Kathryn Shay - Be My Babies

Jenna’s eyes widened. She looked heartbreakingly young in overall shorts and a T-shirt, with her long hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Oh, Dad, can we?”

He stuck his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Who’d take care of it?”

“Me. I’m not a baby. Lily says I’m very mature for my age.” She lifted a chin in a haughty manner. She’d learned that from Lily, too. “I can do it.”

“Well, if Lily said so.” The woman already had spent an inordinate amount of time with Jenna. She was even taking his daughter along to her next prenatal checkup after Jenna had begged to hear the babies’ heartbeats.

Lily looked over at Simon. Her smile was genuine and it did beautiful things to her eyes. Her face, fuller now, was alight with that pregnancy glow. He wondered about her life before she came here and why it had been stressful enough to make her thin and pale, as she’d been when she arrived. Gil hadn’t told him and he hadn’t asked. “They make wonderful pets, Simon.”

“I’ll think about it.”

After a minute, Lily stood and stretched, placing her hands on the small of her back.

“Your back hurt, Lily?” Jenna asked.

“A bit. I can’t figure out why. I’m not quite five months along. I haven’t gained that much weight. I’m not even in maternity clothes.”

“Cells are dividing in your lower back, stretching your muscles to accommodate the babies. Probably more than normal with twins.”

She stared at Simon, as if he were speaking Greek. “How do you know that?”

Simon brushed his hand down Jenna’s hair. “I learned everything I could about my baby girl, even before she was born.”

Mr. Martini harrumphed. “In my day, we didn’t take much interest.” He went on to tell Lily about his wife, who’d been dead ten years, and his four kids, all of whom had moved away to bigger cities.

Seating herself across from the older man, Lily listened intently, petting the kitten the whole time. Simon watched that soft rhythmic stroke, mesmerized. It stirred something inside him; something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Eventually, Mr. Martini struggled to his feet. “So, should I take them back with me?”

“Dad?”

“All right. You can have one.”

Mr. Martini zeroed in on Lily. “What about you, young lady?”

“Me? Oh, no, I can’t have a kitten.” Her expression was sad.

“Why not?”

“What if I don’t stay?” Her voice trailed off, reminding Simon of the damage she could do to Gil and Jenna if— when—she left Fairview. Lately, that had been even more of a concern to him than her laying claim to the paper.

Then, she surprised them all by saying, “You know what? Yes, I’m going to take him.”

“Yay!” Jenna threw her arms around Lily. “They can visit each other for company.”

Lily laughed, Jenna laughed, and Mr. Martini forgot for a minute to maintain his gruff exterior and smiled broadly.

The front door opened, and Mr. Martini said under his breath, “Here comes Her Ladyship.”

“Hush,” Lily told him, then turned to the visitor. “Miss Jameson, how nice to see you.” She nodded to the woman’s outfit. “That green dress goes great with your hair and eyes.”

“Thank you, dear.” She held up a basket. “I brought you some muffins.”

A lot of people in town had been trying to feed her over the past month. “Oh, dear. I’m going to be a blimp by the time the babies come.”

The woman glanced at her stomach. “Are they doing well?”

“Yes. Kicking up a storm.”

“It must be a nice feeling.” Miss Jameson had been Simon’s high school English teacher, as well as Jenna’s now, and as far as he knew, she had never married or had a child. There was an aura of mystery to her, too, since she came from the big city and had settled here, all chic and sophisticated, like Lily. Miss Jameson glanced at Mr. Martini, who was heading for the door. “No need to go on my account, Marco.”

“Job’s done here, Loretta.” He tipped his summer hat. “Goodbye, ladies. Simon. Don’t work our girl too hard.”

As if he’d had any choice. “I won’t.”

Leaving the women to coo over babies and kittens, Simon went back to his office just off the newsroom and sat down at his desk. The mock-up of the classifieds was finished. He shook his head, wondering how life had changed so significantly in less than a month.

Lily had been working at the paper since that day Simon couldn’t reach Gil and she’d pitched in to help out. When Gil had found her at the office, he’d come up with the idea himself.

“This is perfect for you, Lily. You can sit down and take phone calls.”

“I can do more,” she’d said excitedly. She glanced at Simon, who knew his displeasure at the idea showed on his face. “I have some suggestions for the layout of the ads.”

“Already?” he asked.

“If it’s okay with you.”

She was always so hesitant, so self-effacing, that it had been hard to hang on to his doubts. Besides, Simon was sensible, if nothing else. “Sure. Truthfully, I’ve thought they needed an overhaul, but Tom Barker’s way too busy just getting the ad accounts.”

“Great.” The smile on Gil’s face had also made it hard for Simon to cling to his reservations.

Since that day, Simon’s negative feelings about Lily had dwindled even more. He stared at his latest editorial on global warming, thinking about how Lily was winning everybody over, including him. She’d been enthusiastic about these weekly columns, too, offering insights and effusive praise.

She came back to the office a half hour later.

“Where’s the kitten?”

“Jenna took both of them home. Miss Jameson was going to drive her, and get some food and kitty litter for them on the way. I hope that’s all right.”

“Yeah, as you said, she’s a big girl.”

“I can stop by and get Blackie on my way home.”

“Blackie? Very original.”

“Hers is Whiteface.”

“Clever.”

She regarded him with a knowing smile.

“What?”

“You’re a good father, Simon.”

“Am I?”

Perching on the edge of a chair, Lily crossed her legs. The gesture distracted him. She hadn’t worn stockings, so her legs were bare, and through her open-toed sandals he could see her pink toenails. “You know you are. Jenna’s a wonderful girl. You’ve raised her well.”

He leaned back and felt the familiar tightness in his chest. “When she got hurt, I thought I’d die.”

“Jenna was hurt? Gil didn’t tell me.”

“Her, um, mother died in a car accident when Jenna was five. Jenna was in the backseat.”

“Oh, no.” Was that moisture in her eyes? “How badly hurt was she?”

“A broken arm and leg. She had to have a pin put in her femur. And then there were years of therapy, to get her to walk without a limp.”

“You’d never know. She’s so graceful now.”

“Thank God.”

Giving him a watery smile, Lily shook her head. “You’ve had a difficult life.”

“You, too, I’m guessing.”

She averted her gaze over his shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me. I know I’ve been unpleasant to you.”

Looking back at him, she asked, “Why, Simon? I can tell it’s not in your nature to be unkind.”

“The truth?”

“Of course. Always.”

“At first I worried about your motives. That you came here to…” He struggled for the right word. “Milk Gil, I guess.”

“I’d never do such a thing.”

“I see that now. If he buys you any kind of gift, even chocolates, you balk.”

Her hands curled on her lap. “I guess you were right to worry. I just showed up out of the blue. I could have been anybody, wanting anything.” When he didn’t say more, she asked, “You said at first? What about now?”