Hide and Seek (16 page)

"He was plenty good enough for me," Maddie retorted then stopped. "How did you know he was a construction worker? I never mentioned that."

"How did you keep tabs on me?" Maddie asked, but she knew the answer before she got the question out.
The Peabodys
. Her extremely friendly neighbors; and her extremely cheap duplex. "Oh my God, mother! Have you been paying my landlords to spy for you?"

"No! Of course not! We sent them some rent money, to help you out. We've been so worried about you, Madison."

Maddie knew right then she'd be moving from the duplex and giving the Peabodys nothing more than a P.O. Box as a forwarding address. "All this time I thought I was making it on my own."

"You were, Maddie," her father said softly. "We just wanted to help you out. It made us feel better to make things easier for you."

"I can't believe this," she said to herself.

"Madison, come home." Her mother said again. "No one blames you for what happened to Alec. It was an accident."

"I don't think Alec's family feels the same as you do, Mom. If I recall his brother threatened to 'make me pay, one way or another'."

"That was a long time ago," her father said. "They were upset. They've had time to cool off."

"I'm not coming home. I am moving from this house, though, so I might suggest you stop paying rent. Take care." She hung up, and disintegrated into a brand new flood of tears.

It
had
made her feel better to hear their voices, but they'd managed to piss her off all over again. Such was her relationship with her parents.

She gave the Peabodys thirty day's notice, and informed them she'd honor her lease and pay her share of the rent until they could find a new tenant, but that her parents wouldn't be sending any more money. They agreed, somewhat embarrassed, and were able to find a new tenant before Maddie left. They were sad to see her go, had apparently genuinely liked her, but she was cool to them, feeling like they betrayed her trust. It was a good time to end their relationship.

"Earth to Maddie," Sandy interrupted her thoughts. "We're going outside. Come on, you can sit in the sunshine and daydream." She extended a hand to Maddie and helped her stand.

Maddie wrapped up the day, and by five-thirty, was on her way home. Her new house was two blocks from the center, but she didn't walk that far anymore. She got in her car and drove. It was a bigger house than the duplex had been, this one had two bedrooms and a garage. One of the nicest features was that the house was owned by a faceless corporation who couldn't be bribed to spy on her. Maddie was sure the Peabodys had passed along her forwarding address to her parents, but it was just the P.O. Box, so they didn't know much.

Rosa didn't even have her address. They did talk by phone, and Rosa knew her number. Maddie let it slip one time where she worked, but Rosa promised to keep it a secret. Coop was long gone anyway, Rosa assured her. Maddie knew where he was probably living, but couldn't believe he'd be happy in a condo in the city. If he wasn't there, she felt sure Fred would know where he was. She intended to test that theory when, or if, she decided to reach out to Rob. But for now, she tried to limit the information she passed on to Rosa.
Especially about the baby.
Rosa did
not
know about the baby.

Maddie walked in to the baby's room and looked around. It was all set, just waiting for the new little occupant to arrive. She bought a crib, dresser, and rocking chair shortly after she moved in. Then with each paycheck, she purchased a few more things. Classic Winnie the Pooh blankets and sheets in soft yellow, red and blue colors, a Pooh mobile, a baby monitor, and a car seat. Her co-workers showered her with all kinds of baby clothes, a baby bathtub filled with the necessary lotions and soaps, and an infant swing. Maddie felt truly blessed with everything she had, and the new friends she made in Lapham.

Sandy and Suzie were great. Maddie knew she could tell them the truth about Rob and they'd be fine with it, but she didn't want to have too many stories to keep straight. It was easier to go with the 'hunting accident' story to everybody. She and Sandy had gotten pretty close. Maddie ate dinner with her family, occasionally. Sandy's children were school aged, and really nice kids. Her husband was a joker who teased everyone. Maddie enjoyed being in their home. She wanted a home like that someday. It was appropriate to have married friends now, with the baby coming. Rosa was her 'go to a bar' single friend, but Maddie had a new life these days.

Not quite a week later, Maddie felt lousy when she woke up. She put on shorts and a t-shirt, and took her hospital suitcase to work with her.

Maddie shook her head. "I can't sit home alone. I thought maybe I could hang around the break room until we figure out if this is for real."

"Come on." Sandy led her to their kitchen and lounge area, where Suzie was making coffee. "Hey Suz. Today might be the day."

"What?" Suzie shrieked. "Why are you here?"

Maddie chuckled as Sandy settled her into a chair. "I don't want to be home alone. Can I just sit in here real quietly until we see what happens?"

"Are you having contractions?"

Maddie nodded. "Off and on for a few days. Today more on than off."

"Okay." Suzie nodded. "But don't be a hero. Let Sandy take you to the hospital before we even get close to having a delivery here. Got it?"

"Got it. Thanks." Maddie groaned to herself and rubbed her stomach.

The center opened and everyone went to work, popping in on Maddie regularly. There were four rooms of children from infant to kindergarten age, with two adults working in each room. The employees were all women except Raul, an extremely friendly man who loved children and took classes at night to become a teacher. He worked in the kindergarten room, and the children thought he was great.

Maddie looked at her basketball-shaped stomach then back at Raul with disbelief. "How do you suggest I get my mind off of it?"

He tossed her some magazines. "Read about someone richer than you who paid a surrogate to go through this for her. Work a crossword puzzle."

"Thanks," she called after him. "Spoken like a typical man."

Sandy poked her head in. "He's right about one thing, if you were in the hospital they'd have you up and walking. It's supposed to make things happen quicker."

Maddie nodded, and struggled to her feet. "I'll walk, but it won't be quick."

Sandy rolled her eyes. "God, you're a pain." She went back to work.

Maddie alternated walking around the center with sitting in her comfortable chair. Her contractions were not regular. but they were painful, and she knew this was probably the real thing. She found the 'Farmer Says' talking toy and pulled the handle as fast as she could, over and over again. The cow refused to cooperate. It would only say "moo". This distressed Maddie, and she took it as a personal challenge to teach the cow a lesson.

After a couple of hours, Suzie walked into the lounge and took the toy from Maddie's hands. "We put it to a vote, either the cow goes or you do."

"Take it." Maddie made a face. "Stupid, defective toy anyway." She stood up to walk around again and felt a gush of water between her legs. "Oh, Jesus, my water just broke!"

"Great!" Suzie grabbed some towels and sat Maddie back down on them. "Now we know for sure. I'll clean this up, and get Sandy. You call your doctor, and get ready to go."

"Sorry to disrupt the center." Maddie looked at her apologetically.

"Don't be silly! I'll help Tammy for the rest of the afternoon, and tomorrow, if Sandy's gone that long. You just take care of yourself, and go have that baby!" Suzie hugged her, and Maddie felt suddenly very alone. She called her doctor's office and told them she was going to the hospital, but it felt like there should be more people to call. Rob's face came to mind, but she pushed him aside. She flashed on her family and Rosa and swiped at tears as she gathered her things and met Sandy in the hallway.

"This is it!" Sandy put her arm around Maddie's shoulder and squeezed.

Their other co-workers poked their heads out into the hall to wish Maddie good luck and a speedy delivery. She waved goodbye, got her suitcase from her car, and let Sandy drive her to the hospital.

Things progressed rather quickly after that. Maddie had already registered at the hospital, so check in was simple. The nurses did their thing, the doctor did his, Maddie did a lot of complaining and Sandy did a lot of soothing and reminding her to breathe.
Hee hee hee, ho ho ho
. Roughly six hours later, Maddie pushed a healthy, seven pound, three ounce baby boy into the world.

"He's perfect," the doctor called from across the room where they examined the baby. "APGAR score at five minutes is ten, which is perfect."

"Oh my God." Maddie looked into the tiny face and melted.
He's amazing!
"He is beautiful, isn't he, Sandy? I'm not one of those mothers with an ugly baby who just thinks he's beautiful?"

"Nope." Sandy sat on the edge of her bed. "He's gorgeous. I thought he might have your red hair. Was his daddy blond?"

"Yes." Maddie sniffled again, determined not to cry anymore. She was secretly glad the baby had blond hair. Red haired men never attracted her that much. But if the baby's hair had been red, she would have loved every lock of it.

"Merely a figment of my devious imagination. Probably came deep from my subconscious. I guess I wanted to shoot him when he walked out on me."

"I know," Maddie touched Sam's cheek. "I've got to figure it out soon. I kept telling myself I had time. I guess time's up."

Sam and Maddie stayed in the hospital two nights. She felt pretty good by the time they released her, and Sandy drove her home. Her friend offered to stay and help Maddie, but Maddie declined. She was ready to be home alone with Sam.

She walked him through the house and talked to him softly. She showed him his room, and they rocked in the new rocking chair. He got hungry, she nursed him, burped him, changed his diaper and laid the little boy in his big crib to sleep. Maddie went to the closet and pulled out a football jersey she bought on a lark when she was pregnant. It was a toddler size four, way too big for Sam for a couple of years, but she couldn't resist it. The white Oklahoma State jersey had red letters spelling out the star quarterback's name on the back above the number '8': Cooper. Maddie hung the jersey on a hook on the wall, and smiled.

They settled into a nice routine. Sam was a good baby, an angel in Sandy's opinion, and he rarely cried. He slept well, had a good appetite, and loved to be outside. April turned to May and the weather was mild, so Maddie took him for long walks during her six-week leave from work. She enjoyed the exercise, and it didn't take her long to get back into pre-baby shape.