making the stop

Ellie wasn't sure of the time. It felt like an all nighter. Lon had stopped for nothing but to get to the truck stop on the interstate. He was so quiet.

"What are you thinking?" Ellie wanted to know.

"Just what does he looks like now." Lon kept his eye on the road as they drove down the dark strip of road. He was on the look out for deer. They'd seen a few fly by, already.

"We're going to stay the night, aren't we?" She asked. They were only a few miles from the truckstop. But still she wasn't sure what it would be like to stay in a motel room with a baby. She was excited and terrified.

"I guess." Lon sighed. "Really, haven't thought about it. I just keep thinking, is this the right thing to do? In my heart, I know it is, but what if something goes wrong, you know."

"Nothing is going to go wrong," Ellie said just to say it, hoping to keep things calm. She prayed nothing would go wrong.

"I want to believe that. But if Sarah comes back and she decides she wants him, you know, where does that leave-" He looked at her then.

"Us," Ellie said.

"Why does this have to happen now?" He gritted.

He drove a few more miles, and there was the truckstop, a Giant Big Boy doll was on top of the roof peering down at them. Ellie looked up at it, thinking what were they really doing. Was this for real? Meeting some woman with a baby in the wee hours of the morning. Ellie shivered.

They got out of Ellie's car and walked into the hot moist air toward the cafe.

"God, I hope she's here. I hope it wasn't a trip for nothing." Lon looked around the well lit establishment, taking his feed cap off as they went into the place. Ellie followed looking around at the smokers and over weight truck drivers. At least it was better than meeting her at a bar, she guessed.

There was a thin woman with dark hair and rutty skin who looked like she'd smoked way too many cigarettes by the wrinkles on her tired face. She looked hard edged and her nails were long and sharp.

"You been waiting long?" Lon shook her hand. She gave him a hug. She was crying.

Before Ellie knew it, Sarah's mother was telling him how Sarah was on drugs.

"She was doing speed, I guess. It might have been cocaine. She likes that stuff, her friend says." Sarah's mother was a nervous wreck. "Lord knows where she is now."

Lon just nodded.

Ellie took a peak at Charlie then who was sleeping soundly. The instant she saw him, she could only think of one person. And it wasn't Lon.