by Beth Rinyu
“I’m sorry. I was dreaming.” It all seemed so real that I could actually feel the hairs standing up on my arms. “What time is it?” I asked.
“Three o’clock,” Dailan answered.
“Wow, I fell asleep for two hours? Ella slept for two hours?” I asked, even more amazed by that fact.
“Yup, she just got up a little while ago. She’s downstairs with Ryan.”
I pulled him close and kissed him. “Hey, I told Annette that we would go to their barbeque.” He rolled his eyes as if he didn’t want to go. “I’m sorry; I thought you would want to go.”
“That’s fine.”
“Dailan, did you see that letter that came in the mail from that lawyer?”
“Yeah.”
“And, are you going to call him?”
“Nope.”
I couldn’t believe how calm he seemed over it all. “But, Dailan, it said potential litigation. He’s going to try and get visitation rights to Ryan.”
“Let him try, Nicole. He’s not gonna get shit and he knows it.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Nicole, please just trust me on this, okay?” he said as he gently rubbed his thumb along the side of my face.
“Okay,” I whispered. He kissed me on the forehead. “Dailan O’Maley, you are sunburned! If Ryan is that burnt, I will kill you!”
I went downstairs to find Ryan lying on the floor, playing with Ella. I checked him over from top to bottom – no sunburn.
“I don’t have sunburn; he kept making me put sunblock on!” Ryan said as he pointed to Dailan.
“Why didn’t you put some on yourself too, Dailan?”
“Because, he’s a –” Ryan paused briefly. “What’s that word called when someone yells at you for doing the same thing they’re doing?”
“Hypocrite,” I said as I raised my eyebrow, impressed with Ryan’s vocabulary.
“Yeah, but I’m a hypocrite that can still kick your butt.” Dailan dropped to the floor and wrestled Ryan to the ground. Ryan tried to break free, but he was overcome with laughter. I quickly scooped up Ella. She was squealing in delight like she wanted to join in on it.
Did you guys catch anything?” I asked Ryan.
“Nope. Uncle D said he did but it got away,” Ryan answered, once he was finally able to contain his laughter.
“It did,” Dailan laughed.
***
We arrived at Jack’s and Annette’s about a half hour late. Luckily, they were used to Dailan’s tardiness and their other guests were there on time. Ryan loved spending any time at Jack’s house, but especially in the summer. Jack had a beautiful in-ground pool, which Ryan wasted no time jumping into. “Happy birthday, old man,” Jack said as he walked away from his smoking grill to shake Dailan’s hand and give me a hug.
“Well, then, that makes you ancient, Dad,” Dailan said.
Jack immediately took Ella from my arms and gave her a kiss. “Where’s my boy?” he asked.
“Where do you think?” I turned around and watched as Ryan swam from one end of the pool to the other.
“Oh, there you guys are!” Annette exclaimed as she gave both Dailan and me a hug. “Happy birthday, Dailan!” She took Ella from Jack and planted kisses all over her. “Do you mind if I go and show off this little cutie pie to my guests?” she asked.
“Sure, go right ahead,” I answered.
Dailan and I sat down and watched Ryan in the pool. Jack followed, sitting down next to us.
“So, what’s going on with you, Dailan? I haven’t heard from you all week.”
“Yeah, I’ve been really busy at work.”
Jack nodded. “Well, don’t let that take priority over the things that matter most.”
I loved my father-in-law. He was always able to express to Dailan exactly what I was feeling.
"So, did you break the news to your mother?" I asked Dailan.
He nodded.
“What news?” Jack asked.
“We’re not going to Ireland this summer," I answered. “And…was she upset?"
He shook his head, unable to look at me.
"Really?"
"No, because she's going to come here for a week instead."
Shit, shit, shit. "Oh, when?" I was trying my best to hide my disappointment.
"In three weeks." He got up and pushed Ryan back into the pool, trying to create a distraction from the bomb that he had just dropped on me.
Dailan's father looked at me and smiled. "Good luck, Nicole." I commiserated with him a lot the last time Dailan's mother had paid us a visit and he was completely sympathetic to everything I said, after being married to her.
I ran my hand through my hair. "It's only a week. I can survive that, right?"
"Sure." He grinned. "But better you than me!"
"Gee, thanks!"
Chapter 27
Nicole
The weeks flew by. School was finally over for the year. It was hard to believe that Ryan would be a fifth grader in the fall and my baby girl would be a year old in a month. Time was going by much too quickly. I was enjoying the lazy days of summer, feeling much like a single mom. Dailan was working so much that we hardly ever saw him. The big day was finally here. I waited patiently for the arrival of my mother-in-law, Kitty O'Maley. In addition to her, I had also received another unwelcomed visitor this morning, my monthly one. I had the worst cramps ever, felt like a bloated cow, and was unsure if I wanted to cry or rip someone’s head off from one moment to the next. I had spent the last two days scrubbing my house from top to bottom, making sure that it was immaculate, so that would be one less comment that Kitty could make.
I was so thankful that Dailan was at least able to tear himself away from work for a few hours to pick her up from the airport so I didn’t have to. Ella was sitting quietly in front of the TV mesmerized by Sesame Street while I did some last minute “nervous dusting.” I ran to the kitchen to answer the phone. I cringed when I realized it was a damn telemarketer. I quickly hung up when I noticed Ryan trying his best to get my attention.
"Um, Ella pooped and took off her diaper. Now it's all over the place and all over her." I went back into the living room to find my beautiful girl looking up at me, laughing and covered in poop as she finger painted it onto the hardwood floors.
"Ella, no!" I didn't know what to do first. Ryan was behind me, gagging, and I was quite certain that if he didn't leave the room, I would be cleaning up throw up as well. I quickly picked up the diaper and ran it to the trashcan. I came back and got Ella, holding her at arm's length and carried her up to the bathtub. Her beautiful pink summer dress that she had been wearing was a complete mess. I bathed her as quickly as I could, wanting to get down to my poop-stained floor before Dailan's mother arrived.
I got Ella out of the tub, not before getting soaked myself from all of her splashing. I threw a diaper on her and called Ryan upstairs to keep a quick eye on her for me. I needed to get to the mess that awaited me downstairs. I was in a panic. I looked like I had entered a wet tee-shirt contest; my white shirt that I was wearing was now see-through. I was sweating profusely and had mascara running down my face and all I kept thinking was that Dailan's mother would be here any second. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the paper towels and Lysol. I was just about done cleaning up the mess when I heard the front door opening. I had a handful of shitty paper towels in my hand and I looked like a drenched rat, not exactly how I had planned on greeting her.
"Nicole." She looked me over, up and down. I could only imagine what I looked like.
"Oh, hey. We just had a little minor emergency." I was so grateful that Ryan came walking down the steps when he did with Ella, taking the attention off me. I quickly ran into the kitchen to throw away the paper towels and wash my hands.
"What the heck happened to you?" Dailan asked as he followed me in.
"Um, let's see, your daughter decided to take a shit, rip off her diaper, and then play with it."
"Well, where were you w
hen this happened?"
Oh no, he wasn't going to go there with me right now. "I was at the spa! I walked out of the living room for two minutes to answer the phone, if you must know!" I pulled my hair back in the elastic band that I had wrapped around my wrist and rubbed my fingers under my eyes to try and wipe away any traces of mascara, before pushing past Dailan and back into the living room.
Dailan's mother was sitting on the couch with Ella. "Oh, Nicole, I just asked Ryan if Ella always runs around half naked, but he just told me what happened. That's why you can't take your eyes off of them for a second."
God, please, please give me strength! I put on my best forced smile. "Yeah, well unfortunately, sometimes it can't be helped," I said in my best fake sweet voice.
Ella was screaming to get down. Kitty finally placed her down on the floor and stood up to give me a hug. She wrapped her arms around me, and the whole time I couldn't help but think that I might possibly smell like a dirty diaper. "Oh, my goodness. Do you ever eat? You are too skinny. You need to put on some weight. It would help fill out your chest too. My mother always said that no man wants to go to bed with a stick. He wants a log."
I took a deep breath and forced a smile. "You know what? I'm just going to go put on some dry clothes. I'll be right back." I glared at Dailan. He looked away, seemingly knowing exactly the thoughts I was trying to convey to him.
I walked into my bedroom and sat down on my bed. It's only a week; you can do this, I kept repeating to myself. When I finally felt composed enough, I went into the bathroom, washed my face, twisted my hair into a more presentable bun, and popped two Midols. I had just finished changing out of my wet clothes when Dailan came walking into the bedroom.
"I'll see you later," he said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.
"Where are you going?" I could hear the panic in my voice over the thought of being left alone with his mother.
"Back to work."
"It's already three o'clock."
"I just have to go over these briefings really quick. It will only be for a couple hours."
"Dailan, you promise?"
"Yes. What are you getting so panicked about?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because in a matter of two minutes, I was already told that I don't watch my daughter and I'm too skinny and have no boobs."
He rolled his eyes at me and then looked at the bottle of Midol on my dresser. "Oh, so that's your problem."
Really, did he not know better than to make an off-color comment about that? "You seriously must want to get smacked right now."
He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, pressing his forehead against mine. "I promise I will be home by six. Will you be all right until then?"
"Yeah, I guess."
He smacked me lightly on the butt. "And, Nicole, I like you skinny and boobless." He asked for it. I smacked him on the arm. "I'm kidding. You are my beautiful girl." He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips, making me temporarily forget all about the next three hours that lay ahead.
Chapter 28
Nicole
Three hours and twenty-six minutes later - yes I was counting - and Dailan was finally back home. I had survived Kitty O’Maley, but not without some scarring. I was told that I really should quit my job; a mother needs to be home with her kids full-time. Ella should be walking by now; both of her kids were walking at nine months old. Ryan is involved in too many sports; his schoolwork should come first. All throughout our time together, I had to listen to just how much Ella looked like Dailan and her side of the family. She made sure she threw in that she didn’t see any resemblance between Ella and me at all. I just bit my lip and smiled. After all, I was just the one who had carried her for nine months and gave birth to her.
The one thing that I was grateful for was that she was a worse cook than I was, so I knew that was one thing that she wouldn’t be remarking on – at least I hoped not. I had just taken the lasagna out of the oven, when Dailan came walking into the kitchen.
“See, Dailan. Isn’t it nice to have dinner waiting for you when you come home? I was telling Nicole she needs to be home full-time. You work hard; you should have dinner on the table waiting for you every day.”
Okay, and I don’t work hard, I guess! I waited until she looked away and shook my head at Dailan, making sure that he understood that I was not pleased. He just smiled and picked up Ella, who was crawling around and getting into everything.
“Well, no wonder why that child isn’t walking yet, with you and Nicole carrying her everywhere. I was telling Nicole that you and your brother…”
Ugh!! I took a deep breath and set the table. Was she really going to repeat to Dailan all of the advice that she had spewed out to me in the past three hours? Dailan reached down and picked up Ella’s pacifier, which she had thrown on the floor. He ran it under the hot water before giving it back to her. “Oh my God, Dailan, did you really wash that off? A few germs won’t kill her. You and your brother used to eat dirt when you would play outside.”
I finally turned around. “Well, that explains it!”
“What?” she asked.
“Why he uses such bad language.” I just couldn’t resist.
“Oh, you know, he gets that from his father. He always had the foulest mouth.”
“Really, I never heard Jack curse before.”
“Well, maybe he’s curtailed it in his old age.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“You know, Dailan, you really need to shave. That looks really unprofessional going into work with all of that scruff on your face,” she said before getting up and heading into the living room when she heard Ryan calling her.
I looked at Dailan and smiled. “Welcome to my personal Hell.”
I managed to survive the rest of the night fairly unscathed by Kitty O'Maley, only because she now had Dailan to drop a whole new slew of sarcastic comments about. At least she was an equal opportunity offender.
I was exhausted both physically and mentally as I got into bed. I placed my head on Dailan's chest. "Your mom said she wants to go to that new antique store tomorrow."
"So, take her."
I lifted my head from his chest. "Me! Umm, no, I was thinking more like you!"
"I have to go into work for a few hours in the morning."
"Dailan, it's Saturday!"
"Nicole, I'm sorry, but it can't be helped. I wouldn't have to if you had just let me finish up what I needed to do tonight."
"Oh, so it's my fault? You know, it is your mother and you don't get to see her that often, so it would be nice if you spent some time with her."
"Nicole, I'm really too tired to deal with your PMS or whatever the hell your problem is."
Oh no he didn't! "You are such an ass, you know that?"
"Whatever. Good night, Nicole." He turned on his side so his back was facing me. I wanted to take my pillow and head down to the couch in the worst way, but the last thing that I wanted was for Kitty to wake up in the morning and find me there. Then I would for sure be hearing a lecture about never going to bed angry, or how you should always sleep in the same bed with your husband, no matter what. So instead, I lifted my head and took my anger out on my pillow as I roughly fluffed it out. I turned on my side so we were lying back to back and gave the comforter that was covering both of us an extra hard tug.
I awoke the next morning and jumped out of bed when I saw that it was after nine. Shit, was Ella really still sleeping? I never slept this late; what the hell?
I looked into Ella's room. She wasn't in her crib. I heard Kitty’s and Ryan's voices coming from the kitchen. Oh great, now she's going to think I'm some lazy mother who sleeps until all hours and ignores her kids. I quickly looked out the window as I reached the bottom of the stairs, noticing Dailan's car was gone.
I walked into the kitchen to find Ella sitting in her high chair, already dressed in one of her beautiful summer dresses, while Kitty fed her cereal. Ella's smile was a mile wide and she screamed in delight when
she saw me.
"Oh, there's Mommy," Kitty said with her deep Irish accent.
"Oh, hey. I'm sorry. I never sleep this late. You should have woken me up."
"What for? I’ve been up since four a.m. We had everything under control, right, Ryan?" Ryan nodded as he slurped down his cereal. I dumped the pot of coffee that Dailan must have made from earlier down the drain. “He makes that coffee too strong, I told him that’s not good for him,” Kitty said. I took a deep breath. I decided that I was going to be more patient with her today and not let every little thing that she said get under my skin. “Oh, Nicole, how much fabric softener do you use? Those sheets on that bed smelled like they were drenched in it. You know, you only have to use just a little for it to do its job.” Okay, maybe I would have a little more patience after I had my first cup of coffee.
I stared at the coffee pot, waiting for my coffee to brew.
“Grandpop Jack is picking me up. I’m gonna go over there and swim. Is that okay?” Ryan asked.
“Sure.” I smiled. Take me with you!
“Good, ‘cause he’s gonna be here any second!” He held the bowl up and drank down the rest of his milk.
“Go get in your bathing suit and brush your teeth!”
“Okay.” He placed his bowl in the sink and ran up the stairs.
I poured my coffee and took a big sip before turning around to face Dailan’s mom. “So, Kitty, did you want to check out that antique store?”
“No, I was thinking maybe we could go shopping for Ella.”
Ella had more clothes than she would ever be able to wear. “Really, she has so many clothes. She doesn’t need any more.”
“Well, you need to start dressing her like a little girl. She has all denim things in her drawers. Little girls shouldn’t be wearing denim. They should be wearing beautiful dresses every day. I want to spoil my granddaughter. You know, I never got to do this with having two boys.”
I took another sip of coffee. “Okay, sure.” I managed a smile.
“There’s my beautiful granddaughter and her beautiful mother.” I looked up to find Jack standing in the doorway of the kitchen.
