Chapter 3 41 страница

“Is she that miserable, honey?"

As was her habit, Kylie took the question seriously and spent a moment considering her reply. "Yeah, she is. She's not sleeping well, and that certainly doesn't help matters. It's impossible for her to find a position that's comfortable, and believe me, we've tried everything." The doctor laughed softly, then shook her head, obviously remembering some of the things they'd tried. "The only place she's truly comfortable is in the pool. I'm sure the baby's gonna come out doing the back stroke."

"You've probably figured this out by now," Eleanor said, lowering her voice into a conspiratorial whisper, "but she's not the kind of girl who suffers in silence."

Kylie laughed and draped her arm around Eleanor's shoulders. "I've been very impressed with how stoic she's been. Honestly, she rarely complains. I can tell how uncomfortable she is, but she hardly ever makes a big deal out of it."

"She must have changed a lot since she was a girl," Eleanor said. "When she was little, the whole building knew when she had a cold."

"She has changed," Kylie said, her smile growing. "She's changed a lot."

„G

Blair walked down the sidewalk to greet the car, waving happily at her mother and Kylie. "Oh, my goodness," Eleanor said. "How big is that baby going to be?"

"Looks like she's got a twenty pound turkey strapped to her, doesn't it?" Kylie asked. "Uhm … I wouldn't say that, if I were you, Eleanor. She's good-natured about it, but it hurts her feelings when people make a big deal out her size."

Eleanor reached over and squeezed Kylie's arm. "I'm glad you're with her, honey. She's a lucky girl."

They opened their doors as Blair approached, her waddle nearly comical. She looked a little like a woman who'd been on a horse a very long time, but Eleanor, wisely, said not a word about her rolling gate. "You look wonderful!" she said, doing her best to get her arms around her daughter.

"Thanks, Mom," the blonde said. "I've missed you and Dad. Being this close to delivering has really made me want my mommy!"

"Aw … you haven't called me mommy since you were in kindergarten," the older woman said. "I forgot how much I loved that name."

"Well, I feel like climbing onto your lap and having you make this all be over," Blair said.

Eleanor put her arm around her daughter, and the threesome started to walk into the house. "Only two more weeks until your due date," she said, trying to sound like that was only minutes.

"My doctor says that most first babies are late," Blair said. "I keep hoping I'm the exception, but I have a feeling I'm not going to be."

"Let's keep a good thought," Eleanor said. "It couldn't hurt."

„G

Later that evening, Blair floated in the pool while her mother sat on a nearby chair and watched her. The older woman was glad her daughter couldn't see her face, since she was unable to keep from smiling when she looked at the pumpkin-sized belly breaking the waterline. After a while, Blair floated over to the edge and stood up. "You're not bored, are you?"

"No, not at all. Being able to sit outdoors in December is such a treat for me that I could sit here all night and not say a word."

"Oh, right," the blonde said. "I've been here so long that I forget not everyone has weather like this all year around."

"Far from it. It was just starting to snow when I reached O'Hare."

"Brrrr! I hope it's warm when we bring the baby to Chicago to be baptized."

"I think it's so nice that you're doing that to make Kylie's mother happy, honey."

"That's partially the reason, but it's also a way to have him officially be a Mackenzie. All of the kids and grandkids have been christened in that church."

"How are things going with that, legally that is?"

"So far, so good. When our divorce decree is final in August, we're going to file for second-parent adoption. As I told you last week, David's attorney says he's ready to waive his rights."

Eleanor blinked and asked, "How long do you have to wait?"

"Until August," Blair said, looking unhappy.

"But that's so long!"

"Don't I know it," Blair grumbled. "There's a year waiting period for the divorce to be final."

"Oh, honey, that's cruel to make you wait so long!"

"Thanks for understanding, Mom. And it is gonna be hard. I keep thinking of all of the reasons that the little snake could use to change his alleged mind, and it worries me to death. But there's nothing I can do about it."

Eleanor was quiet for a moment, and Blair could see the worry expressed on her face. "You're already going over the list, aren't ya?" the younger woman asked.

Trying to make herself smile, Eleanor nodded. "I was thinking about Sadie."

"Yeah. She's the lynchpin in the whole thing. She has a lot of influence with David, and I worry that she could talk him into just about anything. She's supportive of Kylie at this point, but you never know how she'll feel when she sees the baby."

"Honey, I don't want to second-guess you, but are you sure it's wise to keep her involved?"

Blair considered her answer, then nodded. "I am. I realize it's a devil's bargain, but I'd rather try to keep her on our side. She's really angry with David, and she sees how devoted Kylie is — both to me and the baby. If she really cares about the baby, I think she'll stay on our side. And if she doesn't — we're screwed anyway. So I think it's worth the risk."

"I see your point," Eleanor said, "but I wish there were another way."

"So do I, Mom, but I'm the one who made the mistake of marrying a self-absorbed adolescent. I can't blame anyone but myself for not knowing him better before I agreed to get pregnant."

"He doesn't know what he gave up," Eleanor said, giving her daughter a sad smile.

"No, he sure doesn't, and that's the best reason I can think of to divorce him. A guy who would give up a wife who loved him, as well as a baby, just because he wasn't the father, isn't a guy I wanna share a cab with, much less a life."

"I think you've found a woman who loves you very much, honey. Kylie acts like she's the happiest woman on earth. She talked about you and the baby so excitedly on the drive home that I was afraid she'd have an accident."

"It's a tie in the 'who loves whom more' competition," Blair said. "Most days we call it a draw."

"Is that true, sweetheart? Are you as crazy about her as she is about you?"

Blair looked at her mother for a few moments, then said, "I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but I have a whole new vocabulary for love."

"Vocabulary?"

"Yeah. Take passion. I always thought that passion was a sexual thing. David and I had some very good, very passionate moments. But with Kylie … with Kylie it's not just about sex. Do you know what I mean?"

"No, not really," Eleanor said. "I don't get the connection."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel passionately about Kylie whether or not we're being sexual. I mean, it's not every minute or anything, but I can look at her or think about her and feel so emotional." She wiped a few tears away with the back of her hand. "I have no control, Mom. None. I love her so much, it amazes me. Sometimes it actually takes my breath away. She was outside this morning, playing with the dogs, and when she came in, our eyes met. She gave me this look that showed all of her feelings … all of them! I started crying and went to her and threw my arms around her and cried for the longest time. Sometimes it feels so fantastic that it's too much to bear."

Eleanor was crying by this time, and she smiled through her tears. "You've never said anything that made me happier, honey. That's all I've ever wanted for you."

"Well, you've got it. I'm completely powerless against that woman," Blair said, smiling. "I just hope she never tells me to jump off a cliff, 'cause I'd do it!"

"That part will pass," Eleanor said. "I felt the same way about your father at first, but now I'd need a little convincing."

"I guess that's true," Blair said, smiling at her mother. "But I'm gonna enjoy the hell out of this crazy love period. It's too precious to waste a moment."

"Speaking of the love of your life, where is she? She doesn't think she has to make herself scarce because of me, does she?"

"Oh, no. She's been itching to do some research on the Internet, but she hates to leave me alone. She's in her element when she's in her office, being my cute little nerd, but we're both pretty clingy these days."

"I can understand that," Eleanor said. "Does she work at home often?"

"Oh, this isn't work. Her car failed its emissions test, and she's finally agreed to buy a new one. Her car doesn't even have air bags! So I'm sure she's thinking about getting some sort of armored personnel carrier to protect the baby from safes and grand pianos falling from great heights."

"Sounds like your father. When you were learning to walk, he wanted to buy you a little bicycle helmet to protect your head."

"That'll be Kylie. She's like that with me now, so I can't imagine how she'll be with someone who really is helpless!"

„G

Later that evening, the trio sat in the den with Kylie massaging Blair's belly. "I've been having these Braxton-Hicks contractions for a long time now," she explained to her mother, "but they've gotten a lot worse in the last weeks."

"Are they painful, honey?"

"Mmm … not really painful, but pretty annoying. Everyone tells me that I'll be able to tell the difference between these and the real ones, so the difference must be considerable."

"I wish I could help," Eleanor said, "but I don't have a clue."

"I'm glad you don't," Blair said, smiling. "You’re one mother who doesn't have a horror story to tell me! I'm gonna punch the next person who tells me about being in labor for four days. I don't even ask these women questions! They see me at the grocery store and start asking me all sorts of personal things. I swear, it's like I'm wearing a sign that says 'Ask me about my uterus.'"

"It'll only get worse, honey. When I used to push you around the neighborhood in your stroller, nearly everyone we passed stopped to take a look."

"I'm not taking Mackenzie out of the house until he can talk," Blair said. "If someone wants to know something, he can answer for himself!"

„G

They spent the first weekend decorating the house for Christmas. Even though Blair's due date was December 25th, they'd decided to plan on having a normal Christmas — since it was their first together.

The first stop was a tree lot on Wilshire Boulevard. Kylie was drawn to the biggest trees they had, despite Blair's protest that they'd never be able to get it onto the car. "We deliver for only $15," the energetic young salesman said. "We'll even help you set it up," he added, casting a quick glance at Blair's belly.

The blonde threw her hands up. "Go wild," she told her partner. "Just remember how tall the ceiling is."

When Kylie walked away to pay the man, Eleanor said, “We started out with normal-sized trees, until the third time we had to have a maintenance man come up and cut a few feet off. Your father finally admitted that it was silly to pay $50 for a tree, then another $10 as a tip, or a humiliation fee as he called it.”

Blair nodded. “I have a feeling my beloved’s eyes are bigger than our room, but I don’t care, as long as she’s happy.”

Eleanor smiled at her daughter. “That’s how I felt until the third time in a row, honey. By then, you just want to hit them on the head with the measuring tape!”

„G

When the tree was delivered, it was apparent that Kylie had not recalled the exact dimensions of the room. But after the delivery boy cut off the gangly top branches and a substantial amount of the trunk, the tree finally fit in the stand. Kylie paid and tipped the young man, then stood back and admired the Goliath. "We always had a huge tree when I was growing up, and it doesn't seem like Christmas without one."

"We always had one that sat on our piano," Blair said. "I'm used to a Lilliputian Christmas."

"That's the difference between growing up in the city versus the suburbs," Kylie said, "but since L.A. is one big suburb, we can go big!" She looked at Blair and asked, "Do you have any ornaments?"

"Unh-uh. David had some cool ones from his grandmother, and we always used those. I've got nothing. Where's your box of goodies?"

"I don't have any either," Kylie said. "I couldn't put up a big tree in my condo, so I never bothered. Besides, I always went home for Christmas, so it seemed like a waste of time."

"Well, I guess it's time to start our own family tradition," the blonde said. "Time to head to Pasadena. Are you up for a road trip, Mom?"

"Pasadena? Don’t they sell Christmas ornaments in Santa Monica?"

"Sure they do. But there’s a huge store in Pasadena called Stats. Walter always goes after Christmas to stock up on ribbons and garland and all sorts of things he uses to decorate houses. He'd kill me if he knew I was paying full price, but we don't have much choice. We can buy just enough to get us through this year, then go back after Christmas and load up on the half-priced stuff."

"Yeah, that's just what you'll want to do on the day after Christmas," Kylie laughed. "Go wait in line to buy things on sale when you're nine months pregnant."

Blair nodded and said, "I'll give Walter my credit card and ask him to fix us up for next year. He has better taste than I do, anyway."

„G

By Sunday night, the tree was attractively, if sparsely, decorated, and there were strings of lights surrounding all of the windows on the front of the house. Large, fragrant juniper wreaths hung on the doors, and the essential elements of a crèche that they hoped to add onto were arranged on the mantle. "It looks a little bare with just the baby Jesus, Joseph and Mary up there," Blair said.

"Don't worry, folks," Kylie said to the holy family. "Once everything's on sale, you'll have some animals and some guys bringing you gifts. We'll hook you up."

Eleanor had already gone to bed, and the couple was sitting on the sofa in the den, cuddling before they turned in. Kylie looked at Blair and asked, "Is there anything unique about an Armenian Orthodox crèche? I wanna be authentic."

"Yeah. One of the wise men brings baklava," Blair said, giggling. She patted Kylie's side and said, "It's the same, honey. Oh. Except for one little thing."

"What?"

"Well, the Armenian Church is similar to the other Christian churches, but they celebrate Christmas in January."

"What?"

"You heard me. They celebrate Christmas in January. And Easter's different, too. I think it's a week or two after most people celebrate."

"Blair! That's kind of a big deal!"

"No, it's really not," she said. "David's family celebrated Christmas with everybody else. They acted like December 25th was when Santa Claus came and brought gifts. They just celebrated Jesus' birth in January."

"Jesus' birth is kinda the whole point of Christmas, Blair. I think this is gonna be a problem. Mackenzie's gonna be confused."

Blair gave her partner a look, raising one eyebrow. "Honey, do you really think Christmas is gonna be the thing that confuses him? He'll have an unknown biological father, a legal father who's renounced him, two mommies, two grandmothers and a grandfather who aren't biologically related, and a grandmother and grandfather who are. Dozens of aunts and uncles and cousins who all live far away. He'll be in high school before he figures out who his relatives are!"

"Still …" Kylie said, looking worried. "Maybe this religion thing isn't a good idea."

"Baby, I've told you, if this doesn't work out, we'll stop it. If he doesn't like it, we'll stop it. If he hears things at church that bother him, we'll stop it. Besides," she said, "Sadie will probably lose interest after a year or two, especially if she tries to take him for the entire service."

"Why would she lose interest?"

"'Cause the service is like … I don't know … two, two and a half hours long? Something like that."

"Two and a half hours? What do they do? Read the whole Bible?"

"I'm not sure, honey, I've only been a couple of times, and it's all in Armenian."

"The service is in Armenian?" Kylie's eyes were comically wide.

"Well, yeah, it's the Armenian church. I'm sure the Greek Orthodox Church has services in Greek. What's surprising about that?"

"You're telling me that Sadie's gonna take our baby to a church service that's two and a half hours long and is in Armenian?"

"Yep."

"She won't last a year!" Kylie said, starting to laugh.

"I think she might hold out until he starts to crawl," Blair said, "but by that time, I think she'll have had a bellyful. I think she just wants everyone to know she has a grandchild, babe. It means a lot to her."

Kylie nodded. "I think I'm beginning to understand why you're so calm about this. I should have known you had insider information."

"I always do," Blair said, smiling sweetly.

"One of the many, many, many things I love about you," Kylie said. She wrapped her arm around her lover and cuddled her tightly to her body. "You're the best Christmas present I ever got."

"I hope the best Christmas present we ever get makes an appearance before Armenian Christmas," Blair said, laughing. “'Cause if he doesn't, I'm gonna bribe Monique to induce labor!"

Kylie cuddled her partner close and said, “If anyone can do it, you can, baby.”

Resting her head on her lover’s chest, Blair said, “It’s hard to believe that Mackenzie will be here before we take the tree down.”

“Don’t put it that way,” Kylie said, her voice suddenly a little high. “It’s too scary.”

“It’s starting to hit you, too, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m having really vivid dreams about our bringing him home and not having any idea what to do with him. He cries and cries, and we finally have to call Monique to teach us how to quiet him down. It’s supremely humiliating.”

Blair chuckled, then shook her head. “That’s the difference between being normal and having hundreds of different hormones racing through your bloodstream. My dreams are horrific! There’s always something wrong with him — or me. I had one the other night where they put me in a mental hospital because I was having an hysterical pregnancy! That was a surefire way to get me up to organize the spice rack — again.”

“It’ll all be over soon,” Kylie promised.

Blair looked up at her, surprised to see that she was completely serious. “It all starts when he’s born, honey. This is merely the warm-up act.”

Kylie swallowed and looked at her partner for a moment. “Should we bother to go to bed or start organizing things right now?”

„G

Kylie woke on Monday morning, looked at her sleeping lover and wished she could call in sick. Blair never got up when she did, but there was something about knowing that her partner wasn’t going to work that made her jealous. The blonde stirred and looked up at Kylie. “Getting up already?”

“Yeah. I don’t wanna, but I have to.”

“Oh, are you sad to have to go to work?”

Slightly embarrassed, Kylie nodded. “I feel like I did when the older kids got a school holiday and I didn’t. You’re not planning anything fun today, are you?”

“Mmm … what’s your least favorite museum?”

The doctor thought for a moment, then said, “Probably MOCA. I’m not a huge fan of contemporary art.”

“Good. Then we’ll go to MOCA today.”

“Yeah, but you’ll go to good places later in the week.”

“Yes, we will, baby, but I won’t tell you about them. How’s that?”

Kylie smiled, then gave Blair a gentle kiss. “I want you to have fun. The whole point of having your mom come this early was to give you someone to pal around with and to keep you occupied. I’ll control my jealousy.”

“I’m very glad she’s here,” Blair said. “I feel safer when my mommy’s close by.”

“And in two weeks, your daddy will be here, too. You’ll be in a little cocoon of love.”

“C’mere,” Blair said, inviting Kylie to come close by making kissing sounds. The doctor leaned over, and they kissed gently for a few minutes. “I’m always in a cocoon of love when I’m with you.”

“I do love you,” Kylie said, the lovesick expression that Blair loved so on her face.

“And I love you. Remember that today, and think about it if you get lonely.”

“You’re nice,” Kylie said with a charming, childlike smile.

“You’re nice, too. Now get in the shower, or your patient isn’t gonna be nice to you. Go on, you little scamp.”

Kylie jumped out of bed, both dogs jumping right behind her. “We love you,” she said one last time as she went into the bathroom with her canine voyeurs.

Chapter 14

Two weeks later, Blair was still growing, still gaining weight and still ready to take the baby out by any means necessary. "When we met, all you talked about was operating on me," she complained when she and Kylie were lying in bed, watching the sun rise through some dark clouds. "Now I can't get you to take one little thing out. Easy as pie. Just one little incision …"

"I thought you didn't want me to touch you clinically," Kylie said. They were loosely wrapped in each other’s arms, legs interlaced.

"There's an exception to every rule. Just this once, I won't mind."

"Today's your official due date," Kylie said. "Maybe Mackenzie'll make a grand entrance on Christmas Eve."

"That due date stuff means nothing, and you know it. It's a crap shoot."

"Not when you're inseminated," Kylie said. "I mean, every baby is on his own schedule, but at least you really know when the sperm started swimming towards that lucky egg."

Blair put her hand on her belly, then knocked lightly. "Come on out, Mackenzie. Your room's all ready, your grandma's here, and your grandpa's coming this afternoon. Don’t be a divo."

"A divo?"

"If demanding, temperamental women are divas, then men should be divos. Makes sense."

"Can't argue with ya," Kylie agreed. "What time are we seeing Monique today?"

"At 4:30, same as usual. Mom wants to come with us today. You don't mind, do you?"

"Heck, no. She'll see a lot worse when you actually deliver. If you want, you two can go alone, and I'll stay home and wrap your Christmas presents, then go to the airport and pick up your father."

Blair nudged her head against Kylie's chest. "I wanna be with you. Every single minute."

"Wanna go the airport?"

"No."

"Want your presents?"

"Yeah."

"Then play along, sweetums. You go show Monique what's cookin', and I'll have your father here when you get back."

"That's the best present you could give me," Blair said. "Now let's take a little nap."

"We just woke up!"

"You just woke up. I was up for three hours, alphabetizing our CD's."

"Blair! You did that last week!"

"I know, but I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and decided that I should categorize all of the classical ones by the orchestra, rather than the composer."

"I’m filled with empathy for you, honey. Sorry I show that by sleeping through your nocturnal nesting frenzies."

"Try having a baby pressing against your diaphragm on one end and against your bladder on the other. Let's see how you sleep then, wise guy."

"I sleep best when you're pressing against me, so a nap sounds just perfect," Kylie said.

„G

Kylie and Werner were making good time coming home from the airport, mostly because the doctor used her favorite shortcut, taking Lincoln Boulevard instead of the freeway. The freeway was unbearably crowded, but the surface streets weren't bad. Many of the stores on Lincoln had closed early because of Christmas Eve, and they were nearly home by 5:30.

Her pager chirped, and Kylie crossed her fingers, hoping it wasn't the hospital. "Darn it," she said, looking at the display. "I didn't get paged once this week. Why do they need to page me now?"

"Maybe it's a mistake," Werner offered. "Most of the calls I get on my cell phone are wrong numbers."

"Mmm … they don't make many mistakes," Kylie said. "I'd better pull over and call." She found an empty space on Montana and opened the windows. Pressing the speed dial, she waited for a moment, then said, "Hi, it's Doctor Mackenzie. Someone paged me."

Дата добавления: 2015-09-04