Did I catch cooties or something?

Hannah and Lucy have become really good friends with Fred. Nothing romantic has happened yet, but a lot of times the three of them go for a walk on the beach, or out to dinner, or over to my/Adam and Carrie’s house. Usually the three of them like to go places, but on Sunday they came to our apartment to hang out or something. Since I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it, I decided to go to Marie’s place.

            She answered the door and asked what I was doing there. I said I thought I could play with Little Charlie, maybe take him to the park or something. She got really defensive and said that she was his mother and if he wanted to play or go to the park she could handle it. It seems to me that she hadn’t been “handling it” very well ever since she became pregnant, and she hadn’t played with him since he began walking anyway, always relying on me or Charlie or her mother-in-law to do it for her.

            I didn’t say any of that because I knew it would backfire on Marie, so instead I asked if I could go with them. Even if it meant putting up with Marie’s craziness, it was better than watching Hannah and Lucy compete for Fred’s attention, and his accepting their flirtations. But Marie said she felt tired from the baby and didn’t want to go. So I asked again if I could take Little Charlie out to play.

            She decided against it.

            I really don’t understand my sister at all. Why did she run that in circles? I’ve taken Little Charlie out during my lunch break to the park almost every day the last month so that Marie could get a nap in and he could play outside. She trusted me then, so what changed about it now?

            She acted strange before her pregnancy, you know, convinced that she found a lump in her breast when it wasn’t anything, or forcing us to go get Italian rather than Indian food despite the fact everyone else wanted Indian. But this is just getting worse, and I’m worried about my nephew. She hasn’t been solely feeding him M&Ms anymore, but what is staying inside and watching TV almost all day doing to him? I don’t care if it’s Baby Einstein, he needs interaction with people and some fresh air.

            Well, at least Charlie was home that day. Hopefully Marie let him take Little Charlie out to play.

            With that plan failed, I got some coffee and walked along the beach for a bit. The water always helps sooth me, as well as the caffeine. And thankfully when I got back, the apartment was empty.