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I ignore his protest I don’t have ti My tolerance level for Owen is at about zero I should feel bad because he did take good care of me and the kid is only nineteen, but still My hormones and ain?"

"I saw so planes land at the airport" He pauses

"Drew’s flying into SFO, right?"

I nod, unable to foro plane on the runway that caught on fire No big deal, they put it out, but it’s pretty much shut down the airport while they clean it up real fast"

"You’re kidding Right?" Holy hell, he’d better be kidding Though this isn’t the tirimly

I can’t even believe it Dreas set to land at 4:10 He called with all his flight info right as he boarded the plane Glancing at the clock on the table beside the bed, I see it is …

A little after four Yeah The ti on this is like a bad comedy

"Hand me my phone, would you?" I left it on the table on the far side of the clock and since I’ve been having contractions, I haven’t been able to reach it I need to just keep it by my side always Dreill call ivesI send hiht and has he landed yet, but no reply I check for a voiceI call hi my hand toward the television mounted in the corner of the room "Put on the news or whatever it here you saw the report"

"Are you sure you want to watch it? It ry," Owen says with a wince

"Turn it on," I practically growl and he grabs the re on the TV without a word

Owen finds the news report quickly, a reporter standing out in front of the airport, droning on about flights being diverted to other airports, Oakland or San Jose So in the air above SFO, hoping to land soon It’s a giantlike a burned-out carcass in the ines everywhere with their sirens flashing

Andabove in a plane, anxious to land so he can get to the hospital

"I feel like I’m in a really bad movie Some stupid sitcom where everyone is supposed to find this funny," Ithe television off "I can’t take it"

"I’ll watch it out in the lobby," Owen says solemnly, his expression stoic "I’ll wait out there Let me know if you hear fro"

"You do the same"

He leans over and kisses my cheek, then ruffles er and shorter than o The led Owen, dressed in clothes froh, his shoes worn out Wishing so hard his et out of there

I ran ahen I was fifteen or sixteen, I can’t remember now I triedback I had a stash of rocery aveShe was too busy drinking and sleeping with her variety of boyfriends

So I left Snuck out in theout theof our apartuilty for leaving Owen behind I couldn’t let her raise hione, he didn’t have a chance

I went back For Owen I raised him He’shi rab his hand to keep hiaze, his expression questioning "I’ a bitch" I don’t try to candy coat it because it’s true I’ve been a total bitch and it’s not fair

"You’re in labor" He shrugs "That shit can’t be easy"

I laugh, then grimace when another contraction stretches across ht and he letsa word of protest "Thank you," I finally say when the contraction passes "For everything"

"I should say the same to you, Fabes" His voice is quiet, his eyes full of a mixture of sadness and love "You’ve always been there for reatreat he turned out, pride suffuses row I’m so proud of him He’s not perfect, but who is? I told him to apply to Stanford They have an excellent football teaot in Bonus? He could have e that Drew did instead He wants to stay home I think he’s afraid to live I also think it’s a oes to college is ultimately his choice He’s still a kid He’s allowed to make mistakes

But he was never my mistake He’s my little brother, the kid I raised and took care of and never abandoned I’m a better mother than our monant, I feel like I’ve got this I’ into the world sooner rather than later and I’oodtested, I feel like the entire world is against et hoht back to San Francisco was easy Too easy I paid for my first-class seat and waited only a fewin the soft, oversized leather seat, refusing anything to drink frolass of water I’ through my system to make it worse

A wonizeda 49er I listened to her at first, tryingof ame play--I pulled ed into ht have offended her but I don’t give a shit She was rude first

It was her audible gasp about an hour later that hado plane had crashed on the runway in San Francisco All runways had been shut down SFO wasn’t allowing planes to land We’d circle in the air for a few ht be diverted to another airport

I couldn’t fking believe it I wanted to stand and shout, But h I couldn’t make an ass of myself I’d already offended the lady next to ht now

"Are you okay? We’ll probably end up landing in Oakland or whatever," she said reassuringly "Though I hate those da next to the one football fanatic in the entire plane "I’m fine, it’s just …"