Brush With the Law

I know I've mentioned it before: Aiden has been waking up really early lately.  I'm going to make an effort to get him back in bed this weekend instead of letting him stay up the first time he comes into our room.  It's worth a try.  Saturday, he woke up at 5:30 and laid in bed with us for an hour before Travis made him go back to his room.  He was wide awake, so he did lots of tossing and turning and talking.  Then he came out of his room again a little after 7.  We let him lay in our bed and watch cartoons until 8.  I was wide awake by that point.  I just wasn't ready to get up and move yet.  My grumbling tummy and Aiden's antsiness forced me out. 

We ate breakfast and I got ready.  Travis got up later and went straight out to the garage to do some work.  Then he headed out to buy new boots for work.  He got back at lunch time and ate with us.  Then I hopped in the car to go grocery shopping while Aiden took his nap. 

I was exhausted.  I haven't been sleeping well lately and I've been getting up early every single day with Aiden.  The thought of trudging through a grocery store was highly unappealing.  I was on the verge of tears the whole time.  Pregnancy hormones.

When I was in the check out lane, I heard the bag boy ask the woman in front of me if she needed help out to her car.  I decided right there that I would be taking him up on his offer.  He was such a nice kid and I was so appreciative of his help.  It actually cheered me up a bit and gave me the energy to get home.  I'm sure the Snickers bar I downed helped a little.

When I was about half a mile from my exit, I noticed a cop had pulled someone over on the side of the Interstate.  There were tons of cops out for Mardi Gras weekend, so it wasn't an unusual sight.  I pulled into the middle lane to give them some space.  As I was passing, I realized there was another cop car sitting in front of the pulled over vehicle without its lights on.  I wondered what he was doing when he started to drive.  I sped up so I could get in front of him and pull back into the right lane to get off at my exit.  As I pulled into the exit lane, I looked in my rear view mirror and saw he had his lights on right behind me.  I wasn't sure if the lights were meant for me, or if he was taking off to get someone else so I just got off at my exit.  He followed me.

I pulled over on the feeder, but he used his loud speaker to tell me to pull into the gas station so we'd be off the road.  I was wondering what he had pulled me over for because he started pulling onto the road BEFORE I'd passed him and I know I wasn't speeding.  My car is new, but I started to wonder if I had a light out somewhere. 

The male cop walked up to my open window and I asked him what was wrong.  Turns out, he was angry at me for getting in his way when he was preparing to pull someone else over.  He said, "If you see an emergency vehicle with his lights on, you are supposed to get out of the way."

"I know!  I'm so sorry! I got over into the middle lane when I saw you guys there, but pulled back into the right lane after I passed you.  I didn't even see your lights until they were in my rear view mirror.  I'm so sorry!"

"Well, give me your license and insurance."

I handed everything over.  As I was leaning over to get my insurance out of the glove box I realized there was another cop standing at my window watching everything I did.  I'm sure it was to make sure I didn't whip a pistol out of that glove box.  Startled me, nonetheless.

"Do you have any warrants out for your arrest?"

"No!  Nothing that I know of!"

One time in college I got pulled over and found out my license was suspended.  I had no idea.  So even though there is no reason I can think of that I would have a warrant for, you never know.

They walked back to the cruiser to run my license.  In the meantime, I started crying.  Couldn't stop.  I was trying to get it to stop when the passenger cop got out of the vehicle to come up to my window.  I don't know why I was crying.  If I got a ticket, it's not the end of the world.  Problem with me being pregnant, is that once I start crying, I can't stop.  It's rather annoying.

This other cop walks up to my window and explains they are just giving me a warning.  Then he notices I'm crying.  His speech picks up speed a little and he says again that it's just a warning, there will be no fines, it won't go on my record, etc, etc.  I still couldn't stop.  And I can't talk without sounding like a blubbering fool, but I had to speak.  All I could spit out was that "I'm pregnant".  Ha. 

Poor guy.  I'm sure I thoroughly freaked him out.  I only felt bad for him because he wasn't the a-hole that angrily pulled me over for something that wasn't obvious to me. 

I couldn't stop crying before I got home.  By this point I was only a few blocks from my house.  I was annoyed to see my dad and Travis sitting out on the patio.  If I hadn't been balling my eyes out, I would have appreciated their quick help.  But seeing as I was red-eyed and embarassed, I wasn't in the mood to talk just yet.  I sat in the car trying to calm down.  Travis came up and freaked out, wondering what was wrong with me.  (Recall my inability to speak while crying?)  He thought I'd been in an accident or something.  Then when I said I got pulled over, he assumed I got a ticket.  He told me it was okay, we'd be fine.  I told him I just got a warning.  He and my dad chuckled with each other at that point. 

Travis knows how I am about crying during pregnancy, so he left me to recoop in the driver's seat while they brought the groceries in the house.  I finally stopped the steady flow and walked inside.  I started tearing up frequently while explaining to them exactly what happened.  It's all so silly.  I can't wait for these hormones to leave me alone.  It's so inconvenient.