Free The Fourteen Day Soul Detox by Rita Stradling Page B

whole
lifetime in a day filled with moments like the ones I had today.”
    “Maybe you’re just paying
attention again, and seeing what you forgot how to see,” she
said.
    “How am I going to fix my life,
Susan?”
    “With a pen and paper,” she
said.
    “You make it sound so easy,”
I mumbled.
    She sighed, letting go of my shoulder.
“I’m going to go lie down on your couch. I always thought
you and Beza were just being big whiney babies, but oh my god, this
pregnancy thing is exhausting.”
    “That is why you got to do it
this time around,” Beza said as she reentered the room with
Sarah’s small suitcase.
    When I walked over to the kitchen, all
I heard was giggling. Aiden spoke along with the announcer of the
gymnastic event, though he obviously didn’t know the words. He
said in a low voice, “That lady just did a flip-de-loo, and now
she’s going to do a wa-de-ka. Don’t fall lady, the
snakes!”
    Sarah’s shoulders shook with her
laughter.
    “He has a pretty good announcer
voice,” I said to Beza. “Maybe he has a future career in
being a goofball.” I tickled Aiden as I said it.
    He giggled, trying to grab my hands.
“Mom, Aunt Jamie just said balls!”
    Susan started laughing from the other
room.
    “I did not,” I said, still
tickling him.
    “Aiden,” Beza said in a
warning tone, though I heard suppressed laughter in her voice.
“That’s what it’s been all this week.” Beza
shook her head. She turned to Sarah. “Hey cutie, you ready to
go? You’re going to have a sleep over with just me and Aiden
tonight.”
    “I’m ready to go,”
Sarah said, jumping off her chair. She jumped up and down. “Bye
mom!”
    “Wow, I’m glad you’re
so excited,” I said, breathing out a laugh. “Come give me
a hug.” When she did, I told her, “Now behave for your
aunt Beza, okay?”
    “Yes,” she said. After
walking the group to the door, I stole another hug from each of them.
    “Unlock your car so I can grab
your booster seat,” Beza said.
    “Oh, shoot, you want me to switch
it?”
    “No, I got it, Jamie,” she
said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
    I unlocked the car remotely and watched
the group walk away.
    When I reentered the living room, Susan
laboriously moved her feet down and sat up. “Come over here and
help me get my pregnant ass up,” she said, holding a handout to
me.
    “Who knew you were going to be
the biggest baby of all of us,” I said as I helped her stand.
    “Shut the fuck up,” she
said.
    “What, are you trying to get your
swearing out while Beza is not around?”
    “Yes, she’s on my case,”
she said.
    “I’m surprised she’s
put up with you for as long as she has,” I said.
    “Me too, me too,” she said,
plopping her butt down on my kitchen chair.
    “Will you make me something to
eat? I’m starving,” she said.
    I rolled my eyes. “Yes, but I’m
microwaving it.” I opened my freezer, “Enchiladas or
lasagna?”
    “Ooh, lasagna,” she said.
“And grab me a pen and a piece of paper, too. Oh, and a glass
of milk.”
    “Holy shit, Susan, I thought you
were here to help me,” I said.
    “I am, hence the paper. Move,
woman, I’m not getting any less pregnant here,” she said.
    With a sigh, I warmed up the lasagna
and brought her everything she wanted.
    She clicked the back of the pen. “Okay
so, you want to change your life,” she said.
    I sighed. “I guess.”
    Her bright blue eyes drilled into mine.
“You do or you don’t?” she snapped.
    “I’m pretty sure I need to
change things,” I said, looking away.
    “Oh, you need to change things.
That’s a definite. I’m just asking if you’re
willing to change things, if you’ve given yourself permission
to change things yet. I don’t want to spend all this time
figuring out how to make you better, just to have you go back to
punishing yourself.”
    “Why would I punish myself?”
I asked, rocking back in my chair. “I didn’t do anything
wrong.”
    “I’m not saying you have