Things Are Clearly Different Now, but My Love for You Remains the Same

Esch is transported into 2018, West Hartford:

As I laid down to sleep, I pulled the sheets over my body. Chills ran down my spine. I shifted from side to side, rubbing my legs together in hopes to get warmer but I remained so. Before I knew it, I was sound asleep and dreaming of my sweet, innocent baby. In the morning, I awoke to the bright sun shining through my windows. I rubbed my tired eyes and sat up, looking  around my room-except, it wasn’t my room. The walls were painted baby blue and the furniture was clean and white. What was happening?! I looked to my right and spotted an alarm clock. It was 9:00am. “Skeetah!” I called, “Randall!” After no response, I decided to look around this unfamiliar place to find some answers. I walked out of my room and down this long hallway  which led to these beautiful stairs. I walked down and noticed many picture frames of our family- all smiles. I entered the kitchen and was delighted with surprise. It wasn’t no huge kitchen but it was nice. Marble countertops, a huge refrigerator and at least 10 cabinets. I could get used to this. Then, I noticed a little note on the kitchen table, it read: Esch- I had to leave for work. You looked a little sick today so I decided it’d be best for you to stay home. Call me if you need anything. Love, Daddy. If I had this day all to myself, I was going to go explore everything! After I walked around the house a little more, I found some shoes and fixed my hair. I was now ready to go. I walked down the sidewalk outside of our house, noticing the beautiful neighborhood around me. Could this really be possible? I walked for about 5 minutes until I saw a sign saying “BUS STOP”. I waited and waited for it to arrive and then it finally came. I boarded the bus and I could feel eyes all on me. At first I ignored, but after I looked up to see everyone staring at my pregnant stomach. What was their problem? As if I didn’t have a supportive family to help me? I pretended as if their harsh looks didn’t bother me at all. I was on a mission to find out where I was and what had happened. I got out at the next stop and looked around. There were so many people holding cups of coffee and chattering on these tiny little squares- were these the new phones? They came in all sorts of colors and they were everywhere! Cars were honking and music was playing. I looked up to see a cute and fancy bakery shop named “A Piece of Cake”. Remembering I wasn’t carrying any money, I decided to sit outside of the shop. I made sure to cover my growing belly with my hand as I watched people pass. Most people bustled by, clearly  in a hurry, until I spotted this one family not too far from the table I was sitting at. There was a mom, a dad, and two daughters. One of the daughters was lean with long, brown hair and deep chocolate colored eyes. She had tan skin and faint freckles that speckled her face. The other sister was more on the heavier side with short brown hair and chubby cheeks. Although she was still beautiful, her mother made sure to point out her flaws. As they were ordering, the bigger sister decided on a hamburger with french fries. Mmmmm, how delicious that sounded. My stomach rumbled but I continued to listen. Her mother didn’t seem to like her choice as much as I had. She immediately said, “no, Liliana, you will not have such fatty foods. You know that you need to lose a little more weight. Try a salad, instead.” Liliana’s eyes watered and her smiled faded as her cheeks turned bright red. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I couldn’t even imagine having such an unsupportive and cruel mother as that poor girl. My momma would never have done such a thing. She would have looked me in the eyes and said, “whatever you want, baby.” (if we had such money to spend) I looked down at my belly, removing my hand from shielding the truth and whispered something to my child. I said, “you listen here now honey- I promise that I will love you unconditionally no matter what. I promise to be there for you and never to treat you as awful as that mother over there. And guess what? You have a big family to love you too. So don’t worry, baby, I will be a proud momma and I will be your momma.