Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (12 page)

Julie and Colin looked at each other. When
they turned their focus to eating their ice cream, Jill realized
she’d shut them down. She smiled.

“
Do you know Seth
O’Malley?” Jill asked. “He’s a Detective at Denver Police? Piano
player?”

“
He’s a friend of my
Dad’s,” Colin said.

“
His daughter Lizzie is
pregnant,” Jill said. “She’s decided to give the baby up for
adoption. Seth was busy with the serial killer thing, so Lizzie and
Sandy went to Catholic Charities and set it up. Lizzie’s in a tough
spot. I bet she doesn’t have a phone. And you know Sandy; she’s big
mother to everyone. That’s probably why she’s the contact
person.”

Colin and Julie looked at each other and
then at Jill. Julie smiled.

“
Is she…? I mean…?” Colin
started to ask.

“
I don’t think we’re even
sure what to ask,” Julie said. “We were excited to be picked and it
feels… right. You know?”

“
What would you like to
know?” Jill asked. “I can’t really tell you private stuff but I’m
happy to tell you what I can.”

“
What’s she like?” Colin
asked.

“
Lizzie?” Jill asked.
“She’s mentally very young and kind of spoiled. Her mother and
step-father threw her out when they found out she was pregnant.
Even though she was twenty-two or whatever, it was a horrible blow
for her. She didn’t tell anyone, didn’t have any money… She’s been
hiding out at Sandy’s apartment. I don’t really remember how she
and her Dad reconnected. I think it happened when the police
reopened the investigation into Seth’s second wife Bonita’s
murder.”

“
And the father?” Julie
asked.

“
I don’t really know,”
Jill lied. “They keep that private.”

“
I guess… what we mean
is…” Colin’s eyes assessed Jill. “We’ve never adopted but heard all
these horrible stories about biological parents changing their
minds and…”

“
I know the biological
father signed away his parental rights; so did the grandparents,”
Jill said. “He won’t be a problem.”

Colin and Julie both seemed to breathe a
sigh of relief.

“
O’Malley’s pretty
wealthy,” Colin said. “Why would Lizzie struggle so
much?”

“
She and her Dad had a big
falling out after Bonita died,” Jill said. “It was horrible for
Seth, like two more children dying. He overreacted; they
overreacted. Honestly, I think it’s pretty normal for teenage girls
to not want to hang out with their father. They wanted to stay with
the ‘fun’ parent. Seth had just lost Bonita and his boys. He didn’t
handle it well. So, Lizzie and Julie Ann were adopted by their
step-father and dropped the O’Malley from their names. When
everything happened, Lizzie was too embarrassed to let anyone know
what was going on with her. She didn’t even have money for food.
She ate all of Sandy’s frozen stuff.”

“
That’s really sad,” Julie
said.

“
Very sad,” Jill said.
“That’s what I mean, though. She didn’t know to ask for help or
even tell Sandy. She’s that kind of young. Even though the baby is
healthy, and she is too, she didn’t see a doctor until Sandy and
Seth figured out what was going on.”

“
And now?” Colin
asked.

“
She’s finding her
footing,” Jill said. “She’s in counseling. She and her little
sister Julie Ann are reconnecting. And Seth’s back in her life.
She’s even dating a nice guy.”

“
If she found a nice guy,
why don’t they keep the baby and start a family?” Julie asked. “I’d
think she’d marry him and…”

“
She feels strongly that
she’s just a carrier for the baby,” Jill said. “At first, it was
just an idea, but now she feels her mission is to find a good
family for him. Lizzie’s not ready to be a parent and she knows
it.”

“
What if she changes her
mind?” Julie asked.

“
I don’t think she will,”
Jill chuckled. “I’ve known Lizzie since she was little. She has her
father’s stubbornness. Once she makes up her mind, she’s set on a
direction.”

“
Like not asking for
help?” Colin smiled.

“
Right,” Jill said.
“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Smiling, they turned to digesting the
information and enjoying their ice cream. Jill had the sense they
needed something else from her, but she wasn’t sure what.

“
Is there any other way I
can help?” Jill asked.

“
We need a reference,”
Julie said.

“
We don’t look great on
paper,” Colin said. “We separated and I’m an alcoholic. Of course,
no one knows that Paddie was almost stolen.”

“
Twice,” Julie
said.

“
Twice,” Colin repeated.
“The counselor said it was unlikely we’d get a
placement.”

“
Would you give us a
reference?” Julie asked.

“
Absolutely,” Jill said.
“Sandy’s going to be home tonight. I’ll talk to her. I know Sandy’s
really grateful for Colin’s help with other… things. So am I. I
think it would make her really happy to think Lizzie’s baby would
live with you.”

“
Would be our little boy?”
Julie asked.

“
Would be
your
little boy,” Jill
said. “What would your Dad say, Colin? He seems pretty into the
whole Hargreaves thing.”

“
My Dad’s more interested
in souls than genetics,” Colin said. “Old school Irish Catholic –
half mystic, a quarter superstition, and a quarter straight up
Roman Catholic.”

Jill nodded.

“
Daddy! Come play with
us,” Paddy tugged on Colin’s hand.

Colin slid the last half of his ice cream
cone into his mouth and went away grinning with Paddie. Julie
watched them go and turned back to Jill.

“
What do you think?” Julie
asked.

“
I think any child would
be lucky to have you as parents,” Jill said.

Julie smiled.

“
Give me a day,” Jill
said. “We’ll know more tomorrow.”

~~~~~~~~

Sunday evening – 8:05 P.M. MDT
between Tucson and Denver

Sandy leaned against her seat. Squealing and
laughing, the kids were playing a competitive game of Cars:
Mater-National Championship. She smiled. They had a wonderful
weekend. Even Charlie and Sissy.

Looking down, she saw Rachel yawn. Her
beloved Rachel was growing. Sandy worried about going back to work,
but Rachel didn’t seem to mind other people taking care of her.
Tomorrow morning, she would leave Rachel off at the Marlowe school
when she dropped Noelle off.

Her heart raced with fear and her mind
filled with horrifying thoughts.

“
Worrying?” Aden asked as
he sat down next to her.

“
It feels wrong to leave
Rachel at daycare,” Sandy said.

“
I know,” Aden said “Boy,
do I know.”

He leaned over to kiss them both.

“
It’s going to be all
right,” Aden said.

“
And we’ll know right away
if it’s not,” Sandy said.

“
Immediately,” Aden said.
“You really love your work. I bet your clients will be relieved to
have you back.”

“
It’s time to get on with
life,” Sandy said.

“
Four more weeks until
school,” Aden imitated Sissy’s voice.

Sandy smiled.

“
How do you feel about
going back to work?” Sandy asked.

“
I’m kind of excited for
some ‘normal’ in my life,” Aden said. “No prison, no ankle
bracelet, no hospital wrist band, no terror over losing you or
spending endless hours in the NICU. I’m looking forward to being
bored.”

“
We need to meet with the
priest,” Sandy said.

“
Catholic classes to get
married,” Aden said. “Yes. MJ said they’ve had trouble getting a
date at the Cathedral. He thinks if we get married together we
might get a spot. What do you think?”

“
Good thinking,” Sandy
said. “Noelle wants to be baptized. She’s the only one who isn’t
Catholic.”

“
Does she want to be
Catholic?” Aden asked.

“
She doesn’t want to be
different from everyone else,” Sandy said. “That’s the same thing
when you’re ten.”

“
Eleven,” Aden
said.

“
At the end of the week,”
Sandy smiled. “Teddy goes home on Sunday.”

“
It’s a lot,” Aden
said.

“
Aren’t we only worried
about one day at a time?” Sandy asked.

“
One day at a time,” Aden
said. “Yep.”

He looked up to see Sam waving him over.

“
This is the call.” Aden
kissed her cheek and went to join Sam and Blane to take a call from
one of their board members. Valerie sat down next to
Sandy.

“
Don’t you have to go with
them?” Sandy asked.

“
There’s a lot of boring
gadget chat at the beginning of these calls,” Valerie rolled her
eyes. “They won’t miss me. I wanted to ask how it went with the
FBI.”

Sandy shrugged.

“
That good?” Valerie
asked. “Should we get the lawyers involved?”

“
It feels like it’s never
ever going away,” Sandy said. Hearing Sandy from across the aisle,
Heather and Tanesha moved over to sit next to her. Mack was sound
asleep on Heather’s shoulder. Gesturing to Heather and Tanesha,
Sandy continued, “These guys have been hearing about this stupid
stuff forever. Now it’s filtering into Charlie and Sissy’s life. I
hate it.”

“
I think some things are
just like that,” Valerie said. “Did they find your Mom’s
locker?”

“
Sissy told you?” Sandy
asked.

Valerie nodded.

“
They’re waiting for ‘the
right’ warrant. Whatever that means,” Sandy said. “They think they
can get forensics finished tomorrow and Tuesday. They want me to go
through it on Wednesday. Seth will go with me if he’s feeling all
right, but he’s still pretty sick.”

“
Can you do that?” Heather
asked. “I thought you were back to work next week.”

“
Just in the mornings,”
Sandy said. “I’m meeting them at one. Can you go?”

Heather nodded. They looked at Tanesha and
she nodded.

“
You’d have to kill Jill
not to be there,” Heather said.

“
How do you feel about all
of this?” Tanesha asked.

“
Disgusted,” Sandy said.
“Exhausted. I wish it would just go away. I feel like I need a
vacation from our vacation.”

The women laughed.

“
Aden wants me to spend
the afternoons ‘recovering.’ That’s what he says,” Sandy said. “At
this rate, I need the afternoons to do laundry.”

“
Why don’t we ask Rosa for
more help?” Valerie asked. “She’s been dying to take care of
Rachel, but she’s not sure you wanted her help.”

“
I feel kind of guilty.
She helps me so much. She cleans up after our piggy kids and even
fills the fridge. She’s wonderful,” Sandy said.

“
You need help,” Heather
said.

“
Especially with this
legal storm brewing,” Tanesha said.

“
Could you guys be my best
friends?” Valerie chuckled.

“
Sure,” Heather and
Tanesha smiled at Valerie.

“
Can you introduce us to
hot, hunky, single, nice actors?” Tanesha asked.

“
I think that Jeraine is
very sexy,” Valerie said. “And when he sings?”

She fanned her face and gave them a dramatic
sigh. Sandy and Heather laughed while Tanesha scowled.

“
There’s Dad,” Valerie
said. She waved to Sam. “I’d better go. If you need any help with
this, Sandy, you let me know. I’m available on Wednesday too. I’ll
be there!”

“
Thanks,” Sandy said.
Valerie touched Sandy’s shoulder and moved over to the men grouped
around the conference phone.

“
How are you?” Heather
asked.

“
Tired,” Sandy said. “But…
it feels good to have finished this stuff with my mother. You
know?”

“
I think it’s good to have
everything out on the table,” Tanesha said. “You can grieve and
move on.”

“
What are you going to do
about…?” Heather nodded her head toward Sissy and
Charlie.

“
Talk to them,” Sandy
said. “See if they need counseling. I don’t think there’s much else
we can do.”

“
Do you think that’s why
they’ve had so much trouble?” Heather asked.

“
Trouble seems to be our
way of life,” Sandy said.

“
Well, they have a great
chance now,” Tanesha said.

“
Just like you!” Heather
said. “I’m excited for medical school.”

“
I know!” Tanesha said.
“Only few more weeks. I can’t believe it!”

“
And Jeraine is still
going?” Sandy asked.

“
Now why should I care
what that man does?” Tanesha asked.

Heather and Sandy laughed.

“
May I join you?” Anjelika
asked.

“
Of course,” Sandy said.
“We’re just laughing at Tanesha’s hatred for the love of her
life.”