Rebecca's Little Secret (7 page)

“He’s nice enough. Frankly, he seemed more interested in Chelsea than he did in anyone else.”

“Yes, I’ve been worried about that myself. We’re all going to an ice show tomorrow night. Bill’s buying us all dinner.”

“Why?” Vanessa asked in surprise.

“I promised Chelsea I’d teach her about little boys. She said it was too early for her to take Joey out without me.”

“That’s weird,” Vanessa said, raising her eyebrows.

“I know. But if I don’t teach her about little boys, she and Joey don’t have a chance. She doesn’t know much about being a kid, much less a boy. I think she must’ve been a miniature adult when she was Joey’s age.”

“But she seems nice enough.”

“I know. It’s not her fault. I haven’t met her mother yet, but I get the feeling the woman was not motherly.”

Vanessa grinned. “Not like Mom?”

“I don’t think there could ever be a mother like Vivian. She’s so loving.”

“Yes, she is. And that’s why this baby is such a special gift to both of them.”

“I agree.”

Will called everyone’s attention, lifting a punch
cup in a toast. “Here’s to our baby, be it a boy or a girl. We feel blessed. And we thank you for sharing this evening with us.”

“It’s the baby who’s blessed,” Rebecca whispered.

“You’re right. Just like Joey was blessed to have a mommy like you.”

Rebecca hugged her sister, knowing how lucky she was to find this family.

The party began to break up. Chelsea looked around for Rebecca. “Oh, there you are. Tonight was fun. Vivian and Will really are nice people, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they’re the best,” Rebecca agreed.

“Well, thank you for inviting us. We enjoyed it,” she said, and leaned over and kissed Rebecca on the cheek, much to her surprise.

Bill was standing beside her and did the same thing, thanking her for the invitation. When Jeff stepped up after Bill, Rebecca immediately stuck out a hand. He took it in his and frowned at her. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s no need to thank me for your invitation. You know Vivian wanted to invite you.”

“I know. And I enjoyed myself. I was glad I had a chance to introduce Joey to my friends. I hope it didn’t cause you too much embarrassment.”

“No. No, it didn’t. And Joey liked it.”

“He did? Did he say anything?”

“When I took him up to bed, he told me about you telling everyone he was your boy. He was very proud of that.”

“Thank you, Rebecca, for telling me that. I appreciate it.”

“Yes, well, good night.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

“Yes, of course.”

Rebecca stood there, watching the threesome cross the room to tell Vivian and Will good-night. Then with a sigh, she slipped up the stairs. She’d had enough of polite society for one night.

Late Saturday afternoon, Rebecca came down the stairs with Joey, dressed in his jeans, much to his pleasure. “Now, Joey, your daddy will be here soon, so don’t get dirty.”

“I won’t, Mommy, but I promised Peter I’d come say hi before I left.”

“All right,” Rebecca agreed, sighing as he ran down the hall. It was so hard to keep her son clean for any length of time.

“Rebecca, is that you?” Vivian called from the library.

“Yes, it is,” Rebecca returned as she walked to the door of the library.

“Oh, don’t you look nice. That rose color goes so well with your dark coloring. Just like Vanessa’s.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Come sit down. Are you waiting for Jeff?”

“And Chelsea and Bill.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize you were dating Bill. He seems so nice.”

Rebecca hurried to make things clear before the
others arrived. “I’m not dating Bill, Vivian. He’s just lonely and wants to be included. He said he hates to eat alone. And Chelsea feels better when the numbers are even. I—I think she gets a little jealous when Jeff spends a lot of his time with Joey.”

“Oh, I see.” Vivian looked at her husband, working at the desk. “Don’t you, Will?”

“Yes, dear, I do.” He grinned at Rebecca. “I thought maybe it took that many of you to keep Joey in line.”

“Will Greenfield, you know very well that Joey’s perfectly well behaved,” Vivian protested.

“I think Will was teasing, Vivian,” Rebecca said with a grin.

“He’s always teasing me. But I kind of like it.” Vivian looked fondly at her husband.

“It makes life a lot more fun,” Rebecca said wistfully, “to share some laughter, you know. Jeff used to—” Much to Rebecca’s relief, the doorbell rang before she could go too far down memory lane.

“That must be them. I’d better get Joey.” She hurried into the kitchen and out the patio door where Peter could be found.

Betty showed Jeff, Chelsea and Bill into the library.

“Rebecca isn’t here?” Jeff asked after looking around the room.

“Yes, she is,” Will said. “She just went outside to get Joey.”

“Won’t he get dirty?” Chelsea asked, looking a little doubtful.

“No, I’m sure—” Vivian began only to be interrupted by Rebecca and Joey’s entrance.

“Oh, there you are,” Jeff said, walking forward and swinging Joey up into his arms for a hug. “How are you, son?”

“I’m fine, Daddy. I went to tell Peter hi.”

“Good for you. Are you ready to go?”

“Yes. Mommy’s ready, too.”

“We wouldn’t go without her,” Jeff assured his son, looking across the room at Rebecca. “Ready?”

She nodded and led the way to the front door, telling Vivian and Will goodbye as she did so.

When they got to the car, Rebecca reached for the back door. So did Chelsea. “Don’t you want to ride in front with Jeff?” Rebecca asked, surprised.

“I thought we’d do women and children in the back and men in the front,” Chelsea said with a smile.

Rebecca said nothing else. The two men didn’t seem to mind. Once they were in the car, it wasn’t far to drive downtown to the American Airlines Center.

“I’ve never been here before,” Rebecca said as they parked the car.

“You haven’t?” Jeff asked. “This is where the pro basketball team plays their games. We’ll have to come to a game sometime.”

Rebecca didn’t say anything.

Chelsea immediately chimed in. “Oh, yes, I’m sure Joey would like to see a basketball game, wouldn’t you, Joey?”

“Sure,” the young boy said. “What’s a basketball game?”

Both men burst out laughing and Rebecca, too, couldn’t resist a chuckle. Chelsea seemed a little flustered.

“You’ll like it, Joey. It’s a bunch of men playing with a round ball,” Chelsea explained.

“Will they let me play?” Joey asked.

“No, you just watch them play.”

“Oh.”

“I’m sure he’d enjoy the game, Chelsea. He just hasn’t seen the game before.” Rebecca smiled at her son to reassure him.

“I thought everyone had heard of basketball games.”

“We didn’t have much time to spend watching sports, I’m afraid. After working all day, I’d pick up Joey from day care and we’d have time to fix dinner and clean up afterward, play a little, do some laundry and plan our next day before Joey had to go to bed. There just wasn’t much spare time.”

“Didn’t you have anyone to help you?” Chelsea asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Rebecca said calmly.

Jeff protested Chelsea’s question. “Really, Chelsea, do you think all single parents have maids?”

“I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t think about it. I can’t imagine having to do all of that alone.”

“It’s all right,” Rebecca hurriedly assured her. “If you’re not in that situation, you don’t tend to think about these details.”

“True,” Bill chimed in. “I wouldn’t think about laundry. Of course, he’s such a little guy, he probably didn’t have too much—”

Rebecca burst into laughter. “Oh, Bill, you have so much to learn. Children go through clean clothes like a hurricane. You practically have to do a load a day to keep up.”

“And I’ve heard you have to buy a lot of things for a baby,” Jeff added.

“Oh, yes,” Rebecca agreed, rolling her eyes. “Just to go out for the evening, you feel like you have to pack enough to last a week. It’s incredible.”

“I admire you so much, Rebecca,” Chelsea said slowly. “I don’t know how you managed.”

“When the time comes, you do what you have to do, Chelsea. You’d manage, just like I did.” Rebecca smiled reassuringly.

“I don’t know about that, but I hope so,” Chelsea said.

“Come on. We need to find our seats,” Bill said.

“I thought we were eating first,” Rebecca said, confused.

“The show starts at six, so we thought we’d eat afterward.”

Rebecca said nothing, but she knew that schedule wouldn’t work on a regular basis for a four-year-old.

Joey walked beside her, holding her hand. Jeff fell back to take his other hand. Then he whispered to Rebecca, “We’ll get him some snacks to hold him until dinner.”

“Thank you. I didn’t want to complain to Bill.”

“Like me, he’s inexperienced, but we’re fast learners,” Jeff assured her with a grin.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

Two hours later, they’d watched the Sesame Street characters whirl around the ice, their movements based on several different stories. Joey had consumed cotton candy, popcorn and several sodas.

The last few minutes, he’d gotten strangely quiet.

“Joey, are you feeling all right?” she whispered as he crawled into her lap.

“No. I don’t feel so good.”

“Is it your tummy?”

“Uh-huh.” He laid his head on her shoulder.

“I think we’d better go to the bathroom,” she whispered in his ear, and tried to move him out of her lap so they could get up.

“What is it?” Jeff asked.

“Joey doesn’t feel well. We’re going to the bathroom.”

“Wait just a minute and the show will be over. That way he doesn’t have to miss the finale.”

Rebecca didn’t think the finale meant much to Joey. However, it was easier to do as Jeff said rather than argue with him. But she was wrong. They shouldn’t have waited.

Joey spewed forth all those treats he’d eaten so eagerly, just barely missing Chelsea’s skirt.

Chelsea screamed, drawing back into Bill.

Joey immediately began to cry, both from pain and embarrassment.

Rebecca got out tissues and mopped up Joey’s face.
Fortunately, the vomit didn’t get on anyone. “Jeff, would you alert a janitor, please?”

“Sure thing. Is he all right?”

“I’m sure he’s feeling better now. He’ll be all right,” she assured Jeff, appreciating his worry.

After Jeff left, she turned to Bill and Chelsea. “If you want to climb over this mess and wait for us at the top of the stairs, that will be fine.”

The two of them scrambled out of the row and up the stairs.

“I’m sorry, Mommy,” Joey whispered.

“Sweetie, it’s not your fault. Everything will be fine.” She snuggled him up against her and rocked back and forth.

Jeff came running down the stairs. “Where are Bill and Chelsea?”

“They’re waiting for us up top. It was a little unpleasant down here.”

A man in a gray uniform came down the stairs, carrying a mop and bucket.

Jeff turned around to meet him. “I’ll apologize again. We gave him too many treats on an empty stomach.”

“Don’t worry, sir. It happens all the time.”

Jeff reached into his pocket and Rebecca saw him give the man some money. Then he turned and held out his arms for Joey.

“Jeff, he might get sick again and—”

“I wash just as well as you do. Come on, Joey, let me carry you to the car.”

Joey seemed willing to make the transfer, and Re
becca prayed he wouldn’t throw up on Jeff. It would completely destroy Joey.

Fortunately, they reached the car with no incidents.

Once they were settled in the back seat, Joey slumped against his mother, and the drive home was quick. When they arrived, Jeff got out and came around to get Joey to carry him into the house.

“Really, Jeff, I can carry him.”

“You’ve been carrying him by yourself for too long.” Jeff scooped Joey up, putting his head on his shoulder. “Bill, can you escort the ladies?”

Before Rebecca could protest, she found herself being guided to Vivian’s front door, her elbow in Bill’s firm grasp, just as he held Chelsea’s with the other hand.

Betty had met Jeff at the door and immediately alerted Vivian that Joey was sick. By the time Rebecca followed them to Joey’s room, she found both ladies hovering over him. She continued on to the bathroom and got the stomach medicine all mothers kept on hand. With a glass of water, she carried a spoon and the bottle to Joey’s bedside.

“Open your mouth, Joey,” Rebecca ordered softly. The little boy opened his mouth and his eyes.

“I’m going to put medicine in your mouth. I want you to swallow it all at once, okay? Then you can have some water.”

Joey did as he was told. Then he fell back against his pillow, his eyes closed. Rebecca felt his cheeks and forehead. He wasn’t running a fever. With relief, Rebecca began undressing him.

“Don’t we need to call a doctor?” Jeff asked, still hovering over the bed.

“No. He’s not running any fever. He’s asleep now. I don’t think he’ll wake up until the morning.” Rebecca pulled off each little tennis shoe and put them side by side at the end of the bed. She folded Joey’s jeans. Then she pulled the covers over him.

“Thanks for helping, Jeff. I hope he didn’t ruin the evening for you.”

“But what about dinner?” Jeff asked, recognizing a dismissal when he heard one.

Betty and Vivian stared at him. “Good heavens, you haven’t eaten yet?” Vivian asked in surprise.

“No. We were going to eat after the show.”

“I can fix something—”

Jeff stopped Betty’s offer. “No, we’re not going to ask you to dirty your kitchen again. But if Joey’s going to sleep, can’t you come out for dinner?” he asked Rebecca.

“Oh, no, he might wake up and call for me. I’d better stay here,” she quickly said.

“Now, Rebecca, there’s no need for that,” Betty assured her. “I was going to watch a movie. I can watch in the room next door and be able to hear Joey if he calls. And don’t you dare say you’re a better mother than me.”

“Of course not, Betty.” What could Rebecca say?

“So you go off for dinner with your friends and I’ll keep an eye on young Joey.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Rebecca. You need to
relax a little. You never go out.” Vivian nodded as she folded her arms in determination.

“But, Vivian—” Rebecca began, but Vivian told her again she should go.

Jeff took her arm. “All the votes have been cast, young lady, and you are the lucky winner of a free dinner and night out. Come on.” Over her shoulder he mouthed the words “Thank you” to Vivian and Betty.

They met the other two downstairs and again got into the car, women in the back seat.

“I’m so glad you could come,” Chelsea said. “Is Joey all right?”

“He will be. All those snacks on an empty stomach weren’t a good idea. He usually eats dinner by six-thirty,” she explained.

“Oh, I need to remember that,” Chelsea said, frowning.

Bill looked at her over his shoulder. “I don’t think you’ll forget that experience very quickly, Chelsea. You must’ve jumped a foot or two. I thought you were going to climb on top of me.” His grin told all of them he wouldn’t have minded.

“I was surprised,” Chelsea protested, her cheeks red.

“Of course you were,” Rebecca agreed, sending a reproving look toward Bill’s grin.

“Well, I should be the one apologizing,” Bill said. “I didn’t realize Joey ate that early.”

“I’m afraid so. And it helps if he stays on a regular schedule, which makes things difficult some days.”

“Maybe I understand now why my friends’ lives changed so dramatically when they had a baby.” Bill was now frowning as much as Chelsea.

“Yes, and if you add to that lack of sleep, for at least the first year, and the cost of baby-sitters as well as the difficulty of finding a good one, you have many reasons they’re not interested in going out on the town anymore,” Rebecca said with a smile.

“Makes me think having a baby is no light decision,” Bill said. “I’d always figured on a couple of rug rats, but I didn’t think it would change my life that much.”

Rebecca just laughed.

“Well, it’s easier if there are two of you, isn’t it?” Chelsea asked.

Rebecca shrugged. “I guess it would be. But I’ve heard of some husbands who don’t participate in raising their children. They leave it all to their wives.”

“Ooh, I’d hate that,” Chelsea said. “I’d divorce him.”

“And then you’d be left on your own.”

“But he’d have to pay me child support.”

“Not all of them do. And the law is slow in catching up to them. I learned about that in law school,” Jeff added.

“That’s not fair,” Chelsea protested.

“No, it’s not, but life isn’t fair. And you can’t take a baby to the return department and tell them you want your money back,” Rebecca pointed out.

“No, I guess not. Joey’s not my child, but already, with as little time as I’ve spent with him, I couldn’t
give him up,” Chelsea said, winning Rebecca’s approval.