Fairplay, Denver Cereal Volume 6 (26 page)

“
Your Mom dates O’Malley?”
Ava asked.

“
She did,” the young man
said. “When she was a hot young thing. Or so she says. Personally,
I can’t imagine her being a hot anything but she’s my
mom.”

Ava felt the young man look her up and down.
She glanced at him and turned her attention back to Seth. He was
talking to a female clarinet player. She could tell by the way he
was talking to her that they must have dated at some point.
Watching them chat, Ava realized she and Seth had never had the
‘Who have you dated conversation.’

Ava thought for a moment. She started
tallying the women she knew he’d dated: the Coroner for sure, that
girl in Traffic, maybe her Commander, and… Her mind went blank. Ava
sighed. She didn’t care enough to hang on to the thought. In fact,
she couldn’t think of one reason why she cared who Seth had dated.
She smiled.

“
What’s funny?” the young
man asked.

“
Nothing,” Ava said. “I
was laughing at myself.”

“
When I sit up here, I
wonder who O’Malley nailed last night,” the young man
said.

“
Who do you
think?”

“
I picked the buxom
trumpet player,” the young man said. “I bet she has some skills
he’d like.”

“
Like what?” Ava tried to
think of what Seth liked.

“
You know trumpet?” the
young man wiggled his tongue. Surprised, Ava snorted. He seemed
pleased to make her smile. “Anyway, Mom said he looked like hell
this morning. He told the orchestra that someone he cared about
died yesterday. He apologized for being out of sorts.”

“
Andy Mendy,” Ava
said.

“
That’s what Mom said. But
you’ve got to hand it to the old guy. What a great way to get into
a woman’s beds! On top of it all, he’s sick with some thing he
caught from a serial killer who killed kids. Women love that crap.
I bet he’ll nail all of them before the month is out.”

“
Has that worked for you?”
Ava asked.

Uncomfortable, the young man cleared his
throat.

“
So are you waiting for
your Mom too?” the young man asked.

“
Nope,” Ava
said.

The orchestra was breaking up. The conductor
was giving them instructions for tomorrow. Everyone seemed excited
to be going to the concert. For people who’d worked all Saturday,
they vibrated with a kind of musical energy. Using his canes, Seth
made his way to her.

“
Who are you waiting for?”
the young man asked.

“
Him,” Ava pointed at
Seth. “Oh, and don’t worry about who he’ll nail tonight. That will
be me. Last night too.”

Ava got up and ran down the stairs to Seth.
He hugged her tight and kissed her neck.

“
Are we going to see Harry
Connick?” Ava asked.

“
You’re going to see him,”
Seth said. “I’m going to play.”

“
Wherever Seth is,
musicians come out of the woodwork to play with him. We maybe going
to see Connick, but before the nights out we’re bound see just
about every musician in the city,” the conductor said. He shook her
hand. “You must be Ava. Thanks for saving our Seth.”

Ava beamed.

“
You don’t mind going?”
Seth asked Ava.

“
Sounds fun,” Ava said.
Leaning close, she whispered in his ear, “You have to eat and take
your meds.”

“
Yes, let’s get some
dinner,” Seth said. “If you’ll excuse us?”

The conductor nodded. Seth led her to the
elevator where he kissed her.

“
Thank you for helping me
with what’s best for me,” Seth said. “But you don’t have to play
nursemaid for the old man.”

“
Don’t worry,” Ava said.
“I’m not making sure you feel good for your benefit.”

Laughing, Seth followed her to the
limousine.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED and SEVENTY-TWO

Cuddles

Sunday early morning—2:41 A.M. MDT

Sandy and Rachel stirred at the same moment.
Before Rachel could cry, Sandy lifted her from the bedside
bassinette to her breast. They settled into their nightly ritual of
love and food. Sandy was drifting when she heard the soft sound of
someone weeping. She sat up in bed.

Was someone crying?

She didn’t hear anything. Had someone been
crying? She was about to lie back when she heard the sound again.
With Rachel on her breast, she slipped out of bed. She grabbed her
robe to cover herself and Rachel. Somewhere deep within the Castle,
the boiler kicked on and the radiators began the tap dance of
warming.

Sandy went to Charlie’s closet. Face down,
he was sound asleep. She pressed her head against Sissy and
Noelle’s door. Nothing. She went to Nash and Teddy’s door and
peeked in. Nash was sound asleep on the bed near the wall. As if
hiding from his own sorrow, Teddy was invisible under his covers.
Sandy sat down on his bed.

She didn’t move to touch him. She just sat
with him while he cried. Rachel made a sound and Teddy pulled off
the covers.

His face was red and wet with tears. Sandy
gave him a soft smile. She raised Rachel’s tiny form and he scooted
over so his head was on Sandy’s lap. She stroked his hair.

“
What’s wrong?” Sandy
whispered

“
I hate my mom,” Teddy
whispered. “Hate her. Hate her. Hate her. Why do I have to
go?”

Sandy caressed his head and let him cry. She
was no stranger to the desperate pain of not wanting to go to a
parent’s house. She had never had a choice. Teddy didn’t
either.

Teddy’s tears eased about the time Rachel
finished feeding. Sandy shifted to burp her and Teddy sat up.

“
Can I do it?” Teddy
asked.

“
Sure.”

Sandy set Rachel in Teddy’s hands. In the
dim light, Teddy held Rachel in front of his face. Rachel giggled
at the sight of him and Teddy smiled.

“
She has the best laugh,”
Teddy said.

Smiling, Sandy put a cloth diaper over his
shoulder and he held her to burp her. Rachel seemed so excited to
see Teddy that she just wanted to giggle at him.

“
Seems like you’ve charmed
her completely,” Sandy said.

“
Don’t tell Noelle,” Teddy
said.

Sandy gave a soft chuckle.

“
Not that I’d… “Teddy
flushed bright red. “I mean…”

“
Don’t worry,” Sandy said.
“I knew what you meant.”

Teddy nodded.

“
How about some hot
chocolate?” Sandy asked.

Teddy nodded again. Holding onto Rachel, he
followed Sandy out of Nash’s room. He sat a bar stool at the
kitchen counter and played with Rachel. Rachel blew bubbles for
him. He laughed. Watching him with Rachel, Sandy smiled.

“
I used to play with my
little brother and sister,” Teddy’s eyes filled with tears. “They
were the best days. Mom was… gone doing whatever and we’d play
together.”

“
I did that with Charlie
and Sissy,” Sandy said. “It feels so awesome and so awful at the
same time.”

“
I used to get so mad at
Mom,” Teddy said. “I never really got to be like other kids but… It
was also really great.”

Sandy smiled at him.

“
Do you want kids?” Sandy
asked.

“
When I’m older,” Teddy
said. “I want to be able to afford them, take care of them. You and
Aden do a great job, but man it’s hard.”

“
What’s hard?” Sandy
asked.

“
Working and taking care
of everyone,” Teddy said.

“
Hmm,” Sandy squinted at
him. “Hard?”

Teddy laughed. Sandy smiled.

“
Yeah, I guess it’s not,”
Teddy said.

“
Helping people makes life
worth all the trouble,” Sandy said. “I don’t think I take care of
everyone as much as I try to help them achieve what they can do.
It’s very satisfying to see Noelle paint or Nash do nice little
things for Melinda or you get that award at work for coming up with
a great solution. Rachel is such a fighter. I just give her a tiny
bit and she’s off. Gosh, sometimes I think if I blink too long,
she’ll be running the country or something. When Charlie opens his
mouth these days, I tear up. He’s really… yeah. And have you seen
Sissy dance?”

“
She’s incredible,” Teddy
said.

“
Aden makes me smile,”
Sandy smiled. “If you had met him seven years ago when I did, you’d
never believe he’d become the amazing man he is today. We’ve had
some hard, hard times, but… It’s been worth it.”

Sandy poured the milk into a mug with
chocolate powder in it and gave the mug to Teddy. She poured
another mug for herself and came around the counter.

“
Trade you,” Sandy
said.

Teddy took her hot chocolate and gave her
Rachel. She carried Rachel to the couch and Teddy met her
there.

“
Do you mind if I breast
feed?” Sandy asked. “Rachel’s been growing so much I…”

“
Go ahead,” Teddy said.
“I’m kind of encroaching on Rachel’s time.”

“
I don’t think you’re
encroaching on anything,” Sandy said. She pulled the bathrobe over
her and let Rachel feed. “Thanks. She needs to feed as much as she
can.”

“
Can I ask you a
question?” Teddy asked.

“
Sure,” Sandy
said.

“
Did you have an affair
with my Dad?” Teddy asked. “That’s what Mom says. She says Dad left
us because of you. She says that I’m a traitor for staying here.
‘No real son of mine would want to…’”

Teddy began to cry. Sandy held her free arm
out and Teddy pressed himself against her shoulder. The boy cried
his heart out. Sandy looked up to see Aden looking in on them. She
gave him a smile and a nod that she was okay. Using her chin, she
gestured for him to go back to bed. He went into their room but
left their door open so he could hear if she needed him.

“
Do you need an answer to
your question?” Sandy asked.

Teddy shook his head.

“
I have no secrets,
Teddy,” Sandy said. “If you need…”

“
I talked to Dad about it
already,” Teddy shook his head. “It’s just that…”

“
I think it’s really
tough,” Sandy said. “I know you like living with us. You love your
job and hanging out with Noelle. I think I have a billion videos of
you and Nash doing Karaoke and laughing your asses off to… What was
that song?”

“
This Too Shall Pass,”
Teddy started signing in his weird falsetto.

“
Oh God,” Sandy laughed.
“Please. It’s early and… uh… Rachel’s ears…”

“
You don’t like
Ok-Go?”

Sandy smiled and Teddy laughed.

“
It’s been a really fun
summer,” Sandy said. “I think we’re all a little devastated that
you’re leaving.”

Teddy looked so crushed that she held him to
her.

“
If you want, you can come
back to live with us next summer,” Sandy said. “We’ll have to see
how the school year goes, of course. But you’re always welcome.
We’ve even talked about stealing you for a ski trip at fall
break.”

“
Ski trip?” Teddy looked
up. “I’m not a good skier.”

“
No one is really,” Sandy
said. “We’re going with Jacob and Jill. Jacob’s going to teach us
and we’ll take lessons. But it’s a secret. You won’t tell will
you?”

Teddy shook his head.

“
Can you sleep some?”
Sandy asked.

“
I can try,” Teddy
said.

Teddy got up. He was halfway across the room
before he turned and ran back to hug her.

“
Thanks,” Teddy
said.

“
You bet.”

Sandy nudged him and nodded toward the hall.
Sleepy but very much awake, Noelle stood in the doorway.

“
What’s going on?” Noelle
asked.

Teddy ran across the room to her. He wrapped
himself around her. She hugged him back. Sandy watched the children
and their sweet feelings for each other. Teddy began to cry and
Noelle was really great. Charlie heard Teddy crying and came out.
Within a few minutes, everyone was awake and trying to help. Rachel
gave a cry and Sandy brought her out from under the robe.

“
Let’s get some
breakfast,” Aden said.

“
It’s three in the
morning!” Sandy said.

“
Pete’s is always open,”
Charlie said.

“
I could eat,” Nash
said.

“
When is that not true?”
Sissy laughed.

“
We’ll nap this
afternoon,” Aden said.

“
It’s fine with me,” Sandy
said. “Get dressed.”

The kids scattered to their rooms to get
dressed leaving Noelle and Teddy. Aden put a hand on each of their
shoulders and they looked up at him. Letting go of each other, they
went to change.

“
Ah, young love,” Aden
took Rachel from Sandy.

“
I don’t know, Aden,”
Sandy said. “I’m not sure that’s not honest to goodness real
love.”

“
And?”

“
It couldn’t make me
happier.”

Aden smiled and they went to get
dressed.

~~~~~~~~

Sunday morning—5:41 A.M. MDT

“
What is it?” Tanesha
asked when she came out of the bedroom.