Chapter 3 16 страница

The man gave her a bored look. "I told you what we have, ma'am. I can't make the cars sexy."

"Never mind," she decided. "Cancel my reservation."

"Happy to," the clerk said, showing his first smile.

As they walked away, Blair asked, "What's that about? Your own car was boring in 1985, and age hasn't improved its allure."

"I'm not trying to impress my brothers when I'm at home," Kylie said. "My sisters are rational, mature women — like me," she added. "But my brothers love to give me shit. If I rent a sexy car, that's one leg up, since all of them have some form of boring SUV or mini-van."

"But how does renting a car have much caché?" she asked. "Anybody with a charge card can rent a nice car."

Kylie shrugged. "Don't know why it works, but it works. Trust me."

Blair bit her tongue, having little familiarity with large family dynamics. They had to take a cab to the proper car rental place, but Kylie was entirely pleased to score a bright red, Mercedes CLK convertible. Once settled in the car, she chuckled and said, "I've never had any desire to have a convertible in L.A., where I could have the top down all year. But here, I always lust for one. Makes no sense."

"I'd tend to agree, Doc, but then, I've come to expect that from you."

"Just for that, I'm going to leave the top on, and you won't get to have the wind blow in your hair."

"The Kennedy Expressway and an open top do not a magic mix make," Blair decided. "I'll count my blessings."

"Actually, I need the quiet to question you on the family. We've been working on this for a week, and you're still not primed for hand-to-hand relatives."

"There are too many of them," Blair complained.

"Them's the breaks. This was your idea, bud. I don't care if you call them all 'pal.'"

"Okay," Blair admitted, "I started it, but don't ask me what I was thinking. First off is Christine. She's, uhm … fifty-three, and she's a mathematics professor at the University of Wisconsin."

"Very good," Kylie said, giving her a grin.

"Even before you told me about your family, I had a feeling that no one worked at a minimum wage job," Blair said.

"Nope. We're all yuppies, or at least, we were. We're clearly not all young anymore."

Blair took a breath and said, "Paul's next, and he's a doctor. He's fifty-one, and he'll take over your dad's practice when and if he ever decides to give it up."

"Excellent!

"By the way, how old is your dad?"

"He'll be seventy-five on October the thirtieth. We're having a huge party. If you have fun this time, I'd love to have you come back with me."

"I might do that. I could have an early Thanksgiving with my parents to boot." She concentrated for a minute and said, "Next is Alan. He's the one you called when you were buying the house. He's a real estate lawyer. I think he's … forty-seven or forty-eight, right?"

"Right either way," Kylie smiled. "He'll be forty-eight in two weeks. Good job!"

"He's the guy I'm gonna look for," Blair admitted. "We're about the only people who aren't doctors. I understand real estate law — a little."

"We don't have little tiny Mackenzie family AMA meetings," Kylie joked. "We're really pretty normal."

"That remains to be seen," Blair said. She wrinkled her nose at her friend and added, "You're not very normal, so your perspective might be skewed."

"Good point," Kylie agreed. "Now stop stalling. You've got some names left, you know."

"Oh, all right. James comes after Alan, and he's yet another doctor. He's forty-six." She thought for a moment, then asked, "Why isn't he a gynecologist?"

"I think internal medicine suits him pretty well. He has the mind of a detective. He loves to figure out what's wrong with people." Kylie gave her a sly smile. "But to be honest, I don't think he wanted to work with Dad. He's happy to be on his own."

"Gotcha. James is a bit of a rebel."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Kylie said. "He didn't want to always be the most junior Doctor Mackenzie in the practice. He wanted to be his own man. He isn't even affiliated with the same hospital as Dad."

"Huh. Probably smart if he wants to make his own reputation. Now, let's see … after James is Claire. She's a lawyer, too, like Alan, but she hasn't practiced for years. She's a homemaker, right?"

"Right," Kylie said, "but don't call her that, or she'll deck you."

"Duly noted," Blair nodded. "Next to you is Chuck. He's the baby boy. He's forty-three and an engineer."

"Absolutely correct," Kylie said. "Now, he's the rebel — at least our family's version of one. He bummed around after school, traveling in Europe for a couple of years. He didn't really settle down until … oh … four years ago. He's been married three years, and his wife's pregnant with their first. You'll like him, he has the best sense of humor of the group."

"So, everyone is married, except you?"

"Rub it in, why don't ya?" Kylie asked, feigning hurt. "Doctor Baby Sister comes home for her fortieth birthday, still unmarried, and no prospects."

"You've got prospects. You just have to exploit them."

"Maybe," Kylie decided. "But, yes, to answer your question, everyone is married and has kids, or at least one in the oven. They all live relatively close by, except for Chris, and she's only as far as Madison."

"Are you kidding about that Doctor Baby Sister thing, or do they really call you that?" Blair asked.

"Well, my mother used to tell the boys to keep an eye on their sister, or call their sister to dinner, and there had to be a way to identify us. Since Chris was out of the house by then, Claire was referred to as `your sister,' and I became 'your baby sister.' The name had fallen into disuse, but when I started medical school, good old Alan resurrected it."

"I think it's adorable," Blair said. She looked at Kylie's profile, seeing the calm, alert expression that usually graced her face. "You know what I can't tell?"

"Huh-uh. What?"

"I can't tell how close you are to your family. I mean, I've never heard you call any of your siblings."

"Mmm … it depends on what you mean by that," Kylie said. "I call my parents every week or two, but I only speak to my sibs when I need something." She gave Blair a guilty look and said, "That doesn't sound too awful, does it?"

"No, it doesn't sound awful, but that's not what I expected. I thought big families would stay close."

"Well, they're all married and busy with their lives, and I am, too. I'm always happy to see them, but I'd say we keep up on each other's lives through our mother."

"That's funny," Blair mused. "I always dreamed about having sisters who'd be my friends for life."

"It might be that way for some people, but not us. We get along fine, and we like to see each other a few times a year, but I confide in my friends in California, not my siblings. When you have a family as large as mine, you tend to fight each other to get attention from your parents. I didn't have it too bad, since I was the baby, but some of the boys were very jealous of each other growing up. Alan and James were always knocking the snot out of each other. And Chris and Clair barely spoke. They still don't seem to care for each other."

"Were you close to either of them when you were younger?"

"Mmm … not close in the usual way. Chris was thirteen when I was born, and by the time I was in first grade, she was in college. So it's almost like we weren't raised in the same family. Claire's five years older than I am, and that's a pretty big gap, too. She was nice to me, especially when I was real young — always let me sleep with her, and would comfort me when there was a thunderstorm — but by the time I was in third grade, she was getting ready for high school, and I was a pest." She looked a little sad and said, "Even though I had a huge family, it was lonely sometimes. Having a bunch of people in the house doesn't do you much good if none of them want you around."

Blair shook her head, murmuring, "I never thought of that. I guess I assumed it would be like "The Waltons."

"Nope. Not by a long shot. I love my family, and I really wouldn't trade them, but I like being an adult much better than I liked being a kid."

"I like being an adult, but I had a great childhood," Blair said. "I basically had three parents … my mom, my dad, and my grandmother. I was my parents only child and my grandmother's only grandchild. It was a little disappointing when I grew up and realized not everyone thought I was special."

Kylie smiled at her, "I loved being in college and having someone get my name right the first time. My mom used to be so confused, she'd go through three or four names before she got to mine. 'James! Claire! Chuck! Lancer! Kylie!' I can still hear her sputtering through the list."

"Who's Lancer?"

"The dog," Kylie said, giving her friend a "poor me" look that quickly dissolved into a warm smile. "Well, we've done our best to study the Mackenzie family in the time we had, and I guess we've scratched the surface."

"Scratched the surface?" Blair sputtered, "I feel like the Amazing Kreskin! I got all of them!"

"Uhm, technically, yes, but …" Kylie winced. "Don't forget, they all have spouses and kids."

Blair made a sound that Kylie could only have described as whinnying as she threw herself limply over the front seat divider

"Aw, don't worry, buddy. You've got me as backup," Kylie said, smiling and patting the back of her stricken companion.

„G

In Blair's view, the reception at the Mackenzie house was under-whelming at best. The front door of the impressively large brick and ivy-covered home was unlocked, and Kylie opened it without bothering to knock. She called out, "Mom, Dad, I'm home."

"We're in the kitchen, honey; come on back," a woman's voice rang out.

"We'll take our bags upstairs first. Be right back down."

"Okay," the woman agreed.

Kylie hefted the bags, refusing to allow Blair to carry anything more than her body pillow, which Kylie had insisted she pack. Her insistence had caused her to have to make a late-night visit to a discount store the night before to find a large, nylon duffle bag to stuff it into, but she seemed happy to do it, so Blair was loath to complain. "I'm not sure where Mom will put you. Hmm … I'll drop your bag in my room," the doctor decided.

Blair looked around the space, seemingly decorated as it had been when young Kylie left for college. "Valedictorian, Doctor Mackenzie?" she queried after noticing her high school diploma.

"Yeah. I worked hard in high school. Grades mean an awful lot when you know you want to go on to be a doctor."

Nodding, the smaller woman continued to look around. "I don't get a feel for you here. There's nothing really personal. Just books."

Looking contemplative, Kylie said, "I didn't have many interests. I wasn't in many clubs, and I didn't play sports. Heck, I probably couldn't get into med school if I were a kid now. They really emphasize a well-rounded candidate nowadays, and I was far from well-rounded. I didn't start coming into my own until I got to U. of C., and even then all I really did was learn that I was gay. I guess I'm a late bloomer," she admitted. "You'll find many doctors are that way. Medicine is more than a career for many of us. It's an obsession."

"You don't seem obsessed to me," Blair mused. "You're really pretty moderate about it."

"Yeah, that's true, but I had to work to get to be that way. When I had to pick my surgical specialty, I was on the verge of being a transplant surgeon. If I'd gone that way, my whole life would have belonged to my patients. It's what I really wanted to do, and I know I would have been good at it, but in retrospect, I'm thankful that I changed my mind."

"What appealed to you about that?"

Kylie gave her a wry smile and said, "You don't get much closer to playing God, Blair. If you do your job properly, the patient gets a second chance at a healthy life; improperly …" She shrugged. "The stakes are incredibly high, and the pressure is mind-blowing. An operation might take thirty-six hours, and if your attention flags for a second or two, you can wind up with a ruined organ and a dead patient." A grin creased her face, and she said, "It's a bigger high than you could ever imagine."

Blair gave her a hug and said, "I'll never understand what gives you that drive, but it's nice that there are people like you. Medicine wouldn't have advanced very far with a bunch of self-effacing people who didn't want to rock the boat."

"I guess you're right. But I'm glad I have a fairly normal job. I deserve it."

"You do," Blair agreed. "But was it hard to make your choice?"

"Oh, yeah, very hard, but I looked at the transplant guys who had a reputation at U.C.L.A. They were tops in their field, and they loved their jobs, but they had no time for anything else. I thought I'd have a baby at some point, and I wanted my child to know his mother." She gave Blair a wistful smile and said, "Given how my life has gone, maybe I should have gone into transplants."

"Hey! Will you stop that! Your life isn't over, Doctor Mackenzie, and you still have time to find a spouse and have a few kids. Just because you don't pop them out, it doesn't mean they don't need you around."

Kylie gave her a hug and said, "Sorry. I get a little maudlin around my birthday. Especially a big one. Makes me take stock a little bit."

"Your stock is sky high," Blair insisted, "and it's only going to go up."

„G

They went back downstairs and found the Mackenzies in the kitchen, enjoying what looked to be a homemade cherry pie. "Hi!" Kylie said brightly.

"Welcome home, honey," Mrs. Mackenzie said. She got up and gave Kylie a very quick, very brisk hug, then turned to Blair. "You must be Blair. Kylie speaks of nothing but you and the dogs these days, and let me assure you that you always come first."

"This is my mom, Dorothy," Kylie said, and Blair shook the older woman's hand. "And this is my dad, Kyle."

At that, Blair's eyebrow raised, and the senior Doctor Mackenzie extended his hand, which Blair shook. "After six children, I finally convinced my wife to allow me to have a junior," he said. "Kylie ruined that, but we're glad to have her, anyway." He reached out and clapped his daughter on the shoulder, but that was the full extent of the physical affection offered at the Mackenzie house.

"I made a cherry pie for you, honey," Dorothy said. She looked down at the partially eaten dessert and said, "I suppose we should have waited for you to get here, but we got hungry."

"No big deal," Kylie said. "I'd love a piece; how about you, Blair?"

"Sure," she said, thinking that dinner wouldn't be a bad idea, either, but not wanting to whine. She sat down at the generously-sized table, and within minutes, Kyle was peppering her with questions about her pregnancy. It was the first time in memory that one of her friend's parents had reminded her to make sure to do her Kegel exercises, so she didn't have incontinence after delivery, but she quickly got over thinking of him as Kylie's father and put him in the doctor category.

As Kylie ate two pieces of the wonderful pie, her father turned his attention to her. In mere seconds, Blair was lost, and though she had no way to access or to understand what father and daughter spoke of, she enjoyed witnessing the discussion. In all the months she'd known her, this was the first time she'd ever seen Kylie actually try to impress anyone, and she found it touchingly dear. The younger Doctor Mackenzie was talking about the recent surgeries she'd performed, and before long, she started to provide her father with details of the work she'd done on the man who'd accidentally mutilated his penis.

Either Kylie had been very self-effacing when she'd told the story to Blair, or she was exaggerating now, and knowing Kylie, Blair was certain it was the former. Kylie explained to her father that one of the vascular surgeons had lost focus and made a mistake that outraged the head of the trauma team. She described how she'd been called in specially, not just that she'd been hanging around when one of the doctors got tired, as she'd explained to Blair.

As she watched Kylie speak, she saw how animated she grew. Blair saw the sparkle in her eyes as she made clear that the head of the trauma team was an internationally known surgeon, and that he'd gone out of his way to find her to replace the vascular surgeon whose work had displeased him. Kyle had heard of the trauma surgeon, and he beamed with pride as his daughter spoke. "Well done," he said, giving her an enthusiastic pat on the shoulder. "I knew you'd make a great surgeon, Kylie. You were always the one." He nodded at his prescience, and Kylie tried unsuccessfully to hide her grin. "Were you written up in the paper?"

"Well, the local news mentioned the accident, mostly because it was so gruesome, but they did the usual `team of doctors' thing," she said. "But the U.C.L.A. Medical Center had a nice mention in their newsletter. They noted that I was a med school grad, of course. None of the other guys went to U.C.L.A., so it was kind of a `local girl makes good' story."

"Well, there's gonna be another one when I call the editor of the Lake Forest Times to tell him he missed the story. I'll make sure the local folks know how well you're doing."

"Okay," she shrugged, looking enormously pleased, "if you want to."

"Of course I want to," he said. "I'm proud of you, Kylie."

Blair thought her friend's cheeks might actually burst, she was grinning so broadly. Dorothy reached over and patted her daughter, as well. "I don't know half of what you two were talking about, but I caught some of it. I'm proud of you, too, sweetheart. Of course, I'm proud of you for being such a nice woman, as well."

"Nice women are a dime a dozen," Kyle decreed, and Blair did a double take when she realized he was being entirely serious. "Being a top-flight surgeon is an accomplishment. Your brothers are good doctors, Kylie, but you're the only one in the group with what it takes to hold a vital organ in your hands."

Gee, I wonder why she went into medicine? Blair thought wryly as she watched Kylie bask in her father's acclaim.

„G

After the few dessert dishes were washed, Dorothy said, "Chris should be here soon. She's driving down, and she said she'd leave by 3:00, at the latest."

"Cool," Kylie said. "I assume that Willow will the be only one to make the trip?"

"Yes. Aaron started school almost two weeks ago, and Chris says he's having a tough time adjusting to being away from home. She thought it best to wait for Dad's birthday to upset his routine. And Carly's in some band competition in a week or two. They're practicing all weekend. You know how it is, Kylie. Once you're in high school, you never have time for family functions."

"Yeah, I remember," she said. To Blair she said, "My nephew started his freshman year at Princeton. I told him not to go so far from home, but you never listen to your aunt."

"Oh, I forgot — Chris said she's going to stop by Paul's house and pick up Jared and Jessica. If she's unlucky, she'll have to bring Kevin, too."

Alarmed, Kylie's eyes grew wide. "They're coming tonight? Where will they sleep?"

"Well, Chris will have her old room, and Jessica and Willow will bunk together in Clair's room."

Kylie gave her mother a pointed look, but the older woman continued. "I suppose Jared and Kevin will have to take Chuck's room, won't they?" she asked rhetorically.

"Uh-huh. I assumed Blair would take Chuck's room, Mom. That's gonna be tough with two boys in it."

Dorothy furrowed her brow, then made a dismissive hand gesture. "Oh, don't worry about it. Jared and Kevin can sleep down here on the floor."

"No, no, that's not necessary. I can sleep with Kylie," Blair said. Turning to her friend, she added, "Unless you're opposed to that."

"No, I don't mind. I can't imagine you'll be comfortable sharing with me though. It's probably been a while since you've had a sleepover, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," she said, "it's been a little while, but I always enjoyed them. No reason to think I won't still like `em. Can we tell ghost stories?"

"You're a trooper, Blair," Kylie said. "Troopers do well around here."

„G

Blair was exhausted by 10:00, and even though the other guests hadn't arrived, she decided she needed to turn in. Kylie got her settled and started to head back downstairs, promising to be quiet when she returned. "Don't bother," Blair said. "If I'm sleeping well, I won't hear you, and if I'm not sleeping well, I'll hear you breathing when you're still outside the door."

Pausing, Kylie looked at her for a moment and asked, "Are you really sure about this? Maybe I should sleep on the sofa downstairs. I hate to think of waking you if you've just gotten to sleep."

"Please don't let that bother you, Kylie. I won't sleep at all if I'm lying here feeling guilty about throwing you out of your bed. It's really no big deal."

"I wish I'd known Mom decided to let the kids come over. We could have stayed at a hotel." She rolled her eyes and said, "Of course that would then subject us to the `Kylie needs special treatment now that she lives in California' lecture."

"Kylie, please don't let this bother you. I swear that it doesn't bother me in the least. Now go wait for your sister and the kids and have fun."

"All right," she said, nodding. "I guess I should have warned you, but I really do get kinda grumpy when I visit. I like being here, but it brings up old slights and bad feelings from thirty years ago."

"Well, I don't have any bad feelings, so I'll keep you happy."

"It's a deal," the doctor said. "Now sleep tight."

„G

It was after midnight when Kylie cracked the door to her room open, and she blinked in surprise when she saw Blair doing what looked like push-ups against the wall. "Uhm … are you going out running?"

"No," she grumbled sleepily. "I was sound asleep and having the nicest sex dream when I got this horrible cramp in my leg. Monique warned me that I might start to get 'em, and she showed me how to stretch to avoid them. I'm supposed to stretch before bed, but I forgot."

"Why didn't you come get me?" Kylie asked.

"I don't need to cause a scene every time I have a little ache or pain, Kylie. I'm sure I can get this worked out."

"How long has it been bothering you?"

"I don't know … about fifteen minutes, I guess."

"Too long," Kylie decreed. "Let me put my pajamas on, and I'll massage it for you." She got into a pair of red plaid flannel pajamas while Blair continued to stretch, then she retrieved a bottle of moisturizing lotion from her bag and got into bed. "Let's go, pal."

Blair climbed in and lay in the opposite direction, so her feet were at Kylie's head. She propped herself up on the huge body pillow and tried to relax her muscle, but she was unable to. "Wow, this really hurts," she said, grimacing.

"Just lie still and take a few deep breaths," Kylie said. "Breathe through the pain." She started working at the cramp, amazed at how tight it was.

"Did your sister get here?"

"Uh-huh. They stopped and picked up not two, not three, but five kids. All three of Paul's and two of Alan's. So we have three girls, each around eleven, and two boys -- seven and five. I can't guarantee that they won't keep us up. The girls have a tendency to giggle uncontrollably."

"It'll be good practice. Someone's going to be keeping me up most of the night in a few months, so I might as well get into shape."

"We'll take shifts with the baby," Kylie assured her. "It won't be so bad if you only have to get up every other time."

Blair chuckled softly and said, "How do you plan on breast feeding the baby?"

"With the milk you express earlier in the day," she said. "We'll get you a breast pump. That'll allow you to be away from the baby for hours at a time."

"I would have thought of that if my brain hadn't turned to mush," Blair insisted, "but you're smoking dope if you think I'm gonna let you get up at night with the baby. You don't have the kinda job where you can be half-asleep, buddy."

"We'll argue … I mean, discuss that later," Kylie said. "And don't worry about your brain. You'll be intelligent again one day. This is pregnancy-induced stupidity. It's a common symptom."

"I'm getting dumber by the minute," Blair sighed. "The cramp's gone now, but the massage feels fabulous. I'd better turn around, or you're going to have my feet in your face all night long."

"I don't mind. You have cute feet."

Blair got settled in the proper position and let out a massive sigh. The body pillow bisected the large bed, and she tossed an arm and a leg over it, a satisfied smile on her face. "This is sweet. I feel good now."

Дата добавления: 2015-09-04