The Blueprint (26 page)

Kim wrapped her legs around his waist.  "I missed you, too."  She tilted her neck to one side, allowing more access. 
"Merry day after Christmas."

"Right back at you."
  He stopped kissing her neck and sniffed.  "Hey, you don't smell like fruitcake anymore."

Kim chuckled and made him put her down.  "As nice as last night was, that whole fruitcake thing was weird."

"Well, no point in letting it go to waste.  It was either usin' it for
that
or as spackle," he laughed.

"Spackle, then.
  I've never been a big fruitcake fan...even after last night."  She went up on her toes and kissed him lightly, then turned her attention to the unexpected bags nestled inside the bassinette.

"How do you feel about mashed potatoes?"

"Enough already!" she yelled and gave him a quick elbow in the ribs.  He rewarded her effort with an exaggerated gasp.  "What's all this stuff?" she asked.

"Old toys and some of Sara's baby clothes."

Kim retrieved a pink rattle and a stuffed white bear from the bag.  "Are you sure Janie doesn't want it for Scotty?"

"Scotty's
all boy.  If it doesn't have wheels or doesn't bounce, he doesn't want it.  She said we could keep it all.  Apparently, three kids is her limit."

Kim hugged the bear she was holding and turned to him.  "And you, what's your limit?" she asked shyly.

He lifted her chin and kissed her button nose.  "As far as I'm concerned, my love, there's no limit to how many times we can try," he said, gifting her with a lecherous grin.

She rolled her eyes.  "You're a pig.  Did you know that? 
A rutting pig." 

"Oink.
Oink," he snorted and winked.

Kim groaned, grabbed a bag of toys, and headed inside.

First, Jimmy brought in the gifts and left them in the family room for Lily to unwrap, giving her a quick greeting which she didn't return.  Arms full with the last of the burden, he followed Kim's trail to Lily's room.  He’d watched as his future wife unpacked the used items, hanging the smallest clothes and arranging the plush toys in a tower.   He'd observed her do this a hundred times in the nursery at his house, always arranging and rearranging what they'd collected.  It touched him deeply that Kim anticipated the birth of this baby as much as he did.  The ring he planned on presenting her was his grandmother's and although he knew it was best to delay their engagement until after the excitement of the baby had settled, it was agonizing to wait for yet another piece of his life to come home with him. 

As Kim fussed over each detail, he listened for the sound of
ripping paper from the presents he'd brought or Lily's slow shuffle to make her way down the hall.   His temper sparked as only silence echoed from the other end of the house.  In a hard whisper, he said, "What is wrong with her?  I thought mothers-to-be loved this shit!"

Kim had run out of excuses for Lily and although she agreed with Jimmy, she didn't think it would be good for anyone if there was a showdown.  She stopped folding the
onesies on her lap and sighed.  "Jimmy, I don't know.  But, I think she's getting worse."

"It's one thing to ignore the baby when she's safe and sound on the inside, but what about after she's born?  I can't stand by while she neglects her---my baby."  His fists clenched.  "I can't believe I'm saying this.  But my mother was right.  And I've waited too long as it is."

Kim searched his hardened expression for an explanation. "What are you talking about?"

"I need to protect my daughter.  What if Lily never comes around?  What if she never snaps out of it?  I'm
callin' my lawyer first thing Monday morning."

21

Kim returned home to the bewildering sound of cheerful humming emerging
from her roommate's room.  Certainly not what she expected since today was the day Lily met with Jimmy's lawyer.  Pausing in the kitchen with her ears cocked like a dog listening for intruders, she recognized the familiar melody of "Row, Row, Row, Your Boat."  With anyone else this would be a good sign, a sign that her experience at the attorney's office was a positive one.  But Kim couldn't conceptualize a scenario where Lily, or anyone else for that matter, would consider being bullied by a lawyer a positive experience.  What she was hearing had to be the evidence of Lily's condition deteriorating from depressed to nuts as a result of the stressful confrontation.  She approached the bedroom with caution, imagining the worst: her roommate curled up in fetal position, rocking back and forth, murmuring children's songs.   Instead, she crossed the threshold to find Lily examining the tags on the baby clothes hanging in her closet. 

Kim cleared her t
hroat and made an effort to erase the stunned look from her face. "What's up?"

Lily peeked over her shoulder and smiled. 
Returning her attention to her project, she explained, "Some of the zero to three months clothes got mixed up with the three to six months clothes.  And some of this stuff needs to be weeded out because it's the wrong season.  I put those things on the bed.  Does Janie want her stuff back or can we give it to charity?"

Kim plopped on the bed, pretending to scan the tiny garments while she studied her roommate and wondered at the miracle she was witnessing.  Lily's humming began anew, filling the silence between them.  "
Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb...."
  Kim gave herself another minute to suppress her overwhelming desire to get right to the point and ask, what the hell happened today?  Professional judgment warned her to slow down and to stick with the topic at hand.  "Janie doesn't want anything back.  I guess we can give it away."

"Is Janie not going to have any more children?  She seems like a wonderful mother." She handed Kim a romper.  "Here, this won't be warm enough."

Who is this woman? 
"Um...Janie claims that three is plenty." 
More humming!
  "I think little Scotty still doesn't sleep through the night, and he's quite a handful.  She jokes that he works better than any birth control pill." 
Screw the small talk. 
"So how did today go?"

"I had a great day.  Simon sent me home early because he witnessed the baby shift and it f
reaked him out." Lily laughed, a sound as foreign to Kim as the spirited pitch in her roommate's voice.  "So I took a long lunch, met with Jimmy's lawyer, and then went shopping."  She motioned to a new wicker basket atop her dresser.  "I decided to replace some of the old sleeping gowns Janie gave us for new ones.  Some of the old ones were stained.  Feel this."  She plucked one from the basket and handed it to Kim.  "Isn't it soft?  And so cute!  They had one with bears, but I decided on bunnies, instead."  Lily stopped her monologue and frowned. 

Uh, oh! 
"What?  What's wrong?"  Kim asked, expecting that in fact she'd only caught her roommate in between catatonic episodes.

"I wonder how late Sears is open.  I think I should get the bear gown, too."  Lily checked her watch.  "Maybe, I'll go back tomorrow.  Hey, is Jimmy coming over tonight?  It's been a long time since we all ate together.  You think you could call him and ask him to pick up a pizza. 
My treat."

Lily was so busy folding and arranging clothes that she missed the confused expression Kim couldn't quite shake.  Kim answered on her way out, "I'll go give him a call."
He needs to see this.
Stretching the cord to its max, she took the phone into her room and closed the door.  It had rained hard that afternoon and Jimmy had been working an outside job.  He should be home by now. 

He picked up on the third ring.  "Howdy."

Kim spoke just above a whisper, "Jimmy, grab a pizza and get over here now!"

"Kim, is that you?"

"Of course, it's me.  Look, you need to come over."

"Speak up, sugar.  I can't hear you.  Or wait...is this some dirty talk thing.  Damn, you sure are inventive!"

"Jimmy," she growled.  "Listen.  Lily is being weird.  You need to come over right now... and bring a pizza."

"Is she in labor?"

"No, that's not it."

"Then I'm staying put.  I'm not
comin' over just so she can scratch my eyes out over this lawyer stuff.  I did what I had to do and that's that."

"She's being a good weird.  She's not mad." 
Kim struggled to find the right word and knew how odd it sounded before it even left her mouth.  "She's happy."

"She's what?"

"She's happy!  You have to come see.  She wants us to have dinner together.  Grab a pizza and get over here quick before something changes."

"If this is an ambush, I'm
gonna be pissed."

"
Nowww!"

"Fine.
  I'm on my way."

"And Jimmy."

"What?" he grumbled.

"Don't forget the black olives.  Love you."
Click
.

Jimmy had never considered himself the kind of guy who fought dirty before, but he knew he'd taken a swing at the defenseless by having his lawyer draw up a custody and child support agreement without discussing any of it with Lily.  His tenacious protective instincts, inherited from his mother no doubt, overrode his desire to play fair.  And after the baby was born, if she still hadn't snapped out of her stupor, he'd already discussed with his lawyer what it
entailed to deal the unfit mother card, too.  He was prepared for battle and was sick about it.  He hadn't forgotten his original promise to help Lily.  Then, he'd imagined they'd work together as a team in raising their child.  But his loyalty to his daughter came first, no matter who it hurt.

Ironically, the same vulnerability that initially attracted him to Lily was now the very thing making him crazy.  This was no time for her damsel in distress routine.  The baby's needs came first.  The Rogers clan met life's challenges head on and had a platoon of soldiers ready to help with the fight.  And Lily appeared to be avoiding the obvious rather than preparing for it even though countless hands offered help.  He hadn't lost his temper in front of her, but he knew as the birth drew closer his impatience with her was harder to hide.  He drove over to meet Kim, hoping her call wasn't some trick and all his weapons could be stowed away for at least tonight.

Jimmy knocked on the side door, but no one answered.  He peeked his head in and called, "Hello."  Still no one answered.  He heard muffled laughter coming from the back of the house.  Leaving the pizzas on the counter, he headed that direction.  He found Lily sitting on the floor leaning against her mattress with her shirt pulled up, revealing her huge pregnant belly.  Kim kneeled next to her with her hands cupped around her mouth like a megaphone and was talking into her roommate's abdomen.  They were so entranced with their game that they hadn't seen him approach.

Kim said, "Is your name Bertha?"

Both women stared at Lily's belly and waited.

"Is your name Gertrude?"
Lily asked.

No movement.

Kim took her turn.  "Is your name Miss Piggy?"

"From the Muppets?"
Lily chuckled.

"You never know, she might like it," Kim answered with a shrug. 

Nothing.

"Wait, let me go again.  Let's do something biblical this time.  "Is your name Jezebel?"

Lily's belly rolled to the right.  The ladies cheered. 

Jimmy could see from where he stood, leaning against the door jamb, that the baby had shifted.
He grinned, now understanding the game.  "No daughter of mine is gonna be named Jezebel," he teased.

Both women looked up, surprised to see him, and a little embarrassed at being caught.  Usually when he walked in on these two talking, the conversation came to an abrupt end.  He waited for Lily to cover herself and make a quick excuse to leave, but she didn't.   She remained seated with her belly hanging out and waved a hand toward him, encouraging him to sit on the other side of her.  She explained with more animation then he'd witnessed from her in months, "So far the baby likes Gladys, Cher, Peach, Cinderella, and Jezebel.  You try."

Jimmy was trying not to show how shocked and flustered he was by this new perky person inhabiting his ex's body.  He glanced at Kim whose beaming smile egged him to play along.  "All right," he began, scratching his head, giving himself a moment to adjust to the unexpected dynamic.  "I got one."  He cupped his hands and leaned toward Lily's belly but was careful not to touch her.  "Is your name Grace?"

Lily and Kim both moaned. 

Jimmy laughed and with mock innocence asked, "What?"

"That's it," Kim rolled her eyes.  "You've broken the only rule of the game.  You're out.  You can't play anymore."

"You didn't tell me there were rules!" Jimmy snickered.  He knew suggesting his mother's name would get a rise out of them and that's why he did it.  "Let me try again."

Kim deferred to Lily
, who was laughing at their exchange for permission to reinstate him.  "Fine.  You can play.  Make it a good one."

"Let me think for a minute."  He bit the corner of his lip while he concentrated.  "Okay, I had this buddy in college who had a little sister with a name I've never been able to forget.  Ready?"  And after a len
gthy dramatic pause, he asked, "Is your name Stinky?"

The baby rolled high, then low, then high again, and Jimmy joined the ladies
' cheers with shouts of victory.

After a couple more failed attempts to get the baby to move again, it was decided that the name Stinky was the big winner, and they departed for the kitchen to eat before the pizza got cold.  Each of their good moods added to the fun of the evening.  It was no surprise that Jimmy was full of stories of distant relatives with silly nicknames like his great aunts
Tooty, Fluffy, and Tiny.  Only with the last of whom, standing 4'9'', did he know the origin of her name; he knew none of their given names. Kim and Lily didn't have their own stories, but those awkward realizations, at least in Jimmy's company, had long ago been put to rest.  Both women just sat back and seemed to enjoy their old pastime of living vicariously through the Rogers/Foster clan.

Kim cleared the table and placed a fresh baked pan of brownies where the pizza boxes had been.  With her fork held high, she offered a toast, "To little Stinky, may her life be as sweet
as her odor and may she not hate us for naming her before we knew for sure."  They clinked forks in agreement and dug in.

The threesome ate, talked, and laughed until before they knew it, half the pan of brownies was gone.  Pushing herself away from the table, Lily waddled over to the cowboy couch.  "No more.  This baby's so hopped up on sugar it feels like she's jumping rope in there."  She winced, stroking her belly
as she lowered herself on the cushion, which held the permanent indentation of her bottom. She caught her breath and exhaled hard following another assault from the baby.  "Holy moly!  Come here, you two.  You have to feel this.  I'm going to be black and blue by the time she settles down."

Jimmy hadn't even considered asking to touch Lily's growing abdomen.  Sure, he'd been caught staring at her protruding midsection plenty of times, imagining what his daughter looked like or whether she'd gravitate toward books or hammers.  But touching required an invitation as well as permission from Kim.  It seems he'd received
both as Kim grabbed him and dragged him to Lily's side.  They kneeled on the floor near Lily's knees, both hesitant to touch, but wincing in sympathy with this pregnant woman whose abdomen was undulating wildly with life.

Kim said, "It looks like it hurts."

Lily took her hand and pressed it against a knot that appeared where her left lower ribs should be.  "It's certainly uncomfortable.  What do you think that is?" she asked.

"Holy crap!
  I think I feel a foot."  Kim grabbed Jimmy's hand and placed it on the bump.  He looked to Lily for the reassurance that he hadn't broken some unspoken rule between them, specifically the no touching rule that began the day he chose Kim.

Lily half smiled, half gasped as the baby moved again.  She took Jimmy's hand and moved it a little lower.  "If that's a foot, she's got your feet...
because they're huge."

His shyness gone, he placed both hands on her abdomen and moved them about freely, trying to figure out what was where.  His chest felt full like it might pop.  How long had he wanted to feel the baby move?  How long had he wanted to get this close to his daughter and feel the truth of her life?  He'd not told Kim how he ached to do more than watch from afar the evidence of his baby growing. 
But based on the tears welling in his girlfriend's eyes while he stroked Lily's belly like a blind man strokes the faces of his family, Kim knew what this moment meant and felt it too.