In a Moon Smile (47 page)

“Of course you do,” Chesney said as tears wet her own face. “I know that, Char and Piper knows her mommy loves her.”

“Will she miss me?” Charlotte asked.

“Of course,” Chesney nodded. “We will both miss you. And we’ll be here waiting for you. Try not to worry, Char. When you leave here, make the time about yourself. Can you do that?”

Charlotte nodded and dabbed at her eyes.

“Let’s call it a night,” Chesney whispered. “I cooked my ass off for two days and this Betty Crocker bullshit has worn me to a frazzle. Tomorrow, you have a long day ahead of you.”

Charlotte walked over to the guest bed and turned down the comforter. “Am I doing what’s right?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” Chesney nodded.

“Thank you,” Charlotte said as she began to cry again.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Chesney said. “Piper and I will get along just fine.”

Charlotte quietly crawled into the bed and her big sister tucked her in, kissed her quickly on the forehead and closed the door softly on the way out.

Downstairs, Chesney grabbed an old blanket, wrapped it around her shoulders and went outside to sit on the porch swing. Tomorrow morning, Charlotte would pack her bags and leave. The growing knot in Chesney’s stomach was a reminder that she had absolutely no idea if or when she would ever see her sister again. She had no idea how to care for Piper. “We’ll figure it out as we go,” she whispered. “That’s how I’ve conducted the last thirty-three years of my life. That’s how we’ll get through this, too.”

When Charlotte left, Chesney did not ask about her plans. She had no idea for sure what Charlotte was doing or where she was going. She had no idea if her younger sister was on her way to a complete mental breakdown. She just chose to trust. She wanted Charlotte to feel completely free to do exactly as she pleased without answering to anyone. So Chesney didn’t ask a single question. She wished her well and held the tears back until Charlotte drove away.

Oh, holy shit, this is the biggest test I have ever faced. Diving right into surrogate motherhood will be one of my biggest challenges.

Chesney carefully studied the list of instructions Charlotte left behind, but sometimes, those instructions were worthless. Learning how to secure Piper in the car seat, for example, was an activity Chesney immediately despised. The experience was much like placing a cat in a box. Piper wiggled and whined and kicked until the last moment the strap was fastened. Once she realized she was stuck in the seat for an undesignated amount of time, she was fine, but her Aunt Chesney was in tears.

Taking Piper to the grocery store was a pain. She grabbed boxes off shelves and threw herself to the floor to kick and cry. Bathing her and washing her hair required a mop and nearly one dozen towels to clean up the aftermath. All of it was a giant headache for Chesney. Her patience was tested those first few days. Every evening, Piper fussed until long after midnight.

“Mama?” she sat on Chesney’s lap with searching gray eyes.

“Mama is away on a trip,” Chesney smiled, swallowing tears. “She loves you very much, Pippa. Aunt Chesney loves you and Blossom loves you.”

“Cheeky?” Piper asked. Then she poked her stubby finger in Chesney’s chest. “You Mama Cheeky?”

Chesney laughed, tickled her niece’s bare toes and reminded herself not to fall apart. Not now or she might never stop crying, and she certainly did not have time for a big bawl fest.

The following morning, Piper dumped Blossom’s food all over the floor then grabbed a piece of kibble as a post-breakfast snack. When she popped the dog food into her mouth, Chesney swooped in for action. She reached inside Piper’s mouth to retrieve the dog food and got her finger bit in the process.

“Come on, Pip. Don’t do that stuff,” Chesney whined. “That’s so yucky, Pippa. Don’t dump Blossom’s food. Don’t touch it or eat it, okay? And it’s also not okay to bite my fingers off.”

Piper toddled away, looking sweetly remorseful about the dog food. But then she happily removed her diaper to pee on her aunt’s very expensive Persian rug. She shoved a cookie into the DVD player and threw one shoe in the toilet- all before noon.

“We’ve got to talk,” Chesney said as she placed Piper on her lap. “You’re obviously a very energetic, rambunctious little person. And I appreciate that spunk, I really do, but I haven’t had time to adjust to your company. And, well, frankly, Piper, you’re killing me. You’re destroying my house and traumatizing my dog. I don’t know how to be…”

Tears suddenly spilled over Chesney’s cheeks. She felt totally overwhelmed, exhausted and alone. “Piper, I love you,” she sobbed. “But I don’t know how to do this. I feel like I’m in baby boot camp and you are
definitely
kicking my butt.”

Piper concentrated on every word her aunt spoke. Her tiny, pink fingers fluttered tenderly to trace the tears on Chesney’s face. “
Boo-boo
?” she asked as she cocked her sweet little face to the side.

“No
boo-boo
, Pippa,” Chesney sighed and sniffed. “It’s all gonna be okay, Pip. We’re just having a challenging day. I’m sure I can get revived if you‘ll just take a seven- or twelve-hour nap this afternoon.”

“Mama Cheeky?” Piper said with a little grin. “Milk.”

With Piper hanging on her hip, Chesney wiped her face and smiled. “Yes, you want milk, you get it,” she said. “I want to have a meltdown? No way.”

“No way,” Piper repeated.

At night, an exhausted Chesney wandered through the house, cleaning up the toys. Twice, she fell over the baby gate, which kept a curious Piper from climbing the stairs. More than twice, Chesney cried and howled right along with her niece, when Piper was cutting teeth or fighting off a cold. For several nights, she slept on the guest bed next to Piper’s bed. Sleeping in her own bed on the other side of the wall felt too far away. Somewhere in the midst of it all, Chesney was finding her way. She learned to write with Piper asleep on her lap. She learned to read Piper’s moods and work her entire life around her niece’s nap times. She was slowly adjusting to life with the chubby little diva who joyfully toddled across the floor to fall into her arms.

“You’re amazing, Chez,” Becca said on the phone. “I can’t believe how well you’re fairing. I’m so proud of you.”

“You should have been here to tell me that earlier today,” Chesney sighed as she rubbed her temples. “You should have reassured me at the same time little Miss Pippa created her very own mural on the bedroom wall with my lipstick. And she plugged up the toilet again. I don’t know why this child is so obsessed with toilets. She wants to flush everything. But she certainly isn’t interested in potty training, which is good, I guess, since I don’t have a clue how to teach her to pee in the potty, anyway.”

“I really want to visit soon,” Becca said. “I know you could use a break.”

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Chesney sighed again. “I really am exhausted. But, if you happen to see my mother, lie your face off. Tell her I’m running marathons in my spare time and operating a soup kitchen on weekends. Just don’t even hint at the fact that my niece is draining my last drops of energy before noon every single day.”

“Don’t worry,” Becca laughed. “I’ve got you covered. And I’ll be down a few days after Christmas. Is that okay?”

“That’s perfect,” Chesney breathed. “I can hold on until you get here.”

One week before Christmas rolled around; the gifts Chesney ordered online were finally delivered. In spite of Piper’s curiosity, Chesney managed to stack the boxes on an unreachable closet shelf. On a cold, lazy Saturday, she dressed Piper warmly and wrestled her into the car seat. It was time to pick out a tree for Christmas.

Chesney drove to Deke’s, suddenly realizing that since Piper came to Chesney Ridge, her life had come to a screeching halt. She hadn’t spoken to anyone else but Becca. She tried not to wish for Dalton to call or stop by. Now that the interior work was complete, she had no excuses for how to see him. With her eye on a rather straggly little tree in front of the hardware store, Chesney parked the truck close to the door and freed Piper from the car seat.

“Who’s this little cutie?” Luke pointed at Piper the moment Chesney walked inside. At the same moment, Chesney discovered that her niece’s fat little hands were yanking every single set of work gloves off of a rack near the cash register.

“This is my niece,” Chesney smiled as she turned around to return the gloves. “She’s staying with me for a while.”

“Mine,” Piper insisted as she grabbed again at the pile of gloves.

“You have gloves of your own, sweet,” Chesney said softly. “Where are your gloves? Check your pockets and see.”

“No,” Piper said flatly as she blew her fat cheeks into a pre-tantrum the size of Texas. She stretched past her aunt and again attacked the display of gloves.

“Stop throwing the gloves, Pippa,” Chesney said in a low whisper. “Knock it off, okay? I don’t want to get arrested.”

Trying to pry the gloves from Piper’s hands was a fatal mistake.

“Mama Cheeky,” Piper yelled. “Nooo..”

“Okay, well, we need to get going,” Chesney felt heat on her neck and face. She had to immediately pay for the damn ugly little tree and get back in the truck before Luke witnessed a Piper-sized volcano. Piper could turn into a human siren in seconds and Chesney certainly did not want to experience the hell of it all in aisle four of the hardware store. Luke averted his eyes and Chesney fought the urge to go into a big saga about how her sister, Charlotte, was working in Miami, blah, blah, blah. How she hoped that Charlotte would return to Bean Blossom sooner than later. But she didn’t really know what her sister’s plans might be. She was busy finding herself and so Chesney and Piper were alone at Chesney Ridge, still trying to survive each other.

“Okay, so I want that small tree, Luke,” Chesney said over Piper’s screams. “If you could, uh, load the damn tree for me that would be great. Here’s the money.”

“Okay, let me get change for you,” Luke said.

“Oh no, that’s alright,” Chesney was now trembling. Her nerve endings were on fire. “Keep the change, Luke. It’s a tip, okay? Just get the tree loaded.”

Chesney turned to sail out the door with Piper squalling her head off. She pulled the cute pink hat over Piper’s ears, which only led to a longer wail. Luke loaded the skinny tree on the rusty old truck then offered to follow her home to unload it.

“Luke, that’s very kind,” Chesney said, near tears because she could not fathom how in the world she could possibly get the tree in a stand without destroying the house.

At that particular moment, like a Christmas wish come true, Dalton Moore poked his head around the corner of the truck. She had not seen him since long before Piper moved in and she was overcome by the pleasure of seeing his face.

“How are we doing?” he grinned brightly and Chesney heart melted into her freezing boots. Dalton waltzed around the side of the truck and smiled at Piper, who immediately stopped screaming. She offered a charming little greeting and a shy crinkle of her fingers as a wave. “Who are you?” he asked.

Piper reached for him instantly and Dalton seemed happy and comfortable with that.

“Do you want me to follow you home and unload the tree?” Luke asked again.

“I hate for you to go to such trouble...” Chesney started.

“I’ll do it,” Dalton said. “I was headed home myself. So I’ll stop by and unload the tree for you, Chez.”

He returned Piper to Chesney’s arms and opened her truck door. “Go ahead and get the baby inside,” he said. “It’s bitter out here.”

Please don’t freak out about sitting in your car seat, Piper, please don’t.

Chesney slipped a cracker into Piper’s hand as she strapped her in and Piper forgot to tantrum. Chesney pulled away from the hardware store with a happy grin on her face. “I’m in love with that handsome man who happens to be following us home, my cute little Pippa,” she said. “But, of course, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t realize at all that I absolutely love him.”

“Wuv him,” Piper said with a nod.

“Yep,” Chesney laughed. “I just wuv him.”

“Yep,” Piper nodded.

Once she got Piper safely inside the house, Chesney raced through the rooms picking up toys. Then she placed the tree stand by the window and tried not to hyperventilate as Dalton Moore entered the front door with the tree on his shoulder.

“It’s pretty scraggly,” he said as he stuffed the tree into the stand.

“I felt sorry for that poor little tree,” Chesney said with a shrug. “So I decided that Piper and I would bring it home, dress it up and make it beautiful.”

“You’re quite capable of that,” Dalton said. “Just look at what you’ve accomplished with Grace’s house.”

“Thank you for saying that,” she smiled. “I mean that. I really appreciate that.”

She reached for Dalton’s coat and invited him to stay for some hot cider. Then she darted upstairs to change Piper’s diaper.

“How long have you been caring for your niece?” Dalton asked as an exhausted Chesney flopped into a chair with her sleepy-eyed niece and a bottle.

“Only since Thanksgiving,” Chesney said. “We’re still adjusting.”