Mother Load (10 page)

The boys were finally calmed down from the trip thanks to the DVDs Martine had brought along. Knowing Andy, he was probably asleep on the couch already. She was tempted to join him in a nap but didn’t dare risk Lily finding her sacked out, since the hormones still made her mood unpredictable. Best to stay on her toes and try to have everything in place when Lily arrived.

There already had been one major change in plans, this one with regard to sleeping arrangements. She and Lily had been slated for the room with the queen-sized bed, where they were to sleep with Andy. Hal and Kim had offered to take this room with the twin beds. Their plan was to put Jonah and Alice in separate beds and sleep on a full-sized inflatable mattress on the floor in between. Andy and Jonah, however, were so taken with the novelty of the air bed that they begged to sleep together on it and Anna relented. After all, it was her idea to make Thanksgiving memories for the children. She and Lily could stand a few nights sleeping across the room from one another.

Lily’s last phone call had come from Truckee, which meant they would be pulling in at any moment. She had finished stowing their things neatly in the closet and dresser when the crunch of gravel signaled an arriving car. From the upstairs window, she watched as Lily and Kim exited the X3, looking surprisingly chipper given their long day on the road. “See? Plenty of room for all of us,” she said to herself. Her idea to borrow a car from the dealership on those rare occasions when she needed to ferry both children was workable, even if complicated by the need to have quick access to a car seat. Too bad Lily didn’t like driving a stick shift or they could simply switch vehicles on those days.

Before dashing out the door to greet them she confirmed that Andy had indeed fallen asleep on the couch. Jonah, though, was still going strong and had already shot down the porch stairs to meet his mom. Anna raced ahead and intercepted Kim to snatch Alice from her arms, inhaling her magnificent baby scent. “Nice ride, ladies?”

“Not bad at all,” her sister replied. “I can’t think of the last time I got to sit still that long.”

“I supplied the nice, long adult chat,” Lily said, scurrying around the car to deliver a quick peck on the lips. “Have fun with the boys?”

“I did, but Southwest Airlines will never be the same.”

Kim thrust the diaper bag into her hand as Hal swooped in for a hug. “Here, lady with the baby. You’re going to need this too.”

“Better get your practice now,” Lily whispered with a grin as they started up the steps.

Anna shuddered. She felt the same about baby poop as she did about blood, and frankly dreaded all the dirty diapers in her future. However, Alice’s sweet baby smells were marginally worth the trouble of an occasional stinky diaper, especially since she laughed and jabbered at every interaction. The whole point proved moot as soon as they walked through the door and Martine whisked Alice from her arms. That freed Anna to point out the sleeping Andy and lead Lily upstairs to their bedroom.

“I thought we were supposed to have the other room.”

“Were being the operative word.” Anna explained the switch and added in her most suggestive tone that she wasn’t averse to sharing a twin bed.

“What do you say we share this one right now?” Without even looking back, Lily gave the door a kick and abruptly pushed Anna backward onto one of the beds. She then fell on top, crushing her with a kiss as her hands roughly brushed Anna’s body. “I’ve missed you.”

“So I gather,” Anna replied, reluctantly clutching Lily’s wandering hands. It wasn’t unusual for Lily to be aggressive but it was surprising to see her take such forceful command in a house with so many people. “But knowing my father’s walking around underneath us at this very moment sort of dampens the mood, if you know what I mean.”

Lily’s face fell. “Point taken. At least kiss me one more time before we go back downstairs.”

Anna complied, taking time to savor their closeness. As much as she wanted to release their passions, she didn’t dare with her family nearby. If they stayed absent too long Kim would surely make some raucous remark at dinner…not that she wouldn’t do that anyway.

“I want to tell everyone tonight,” Lily said. “Right now.”

“I thought we were going to wait until we all sat down to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.”

“I can’t hold this in another minute. Kim talked about babies all the way up here and I was practically hyperventilating.”

“But we haven’t told Andy yet.”

“So go wake him up!” Lily emphasized her eagerness by shaking Anna’s shoulders.

“Okay, okay.”

Hal and Kim were settling into their room, Martine was preparing dinner and Jonah was playing a board game with his grandfather.

Anna scooped Andy into her arms and jostled him awake. “Have a nice nap, pal?”

He grunted and laid his head on her shoulder as she carried him up the stairs.

“Look who’s here.”

Lily tenderly brushed his hair off his forehead, and seeing his waking smile, held out her arms to take him. “Hey, sleepyhead.”

He was a bear to rouse in the morning but naps seemed to leave him feeling as if he had missed something, and accordingly he snapped himself awake. Today he had missed his mama’s arrival, and he fell into her arms to tell her at once of his adventures on the plane. Anna winced when he got to the part about riding with Jonah on the luggage carousel.

“It was only five seconds—tops!” She and Hal had turned their heads to collect bags. “It crossed our minds to act like we didn’t know them.”

“And then we rode on the suitcases,” Andy added. “Mom pulled me and Uncle Hal pulled Jonah.”

Lily looked at her pointedly. “How will I be able to trust you with a stroller?”

“What can I say? I’m the fun parent.” She followed them to the bed, where Lily had positioned Andy on her lap.

“Andy, speaking of fun, Mom and I have something fun to tell you. Would you like to hear our big news?”

He wiggled from her lap and began to stomp from side to side on the air mattress at their feet.

Anna tugged at his arm until his feet stilled. “Andy, this is important. Mama and I called you up here to tell you something special and we want you to listen. Will you come back and sit in her lap?”

It wasn’t like him to be insolent, but after a day with his cousin all bets were off. They had recently seen signs of a mild stubborn streak, which they agreed was typical for a five-year-old testing his limits, but nothing to cause alarm. If either of them grew stern, as in an urgent situation or when his behavior was affecting others, he would grudgingly fall in line, but their preferred approach was to make their expectations clear and ignore his antics until he came around.

Once he settled again on her knee, Lily ran her fingers through his curly hair. “Andy, when you first came to live with us your mom and I were so happy because we had a new person to love. Remember that?”

Anna wagged her finger between her and Lily. “And you were happy because you had both of us to love. And then there’s Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Kim, Uncle Hal…”

“And Jonah,” he added.

“Who else?”

“Alice.”

Anna nodded, recalling all the tips they had read on how to break the news of a new baby to a child his age. What mattered most was that he not feel displaced. “And we have enough love for everybody in our family without ever running out.”

“That’s right,” Lily said. “The more people you have, the more love you feel. Your mom and I wanted even more love in our family, so we decided we’d have a little baby too, a baby that can be your little brother or sister.”

He showed no reaction at first except to demonstrate that he had been listening. “Alice is Jonah’s little sister.”

“That’s right. We don’t know yet if we’re going to get a baby girl like Alice or a baby boy. But we do know that all three of us are going to have someone else to love as much as we love each other.”

Anna poked him in the rib. “How about that, pal? You get to be a big brother just like Jonah.”

That brought a wide grin. “Can we go get it now?”

Lily chuckled. “Not just yet, Andy. Our baby is right here inside my tummy. It has to grow until it gets big enough, then it will pop out. But you’ll be able to see it on the outside soon because my tummy will get bigger and bigger.”

“You’ll be big and fat like Henry Hippo,” he said, referencing a character from one of his favorite books.

“Let’s hope I’m not that big.”

“Nobody else knows about our baby yet,” Anna said. “That means now we get to go downstairs and tell the whole family. Everybody’s going to be happy, just like they were when we told them you were coming to live with us forever. You remember that?”

He tugged on his bottom lip thoughtfully and shook his head. “What’s the baby’s name?”

Lily shot her a warning look. “We haven’t named it yet. Your mom and I have some ideas and I bet you will too. Once we find out if it’s a boy or a girl, we’ll talk it over, okay?”

When they were satisfied they had answered all of Andy’s questions, they moved downstairs and assembled the family in the great room. Kim held Alice and cuddled with Hal in the center of the sofa. George sat squeezed into an armchair with Jonah, who had refused to sit on his lap. Martine perched on the arm of the sofa, one eye still on the kitchen where something simmered on the stove.

“We have a little news we’d like to share,” Anna said, pacing casually in front of the hearth where Lily sat with Andy on her lap. “We were planning to wait until we all sat down to Thanksgiving dinner but thought we’d just get this out of the way so we can focus on Mom’s delicious turkey tomorrow.”

“Right, it’s not a big deal or anything,” Lily added with a comical air of nonchalance, “just a little update on what’s been happening in our world.”

Anna continued, “I told Dad last week I thought we should make Thanksgiving in Tahoe a family tradition—or anywhere else as long as we’re all together. Something very special happens when we all gather under one roof, whether it’s here, or at the Big House, or even at our usual table at Empyre’s. That’s because being with all of you gives me the warmest feeling in the whole world and I know Lily feels the same way.”

“And so does Andy.” Lily nudged him and he covered his face coyly. “When I lost my mom I thought it was the end of the world, but you guys picked me up and gave me a new home, and then you turned around and did the same thing for Andy. I don’t even want to think about where we’d be if it hadn’t been for the Kaklis clan.”

George cleared his throat. “You’ve picked us up too, you know. Martine and I always say we’re very lucky that our daughters chose such wonderful people to bring into our family. And giving us these beautiful children…what parent could ask for more than that?”

Anna quietly marveled at how much her father’s sentimentality had grown over recent years—ever since the earthquake that had nearly claimed her life—as though he was determined to leave nothing important unsaid. Judging from how he had welcomed all three of his grandchildren, news of a fourth would put him over the moon.

“So yes,” she went on, “I’d like it if we’d all plan to keep this holiday for each other. There’s nothing I’m more grateful for than my family, and I like having us all together so I can say that.”

“But next year…seriously, guys,” Lily interjected, “can we get a bigger place? We don’t have enough room for the baby here.”

“Right, it doesn’t have to be huge. We don’t mind sharing a room with the boys, but it would be a lot easier on everybody if we all had our own space.” Anna fought to keep a straight face as she took in the perplexed expressions on her family’s faces. “That way if our baby cries at night, we won’t have to step over anyone to get to the crib.”

Several seconds of stunned silence passed before Kim finally spoke. “You need a…which one of you…”

“Lily’s having a baby.”

“Oh…my…God!” Kim practically flung Alice into Hal’s arms and leapt off the couch squealing, unable to decide whether to hug Anna or Lily first. They saved her the trouble and met in a group hug that was quickly joined by the others.

Anna waited until everyone had settled down to address their barrage of questions. “I’ll tell you everything we know, which isn’t much. Our due date is June first. We’ve seen the sonogram but it’s too early to know the sex, but Beth says things look—and I quote—normal, normal, normal.”

“Who’s the father?” Kim blurted.

She nodded at Lily’s questioning glance. They had agreed to keep most of the details private, but that didn’t include their family or their closest friends.

“Anonymous,” Lily answered. “We didn’t want people looking at our two children and thinking they weren’t related, so we tried to imagine what Andy’s father looked like. Beth had a huge database of donors and we chose a Latino man, a college student majoring in science who plays sports.”

“But here’s the real fun. We aren’t even sure who the mother is.” Anna went on to explain the procedure, including their two failed attempts. “We probably won’t know until it’s born. If it comes out holding a cheeseburger, it’s Lily’s.”

“And if it drives out, it’s Anna’s.”

For Andy, the excitement was over and he slithered onto the floor to resume playing with Jonah, who was boasting that he was already a big brother. With their family meeting finished, Anna noted Kim’s beckoning look and followed her upstairs.

“I can’t believe Lily rode all the way up here without telling me. Now I know why she was asking me all those questions about whether or not I missed working.”

“What did she say? We’ve been talking about that. Lily says she wants to go back to work after the baby comes, which means we’ll probably have to hire a nanny. You got any leads?”

“Trust me, that’s not going to happen no matter how much she insists on it now. I can see it all over her. Once that baby comes she won’t be able to walk out the door without it. She could hardly tear herself away from Andy.”

“But you always say it makes you nuts to be home with the kids all day.”

“That’s where you come in. You need to come home from work on time.” Kim emphasized her point by poking Anna in the chest. “You need to eat whatever Lily wants for dinner and watch what she wants on TV. Don’t think just because you’ve been at work all day that you’re the only one who has a right to be tired. Wash the dishes. Walk the dog. Play with Andy. And don’t wait for Lily to ask you to do it.”