This
work of
adult fiction, loosely based on
characters portrayed by Russell Crowe, includes adult language and
experiences;
you have been warned.No
copyright
infringement on the original work is intended. Copyright Diana Walker 2007.
EMILY
I went to sleep with Mummy and Papa watching over me. They waved bye-bye
right before I fell asleep.
I like stretching when I wake up. It feels good. I have my twirly
thing above my cot; Mummy calls it a mobile. I like watching it
sway. Sometimes I bash Teddy. Sometimes I can’t reach him.
Teddy stays wet because I like to chew on him since I found my mouth.
Bear and Caesar are watching me wake up. They poke their noses into my
cot. I squeal when they touch me. Their noses are cold.
I don’t know how Mummy knows when I wake up. I know that if my bum’s wet,
I cry, and Mummy comes. If I’ve been awake for a while just enjoying my
bed, Mummy comes for me no matter how quietly I’m playing with my sheets.
Mummies must know a lot.
Papa always comes for me as soon as I’m awake. He knows things even
faster than Mummy. I like when Papa gives me my bath. He blows
bubbles and tickles me, and we giggle. When he rocks me, I feel safe.
“Ba, ba, ba.” Ooooow. Talking gets me action every time.
Mummy and Papa are always so excited and talk to me. They tell me I’ll be
talking like a big girl soon. I don’t know why I need to talk more.
I get everything I need or want right now.
It’s not Mummy and Papa, but I know these people. It’s the nice man and
the funny lady. The first time the lady held me, she wasn’t very good at
it, but I was having a bad patch being around all those people. She’s
gotten better now. Mummy doesn’t like the way she talks to me, but I do. TERRY
Max and Reags finally decided to take a weekend away from Ems.
Diana had volunteered us for the weekend babysitting duties. After my
initial shock, I wholeheartedly agreed.
“Are you my wake-up girl?” Diana had her face in the crib talking to Ems softly. “Did we wake up happy? You won’t
miss Mummy and Papa at all this weekend. Unca Terry and Auntie Dee Dee
will take such good care of you won’t even care that they’ve run away and left
you all alone.” Diana blew a raspberry on Ems’
belly.
Evidently Ems was in agreement. I could
see her little feet kicking away and her arms dangerously close to Diana’s
nose. I moved to the crib because I knew firsthand how a baby fist on an
adult nose could sting. Henry had been an older toddler but had blackened
my eye with a well-timed swing; I’d almost dropped him.
Diana scooped her up, propped Ems on her
shoulder, and turned so I could say good morning to our princess. Diana
looked completely natural holding Ems.
None of her prior awkwardness was apparent.
“Good morning, Love.” I reached for the baby, but Diana was already
moving towards the changing table.
“Are you wet? Are you a wet baby? If you’re a poopy baby, Unca
Terry gets the honors.”
I tapped her on the shoulder, interrupting her ongoing convo with the little,
squirmy bundle in her arms. “Who are you, and what have you done with the
woman I love? You know, the one who ‘doesn’t do young of any species.’”
Diana’s laugh was the one she uses around the horses – soft, sweet, guaranteed
to engender a warm response. “Oh, Unca Terry is being so silly, isn’t
he? Yes, he is. Oh, yeth, he is.”
In the barn Diana operates with ruthless efficiency; every tool she could
possibly need for her task at hand is laid out within easy reach for her but
out of the horse’s danger zone. With Ems
she’s applying the same technique and care.
I might as well not even be in the room for all the notice either female was
paying me. Ems
was fascinated with
Diana’s ongoing chatter and animated face. Diana’s
left hand rested on Ems’ midsection holding her somewhat still as
Diana unsnapped the bottom half
of the onesie Ems had slept in.
“We don’t want you getting cold while we’re changing your diaper.”
Diana didn’t bother to check if the diaper needed to be changed or not.
She whisked it off with a flourish, stepped on the foot pedal for the diaper
pail, and dropped it in. Diana’s been reading baby care books; on her
trips back and forth to Nellis, the magic, green bag has held several
illustrated manuals, a full complement of baby lotions and supplies, and the
baby doll for her to practice diaper changing. She was quick in cleaning Ems. She felt below for the new one, slid it under Ems’ bum, and fastened it at her waist.
Diana picked up Ems under her arms and dangled
her so her baby toes brushed the tabletop. Ems’
diaper slid off – no stopping for chubby thighs, joyful kicking feet, or
entangling, loose leggings.
“That’s not good.” Diana’s deadpan delivery, both from her intonation and
my relief the singsong baby talk had stopped for the moment, made me
laugh. “Bottomless baby. I guess the girth needs to be
tighter.” Diana’s snort of amusement accompanied an annoyed Ems’ return to the changing table to try once more.
“At least I don’t have to wash her up again.”
Experience tells me this weekend will be a near constant of washing Ems and us.
*
I finally was allowed to hold Ems when Diana shook the dog hair out of the
doona we’d laid on the lounge floor for Ems to
play. Whilst we’d been seeing to Ems in
the nursery, Bailey, Reags’ equivalent to our Okie, had made himself
comfortable on it. So much for my belief Reags’ dogs are better behaved
than ours. It’s a good job that he doesn’t have Okie’s curiosity or
nimbleness to have gotten into Ems’ lounge toy
chest as opposed to her nursery or kitchen toy chests.
There is nothing like fresh baby smell. I turned my back to the main
section of the lounge for Ems to have the best
view and turned my head into hers. It had been a long time since I’d held
Henry; he’d been the last baby I’d been close enough to hold this way.
The time between Henry and Ems has been a
grim, adult world.
“Ems, I fear you will be terribly spoilt by
the time your Mummy and Papa return. Look at all this activity, and it’s
all for you.” She giggled at my words and tried to respond in her own
baby way.
Diana smoothed the doona on the floor once more and fussed at the dogs to stay
away as she sat on the floor beside Ems’ marked
play area. Diana rose to her knees, extending her arms to take Ems from me once more. I suppose she didn’t trust
my lumbering frame and out of practice muscle memory to place Ems
safely on the floor.
We stretched out on either side, and Bear blocked any forward movement Ems might make. She looked solemnly to each of us
and laughed when Diana produced a baby rattle. I didn’t believe she
intentionally bonked each of us; Bear gave a long-suffering sigh, indicating
this was a normal occurrence. In quick order the rattle went into Ems’ mouth, and she gummed it for a bit.
“Ems, let’s show Unca Terry what you learned
this week.”
Diana took the baby nunchuk and held it just out of Ems’
reach to the side. I could see her working out how to get to it. It
took several tries, but finally her center of balance was far enough over that
the rollover was inevitable. She could grasp the toy Diana held loosely
in her hand and willingly gave up for such a major accomplishment. Ems tried to clap her hands with us.
Occasionally and accidentally her palms met. Diana extolled her triumph
using baby talk; I explained the principle of physics that allowed her to do
that; and Ems took it all in, interjecting her
own comments periodically. We set her back on her stomach and tried it
again to the same resounding success.
By lunchtime Ems was wired. We’d played
every active game a 4-1/2 month old child could play in nine square feet.
She’d rocked back and forward in an attempt to get to her canine guardian; Bear
obliged and let her pull on whatever hair her chubby hands grabbed. Diana
kept the other dogs away beyond our body shields as she didn’t have the
confidence in ‘Empress Pandora’ or the youthful Caesar to endure the abuse a
baby can put a dog through. Bailey was completely out of the question.
Each time Ems grabbed my finger, it went
immediately into her mouth. She’s at the age where she’s learning about
the world through her mouth – how fingers have a different texture than her
plastic rattle, which differs from her teddy, but Teddy and Bear are
similar. These are such fascinating discoveries for a child, and Diana
and I encouraged each one. EMILY
I’m sleepy and hungry, but now I know their names – Unca Terry and Auntie Dee
Dee. I’m tired. Why aren’t they?
I really liked it when Unca Terry played with my toes. When he got to my
little toe and did ‘Wee, wee, wee. All the way home,’ it tickled a
lot. They laughed at the way I wiggled my toes.
Auntie Dee Dee decided I’m too young for something called ‘Creepy Mouse.’
She says I have to be three or four years old before she’ll teach me, and Mummy
and Papa will have to be here when she does. “I’m not having a bruise on
the kid’s arm without Reags or Max being here.”
I’ll get them back at lunch for the baby sit-ups they had me doing. DIANA
I probably should’ve taken Terry’s advice and stripped Ems
when I fed her lunch. I should’ve stripped. Terry’s the only
one who survived the meal relatively unscathed, but he had me blocking for him.
I know Reags started Ems on cereal just to
give me the full flavor of what raising a child is like. The bib was
useless. When we were finished, the onesie she was wearing was covered in
cereal except for the little portion where the bib had been.
As soon as I strapped Ems into her baby
carrier on the kitchen table, she began her imitation of a baby bird. Her
little mouth kept opening and closing, and she smacked her lips. Who knew
cereal qualified as a gourmet meal?
The first mouthful I fed her was too large, and I was using her baby spoon that
Terry and I had bought when we found out Reags was pregnant. It all
dribbled out and down her chin. I spooned out a little less with my next
try. Ems rolled it around in her mouth
and played with it until she swallowed. Still, some dribbled out. I
felt pretty successful.
We were doing fine until Terry had to poke his nose in to help. From
behind me he encouraged Ems to smack her
lips. I was all in favor of improving her new skills but not when her
mouth is full to spray me. At least he got some of his own medicine; he
ended up with a trace of cereal on his cheek. While he was stealing my
cleanup towel from my shoulder, Ems continued
rolling her food around in her mouth and staged it so I got a goodly amount all
over me.
It took Terry five minutes to scrub off the speck of cereal. During that
time both Ems and I were bathed in the stuff.
Terry took over feeding Ems the last quarter
of her semi-solid lunch. She was getting tired of being strapped down,
eating, and being a mess. Crankiness was nearby. Surely Terry’s
charm would work on Ems; it works on every
other female in the world.
“Pass me another clean towel, please, Diana.” I dutifully stopped trying
to get rice from my hair and out of my ears and draped a large bath towel I’d
found in the dryer around Terry’s neck and shoulders. From Terry’s
feeding technique, I saw where Henry had gotten the idea of becoming a pilot.
Terry scooped a little cereal into the spoon and flew it around the fussy baby,
immediately fascinating her with where her food was going. Ems watched as the spoon passed her mouth momentarily,
circled in a holding pattern, and finally came to her mouth as the
hangar. Terry did a decent job of impersonating a flight
controller. He hadn’t anticipated the hangar being on strike. Ems would not open her mouth. He’d taken so long
entertaining her she thought lunch was over.
He tried again, this time taking a more direct route, and was rewarded with
success. “A clean hit!”
You’d have thought he’d just called in a successful, close-quarters air
strike. I didn’t appreciate the floorshow he was giving Ems
to finish her lunch. I didn’t think Reags would like it much
either. I was gratified that the bath sheet came in handy when Ems knocked one of Terry’s flybys towards him. EMILY
This wasn’t what I was expecting. We’re in the right rocker, but my milk
isn’t coming from the right place. Auntie Dee Dee is feeding me from a
bottle. The nipple is shaped right, but it tastes nasty. Once the
milk starts flowing, it tastes like Mummy. That’s better. I wish
Auntie Dee Dee had gotten the piece of rice from the fold in my neck when she
cleaned me up, changed my nappie, and put me in a clean onesie.
Unca Terry finally burped me. Auntie Dee Dee didn’t pat hard enough or
maybe it was because Unca Terry’s hand is big enough that he covered my whole
back. I was glad the full feeling went away.
I’m sleepy. TERRY
When we put Ems down for her afternoon nap, we
let her fuss for five minutes. It was the longest five minutes of my
life.
Bear came from the nursery and sat in front of Diana. When she did not
immediately leave the lounge sofa, he walked to her, gently took her forearm in
his mouth, and tugged. He was satisfied once she began moving down the
hall and released her arm. I trailed along behind.
Diana stood beside the crib and talked softly to Ems.
“Little girl, you like your afternoon nap. Bear and Caesar like your
afternoon nap. What would help you sleep? How about a baby
massage?”
Yes, that should do it. Once Diana has finished with me, I’m boneless and
sleep soundly.
Diana worked her magic, standing over the bed and trailing her fingers softly
over Ems’ arms and legs. Her massage
took significantly less time than when Diana works on me. Diana didn’t
have to stop periodically to shake out her hands, and she had less area to
cover. I retreated to the rocker to gauge the results of her work and
held out my hand for her to join me.
“We can’t! We’ll wake the baby when we break the rocker. It’s made
for a mom OR dad and a baby.” She took my hand and started down to sit
beside me on the floor. I caught her and lifted her onto my lap with her
long legs draped over the arm.
“Do you not believe that Max and Reags haven’t spent many contented hours
sharing this rocker?” She made herself comfortable on my lap, her head on
my shoulder. We’d started to doze when Ems
started to snub and kept it up.
Diana left me and used her soothing voice once again. “Do you want to
hear a story this time?
“Once upon a time ... that’s how all good stories start … a very precious
little girl was born. Her name was Emily. She was so very loved by
everyone.
“Her Auntie Dee Dee loved horses, too, and wanted Emily to have her own pony
when she grew up enough to ride. Auntie Dee Dee told everyone she knew
about her new goddaughter and how Emily needed a pony – a perfect pony for a
perfect little girl.
“All of Auntie Dee Dee’s horsey friends looked at barns all over North Texas. Then one day they found Pumpkin, the
practically perfect pony. She got her name because she was almost the
same color as a Halloween pumpkin. She didn’t look perfect when they
first saw her standing out in the field. She hadn’t had a little girl to
love her in so long. Her mane was too long and ragged; it had burrs all
in it. Her tail dragged the ground and was all tangled. Her coat hadn’t
been brushed in a very long time. Sometimes her feet hurt because her
hooves were so long.
“She didn’t walk over to the women when they first saw her. They didn’t
have any young girls with them, and Pumpkin really wanted a special girl of her
own. But the women were nice to her and handled her gently. They
combed out her tail with their fingers strand by strand. They petted her
and fed her a carrot. It was almost the same color she was.
“The women walked away from her and started talking. Pumpkin thought they
would talk about her, and she followed them. Pumpkin wanted to have her
say. She butted her head in between Gretchen and Dee and pinned her ears
back. They were being naughty talking about her. The women laughed
and rubbed her head and ears.
“‘It’ll be years before Emily’s old enough to ride her. Her back’s too
broad; Emily’s legs will stick straight out. Do you think she’s
pregnant? A pasture breeding?’ Dee
said.
“‘Well, we can’t leave her here. If you don’t want her for Emily, I’ll
take her home. At least I know she’ll be happy. I wonder how old
she is.’
“‘She looks like an old soul, like she was never young. I wonder if she
was ever happy.’
“Pumpkin leaned on first one woman and then the other, trying to tell them
she’d had several little girls, and she knew how to treat them. If a
little girl became rowdy, Pumpkin pinned her ears to let them know they were
misbehaving, but she never hurt them. She always watched where she put
her feet and was always careful when she took treats from their hands.
Oh, yes, Pumpkin was a great babysitter and friend.
“Pumpkin let her little girls cry in her mane or on her shoulder when their
friends hurt them. That was how Pumpkin knew she would live somewhere
else soon. Her little girls grew up and didn’t need her anymore.
“When the women walked away from her, Pumpkin was sad. She didn’t want to
live in this pasture all alone anymore. She tried to trot after the
women, but her feet hurt that day, and she couldn’t keep up. She watched
them climb over the fence and sighed. She watched them walk into the
house before she found some nice grass to eat.
“Can you imagine how excited she was when she heard the truck and trailer
stopped at the gate and it opening? She whinnied and ambled to the
gate. The woman outside the truck walked to her and snuffled her; the
woman knew how to greet a horse. Her arms around Pumpkin’s neck kept her
away from danger. Pumpkin thought that it was nice that someone wanted to
protect her, but she knew better than to get too close. She normally
stood between her little girl and the truck.
“The woman took a halter from behind her back and slipped it over Pumpkin’s
nose. ‘Come on, Pumpkin. Time for you to have another little girl
to help raise.’“ Ems had settled down, but her eyes were wide,
as if taking in the story of how her first pony had come to The Hawthorne, and
I understood why our herd had grown by one ragamuffin.
*
Diana’s bedtime story had not worked on Ems;
she hadn’t fallen asleep. Ems did not
want to be in her cot. Diana tried rocking her – no go. That was as
bad as being in the cot.
I rocked her and told her how her Mummy and Papa had met in my most soothing
voice. Diana’s thinking was that since Max and I are built so much alike, Ems would think her Papa had her, particularly
since Diana made me change into one of Max’s shirts.
That didn’t work either.
There is a particular female trait I’ve noticed when standing in a queue.
Whenever a baby cries, all women began to sway from one side to the
other. They may be several registers over from the crying child, but
women from their mid-20s through grey-headed grannies began to sway.
Diana had even done it unconsciously.
When Diana took Ems from me, she began the
‘mommy sway.’ It quieted Ems
momentarily.
We took turns walking Ems through the house
with Bear pacing beside whoever had her. I hadn’t expected such patience
with a busy baby from Diana. She was always reluctant to give Ems to me for my turn attempting to soothe her. I
only received Ems when Diana had run out of
ideas and needed to consult a baby book for more. Ems wasn’t running a temperature. She’s
too young to be cutting teeth, but just for grins and giggles, the next time
she stuck my finger in her mouth, I had a feel of her gums; no joy. Ems wasn’t unhappy or upset; she just didn’t
want to take a nap, or perhaps she didn’t want to take a nap for us. We
could only keep her entertained for minutes at a time. Neither Diana nor
I had the foggiest notion on how to negotiate Ems’
SUV stroller down the steps. I assembled it on the walk when Diana
suggested the great outdoors as being far more interesting than either of us or
both of us combined. Our outdoor jaunt came to a screeching halt and a
hasty retreat when I spotted a newly shed snake skin. There was
insufficient room in the stroller for Diana and Ems.
EMILY
This is fun. I haven’t had two people so willing to entertain me in a
long time. The last time I tried this, Mummy eventually put me in my cot
and sat beside it and cried.
I wonder what they’ll try next. DIANA
I was at wit’s end. How can one small baby so totally buffalo two
intelligent adults? We’d been at this all afternoon, and there was not a
sign that Ems would give up anytime soon.
“Terry, this isn’t in any of the baby books, but my cousin used to do it when
she was having a bad day with one of her kids.”
“Tell me. I’m willing to give anything a go short of drowning her.”
“Jo would stick Carol in her car seat and go for a drive.” Terry was up,
dragging his car keys out of his pocket, before I could say another word.
“Grab a bottle or two in case she wakes up before we get back.” My,
wasn’t he being the optimistic one.
I knew putting car seats in all our cars would come in handy some day. I
didn’t realize it would be the first time we took care of Ems.
Terry drove down to the highway slowly. I suppose we were half hoping a
short drive would be all that was necessary for Ems
to fall asleep. No such luck.
We’d been following different farm roads for a half hour with Ems
being fascinated with the twists and turns. Every time she was about to
drop off, we came upon another switch back, which made her alert, again.
“I need to find a long stretch of straight road. Since you’ve been turned
round the entire time watching her, my arm is about to drop off from balancing
you on the turns.”
“Then we need to go to the interstate. These cattle tracks are all going
to have sharp bends. The freeway shouldn’t have much traffic at this time
in the afternoon, and the curves are all gentle.
“I hate to bring this up, but if this doesn’t work, I think we need to take her
to the hospital no matter how stupid it will make us look.”
Terry sighed. “You’re right. We promised we’d take good care of
her. I’ve no memory of Henry acting this way. Of course, I was away
on Selection when he was this age.”
He checked both directions of the T intersection where we had stopped. “Now,
which way is the bloody freeway?”
*
We were very close to downtown Dallas by the
time Ems dozed. Terry had driven slowly
with a great deal of room between us and the car in front so as not to have to
touch the brake and risk disrupting her somnambulant state.
There was no question. Ems wasn’t deeply
enough asleep to risk a city street with its stops and starts to turn around
and return to The Gate; we had to stay on the freeway. We would continue
on to The Hawthorne; she would be good and out of it by then. Hopefully,
she’d sleep through the night at her duplicated nursery at our house.
“Diana, call Reags’ cell phone and tell her where we’ll be. I don’t want
her or Max calling The Gate and copping the answerphone. We’d never keep Ems again.”
“And that would be bad because?” I sighed. “There’s more to taking
care of a baby than I ever thought. If something were to happen to Max
and Reags, I’d happily take her in, but I’m not sure I’d do it voluntarily.
“Don’t mind me; I’m just frustrated that I don’t know why she got so
fussy. I’m sort of thinking she doesn’t like me.” I sighed
again. “Maybe a little of me goes a long way with her.”
“Next time you spend the day with Reags, you’ll know what to watch for on how
she interacts with Ems. You’ll figure it
out.” He reached for my hand and kissed it. “Now call Reags before
they send out the Rangers for us. God forbid that they get Ackerman
involved.”
I dragged out my phone and pulled up Reags’ cell. I was grateful it went
to her voicemail. “Hi. It’s me. Wanted to reassure you that
everything’s going well. Ems …ily was a little fussy today so
we took her for a ride. She fell asleep closer to our house than yours so
we’re spending the night there. We’ll head back down to The Gate when she
wakes up in the morning.
“If you’re in dire need to talk to her, call the house phone or one of our
cells. I gather since this went to voicemail you two are having a great
time. I’m glad for you. Bye!”
Terry was still looking bemused at how I had almost screwed up Emily’s name to
Reags. He hadn’t been there for the dressing down I’d received.
Reags was of the opinion that my calling Emily 'Ems'
was the height of disrespect, but when Terry did it, it was perfectly fine.
“Hanging around you gets me into so much trouble.” Terry now anticipates
when I will punctuate a statement with physical gesture. He flexed his
bicep to absorb the blow. I surprised him and rubbed his neck instead.
“Should I not be calling her Ems?”
“No, you’re fine. I’m not. I’m considered rude. You’re
considered charming. I need to consider my audience when I’m
talking. Better yet, before I start.”
“Get your Spanglish in order then. You also need to call Diego and tell
him we won’t be back tonight so he needs to feed the dogs.” TERRY
We picnicked in the hall outside Ems’ room and
bunked on the double bed in her room. Neither one of us wanted her to get
a head start on us again. Even though we didn’t have the dogs crowding
us, Diana took her normal place as if Okie was in front of her, and I spooned
up behind her. Without the dogs the double was quite roomy for us, but
Diana was not comfortable. There was a tension in her body that kept me
awake. I patted her thigh gently then stroked up and down. My
ministrations did nothing to allay her fears.
“That was nice. Kinda like we’re an old, comfortable couple.” Her
voice was whisper soft.
“Lady, in case you haven’t noticed, we are an old couple. We’re
coming up on three years together this year.”
“It seems shorter, but I think I understand you well.”
“You know I’m a selfish bastard, right?” Diana turned in my arms and
settled herself so she could watch my face. She snuck one leg between
mine, and I entwined our fingers. We needed the intimacy that physical
contact could bring.
“Why is that important to discuss tonight?”
“You put your heart and soul into caring for Ems
today. I watched you. Are you having second thoughts about wanting
a child?”
Her answer was quick. “Will we have this same conversation every time I
look at a baby without distaste? Then let me make myself perfectly clear
here and know. I don’t want children. I like only the two of us
together. I don’t think I have any more room for someone else crowding in
on our relationship, particularly someone who needs as much as a child
does. I think the happy hogwash about love expanding with more children
is a crock, at least it is for me. In caring for Ems
today, I spent the whole day talking to you through her. I didn’t like
it. I felt like I had to exclude you. I didn’t like me because I
was resentful of a BABY, and it was only the first day.”
“I’m sure not every day is like this. You’re new at this child care thing,
and it’s been a long time for me. We’d improve with some practice.
You’d loosen up if we had our own. If Ems
had been ours, I’d have stuck her in her cot and let her cry herself out.
I have a feeling she was testing us, to see how far she could push us. I’m
not saying I want children ….”
I could almost see the lump in her throat; I could certainly hear it. “You
may hate me for describing so plainly what a small person I am. If so, I’m
sorry. I don’t have it in me to be a mother. I know you said we’d
banish talk of leaving, but people change, Terry. Being around Ems may have made you want to nest. I was so busy
with her all day I didn’t take the time to pay attention to you. Are you
thinking you’d like another?”
“If I wanted a child, you would ease my way from you. You’d be sure that
by the time I left I’d be ready to find another woman to share my life. I’d
leave you a better man than I was before we met, all because you loved me, and
that is the exact reason I couldn’t go.”
“You didn’t answer the question. Have you changed your mind about wanting
kids? Don’t tell me what you think I want to hear. I need the
truth.” She was so close to tears, but they wouldn’t fall no matter how
full her eyes became. After a few quick blinks, she was ready to face
anything I said.
“Today, with Ems, only reinforced what I said
before about my parenting skills. I felt like a bloody fifth wheel
today. You had so many ideas on how to amuse her. I had no idea
what to do with her. I’ll wait for Henry to give us grandkiddies, if he
ever finds a female who will have him. He may end up the studious,
bachelor professor, and that will be fine as well.”
“Oh, God, we are in such trouble. It was only because you were there,
looking confident, that I tried some of the play stuff. I thought you
were agreeing what I was doing was OK. You can never tell Reags and Max
how scared I was all day today.”
“Let me pose a hypothetical situation to you. We are named as Ems’ guardians if anything should happen to Max and
Reags. Are we up to that challenge now that we’ve had hands on experience
with her?”
“Yes, we are. Ems would have no one
else; we’d rise to the challenge. It’s our duty. The first thing we’d
do is bring in a teaching nanny that Sarah would recommend for a while to help
us over the rough spots. Once Ems
started school, I have far more confidence in my abilities. When she hits
her teenage years, it’s your job to kill the first Lothario who comes calling
as a lesson to the rest.” EMILY
I’m glad Unca Terry and Auntie Dee Dee finally settled down. I like
hearing them giggle. I better be very quiet, or they’ll be back making me
do things again when all I want to do is sleep.
