Celia's Puppies (39 page)

Jill felt Katy’s wet face rub against her
neck when the little girl nodded.

“
What’s wrong, Katy-baby?”
Jill whispered. She kissed Katy’s face. Paddie shifted to hug
Katy.

“
Everybody’s going to be a
fairy princess.” Between her sobs, Katy added, “Even the perfect
Bree and Becky.”

“
Whoa, how did Bree and
Becky get to be perfect?”

“
They are blonde and… and…
everybody likes them better. I liked it better when it was just you
and me.”

Jill did her best to not laugh out loud.
Katy did not like it better when it was just Jill and Katy. In the
last few months, Katy had blossomed in every way.

“
Precious baby-girl,” Jill
said. “Precious baby-boy.”

“
You don’ haf to be a
princess,” Paddie said to Katy. “You could be a knight like
me!”

“
You think I’m a witch,”
Katy said.

“
The witch costume matches
mine.” Paddie shrugged.

“
Oh.”

Katy’s tears evaporated but she did not move
to get up.

“
What happened,
Katy-baby?” Jill asked.

“
Everyone loves Bree and
Becky more than me,” Katy said. “Granddaddy is their Daddy. My
first Daddy is dead. And my second Daddy is their Daddy’s son. I’m
not blonde. I’m not as pretty as them. I’m not...”

“
Hmmm,” Jill said. She
tickled Katy’s side. “That doesn’t sound true.”

“
It’s true.” Katy nodded
her sincerity. “Everybody loves them more than me.”

“
I don’t,” Paddie
said.

“
See, Paddie doesn’t.”
Jill kissed Katy’s head. “You spend a lot of time with your
Granddaddy. He’s teaching you how to fish. He’s toured you around
all Daddy’s work sites. He doesn’t do that with Briana and
Becky.”

“
Bree is big enough for
the fancy dresses.” Pulling away from her mother’s neck, Katy
nodded. “I don’t have a fancy dress. You have a fancy dress. Auntie
Valerie has a fancy dress. Delphie has a scary fancy
dress.”

“
My mommy has a fancy
dress too.” Paddie nodded at Katy’s logic.

“
Even Auntie Honey has a
fancy dress,” Katy said.

“
Auntie Honey’s welcome
home party is tonight,” Jill said. “Her dress is for that. Have you
seen her costume for tomorrow?”

Katy and Paddie shook their heads.

“
She’s a pretty scary
Mistress of the haunted Castle,” Jill said. “Do you remember what’s
also happening tonight?”

“
Uncle MJ is coming
home.”

“
And what
else?”

“
Auntie Honey gets her
pretty ring that I helped pick up,” Katy said. She buried her face
in Jill’s neck.

“
If we move back to the
apartment, we’ll miss Honey’s coming home party, and our Halloween
haunted house party, and most of all we’d miss your Daddy,” Jill
said.

“
He can come with us,”
Katy said.

“
How come you can’t wear
the dresses Mrs. Valerie found for you?” Paddie asked.

Jill pulled Katy away so she could look at
her face.

“
I’m too little,” Katy
said. “Bree will look perfect in those fancy dresses.”

Jill laughed.

“
Your Auntie Megan can sew
anything. We might ask her to fix it,” Jill said. “You know she
could.”

“
Auntie Megan doesn’t live
here.”

“
We can call her on the
phone,” Jill said. “I know she’d love to help her special Katy
girl.”

Jill took her phone from the desk.

“
See I press ‘M’,” Jill
said. Megan’s picture came up on her phone.

“
Look Paddie! That’s
Auntie Megan!”

“
I press this green button
and...”

Megan picked up the phone.

“
Heya Jilly,” Megan said.
Megan sounded like she was washing dishes.

“
We have a major problem,
Meg,” Jill said.

“
What happened?” Jill
could hear the water turn off. “What can I do?”

“
We have a very special
girl who needs some special Auntie help with her costume,” Jill
said. “We have some fancy dresses that are too big.”

“
You never learned how to
sew,” Megan laughed.

“
With you around, I never
needed to,” Jill said. “Would you have time to...?”

“
Of course,” Megan said.
“We’re coming for Honey’s party. The boys are excited to see what
you’ve set up for the haunted house. I’ll have plenty of time. Why
don’t I bring my portable? We can make the adjustments and she’ll
be all ready for tomorrow.”

“
Bless you,” Jill
said.

Megan laughed.

“
What?”

“
That child is your
daughter,” Megan said. “Hey, I have to run and finish dinner. Love
you, sis.”

“
Love you,
too.”

Jill set the phone down on her table.

“
Do you still want to move
if you can wear one of the pretty dresses?” Jill asked.

Katy shook her head.

“
Why don’t we go see what
Valerie found for us?” Jill asked.

The toddlers climbed off her lap. Standing,
Jill held out her hands. The children took her hands.

“
Before we go? Can we have
an ice cream?” Katy asked.

“
Another good reason not
to be at the apartment,” Jill said.

“
ICE CREAM!” Katy
squealed.

Laughing, Jill retrieved ice cream
sandwiches from the freezer. They were almost to the door when a
worried Valerie stuck her head in.

“
Oh God, Jill, I’m so
sorry,” Valerie said.

“
Would you like an ice
cream sandwich?” Jill asked.

In this moment, the movie-thin actress was
the Aunt first. She dropped to her knees to hug Katy and Paddie.
When she looked up, Jill gave her an ice cream sandwich.

“
I haven’t had one of
these in twenty years. At least.” Valerie said.

“
Are those the
dresses?”

Valerie gave Jill the dresses before tearing
open her ice cream. Jill held up one dress after the other.

“
I like this one,” Jill
said.

“
I do too,” Katy
said.

“
Me too,” Paddie
said.

“
Then we agree,” Jill
said. “Our fairy princess will wear this dress for
Halloween.”

When the children cheered, and Valerie
laughed, Jill felt an overwhelming sense of joy.

~~~~~~~~

Friday early morning – 12:03 A.M.

Naked and entwined, Sandy sat on Aden’s lap
with her thighs to either side of him. His hands grasped her
behind. They rose slowly, playfully, until, like a flash of light,
her head fell back, her face flushed red, and she sighed her
release. Without warning, she pounced upon his lips and tongue. She
kissed him through his climax and onto the aftermath.

Of all the things Aden loved about Sandy, he
loved her tiger kisses the most. He craved them during his day.
Looked forward to them every time they were together. Every moment
of every day was a tease for the moment of release, climax and
kisses. He wrapped his arms around her to hold her tight.

“
Happy Birthday,” he
whispered in her ear.

Surprised, she pulled back to look at
him.

“
How did
you...?”

“
Your Godfather called
last week,” Aden said. Imitating the Denver Police Detective’s
brusque manner, he said, “Norsen? Sandra’s birthday is the
thirty-first. Get her something nice.”

“
So did I?” Aden
laughed.

“
What do you mean?” she
asked.

“
Wasn’t that
nice?”

Sandy laughed. Pulling on her short sheer
bathrobe, she went into his master bathroom for a glass of water.
She took a long drink, then refilled the glass for him.

“
The kids made you some
small things,” he said.

“
I hate my birthday, Aden.
Really. Can we just ignore it?”

“
After the breakfast
party,” he said. “Your mother’s coming over.”

“
Oh great. Don’t you have
to work?”

“
I’m off until Tuesday,”
he said.

Opening the drawer to his bedside table, he
took out two packages. One looked like an envelope, the other
looked like a ring box.

“
Happy Birthday, my
darling Sandy. I’m so very glad you were born.”

Sandy hugged him.

“
Will you open
them?”

“
No engagement ring,”
Sandy said.

“
Nope. Even though we’ve
been friends for more than six years, we are not going to talk
about marriage until we’ve DATED at least a year,” Aden said. “I
respect you too much to try to force you into something you’re not
comfortable with. And if you don’t want to get married? That’s fine
with me.”

Sandy smiled a little girl smile he had only
seen once or twice when she was eating something gooey and
chocolaty. She ripped off the Happy Birthday wrapping on the ring
looking box. Opening the cover, she gasped when she saw the
floating ruby heart with three diamonds near the tip on a gold
snake chain.

“
Is this one of
Jill’s?”

“
No, ma’am,” Aden said.
“The kids and I purchased the necklace together. Well, Nash figured
out how the website worked. Noelle insisted on the heart. I picked
the size and added the diamond. One for each of us.”

Sandy hugged him.

“
You have one more,” he
said.

“
Help me put this on,” she
said.

Standing in front of his full length mirror,
he helped her with the clasp. As if to check its strength, she
pulled on the ruby necklace. Spinning in place, she kissed him.

“
Thank you. It’s... I’ve
always wanted...”

“
You have one more.” He
gave her the envelope.

She tore off the wrapping paper to find
plane tickets to Cancun.

“
A couple years ago, you
said that you’d always wanted to go to Chichen Itza. We’re staying
on the beach just outside the jungle.”

“
We?”

“
You and I,” Aden said.
“We leave Saturday morning so we don’t miss Halloween. Is that all
right?”

“
We get to trick or treat?
Go to the big Castle haunted house? And go to Mexico?” Sandy’s
smile lit up the room. “What about the kids?”

“
They’re staying with
Delphie and Sam. They’re pretty excited about it because they get
to go to one of those fundraising dinners.”

“
Fancy party,” Sandy
said.

“
We have a number of those
to attend this season, too,” Aden said. “They’re taking our place
this time.”

“
All of this – you, the
kids, everything. It’s all what I’d always hoped and dreamed
about,” Sandy said. “Thank you doesn’t seem like
enough.”

“
This jewel, and the trip,
pale in comparison to how much I love you, how much the kids love
you. To the joy you bring us.”

Sandy hugged him.

“
Happy
birthday.”

~~~~~~~~

Friday afternoon – 1:07 P.M.

Jill stalked the Castle side door waiting
for the mailman. Aden’s surprise trip to Cancun had put a crimp in
their girls’ day at the spa for Sandy’s birthday. Jill had ordered
a perfect-for-Sandy yellow bikini. It was supposed to be here
Wednesday. Denver’s Postal Service never missed a chance to prove
reaffirm its status at the slowest in the country.

Jill looked through the metal gate. A few
photographers lingered across the street but the pressing hoard had
been cleared off by the city. American Disabilities Act. Honey
needed free and easy access to her home.

The mailman waved from the gate. He laughed
when she squealed over the bikini package. He also gave her the
stack of letters, magazines, and other Castle junk. Thanking him
profusely, she waved as he walked away.

“
Anything for us?” MJ met
her at the door.

“
I think Honey has a stack
for you, MJ. Did you see it?”

“
I was kinda busy last
night, Miss Jill. Had to work off a trip and a diamond ring!” MJ
impulsively kissed Jill’s cheek. “I know I’ve said this, but thank
you for the diamond. She’s so happy. I never would have
thought...”

“
Girls like bling, MJ,”
Jill laughed.

“
I love this place.” MJ
leaned close to her. “Do you ever get used to the whole
thing?”

“
I haven’t,” Jill
said.

MJ touched her arm then wandered down the
hall toward their apartment.

Jill laughed. Flipping through mail, she
shook her head to MJ. With her package under her arm, she was about
to set the envelopes down when she saw a postcard sticking out of
one of Valerie’s magazines.

Her pulse quickened at the picture.

Costa Rica.

Turning it over, she saw that it was
addressed to Jillian Roper. Sweating, she glanced around to see if
anyone was watching her. Looking back at the card, she read:

Your mother would like to see you marry
Jacob Marlowe.