Her Valentine Family

by Renee Andrews

  “Yeah, we are.”

  The children in the class one by one finished their snacks, and Angie and Jess wiped their crumb-covered mouths before helping them move from the eating area to the play centers.

  Jessica was considered a “floater,” or someone who rotated from room to room depending on which teacher needed help on a particular day. She’d also been hired to substitute as a main teacher or assistant teacher when any of the others were out. Today she was filling in for Angie’s assistant, who’d called in sick. Jess liked the opportunity to move from class to class; it meant she’d be working with all of the children at the center eventually.

  She was particularly excited that she’d been assigned to the toddler room today. There was something so endearing about this precocious age, from eighteen months to two years. The energy in the room was palpable, and since she was already feeling positive from her time with Chad last night, this was an added treat to what promised to be an amazing week.

  A tug at her jeans brought her attention to a tiny blonde girl, her big blue eyes looking up at Jess as she held up a book. “Peese,” she said then smiled into her cheeks, so that Jessica got a full view of sweet little baby teeth lining her gums. She instantly thought of Nathan and that cute new gap that sometimes caused his s’s to slur.

  Jess grinned and scooped the little girl into her arms, then took the book from her hand. “The Three Bears,” she said. “Oh, that’s a good one. Why don’t we go over to the reading corner and see what happens.”

  She noticed that this child was one of the younger children in the class and quite petite, making her stand out from the others in the room. Then again, she stood out anyway, with those sky-blue eyes, constantly examining everything around her, and gentle blond curls that framed her face and made her look almost angelic.

  “Tank oo,” she said as Jessica sat on an oversize thick blue floor pillow with the girl in her lap. Several other toddlers, seeing that Jess was about to start a story, worked their way to the reading cove and gathered to sit on the smaller kid-size pillows.

  Jess got excited about their natural desire to learn what happens in the story and enjoyed the way their eyes lit up as they examined the animals featured on the cover of the book.

  “Oh, the three bears!” one boy, obviously one of the older children in the group, exclaimed and then plopped down on a red patchwork pillow to listen.

  Angie let Jessica take over with the reading center while she filled out yellow identification stickers for each toddler and placed one on each child’s back. “To help you learn their names,” she mouthed to Jess, while Jessica read the story.

  Another young girl with long red curls worked her way into Jessica’s lap to sit opposite the tiny blonde. Both girls grinned at each other and took turns peering at the pages, while Jessica made sure each child sitting around them could also view what happened to Goldilocks as she progressed from bowl to bowl and bed to bed.

  “Someone’s been eating my porridge,” Jessica said, lowering her voice to mimic the papa bear. She followed suit with the mama bear and baby bear, while all of the children giggled at her attempt at bear voices.

  She then took the bears through the discovery of their chairs and then finally their beds.

  “Someone’s been sleeping in my bed, and she’s still there!” Jessica squealed in her best baby bear voice.

  Nathan loved for her to read stories to him before bed, and these children enjoyed this story just as much, particularly the two girls snuggling against her while she read. They clapped and laughed as Goldilocks went from one awkward predicament to another and squealed when she finally ran from the house with the bear family watching her go.

  By the time the story was done, Angie had placed a name tag on each child’s back except the two in Jessica’s lap. Then she patted each of their backs to put their identification stickers in place. Jessica turned toward the red-haired girl, still grinning from the story and sending an adorable array of tiny freckles across her cheeks with her smile.

  Jess glanced at her name tag, then said, “You liked that, didn’t you, Blaire?”

  “Yes!” Blaire said, clapping with enthusiasm while her red curls bounced against her shoulders. Then she climbed off Jessica’s lap and ran to play with the puzzles.

  “Looks like you picked a good story—” Jessica said, then glanced at the blonde girl’s back to add her name to the statement.

  Her breath caught in her throat.

  What were the chances?

  Then she repeated, “Looks like you picked a good story, Lainey.”

  She looked again at the cherubic girl. Blond hair, sky-blue eyes, sweet puckered lips. “Lainey,” she repeated.

  The toddler blinked and grinned, again showing all of those tiny teeth.

  She seemed to be the right age for Chad’s little girl, and she had the same name. A fairly unique name. But there was no hint of green or gold in her wide, round eyes. And her hair was baby fine, not wavy and thick like Chad’s or Nathan’s. Her mouth wasn’t Chad’s. Neither was her petite nose.

  But still, the name was right, the age was right.

  The tiny tot with Lainey on her back kissed Jess’s cheek, gave her another endearing “Tank oo,” and then scurried away to play with the other boys and girls at the puzzle center area.

  “Angie?” Jessica asked.

  “Yeah?”

  “What’s Lainey’s last name?”

  “Beautiful, isn’t she?” Angie said, admiring the adorable girl, dressed in pink overalls, a lace-trimmed white undershirt and matching pink tennis shoes. She looked like a living doll, literally. “It’s Martin. Lainey Mae Martin. I love the name, don’t you? Modern and old fashioned all rolled together. I think I’m going to try to do something like that when I have children. And it suits her, don’t you think? She’s such a beautiful little girl and a sweetie. She only comes here a couple days a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays, but I really enjoy having her when she’s here.” She smiled at the little girl, her blond brows currently drawn together as she worked to put a chunky puzzle piece in the corresponding hole.

  Lainey Mae. Mae was Chad’s mother’s name. “Chad’s little girl,” Jessica said, not really paying attention to the fact that she said it aloud.

  Angie nodded. “You know him? Chad Martin? It’s no wonder his daughter’s gorgeous, huh? If I knew all college instructors would look like that, I’d sign back up right now. I mean, he’s an incredibly nice-looking…” She paused. “Wait. Is that your Mr. Wonderful? Chad Martin?”

  Was he her Mr. Wonderful? Jessica took only a second before responding the same way she had last night.

  “Yes.”

  On Mondays and Wednesdays, Chad started his day early, dropping Lainey off at the day care center around 6:30 a.m. and then heading to Stockville to teach a 7:30 a.m. class. He’d planned his schedule so that his four classes ran pretty much back-to-back and finished at 2:30 p.m., allowing him to pick Lainey up by 3:00 p.m.

  Last night he’d learned that, due to her work schedule, Jessica had started her classes every afternoon right after she got off at the day care center. So it’d be pretty much impossible to see her in the afternoon or perhaps have an outing where their kids could meet and play. He was very interested in introducing her to Lainey and even more interested in introducing Lainey to her son. If this relationship was going anywhere long term—and he definitely wanted it to—it was important for their kids to be receptive to the idea.

  He smiled, thinking that merely a week ago he saw him self as a single parent and didn’t see any chance of that changing in the near future. He’d dated a few women since his divorce, but he’d never met anyone that he wanted to introduce to Lainey. No one had made it past a second date, and he couldn’t see any of them as a potential mother to his little girl.

  With Jess, it wasn’t a question of whether he wanted her to meet Lainey. It was simply a question of how soon he could arrange the meeting.

  He pulled into t
he day care parking lot and noticed that the older kids, the four-year-olds, were out on the playground, giggling wildly and running nonstop. This was the first day in weeks that had been warm enough for them to play outside, and you could tell the kids appreciated the opportunity from their unbridled enthusiasm.

  Chad wondered if the toddlers, Lainey’s group, made the trip outdoors today. Lainey loved to play outside, but he didn’t expect to see her out now. He knew the schedule for the toddler class called for an afternoon nap, and his little lady definitely still needed one each day. Often he’d arrive to pick her up just in time for her to reach for him and let him hold her while she blinked sleepy eyes and prepared for the remainder of her day.

  If he didn’t have so many papers to review and grade, he’d take her to the park this afternoon. She loved feeding the ducks. Chad nodded to himself, forming a play-date in his mind for Lainey and Jessica’s son, Nathan. If the forecast for the week remained as predicted, Saturday was expected to hit sixty degrees, plenty warm enough for a trip to Hydrangea Park for him, Jessica and the kids.

  The image set well in his mind.

  He was planning on another casual coffee date for Thursday night, when the two of them ended their classes at the same time. Then, if all went as planned, he’d take Jessica out for their first real date Friday night. Dinner at Messina’s then maybe a movie.

  He punched in his parent code on the keypad by the day care door, entered the colorful lobby and signed the parent log. That was one of the things that sold him on this particular place for his daughter, the safety measures they took for the children. He didn’t like leaving Lainey, but if he had to, he wanted to know she was in the best possible care. Although it was a bit more pricey than the other child care facilities around, this one was well worth the added expense. Lainey was happy here, and that made Chad happy, too.

  He greeted the office manager and then headed across the open play area, where the three-year-olds were busy with afternoon exercises, jumping up and down in time with the Barney DVD playing on the television and laughing at their teacher, who was also jumping along and singing one of the popular Barney songs.

  The teacher waved at Chad, and he returned the gesture.

  He gently pushed open the door to the toddler room and saw the familiar illumination of stars and planets slowly circling the ceiling and walls from the sleep ma chine the teachers used during nap time. His last class today ended early, and he’d arrived at day care before nap time ended.

  Blinking a few times to let his eyes adjust to the dimness within the room, Chad nearly didn’t notice Angie, Lainey’s teacher, moving toward him. Her whisper broke through the gentle hum of the sleep machine and the precious sounds of children sleeping.

  “She’s still napping,” Angie said softly. “But you can hold her and help her wake up if you’re ready for her to go.”

  Lainey was a fairly sound sleeper, and Chad knew he could scoop her up and take her to the car, put her in her car seat and let her finish out her nap on the ride home. “Thanks,” he said, matching her whisper to keep from disturbing the sleeping children. He took a couple of steps to reach the long line of short cubbies where the children’s jackets and backpacks were stored, grabbed Lainey’s backpack and pink hooded jacket and then scanned the room for his little angel.

  The toddlers had colorful cushioned nap mats that they used for sleeping, but some preferred the long pillows in the reading center and still others tended to find their way into a teacher’s arms to slumber. That was Lainey’s favorite spot, and Chad had been a little surprised to see she wasn’t in Angie’s arms. However, Dana, Angie’s assistant, could have pulled cuddle duty this afternoon. He had a feeling her teachers enjoyed holding her while she slept almost as much as he did.

  He searched the darkness for Dana or for a sign that Lainey had changed her usual routine and joined the others to sleep on the mats today.

  “Dana is out sick today,” Angie whispered. “But I believe Lainey has taken a liking to our new floating teacher.” She indicated the far window, where slim fingers of sunlight filtered through the wooden blinds to outline a woman, sitting in a rocking chair with a child snuggled in her arms. “I think you may know her,” Angie added quietly, then turned back toward her desk and left Chad to find his way through the sleeping palettes to the woman who held his daughter.

  His eyes adjusting more to the dim room as he made his way to the other side, Chad’s pulse quickened when the familiarity of the woman was too distinct to miss. Her shiny chocolate hair was pulled into a ponytail, the honey highlights capturing the sunlight as it fell across one shoulder. Her other shoulder formed a pillow for his daughter. Her mouth was near Lainey’s forehead, and her arms cradled her as lovingly as if she were holding her own child. She rocked gently, while Lainey’s mouth puckered around her balled up fist, her tiny thumb hooked within her lips.

  “Jess,” he whispered, and his heart melted at the sight of her holding his child.

  She’d been watching him, he realized, as he crossed the room. While his eyes had been adjusting to the dimness, hers had been completely aware, and she’d apparently known that he was coming. Known that this was his little girl that she held in her arms.

  “Hey,” she whispered, so softly he had to move closer to hear. Then she shifted and eased herself up out of the rocker. “Do you want me to carry her to your car?”

  He almost said yes, just so he could see Jessica holding Lainey a little longer, but then he thought better of her offer and edged closer, close enough to slide his arms under Lainey’s back and shift her to his embrace. “I won’t take you from your class,” he whispered. Then he paused, his fingers brushing against Jessica’s arms as they moved his sleeping girl.

  “You have her?” she asked, before she slid her arms away, and he nodded.

  “Jess,” he said, and the emotion of the moment, of the rightness of it, caused words to fail him.

  Jessica looked at him, her dark eyes peering into his, then she sighed as her gaze moved to Lainey, still sleeping in his arms. “You’re right,” she whispered an easy smile lighting up her face. “She is pretty amazing.”

  “Yes,” he answered, just as quietly. “She is.” And he wondered if she realized that he wasn’t only talking about the angel in his arms.

  Chapter Six

  “I wonder whether Chad and Lainey will be at church tonight,” Anna Bowman said, stirring a large pot of bubbling potato soup on the stove as she spoke.

  Jessica donned a green oven mitt, removed the cast iron skillet from the oven and poured the sizzling grease into the cornbread batter. “I don’t think so,” she said, folding the hot oil into the mixture then pouring it all back into the skillet. “When he called me on my way home, he said that he had a ton of papers to grade, and when I mentioned that I was glad my Wednesday class schedule allowed me to go to the night service, he didn’t say anything about coming.” She returned the skillet to the oven and waited, knowing there was more on her mom’s mind than whether Chad and Lainey would be at church tonight.

  Her mother picked up the wooden pepper grinder and gave it several good twists, adding a healthy dose of black pepper to the soup. Then she tasted a spoonful and nodded her approval. “You know, Jess, I’ve been thinking about Chad and Nathan and everything. That boy looks quite a lot like his father. He’s got your mouth and nose, but those eyes. Those are undeniably Martin eyes. Don’t you think it’d be better to tell him the truth before he sees Nathan and figures it out for himself?”

  Jessica had been thinking the same thing all afternoon, particularly after she’d spent so much time with Lainey. Seeing those baby blue eyes on Chad’s daughter and knowing she must have inherited that feature from her mother made Jess realize how extremely unique Nathan’s eyes are and how it’d be nearly impossible for his father not to notice. But thanks to her conversation with Chad during her drive home, she now knew that she had a couple of chances in the near future to tell him about their son. Eve
n if she didn’t know how he’d react to the news.

  “Chad wants our children to meet and get to know each other, and he’s invited Nathan and me to go to Hydrangea Park Saturday with him and Lainey.”

  Her mother stopped stirring and turned the heat down on the stove. Then she wiped her hands on a dish towel and leaned against the kitchen counter. “And what are you going to do about that? Surely you don’t plan to show up Saturday with Nathan and introduce him as his son.” She ran her teeth across her lower lip. “I’ll admit that your father and I thought it’d be wonderful for Nathan to meet his father now, and we thought we were doing the right thing by asking you to come back here and getting you started at the college.”

  Jessica could hear the “but” coming, and sure enough, it did.

  “But being around Nathan these past couple of weeks, well, I’ve seen how observant he is and how smart. I know Chad wouldn’t do anything intentionally to hurt him, but Nathan won’t miss a thing about that meeting, and I want to make sure he isn’t the one who ends up being hurt by all of this.” She fidgeted with the hand towel. “I just want everything to be perfect.” She smiled softly. “I’ve been praying that you can give Nathan a real family—with his daddy.”

  “I’ve been praying the same thing,” Jessica admitted. “And you know how I feel about Chad, how I’ve always felt about him.”

  “I know, honey,” her mother said. “And that’s why everything that happens between you two this week is so important. You should consider talking to Chad before Saturday, if at all possible, or postponing the trip to the park until you get a chance to have that conversation.”

  Jessica glanced out the kitchen window to make sure Nathan was still in the backyard. He was, laughing and cheering as his granddaddy pushed him on the tire swing. She didn’t want him hearing this conversation. She planned to talk to him this week, too, about the possibility of meeting his daddy, but she wasn’t quite ready for that conversation yet. However, she’d have to have it soon, very soon. Before Saturday, in fact. “I agree with you completely. And Chad asked me to have coffee with him tomorrow night after class, like we did on Tuesday, and he also asked me to dinner Friday night.” She couldn’t hold back a smile.