Blizzard Baby

Although the sudden snowstorm had turned into a blizzard, Rachel decided she might have time to stop by the supermarket before the roads became impassable. She knew that Tom would say something about her putting things off if he knew she were taking this chance, but she just found going to the supermarket such a freaking pain in the rear.

         Pulling into the parking lot, she gave a little cheer. There were only two cars in the entire parking lot. One must belong to the cashier, and the other must belong to the woman that she could see through the window at the checkout counter.

         Rachel parked as closely as she could to the entrance and went in. She pulled her short shopping list out of her pocket and grabbed a cart. 

         “Hey, lady,” the cashier called after her, “I’m locking up, so I’d appreciate it if you would hurry with your purchases.”

         “No problem,” Rachel called back. “I have a short list.”

         Ok, thought Rachel, let me see what I need. As Rachel began shopping, the cashier began his closing duties. This included turning off the piped in music and half the lights. This gave the store a very creepy look and feel. Rachel decided that maybe she didn’t need everything on her list, after all.

         She stopped for a second to take a good look at her list and mark off what she didn’t need. While she was doing this, she heard the cashier call from the front of the store.

         “Hey, lady, are you still in here? I’m ready to shut down the register and go.”

         “I’m still here! Hello? Can you hear me?”

         “Yeah, lady, I hear you.”

         Now Rachel was definitely regretting having put off her shopping trip. She began to feel a panic attack coming on. What if the guy just decided to leave? What if he forgot about her? She decided that nothing on that list was that important. She grabbed her purse from the basket and began heading down the nearest aisle towards the door. 

         Rachel was so lost in her own thoughts that she tripped over something in the aisle. Turning to see what she had tripped over, she spotted in the gloom a baby carrier. In the carrier was a baby. 

         “Hello?” Rachel called out. No answer. “Hello – are you still here?” she yelled, really beginning to freak out now.

         “Yeah, come on lady. The storm is getting worse and I need to get home.”

         “Am I the only person in the store besides you?”

         “Yes.”

         “Okay, stupid question. Did you leave a baby in a carrier on aisle 3?”

         “Sure, lady, I always leave babies just laying around in stores.”

         Rachel picked up the baby carrier and went to the front of the store. She showed the baby to the cashier, who was less than impressed. When Rachel suggested calling the police, the cashier balked.

         “No way, lady. It would take forever for them to get here, and I’m leaving. You can leave and take that thing with you, or you can spend the night in the store with it, but either way that door is getting locked now.”

         With no other choice, Rachel braced herself against the cold and ran for her car with the baby in tow. Now just how in the hell was she going to explain this to Tom? She could just see it now – well I stopped at the store but all I got was this baby. Sure, that would go over very, very well.

         Pulling into the driveway, she saw that her luck was not improving. Tom was already home, and standing at the door. He came bursting out when she pulled into the driveway, and he began talking before she even got out of the car.

         Bracing herself, she told Tom that there was something on the passenger side that needed to be unloaded. Tom was beside himself.

         “Please don’t tell me that you stopped at the damn grocery store in the middle of a freaking blizzard!” Tom said.

         “Yes, I did, but I didn’t get groceries. Just please unload what is in the passenger seat and bring it in quickly.”

         Tom headed around the car, cursing and muttering under his breath. It didn’t help that he was slipping and sliding in the snow. When he opened the door, he just stopped and stared for a moment.

         “Oh, hell no! What the hell is this?”

         “Well, Tom,” said Rachel, hoping for some levity, “it’s a baby.”

         Tom was not amused.

         “I can see that. Where did it come from? And why do you have it?”

         Rachel took a deep breath.

         “Honey, it’s freezing out here. Can we go inside to discuss this, please? We are in the middle of a blizzard.”

         Tom grabbed the baby and headed inside. Once they were inside, Rachel found a blanket and wrapped up the baby. When that was done, and the baby was laid down in the bed, she returned to the living room to have it out with Tom.

         Tom was on the phone with the police when Rachel returned to the living room. When he hung up, he was even more aggravated than before. Rachel asked what the police had said.

         “They are not going to be any help with this until the blizzard ends and the roads are cleared. They are up to their necks in car accidents and other problems. They said an abandoned baby that has been taken into a safe home is not their top priority.”

         Rachel smiled. Then a thought occurred to her and she stopped smiling. 

         “Tom, I just thought of something. We can use t-shirts as diapers, but what are we going to use as a bottle?”

         “I haven’t got the slightest idea, but I guess I better go figure something out.”

         By morning, the snow had stopped and the news said that the snow plows were out clearing the roads. The baby had woken during the night, and Tom had indeed rigged a type of bottle for him. After watching the news, Tom turned to Rachel.

         “I’m going to take my 4 – wheel drive and go find an open store. I will grab some bottles, formula, diapers, and some sort of baby clothing. I’m sure they will have onesies or something. I will be back as soon as I can.”

         Just then the phone rang. It was the police, regarding Tom’s call from the night before. They were going to send an officer as soon as they could to get the baby. Tom asked them to hold on for a moment, and relayed the message to Rachel. He watched as a tear silently rolled down her cheek. He returned to the phone.

         “Officer, I’m sure you guys have your hands full, and we would like to talk to child services about keeping the baby, so if it’s all the same to you we would like to hold onto him for now.”

         Tom hung up the phone and smiled at Rachel. He nodded. She squealed and leapt into his arms.