Gravity Don't Mean Too Much to Me

Ross and Bandit had been running around the garden all day, playing soccer, bouncing on the trampoline, and just genuinely chasing each other round. Bandit had been worried that without a guitar present, Ross would be easily bored and they would have nothing to talk about. For the last month all they had done together was sit around practising on their guitars, and she had to agree with her mother that they needed a break.

The garden was big, about the size of a miniature soccer pitch, and at the front of the garden was a 14ft trampoline which had a protective wall around it, in case Bandit was to fall out. The tent had been put up by her mother earlier, at the back of the garden. A swing set was placed just next to the tent, and Bandit sat there now, thinking about the day’s recent events.

Ross had held her hand and kissed her cheek. Bandit blushed in remembrance, he had only given her a quick peck on the cheek, but it still made her giggle every time she thought about it. Did this count as her first kiss? She wasn’t so sure. All the older girls at school at said that their first kisses had been on the lips, and Bandit had seen older couples kissing on the playground. Ross had not kissed her like that at all, and Bandit was glad he hadn’t. It looked disgusting. Whenever she saw the older girls and boys kissing the way they did she always looked away. It made her uncomfortable, and it looked uncomfortable for the girls too.

Sam had always joked and said that the boys were secretly vampires, because it looked like they were eating their faces with the way they were kissing. Bandit had pointed out that if they were vampires they would go for the girl’s neck, and Sam had pointed out a boy kissing a girl’s neck, and they had both started giggling.

Bandit wasn’t sure how she felt about Ross. He was a great friend, and he taught her well, but until now she had never thought of him as being her boyfriend. Surely, she was too young to have a boyfriend. She was only twelve, and both her friends, Angela and Sam, had never had a boyfriend. Sam had once hugged a boy for a dare, but that was the furthest she had gone. Angela was far to shy to even speak to a boy, so she doubted she’d had a boyfriend before.

Not only that, Ross was two years younger than her, and they didn’t go to the same school. He was also her dad’s best friend’s son, not to mention that if the media found out about the romance between them then there would be no end to hearing the rumours that would spread. It was hard for Bandit to be in the spotlight sometimes, but her parents did a good job at keeping her grounded.

“Bandit, do you want some more food?” Called Ross from the tent, she smiled and told him that she didn’t want anything else to eat.

At the mention of food, Bandit remembered what had happened with her mother earlier. Why had she reacted that way towards the bacon? Her mother loved bacon, and it had tasted fine and smelt fine to Bandit. She had earlier come to the conclusion that her mother was just sick, but then why had her mother been eating fries and ketchup that early in the morning? She decided she had better go and check on her mother, she was worried sick.

She stood up from the swing and when Ross heard her he opened the tent and stuck his head out. He had a cupcake in his hands and the icing was all around his lips. Bandit giggled.

“Where are you going?” He asked, taking another bite of the cupcake.

“To go and check on my mom. I just want to make sure she’s okay.” He nodded with understanding and told her he would wait for her in the tent. Bandit was about to turn away when she decided to get that icing off of his face. She bent down and wiped his face with a napkin from the tent. He smiled and she could feel his breath on her face, which made her stomach turn with nerves. He was so close to her.

She watched his lips with fascination as he thanked her and joked about being as messy as his father when it came to cupcakes. When she didn’t giggle he looked at her in confusion, and then he began to slowly lean forward and—

“Bandit, Ross, would you like to come in now? It looks like it’s about to rain.”

Ross jumped backwards and tripped on the inside of the tent, landing straight on the left over cupcakes. Bandit squealed with laughter as he turned around and she saw that there was icing printed all over his trousers. Her mother came from behind them, laughing just as much as they were.

“Oh dear, we’d better get you cleaned up sweetie.” She picked up some napkins from the tent floor. “I didn’t mean to make you jump.” Her mother stopped laughing and was suddenly running from the tent, and Bandit grabbed Ross from the tent, closing in behind them.

“Sorry, Mom! I forgot about the bacon!” Bandit cried running over to help her mother.

"I’m fine.” She panted, patting Bandit’s cheeks. “It’s my fault; I should have kept away from the tent.”

They began walking towards the house, with Ross wiping at his trousers the whole way. Once they got inside, Bandit helped Ross to dry his trousers, whilst he meanwhile had to borrow a pair of Bandit’s. She tried to hold back a giggle at the sight of Ross wearing pick bunny trousers, but she couldn’t help but laugh.

Ross blushed and sat down at the table, avoiding Bandit’s gaze.

“I’m so sorry about that, we would have let you borrow a pair of Gerard’s trousers, but they would have been far too big.” Her mother apologised once more, before turning to Bandit. “You’ll need to tidy up before your father gets home. He’ll be back in ten minuets, so you need to go clean up as best you can.”

Bandit looked annoyed. “Can’t you help me?”

Her mother sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Lindsey sat down in the living room flicking through the music channels. She had left Ross in the kitchen with some comic books to read whilst Bandit tidied up. She felt bad about leaving Bandit to tidy up on her own, but with the smell of the tent she just couldn’t handle it.

She had drunk even more ketchup since that morning and had now finished the entire bottle. She hoped that Gerard would have brought more as she had asked, she wanted more already.
She had thought back to the last time she had craved food like this, and that had been twelve years ago, when she had been pregnant with Bandit. But surely she could not be pregnant? Wasn’t it quite rare for someone of her age to fall pregnant? And, if she were pregnant, there were so many risks that came with being pregnant at her age.

She had heard of older women dying at child birth, especially in their late forty’s. This scared her, not only because she didn’t want to die and leave Gerard behind, but also because she would be leaving both Bandit and the baby motherless. Gerard would never be able to cope on his own without her, what if he began drinking again? Lindsey would never be able to live with herself knowing that she could leave him behind; it killed her just to think about him being upset. Bandit would be devastated, she would miss her Prom, graduation, wedding day, she wouldn’t see her grandchildren.

The new baby wouldn’t know who its mother even was, and it may end up blaming itself for her death. She had read about children blaming themselves for their mother’s deaths at childbirth, and those stories never ended happily.

Another risk would be that the child would be more likely to have a disability of some sort. Lindsey didn’t know if she could cope with a healthy baby, let alone a disabled baby. Not that she would discriminate against the baby in any way. She would love the baby just as much as Bandit, and treat it in the exact same way. Except, or course, she wouldn’t be able to treat it the same way. The baby would need much more attention than Bandit did as a baby, and that could put a strain on the whole family.

Lindsey knew she was thinking far too ahead, she may not even be pregnant. But then, if she wasn’t pregnant, then what was wrong with her?

How would she tell Gerard about all of this? Should she take a pregnancy test behind his back and then tell him if it’s positive?

She began counting the days in her head over and over again. She was a week late for her period. She counted again and got the same outcome, and she began to panic. She needed to get a pregnancy test, now.

“Don’t come in the kitchen mom!” Called Bandit and Lindsey smiled at her daughter’s words. She was being so helpful; she would buy her some candy whilst they were at the store.

A tear slid from her eye, and Lindsey had to grab a napkin from the coffee table. She couldn’t start crying now, not whilst Ross and Bandit were in the next room. The only person that would be able to calm her down would be Gerard, and he was going to be back any minuet.

Lindsey looked at the clock in alarm, she had forgotten about Gerard. He was going to be home any minuet now. She made sure her make up wasn’t smudged and when Bandit called her she went back into the kitchen to give Ross his now clean trousers.

“Thank you Mrs Way.” He smiled, handing the bunny trousers back to Bandit.

“Please, call me Lindsey.” She smiled as best she could, and at that moment, Gerard entered the kitchen.

“Hello, Ross.” He greeted happily, Lindsey knew her husband had had a good day. She would have to go to the store alone. “How are my two favourite girls?” He smiled, hugging Bandit.
Lindsey smiled and put her arm around her husband, and then she noticed the shopping bag in his hand. “What you got there?” She asked eagerly.

He kissed her cheek, mumbling into it; “The shopping you asked me for.”

Lindsey’s stomach dropped. She had forgotten that she had asked Gerard to already go to the store. Now how could she go to the store without him getting suspicious? He saw her reaction and she let go of his waist, taking the bag gently from his hand and kissing his cheek.

She opened the bag on the table, taking out every item he had brought. He hadn’t forgotten anything, but she knew what she had to do. Ross and Bandit left to go play in the garden once more, and Lindsey readied herself to lie to her husband.

Once all the items were on the table, she shuffled through the empty bag, as if looking for something else.

“What’s wrong sugar?”

“Where’s the air freshener I asked you for?” She pretended to look puzzled.

Gerard looked confused. “You didn’t ask me for any.” He walked towards her and put his hand around her waist, kissing her neck. “I can go get some later if you’d like.”

She couldn’t speak for a moment as his lips made their way to hers, and she felt her heart pounding as she prepared to make her move.

“I’ll go now; I wanted to take Bandit out to the park anyway.” She mumbled, and Gerard stopped kissing her.

“I’ll come with you if you’d like.”

Lindsey pretended to hesitate. “I told Ross you’d drop him home, is that okay?”

Thankfully, the plan worked exactly the way Lindsey had wanted it to, and before long she was on her way to the store with Bandit in the back seat. The windows were tinted and they both wore hoods to try and disguise themselves as much as they could, but they usually got recognised by at least one person. Bandit didn’t get recognised as much unless she was with her parents, but Lindsey wanted to keep her with her at all times.

“What are we getting at the store?” Bandit asked innocently.

“Some air freshener and you can get some candy. You’ve been very helpful today, B. I’m very proud.”

Bandit smiled. “Are you alright now Mom?” Lindsey looked in the mirror to see Bandit looking worried again.

“I’m fine, honey. Thank you for helping me earlier.” She paused. “And its best we don’t tell your father about me feeling ill, don’t you?”

Her daughter didn’t question her, she just nodded. Lindsey hated keeping secrets from Gerard, but she would tell him if it was positive, and let’s face it, she wasn’t young enough to be pregnant so why should she worry? She was just taking precautions.