Jade, are you ready?" Jess asked, walking into the kitchen. "Yeah," Jade said, regaining her composure and turning around to grab the few bags that were left on the floor. As she followed Jess out into the hallway, she had to stop and give her apartment one last look. This was where she had given birth to her son -- she hadn't made it to the hospital in time -- and where he had taken his first step. This was where he had first said the word "mommy" and where he had eaten his first Oreo cookie. How could she leave here without feeling at least a little regret? Sighing, she slowly let the door close behind her and followed Jess to the elevator and down to their awaiting taxi that would take them to the airport.
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