My Blue Eyes (23 page)

     Mary and I still hadn't worked out how I would get to spend time with her.  I would sure enough find out the following day.
Chapter 50

   
 
 I had the best sleep of my life last night.  Yes it sucked waking up every thirty minutes worried I had rolled over on Ellie, but it was nice having her there.  Every time I woke up, I made sure I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the head.
     We woke up bright and early and Ellie was in such a good mood.  We laid in bed for almost two hours snuggled up, laughing and talking.  We were finally forced to get out of bed when the doorbell rang.  I went to get the door and Mary was standing outside.
     “Did I wake you up?” she laughed.
      “No, we were awake.  We were just lying in bed talking.”
     “Isn’t she great in the morning?” Mary smiled.  “Listen Darrel, can I come inside and talk to you for a second?”
     “Sure.  Come in.”
     We sat at the kitchen table as Amy came down the steps carrying Ellie.  Seeing her mom, Ellie quickly ran over to her.  She said something to Mary about wanting to stay here with Daddy.  Hearing this brought goose bumps all over my body.  
She honestly had taken to me so quickly
, I thought.  I wanted to get up and do the happy dance, but refrained.
     “I’m so glad you had fun with Daddy, Ellie,” Mary said as she hugged her tight.  “That’s kind of what I want to talk to you two about Darrel.”
     I looked at Amy with a confused look, “What do you mean Mary?”
     “It makes me so happy she has taken to you so quickly.”  Mary looked as though she was about to cry, “My mom’s has been such a big help with her.  We argued about this last night when I called her.  With getting this new job, I’m going to be doing a lot of moving and orientations over the next three weeks.  My mom wants to keep her during this time in Minnesota, but I think I would prefer if Ellie stayed with you two during this time.  I know this is all happening pretty quickly.  I just want to give you every opportunity to make up for lost time with her.  I thought about it, and keeping her a secret from you all this time wasn’t fair.  I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it up to you, even though it’s going to suck for me.  I know she will be in good hands with you guys.  I can already tell she loves you both.”
     Amy looked at me a nodded her head in an enthusiastic yes.  “We would love it Mary,” I said nervously.  “Exactly how long did you have in mind?”
     “Would July 1st be alright?” she asked.
     “Absolutely!”  I walked over and gave Mary a hug, “Thank you so much.”
      “It’s my pleasure.”  Mary looked at Ellie, “Ellie, do you want to stay with Daddy for a while?”
     Ellie smiled and said a big “Yes!”  However, instead of running over to me she ran straight to Amy.  It figured.
     “Great, thank you two so much.  I want to spend the day with her if that’s alright,” Mary said.  “I don’t know what I’m going to do without my little girl greeting me every morning.  Do you mind if I call her before bed every night?”
     “Absolutely,” I replied again.  “Call as much as you want.”
     I gave Mary all of our phone numbers for back in Andalusia.  She took Ellie and said she was going to drop her off around 7:00 PM.  Amy and I were both so excited.  We had so much to do before we were to leave in the morning.  Amy had yet to break the news to her parents and struggled with the right words.  Troy hadn’t seen Ellie since he found out, so I decided to invite them over tonight.  It would all work out fine since I hadn’t hardly packed any of my old things.  I didn’t care.  Ellie took precedence over everything else. 
     Amy got off the phone with her parents and said they took it well.  She said by the end of the conversation, they were excited to meet her.  She said her mom was so excited.  She said she was going to go and buy a bunch of things and make a room for her in one of the many spare bedrooms they had.  
     The plan was to pack up a few things today and load them into my truck.  Troy and his family were coming over at 6:00 PM for their first look at Ellie.  After all of this, Amy and I planned to leave for Andalusia sometime around midnight.  Everything was going awesome! 
Chapter 51

   
 
 Mary dropped off Ellie at 7:00 PM, just like she had said she would.  It was hard seeing how emotional Mary was when she left.  She said she was driving back to Minnesota in the morning and would call in a couple days, after we got back to Andalusia.  Ellie was a little upset as well.  Amy did her best to calm her down.
     Mary and I arranged a drop off location.  I would fly into Lambert Airport in St. Louis, and she would meet me there.  I would then hop back on a plane and fly home.  She had packed plenty of clothes for Ellie.  It wouldn't matter though.  Beth had called Amy a couple hours later to inquire about what size Ellie was.  They would surely have her spoiled with an abundance of clothes and toys when we finally got back home.  Mary had also prepared a nice little photo album of all the milestones Ellie had passed prior to meeting me.  I thought it was kind of odd for her to have this here, being she wasn't anticipating me being back this time.  She had said she was making it for me, but wanted to show it to her friend she was staying with.

     Troy and his family had arrived late, shortly after 7:00 PM.  Unbeknownst to me, he had a conversation with Mary before she left.  He would later inform me he asked Mary if she wanted to move into my parents’ house when she got back.  It was an extremely nice gesture of Troy, one that would surely piss off the rest of my brothers and sister.  They were already counting their money after finding out I was staying in Andalusia.  He told me not to worry about that and he would deal with the rest of the family.  Mary agreed.  It was comforting to know she would have a place of her own and not have to worry about staying with a friend for a while.  It was also nice to know Ellie would be staying in my childhood home when I was not around.

     Troy and Sharon could not get over how much Ellie resembled my mom.  Troy was just in awe of her.  He even gave me a bunch of crap about being able to spend more time with her than I was going to.  I was a little jealous, but hoped whatever arrangement Mary and I would figure out would give me plenty of opportunity to be with Ellie.  
     It was a nice evening with Troy and Sharon.  We kept Ellie up as late as possible in hopes that she would sleep most of the way back to Andalusia.  She finally petered out right before we left and slept for close to eight hours.  We arrived at Amy’s parents’ house a little bit after 2:00 PM.  We had made great time.  I don’t know if Amy or I was more nervous about the introductions to her family.  We didn't have time to prepare as they were waiting outside when we arrived.  The nervousness soon left both of us with the reaction Amy’s parents had.  They right away identified themselves to Ellie as Grandma and Grandpa as they swooped her out of her car seat.  It actually made me want to tear up a bit.  Her parents were so great.  Always so comforting and welcoming to me into their family. 

     We got inside and the abundance of toys and clothes were amazing.  Her mom must have broken the bank with everything she bought.  She showed us both the bedroom she had made up for Ellie.  She went a little overboard with everything she bought.  There was a new bed, tons of clothes in the closet and even more toys.  Amy was a little upset with everything she had bought.
     “Mom, we wanted to buy her some stuff too,” Amy complained.  “You got her everything she needs.  What are we supposed to get her once we get our own house?”
     “You’re not taking any of this stuff,” her mom smiled.  “This will always be for Ellie when she comes over to Grandma and Grandpa’s.”
     I smiled, “It’s very nice, but we haven’t really worked out any visitation arrangements besides what we are doing now.  Who knows when we will see her again after this?”
     Beth looked at me, “Darrel, this is my first grandbaby and this will always be her room.  I don’t care if she only comes one time a year, this is hers.”
     “Technically mom, she isn't your grandbaby yet,” Amy said sarcastically.  “Don’t Darrel and I need to be married first?”
     “Nonsense,” she said as she picked Ellie up, taking her out of the room.  “Darrel’s already like a son to me, so this is my grandbaby whether or not if you two are married.”
     We all got a good laugh out of it as we heard her walking down the stairs singing to Ellie.  Her dad was still in the room with us and came over to shake my hand.  “Beth’s been dreaming of the day she got a grandchild.  I don’t know if you can tell, but she’s pretty happy.  If you think this is overboard, wait until you two have your own kid together.”
     He left us there to look around the room at everything.  Amy shook her head in disbelief as she went through it all.
     “I’m sorry Darrel,” she said.  “I had no idea she was going to buy this much stuff.”
     I walked over to Amy, grabbing her from behind, “It’s alright.  Honestly, it’s kind of nice.  Your mom is something else.”
     The rest of the day, I don’t think I did much interaction with Ellie.  Amy’s mom was all over her the entire day.  I didn't mind.  Amy and I would have plenty of time to spend with Ellie, once it was time for bed. 

     Amy and I didn't take into consideration that Ellie had never slept in her own bed.  This first night was an absolute nightmare.  Every time we tried to put her down to sleep she would scream bloody murder.  As much as Beth was involved with Ellie during the day, she was nonexistent at night.  She left it up to us to deal with it.  She said she wasn't going to meddle in our parenting and however we handled it was up to us.
     The same thing happened over and over.  We would put Ellie down.  She would scream.  We would leave the room and she would come out and find us.  Most of the time she would go sit in Beth’s lap as she sat on the couch reading a book.  We would pick her up and take her to bed, and Ellie would do the same thing over and over.  Each time her screams would intensify.  I felt bad for her.  She was in a strange place with people she had just met.  Here we were trying to get her to do something she was completely unused to.  Mary had called sooner than expected to check on her, and laughed at our predicament.  She tried to talk to Ellie on the phone, but it didn't matter.  She apologized profusely for being the cause of this.  She was no help and eventually got off the phone.  Amy and I tried to be as gentle as we could.  On the tenth time Ellie got out of bed I was giving up.  Amy had too.  She sat on the couch with her mom.
     “Will you please help us mom,” Amy begged.
     Beth took off her reading glasses to momentarily interrupt her reading, “She will do the same thing if I try to put her in there.  You just have to keep doing it over and over until she finally tires out and falls to sleep.”
     Amy looked over at me, “Why don’t we just let her sleep with us until she gets used to the house.”
     “Do you think that’s a good idea Amy,” Beth said.
     “She’s not going to stop mom!”  Amy pouted.  “I will just go to bed and take her with me.”
     I looked at the clock and it was only 9:00 PM, “You’re going to bed now?”
     “What else do you want me to do Darrel?”  Amy said with a bit of anger in her voice.
     “The sooner you break her of this habit the better off it will be,” her mom said before digging her nose back into her book.
     I was feeling defeated, “Let’s just keep trying to put her in her bed Amy.”
     We took turns putting Ellie in her bed.  It was such a workout my knee was starting to ache from continuously walking up and down the stairs.  I didn’t dare complain about it.  I think Amy might have killed me.  Finally on about the fortieth time, Ellie had enough and fell asleep.  I had the same feeling I did when I hit the home run to put us in the College World Series.  Complete jubilation.

     Ellie actually slept the entire night before coming in to wake us up bright and early at 7:00 AM.  For a moment, I thought we had morning chores to do again.  Her dad had actually relaxed with the chore demands and made her brothers do all of them.  
     The next night was uneventful and only took a handful of times to get her to fall asleep.  By the fifth night, Ellie was staying in her room without throwing a fit.  Her mom was so right.  Everything was peaceful now.  I worried once she got back with Mary, she would spoil her again and let her sleep in bed with her.  I didn't care, as long as Ellie knew when she came to her dad’s, she had to be a big girl and sleep in her own bed.  

     Mary consistently called at 8:00 PM every night.  I began to grow concerned when a week had passed and she still hadn't moved into my parent’s house.  For a matter of fact, she still hadn’t moved back to my home town yet.  She just said it was taking her longer than expected to get her things together and she wasn't supposed to start the job for another week.  Troy was even a little concerned, because he was under the impression she would be moving in within the week.
     The second week back in Andalusia, Mary’s calls became more sporadic.  She only called on three occasions and it wasn't during her normal 8:00 PM time.  I asked her what was going on, and she would always say she was busy getting things ready to move.  I asked her if she had contacted Troy yet, and she said no.  She promised she would get a hold of him by the end of the week.  By the end of the week, she still had not called him.

     We were in a good routine at Amy’s parents’ house.  Ellie was doing great and had really became the belle of the ball at home.  She was getting spoiled rotten.  Amy and I were getting closer to picking a wedding date and the house search was going great.  We had located a house just on the outskirts of town.  
     It was a small three bedroom country home that needed a little TLC.  It sat vacant on ten wooded acres of land and had lots of promise.  The thing that caught my eye was the front porch.  It wrapped around the front and side of the house.  The people who owned it still had a porch swing and several chairs on display.  I could picture Amy and me sitting on the swing as the kids played in the yard.  It was everything we both wanted.  We put a bid on the house and a week later, found out it had been accepted.  Between what Amy had saved and my inheritance, we were able to cover most of the cost.  A couple of days before Ellie was scheduled to go back home, we closed on the house.  Her parents covered the remaining balance on the house and said it was an early wedding gift.  We tried not to accept it, but they wouldn't hear of it.  It would end up working out great.  Once Ellie went back home, we were planning on giving it a complete makeover.  It was going to take some time.
  
     During the third week, Mary had only called once.  And during the last week, she hadn’t called at all.  As far as I knew, I was still supposed to leave in a couple of days and fly with Ellie back to St Louis, where Mary would pick her up.  
     The second week I was concerned, the third week I was more concerned, and finally the last week, I was terrified of what was going on.  I had tried to call Mary and her mom, but they were not picking up the phone.  I was terrified something had happened to her.  I had talked to Troy and he said Mary was supposed to come by the house last week and never did.  I should have investigated what was going on more.  Amy and I were so busy in our own little world with Ellie, picking our wedding date and buying the house that I hadn't given Mary’s absence a whole lot of thought.
     To make matters worse, after closing on the house, Amy started getting really sick and vomiting a lot.  She attributed it to the flu and refused to go to the doctor.  The last day Ellie was with us, Amy was barely able to get out of bed.  To say my head was spinning would be an understatement.  I was freaking out.  Amy was sick, Mary was AWOL, and I didn't want Ellie to leave.