Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
The lady just smiled. “Check out is at eleven, so you make sure you’re all cleared out, alright? If you’re not, they’ll charge you for a whole ’nother day.”
“I’ll be out before eleven,” I agreed.
Using what was left of my energy, I grabbed our overnight bag from the car and locked it up. Desk lady was right, our room was only two doors down from the lobby, and I quickly carried Rhett inside, closing and locking the door behind us. I dropped onto the bed and slumped with exhaustion, Rhett’s head lolling against my shoulder.
God, I was so fucking tired. At least, I knew, when we arrived tomorrow, I’d have a minute to take a breath. We’d been on the road for so long that the days had started to blend together. Even when I slept, I seemed to be somewhat conscious, aware of every sound in our rooms and the parking lots beyond. I couldn’t turn it off, not yet. I had to keep an eye on everything. I was in charge. It was all up to me.
“All done?” Rhett asked groggily.
“Just got to our room, baby boy,” I said, kissing his forehead. “You ready to brush your teeth and get in jammies?”
“No,” he whined, his fists gripping my shirt.
I debated internally for only a moment before answering.
“We can do them in the morning. Do you need to go potty?” I asked, getting to my feet.
He shook his head and burrowed further into me. I debated waking him fully just to be sure, but decided against it almost immediately. Potty training was practically impossible when you were on the road, and what little progress we’d made before we left had pretty much disappeared. I was too tired to deal with it.
By the time I’d pulled down the bedding and set him in the sheets he was already fully asleep again. I didn’t even bother with the pajamas, just stripped him down to his pull up and a t-shirt and tucked him in with his blanket.
That stupid blanket. I’d forgotten it in a hotel in Utah and we’d had to backtrack three hours to go back and pick it up. It was pink and ratty and frayed and had holes all around the edges, but he loved it. When he was a toddler, I’d tried to switch it out to something newer, but it was no use—he wanted the same blanket that I’d had on my bed through my entire childhood.
As soon as Rhett was settled, I went into the bathroom, leaving the door open so I could take a quick shower and brush my own teeth. I just knew that the next morning my little bundle of energy would be bouncing off the walls and I wouldn’t have a moment to myself to pee, much less shower and blow-dry my hair. I was dead on my feet as I finally shuffled to the bed and climbed in beside Rhett. It only took seconds for me to fall into the half-conscious sleep that I was getting used to.
The next morning I woke up to Rhett’s face just inches from mine.
“Mama, wake up?” he whispered, eyes wide.
“Yeah, Mama’s awake,” I murmured, groaning as I stretched.
“More,” he said, his face still inches from mine. “Rhett hungry.”
“You’re hungry?” I replied in mock surprise as I sat up. “No way.”
“Yes way,” Rhett countered, his tone an almost perfect match to mine.
“Why don’t we get dressed?” I pulled him onto my lap. “And then when we get in the car, I’ll find you a breakfast bar.”
“Hungry.”
“Yes, I know,” I mused, setting him on his feet. “You want to try and go potty? Your pull up is still dry.”
“No,” he replied easily, wandering off to check out the hotel room.
“You ready to see where me and Grandpa and Grandma used to live?” I asked, getting to my feet.
“Grandma,” he murmured, pulling at the nightstand drawer.
“Yup.” I got ready quickly while Rhett was occupied, and when I came out of the bathroom he was standing by the door.
“Ready,” he announced.
“Let’s get some pants on first, yeah?” I said with a laugh. “You’ll be cold if you don’t put some clothes on.”
“Ready,” he replied stubbornly, staying by the door.
“Come on, buddy,” I said, ignoring the mutinous look on his face. “We’ll hurry.”
He sighed heavily, making my mouth twitch in amusement, and stomped toward me. “Clothes on.”
“You want to wear your car shirt?” I asked, letting him pull it out of my hand while I searched for some pants. “That one’s your favorite, huh?”
“Car shirt,” he said, hugging it. I’d had to ration the amount he wore it because I was so afraid that he’d wear it out before he was ready to give it up. Kind of like his blanket.
“Rhett, grab your blanket right now and bring it to Mama, okay?”