Mother's Day Babies (Holiday Babies Series) (16 page)

“Wonderful.” Lou had another
satisfied smile. “Next time I come to visit, I’ll bring a bathing suit.”
Sharing a drink and a relaxing moment with Barbara in the hot tub would be a
piece of paradise.

“That’d be lovely. Let me give
you a tour of the house.”

He followed her to the family
room. His gaze scanned the room and rested on the framed picture of David and Barbara
in formal attire, and another in bathing suits at the beach, and another of
their whole family at one of the girls’ graduations.

“Nice family pictures.” He
averted his eyes and walked straight out of the room with too many memories of
the man he wanted to replace in Barbara’s heart.

 She showed Lou the dining room
and living room on each side of the foyer, and a closed French door. “This is
the office. The girls used it as a study place.”
Ah, David’s former office
.
She didn’t open the door and he followed her upstairs.

“What a big house. How many
bedrooms?” he said for the sake of saying something and pushing David’s ghost
out of their thoughts.

“We have six bedrooms. The master
bedroom and formal guest room have their own private bathrooms. The other rooms
shared two bathrooms.” They paused at the first door near the stairs. “This is
the guest room. It used to be Roxanne’s room. Heather has prepared it for you.
You won’t be surprised to find a map of the world on the wall, a big rotating
globe, and an Atlas. My daughters like to use their former bedrooms when they
come home.”

Chatting and laughter emanated
from the hallway. Barbara preceded him to the room where Monica and Heather
were changing the babies.

“We’re done here. Mom, the dinner
is warm, but Jeff and I have to leave right away. My in-laws are babysitting.”

“Heather, Jeff, thank you so much
for all the help,” Lou said. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning.” He shook hands
with Jeff and kissed Heather on the cheek.

“But we’ll see you soon I hope,”
Heather said with a glance toward her mother.

“Yes, Lou will be back for our
Mother’s Day’s celebration. All my kids and grandkids will be here, and my sister
and her family. It’s a fun day with a lot of delicious food. You’ll meet
everyone.”

“I won’t miss it for the world. I
haven’t celebrated Mother’s Day since my mother died twenty years ago. When is
it exactly?”

“Second Sunday of May,” Barbara
supplied with a happy smile.

Lou checked the calendar on his
smart phone. His heart sunk and his smile disappeared. It was the day before
the PM’s interview. He’d be in Israel from the Thursday before for meetings and
official dinners.

“Any problems?” Barbara asked
with a weak voice.

“It’s the same weekend as the
PM’s interview. I can’t postpone it again.” He clutched both hands around his
phone, ready to smash it on the floor.

“No, you can’t.” Her wide eyes
riveted on his, begging him to deny his previous words.

Silence hovered in the bedroom.
Even the babies abstained from crying as if they too were shocked by their
grandfather’s desertion on such an important family reunion—Lou’s first taste
of a real, big loving family.

Her face blank, Barbara stared
straight ahead.

“I’m so sorry. You know how much
I wanted to be present.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” Her
voice quivered and she sighed.

“Can he take a rain check?”
Monica suggested. “Maybe we can repeat the celebration for Father’s Day in
June.”

“We stopped celebrating Father’s
Day seven years ago,” Heather snapped and Lou felt bad for his daughter’s
gaffe. David Ramsay was still honored in his home. His daughters wouldn’t
insult his memory by celebrating the day for an intruder who couldn’t make an
effort to please their mother.

Barbara wrapped an arm around
Monica’s shoulders. “Of course, you’ll celebrate
your
father
,
sweetie, and we don’t need an official holiday to have fun together.” She
hastened to restore peace with her sweet smile. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of
opportunities for a rain check, Lou. Now, Heather and Jeff, you better leave
before your kids get impatient. Thank you for preparing supper.”

After they left, she invited Lou
and Monica to come downstairs for dinner.

“I’m not hungry. I’d rather sleep
right away,” Monica said with her bad-days voice.

“What about you, Lou?”

“Nothing for me.” He couldn’t
swallow even a bite.

Barbara and Monica probably resented
him at the moment. It wasn’t his fault, but somehow he’d managed to mess up Monica’s
happy arrival in a safe home and Barbara’s joy at preparing a special Mother’s
Day celebration with him at her side.

How could he explain that he’d be
the one suffering hell while they ate, drank, and laughed on that particular
day?

He’d wanted so much to be part of
Barbara’s family life—without even offering any commitment. Always generous,
she’d tacitly agreed and invited him. But their priorities pulled them in
opposite directions.
You can’t have it all, you bastard
. He cursed
himself and the job he’d worshiped all his life.

****

Barbara sat at her kitchen desk,
sipping her fifth cup of coffee. After briefly carrying each of the twins and
declining breakfast or coffee, Lou had given her and Monica the same quick peck
on the cheek and walked out.

Life would go back to its normal
routine with Barbara back into her little haven. Except that now her kitchen
felt empty, boring, annoying, and Barbara herself had no energy to move from
her chair.

Babies’ cries poked through her
lethargy. With helpless guests she’d insisted must come here for a better life,
Barbara couldn’t abandon them now. “I’m coming.” She ran upstairs to help
Monica.

 “I’m sorry, Mom. I know you’re
upset at Dad, but for a change it’s not this fault,” Monica shook her head with
a look too serious for the sassy girl she’d been so far.

“No, it’s not his fault. I don’t
resent him. I’m just going to miss him a lot.”

“You fell in love with him.” The
mischievous gleam danced in the young mommy’s blue eyes.

“Mind your own business, girl.”
Barbara carried a baby and slowly climbed down while holding the banister.

Monica followed with the other
twin. “I’m happy for Lou, although he doesn’t deserve you. I don’t deserve you,
either, but we both need you so badly.”

“You’re such a sweetheart,
Monica. Things will improve. You’ll see.” Barbara pasted a cheerful smile on
her face and prepared a breakfast for both of them.

At night, Lou called just when
she’d finally settled in bed, ready to cry. Hearing his dear voice brought such
special warmth to her heart, it almost scared her. Would her happiness depend
on his calls from now on?

It seemed so. During the next
three weeks, she spent her whole day cooking or helping Monica with the babies,
and then waiting impatiently for Lou’s nightly calls. As soon as her cell phone
rang, she’d set their framed picture on her night table and stare at it while
they chatted and laughed for an hour.

“I’m addicted to our talks,
darling,” Lou said, reflecting her own thinking. “I can’t sleep without hearing
your voice. Do you know I have your picture in front of me? It gives me the
impression you’re next to me.”

“Same thing here, Lou.” She
didn’t even bother hiding her feelings. Any idiot could see she was in love
with Lou.

She caught Heather talking to
Madelyn or Roxanne on the phone and complaining that she was worrying about
Mom. “She’s not the same any more. She keeps staring at nothing. Madelyn, you
should prescribe something for her before it’s too late.”

Too late for what? Did they think
she was losing it? That made her laugh.

“Mom, I’m taking Monica shopping
tomorrow. She needs a nice dress for our Mother’s Day party.”

Lou had sent his daughter a big
check and arranged for baby supplies to be regularly delivered.

“Go ahead, girls. I’ll be happy
to stay with the boys.”

At the end of the day, Monica
returned jubilant and modeled her new clothes. “Heather talked me into going to
college with her, next September. We’ll go together. I want to take journalism
and writing courses.”

“Fantastic. I’m so proud of you.”

“She also encouraged me to write
an article about surrogate motherhood and send it to Roxanne for evaluation.”

“Well do your best, especially on
the first paragraph. Roxanne has mentioned that she judges her trainees’
competence by their first page.”

Monica was a different person
here. No doubt about it. Lou would be pleased
whenever he comes. If he ever
comes.
To forget the deep heartache gnawing at her insides, Barbara threw
herself into a frenzy of cooking and baking.

On Thursday night before Mother’s
Day Lou called. His stern tone of voice worried her. “What’s wrong?” And then
she remembered he’d be traveling soon.

“I’m in the plane. We’ll be
leaving any moment. I didn’t want to spoil our conversation last night, but I
want to say bye. Have a happy Mother’s Day with your daughters and mine.”

“I can’t be happy without you,
Lou.” Why hide her feelings? A woman in love had no pride.

“I’m the most miserable man away
from you. I never thought I’d hate my job. This is an interview I’ve dreamed of
doing for a long time. But I promise, Barbara, I won’t let work interfere with
our relationship after this last trip.” His voice had turned husky. There was a
moment of silence, and then he cleared his throat. “I miss you so much. I love
you, darling.” Had she imagined his last words?

****

The kids and their families
arrived on Friday evening. Tiffany drove in on Saturday evening. Claire showed
up last, on Sunday morning. Her fiancé couldn’t come.

“I finally get to know my boss’s
bright daughter.” Roxanne hugged the younger woman who stood timidly aside
watching her with an admiring gaze. “I heard so much about you.”

“Bad?” Monica’s grimace made them
laugh.

“No, a lot of good. Your father
who never whispered he had a daughter for years, now can’t stop bragging about
his bright daughter and gorgeous grandsons.”

“He does?” Monica’s incredulous
smile was priceless but her happiness made up for the rotten feeling roiling in
Barbara’s stomach.

“By the way, Monica, I like the
article you sent me,” Roxanne said, all professional. “I’ll give you a test
now. I want you to rewrite it as if you’re addressing it only to young women
between sixteen and twenty-five, and again as if you’re writing it for
surrogates’ parents. Can you do that?”

“Yes. I see your point. Yes, I
can do it.”

“Of course, you can do it, Ms.
Roland. You’re the daughter of one of the most brilliant journalists I’ve ever
known,” Roxanne said.

Monica beamed and Barbara blessed
her daughter for the incentive she’d just given the young woman.

On Sunday, her children and
grandchildren, all dressed up for the family gathering bustled in the kitchen,
talking at the same time and throwing comments and suggestions.

“It smells so good in your
kitchen, Mom.” Tiffany sneaked around and opened the fridge.

“My goodness, you have enough
food to feed an army,” Claire lamented. “I’m going to put on ten pounds today.”

“Go to the gym.” Madelyn chuckled
and then frowned. “Mom, I don’t understand how you managed to lose weight with
all this food around. I’m worried.”

“She’s not eating,” Heather
accused. “She keeps saying she’s not hungry.”

“I need to give you a serious
checkup, after the holiday.” Dr. Madelyn knew how to annoy her mother with her
professional assessment.

“Girls, why don’t you forget
about me and mind your business?”

“Anyway, I must say you look
superb,” Claire said after examining her mother with a critical eye.

“You’ll look great in the family
portrait,” Roxanne added. “The photographer I booked will be here at four
o’clock, just before dinner. He’ll take a picture of our happy Mother’s Day
celebration.”

“What? When did you come up with
this bright idea?” Barbara scowled, not in a mood to smile. This Mother’s Day
was one of the worst in her life. Lou was in Israel and hadn’t called since Thursday
night. Now she had to make a continuous effort to suppress her tears. How would
she smile for the camera when she wanted to curl in her bed and cry?

“We meant it as a surprise. You
always said you wanted a family portrait with all our babies. And we’ll include
Monica and her twins in the picture. Aren’t you pleased, Mom?” Count on Roxanne
to always mess up her mother’s life with her
bright
ideas.

“You’re all so nice. Like real
sisters.” Monica crossed her hands together as the
sisters
gathered around
her and cooed to her babies. Barbara would bet the poor girl had never been in
such a joyful gathering before. She herself had always cherished the maddening
cacophony bursting around her. But not today.

Roxanne couldn’t have chosen a
better day for a family picture. The six babies were adorable in their fineries
and her daughters all lovely in their sophisticated outfits. Monica proudly
exhibited her new fashionably short dress.

“Mom, go get dressed,” Madelyn
ordered. “You’re the only one not...hmm...well...”

“What’s wrong with my simple pants
and blouse?”

“No pants. Please wear one of the
dresses you bought for Paris.” Madelyn cajoled her with a smile.

No
. The idea of wearing
the clothes she’d donned during her French vacation almost brought a surge of
tears to her eyes. She left them and went to change to avoid Madelyn’s squint
and medical deductions.

Fifteen minutes later, she gave
up on wearing her old clothes. They were baggy on her trimmer body. With a sigh
of resignation, she pulled the red dress she’d worn on her second day in Paris.
The top had short sleeves and the v-neck she favored, and the skirt fluttered
just above her knees. It would photograph well. She brushed her hair, added
makeup for the benefit of the picture, and automatically dabbed on a few drops
of perfume.