The baby was asleep in Ryan’s arms, and they all said goodnight as soon as Conor drove away. "I don’t remember getting that nap today, Ms. Evans," Ryan said as they all ascended the stairs.
"Let me put her to bed," Catherine offered, accepting the sleeping bundle as they reached the top of the stairs.
"Are you sure?" Ryan asked.
"I’d love to," the older woman declared. "Now you two get some rest. We’re going to have a very busy day tomorrow."
Jamie lingered in the bath for a while after Ryan was finished. Coming out just a few minutes after her partner had departed, she was slightly disappointed to hear the soft snores that characterized Ryan’s deepest sleep.
Well, there goes our last chance for a little love until Thursday
, she decided.
No way we’ll have any time alone in Disneyland
. She slid into bed, smiling to herself when Ryan immediately curled her body around hers, instinctively seeking her in sleep.
Ah well, having her close to me like this is worth more than all of the sex in the world
, she thought fondly, grasping Ryan’s limp hand and placing it on her hip, just like her partner would have done if she was awake.
Caitlin began to fuss just before five. She was merely wet, not hungry, and after Ryan changed her and sang her a song, she drifted back into a contented sleep, seemingly happy to remain in her crib. Ryan trudged into the bath to relieve herself, and while there, she brushed her teeth mechanically. After she washed her face a smile broke out across her handsome features, and she immediately went back into their room and crawled into bed. She snuggled up against Jamie’s warm back and slowly began to stroke her thighs. After a few minutes she felt her begin to stir, and soon thereafter Jamie began to move against her. "Need some love, Tiger?" she asked in a sleepy voice.
Ryan just snuggled even closer and nodded her head against her lover’s neck. Jamie rolled over and caught sight of the hopeful, desire filled, clear blue eyes. She could not resist the little grin that curled the edges of Ryan’s sexy mouth, so she opened her arms and happily said, "Works for me!"
Ryan’s hair-trigger lust was easily satisfied, and they were sound asleep again by 5:30. They snuggled into each other’s arms and did not stir until 7:30 when Jamie finally had to answer nature’s call. When she came back Ryan was still in bed, stretching sensually. "I wish I had time to nibble on you again, but I think we need to get going, Honey."
Jamie couldn’t resist jumping onto the bed for one last cuddle. "You’ve never woken me up in the middle of the night before, Tiger. Is this a trend?"
"You didn’t mind did you?" Ryan asked tentatively, realizing she hadn't checked to see if the early hour bothered Jamie.
"Uh uhhh," she reassured her. "What time was that, anyway?"
"I think it was around five," she said.
"It was totally hot to feel your warms hands running all over my body while I was sound asleep. I think I was in kind of an erotic fog. It really felt great, Baby."
"I don’t think this is a trend," Ryan mused, answering Jamie’s earlier question. "I’m still a little needy from being away from you, and I guess I have to build up some love reserves."
"I enjoyed it, Love, but I think once a night is my limit. If you need more than that you’re gonna have to go with Lefty," she said decisively as she grasped the hand in question and bestowed a kiss on each of the fingers.
During their joint shower, Ryan continued to rub against her partner in such a sensual manner that Jamie finally brought the hand held shower down and satisfied her one last time. The sight of Ryan’s sexy body backed up against the tile with her arms spread wide for support, and her hips gyrating, caused Jamie to heat up as well, so Ryan returned the favor moments later. Nuzzling close to her partner as her heart slowed, Ryan murmured, "Will that hold you for two days of abstinence?"
"Yes," Jamie purred, shifting her hips a few last times, "I’m good. I’m very good. Nice and clean, too," she chuckled, guessing that even her cervix had gotten a good rinse.
"Having sex in the shower is kinda nice," Ryan agreed. "Sex and cleanup all in one swoop."
"Yeah, that part is nice, but it’s hard to keep standing when I come. That really takes some discipline."
"Piker," Ryan scoffed, not taking the time to regale Jamie with some of her most challenging orgasm scenarios.
Since the crib was empty, the women went in search of their charge, finding her enjoying breakfast, nestled happily in Catherine’s arms. She was wearing a new outfit that Catherine had obviously just purchased for her. Tiny madras shorts in blue, yellow, green, and fuchsia topped off with a canary yellow T-shirt made her look summery and bright. Her babysitters were also wearing shorts, Ryan in navy blue and Jamie in khaki. Ryan also wore her favorite navy blue and white vintage Hawaiian shirt, while Jamie favored a spaghetti strapped tank top in dark khaki green covered by a yellow cotton blouse that she had left half unbuttoned.
Catherine was wearing a pair of off-white cotton duck slacks that fit close to her slim body. A summery print blouse in yellow, pale blue, and off-white hung out over the slacks, with a pale yellow sweater tied over her shoulders in much the same style that Jamie often adopted.
When breakfast was finished they got the car packed, nearly filling the trunk of the Lexus. Ryan checked the car seat one last time before she brought the baby down, since they had moved it to Catherine’s car the day before. Her attention was caught by a golden glimmer under the car seat. Reaching under the seatbelt, she extracted the chain and medallion that Catherine had been wearing on Sunday.
Pensively examining the primitive design, she handed it back to Catherine when she got inside. "I found this in the car," she said.
"I wondered where that had gone to," Catherine smiled. "Thank you, Ryan."
"What type of medallion is that?" the dark woman asked.
"Oh, it’s an Etruscan coin," Catherine said, going back into the kitchen to get her things.
She lets the baby chew on a coin minted by people who inhabited Italy 2,600 years ago
, Ryan mused wryly.
My Lord, this is gonna take some getting used to!
As they pulled away from the house, Ryan instructed Caitlin to wave goodbye, and the baby dutifully complied.
"Boy, she’s really got that bye-bye thing down, doesn’t she?" Jamie asked in wonder.
"Yeah, it just got locked in last week. Annie said that she woke up one morning and just seemed to understand that the wave went together with people leaving, and she’s been doing it ever since. Now she just needs the words to go with it."
"She does seem a little reluctant to speak real words," she opined as Caitlin babbled away in the back seat.
"Umm, I wasn’t gonna tell you this, but she said her first clear words on Sunday at Mass."
"You weren’t gonna tell me! Why not?"
"I don’t want the rest of the family to know," she explained. "It would kill Annie if she knew she had missed it, and given the scenario, I was afraid of being the butt of another family joke."
"What?" she asked in confusion.
"We were up at the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer. Sara was holding her when we started making the sign of peace. I was obviously a little too far away for Caitlin’s pleasure so she decided to call me back."
"She said your name?" Jamie asked, slightly stunned.
"No," she said slowly. "She called me Da-Da," she revealed with a smirk.
Jamie threw her head back and laughed so hard tears came to her eyes, Catherine joined her, laughing along. The older woman asked, "Oh Ryan, that is too precious! Did she say it very loud?"
"I think the people in the last pew heard her," she admitted.
"Oh God, that must have been hilarious," Jamie said as she shook her head. "But I guess you could plead that she was just vocalizing, since she used the wrong name for you."
"She’d better not do it again. Tommy will have my hide if I get his name!"
"It will be interesting to see what she calls you. Your name is going to be tough for her."
"Yeah, I guess it is. She can do m’s and b’s and d’s, but that’s about it right now. I think it will be a while before she can handle an ‘r’."
"Well, I promise not to tell anyone she did it, but I’m going to put it in my journal and tell her about it when she’s older. She’ll get a kick out of it."
As they approached the airport, they tuned the radio to the information station and were pleased to learn that the long-term parking lot was still open. To avoid too much hassle Ryan dropped her passengers off at the United terminal so all of Caitlin’s gear could be checked. They had decided to bring her jogger even though they knew they would be able to rent a stroller at the park. Ryan’s stated reason was that they wouldn’t have strollers as nice as hers, but secretly she thought she might get up early and take the baby for a run around Anaheim. They also carried the car seat, which added a significant amount of bulk, but was necessary for the trip from the airport to the park. A small thermal chest carried nine frozen containers of breast milk, and Caitlin’s backpack contained stuffed animals, toys, and soft books. A small suitcase housed twenty diapers, twelve jars of baby food, and six complete outfits.
For her part, Ryan carried her favorite backpack, one that she had suffered a good bit of teasing over when she was in Santa Cruz. "I happen to like Bad Batz Muru," she had told Jordan. "He’s the only ‘Hello Kitty’ character I liked as a child, and I still have the backpack." The small pack held another pair of shorts, two cotton shirts, two pairs of undershorts, her swimsuit, her toothbrush, and a bottle of sun block. She chose to travel very light since she had decided that Catherine and Jamie would surely bring everything else she could possibly need.
When Ryan arrived at the gate, Catherine was sitting in a chair playing cheerily with an equally happy baby. She was holding an adorable pair of stuffed terrycloth toys, one representing Pluto and the other Goofy. She would put the toys behind her bag on the next seat and slowly raise them up so they peeked over the top. Every time they showed their heads she would cry, "Peek-a-boo," and Caitlin would squeal with delight.
Ryan came up from behind and bent over to kiss her cheek. "She’s on the verge of really understanding this," she informed Catherine. "It’s so cute to watch her think this through." After studying the props she added, "Those are very cute little toys. Did you buy them for her yesterday?"
"Yes, and I double checked with the clerk to make sure they were age appropriate. There are no buttons or anything else that can get loose, so she can put them in her mouth safely," she said rather proudly.
"You did a very good job," Ryan congratulated her. "New toys are always a good idea before a little trip. Where did Jamie go?"
"She wanted to buy a couple of biscotti for the baby. After seeing how she reacted to the one on Sunday, I’d say it was a good choice."
"Indeed. Cait’s loved them for months now. I just hope Jamie brings one for me too," Ryan added hopefully.
She spotted Jamie’s blonde head coming down the hallway, craning her neck to make eye contact. Jamie’s face broke into an adorable grin when she saw her, and Catherine had to smile also. As Jamie approached she held out a big biscotti and dangled it over the head of her lover, who eventually jumped up and snagged it with her teeth. "Being around you two is so refreshing," Catherine said sincerely. "I feel ten years younger when we’re together."
"Really?" Ryan inquired as she extracted her prize from her mouth. "Why is that?"
"Oh, most of my friends are relatively unhappy about some aspect of their lives. I love them all dearly but sometimes I just like to be around happy people!"
Jamie smiled at her mother as she confided, "If I was any happier I’d burst!"
Caitlin looked up at the three of them and giggled wildly, showing them all the face of true joy.
"Ryan," Catherine said as she looked at the floor near her feet, "I didn’t notice your suitcase when we checked our things. Where is it?"
"Right here," she said, holding up the half empty backpack. "I didn’t think I’d need much."
Catherine gave her an indulgent grin, mentioning to her daughter, "I don’t think I’ve ever said those words."
As they waited for the announcement to board, Ryan spent the time observing Catherine with the baby. She really did seem relaxed and youthful as she laughed and played with her happy young friend.
Everyone will assume that Catherine is Caitlin’s mom,
Ryan thought
. With that new haircut she looks exactly the right age to have a child.
Gazing from Jamie to Catherine to Caitlin, she decided,
Actually
,
I’m the only one who
doesn’t
look like I’m related to Caitlin.
They were called to board right on time. Ryan looked askance when Catherine went to the front of the line, but when she signaled to her companions they followed right behind. Catherine presented their tickets to the attendant and when they were immediately whisked aboard, Ryan fought to hold her tongue at the realization that Catherine had booked them into first class seats, including one for the baby