Scrambled Babies (3 page)

“Hi, Fred, thanks for calling back right away.” Fred Hollister was her agent, publicist, and would-be husband.  Fred was a doll.  He adored Paeton, but Paeton saw him more as a brother or an uncle.  Fred was aware of the lack of mutual feeling on Paeton’s part, but was willing to wait for a miracle.  He could at least be around her and help her in his accepted roles.

“Paeton, are you okay?  I didn’t think a meeting time-change—”

“No, no, I’m sorry.”   She looked around to see if anyone was interested in her conversation. She was thankful that first class offered larger territory and fewer fliers. “It’s that I have some
news
.”  And Paeton emphasized the word to see if Fred would get the hint.

“News?  Oh, good news!  Great!”

“Uh, no, Fred.  You haven’t heard the
news
?”

“Huh?  No, I don’t think so.  Uh, I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about, Paeton.”

“You haven’t heard national news?”

Fred still registered blank.  “What do you mean?  It’s not tonight yet.  I’ll listen to national news tonight.  Are you all right, honey?” 

Paeton hunched down in her seat and whispered into the skyphone.  “You haven’t heard
it
on national news?”

“I can’t hear you, sweetheart.  What?  Heard
it
on national news?  What it?  These damn skyphones!”  She heard him banging the phone on something hard.

Paeton took a deep breath.  Apparently there was no big national alert.  Fred would have heard something as dramatic as someone looking for a baby kidnapped from an airport.   She couldn’t quite yet let the breath go.  “Fred—Fred, I need you to meet me at the airport!”

She could hear him hesitate.  “Uh, jeez, Paeton, you know I’d do anything for you, but I’ve got a million things to do today.”

“Of course you do.  Oh, never mind.  I’m just being silly.  I’ll be okay.  Never mind.  Bye, Fred.”

“No, no, wait, Paeton!  Wait! Don’t hang up!  Please!  Wait, honey!  You’ll be okay from what?  Paeton, what the hell is going on?”

Silence.

“Paeton!  Did you hang up?  Paeton?  You still there?”  Another banging sound came out of the phone.

“Yes, I’m still here, Fred.  I’m okay.  I’ll call you.”

Paeton could tell Fred’s frustration was at a peak.  He always had a million things to do.  From his base in L.A., he ran the most successful literary agency on both coasts.  But she knew very well when it came to Paeton—

“Okay, okay, honey.  I’ll be there.  No problem.  You know that.  What time do you get in?”

Silence.

“Paeton, honey.  Please.  Don’t do this to me.  Okay?  I’ll be there.  For whatever the hell is going on.  Paeton?  Okay?  Come on, what’s your arrival time?”

Paeton finally let out her breath.  She was exhausted.  “Thanks, Fred.  Two o’clock.  See you when we land.  Bye, Fred.”  She hung up.

“Hello, mister.”  Madison was looking up at someone standing above Paeton in the aisle.

“Hello,” came a male response.

Startled, Paeton looked up.  She had kept her head down into the phone and not noticed the short man peering over her.  She now realized she had been smelling his overdone cologne all the while she was on the phone to Fred.  She had been too engrossed to be aware of him.

“Is there a reason you have been standing over me while I was on the phone?”  Paeton’s tone was deliberately confrontational.

“Not really.  All I wanted  was to meet you.  You’re Paeton McPhilomy, right?”  A syrupy smile hung on his pasty face.

She softened somewhat.  Was this her first male fan?  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be rude.  It’s just—”

“Oh, rudeness doesn’t bother me.  People are rude to me all the time.”

He wore a lavender sports jacket, copper-colored slacks, and a pencil-thin tie and mustache.  Paeton noticed that his lavender shoelaces matched his jacket.

“Oh?”

“You see, I’m a reporter-slash-photographer for
In Your Face.”

“The—” Paeton hesitated, not wanting to be rude again.

“Yes, the rag, the filthy tabloid, the career-destroyer—we have been called many rude names.  By the best in the nation, I might add.”

Paeton was confused.  This guy was proud of the nefarious reputation of his publication?

“Lovely little boy you have there.”

Madison
spoke up.  “It’s a girl.  Her name is Kelsey. She’s my baby sister.  She looks funny because she’s on an airplane ride.”

Paeton forced a laugh.  “Play your video game, Madison.”

The man persisted.  “Really?  Looks like a male child to me.”

Paeton’s stomach and heart couldn’t take much more of this.  “Well, it’s a girl.  Trust me.  At this age, lots of girls don’t have much hair.”

The man had a look on his face as if he was up to something.  Something told Paeton she didn’t want to have anything to do with this creep.

“It has nothing to do with the hair.  You have a male child.”

Madison
took offense.  She stopped playing her game.  “She is not!  Kelsey’s a girl.”

“Uh, Mr., uh, what did you say your name was?

“Black. Steedly Black, from
In Your Face
magazine.”

 “Mr. Black.  My child is female.  I still have hours left on this trip.  I’ve had a hectic day and look forward to many hectic days coming when I reach L.A.  If you don’t have anything specific you want from me, I wonder if you could restore my privacy.”

“No problem, Ms. McPhilomy.  I’m a big fan of yours and wanted to say hello.  I won’t even trouble you for an autograph.  Good-bye.”

“Thank you, Mr. Black.  Good-bye.”

The man with the pencil mustache walked back to coach.  As he reached the curtain separating the sections, he turned and gave Paeton a knowing look.

Paeton shivered.

“Who was that man, Mommy?  I didn’t like him.  He smelled funny.”

“Yes, he smelled funny to me too.”  She said hoarsely, “He’s only someone who likes my books, honey.”

“Oh?  Do men read your books, Mommy?”

“A few, Maddy.  A few.”  Paeton reclined her seat.  “Mommy’s going to try to take a nap, Maddy.  Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be quiet.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.”

“I kept the very big secret good, right, Mommy?” Maddy whispered.

“Yes. You did, honey. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

“Okay.” She went back to her game.

Paeton lay back and, from pure emotional exhaustion, was starting to drift into welcome sleep when the plane’s loudspeakers thwarted her attempt.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’d like to remind you that Global Airlines can take you anywhere in the world, offering service that pampers you from New York to the Orient.  By the way, our July special is the Orient—Japan, China, and Hong Kong.  And thank you for flying Global.”

Hong Kong
! 

As clearly as if it were coming over the jetliner’s speakers, she heard the P.A. system at JFK immediately after she had bumped into too-tight-vest—“All passengers for flight eight fifty-seven to Hong Kong, there has been a change in your gate assignment.  Please proceed to the commuter concourse where a shuttle will take you to your new gate.”

Oh no!

Her mind replayed everything as if it had just happened.  Too-tight-vest had been coming toward her.  After the collision and the P.A. announcement, he picked up Kelsey and headed toward the commuter concourse and—

Dear god—I’ve sent Kelsey to Hong Kong! 

Chapter 2

Paeton filed off the airplane and began walking unsteadily down the skyway leading to the terminal.  She threw back her shoulders, wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, and prepared to meet Fred.  She saw the back of her hand was black with mascara, but she didn’t care.  Her throat had a painful lump in it from suppressing an all-out crying jag.  But she had held on and would continue to hold on, even with the realization that Kelsey was now almost a half world away. 

The childseat swung at her side like a lead safe. The blanket not covering the child’s face this time. She emerged and searched for Fred.  There he was right in front of the waiting crowd.  He waved.

“Hi, honey.”  Fred hugged her somewhat tentatively.  He stood back, holding both her shoulders.  “Good god, you look like hell.  Bad turbulence?”

Paeton laughed vacantly.  “I guess you could say that.”

“Huh?”

“Hi, Uncle Fred.”

“Hi, Maddy!”  And he bent down to give Madison a kiss.  “Hello, Kelsey,” and he chucked the infant under the chin.

Maddy laughed. “Uncle Fred said ‘Kelsey,’ Mommy. He doesn’t know our very big secret.”

“No, he doesn’t, honey. And it looks like we really are in trouble.”

Fred got up to Paeton’s ear and whispered, “What the hell is going on?  Is something really wrong with Kelsey?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“For heaven’s sake, will you stop saying that?  I’m here.  Okay.  I’m here.  Now for pete’s sake tell me what the goddam problem is.”

Paeton pressed a finger over Fred’s mouth.  “Shh!  Please, Fred.  The children.”  She gave him another kiss on the cheek.  “Thanks for being here, Fred.  I know how busy you are.”

They walked in the direction of the baggage.  “Paeton, what is the problem?”  Fred leaned in too close in frustration.  “Have you been crying?  You look as if you’ve been crying.”

“I haven’t been crying,” she protested.

“Yes, you did, Mommy.  Some.  I heard you.  I knew I shouldn’t talk to you when you were so upset.”

“I didn’t cry, Madison.”