Becoming Mrs. Right

by Sherri L. Lewis

  On Friday morning, Shauntae asked Gary a whole bunch of questions about what the girls liked to eat. She made a list and went shopping so she could spend the whole day cooking. Gary was picking the girls up from afterschool and bringing them home.

  Shauntae was glad she could do her favorite thing all day. When she finished dinner, she tried to sit down and relax but she was too nervous. She got up and made a chocolate cake from scratch and then a little later some oatmeal cookies. Finally it was time for them to come home. Shauntae changed out of her cooking clothes into a pink jumpsuit and sat on a kitchen stool, waiting to hear the garage door open.

  Daphne came in the door first. She barely glanced at Shauntae when she walked by, headed toward the stairs.

  Morgan came in next. She stood and stared at Shauntae without saying something. Shauntae remembered how sweet Morgan was to her before she found out that she was pregnant and marrying her father. She stood staring at Shauntae for a second.

  “Hi, Morgan. How are you? It’s good to see you.”

  “Hi,” Morgan said, softly. She looked toward the stairs to see if Daphne was gone already. Shauntae wondered if Daphne had told Morgan not to talk to her.

  “How was school?” Shauntae wanted to reach out for her, but she was scared of chasing her away.

  “Good.” Morgan stuck a finger in her mouth.

  Gary finally came in the door, carrying two small suitcases. “Hey, honey. How was your day?”

  Shauntae stood up to greet him. She usually met him at the door with a hug and a kiss but she didn’t think it was a good idea to do that in front of Morgan.

  When Shauntae stood up, Morgan’s eyes got real big. Shauntae wondered if it was too much for Morgan to see her pregnant belly. At seven months, there was no way she could hide it.

  Morgan’s eyes never left Shauntae’s belly. “You have a baby in there, huh?”

  Shauntae nodded.

  “Does it hurt?”

  Shauntae smiled. “No, it doesn’t hurt. Well, sometimes my back hurts, but no, my belly doesn’t hurt.”

  Morgan frowned. “How did the baby get in there?”

  Both Gary and Shauntae laughed. Gary put a hand on Morgan’s shoulder. “How about we talk about that later?”

  Morgan scrunched up her face like she didn’t understand why they were laughing and why they wouldn’t answer her question. “How’s the baby going to get out?”

  Gary shook his head. “Guess I should have been ready for this, huh?”

  Shauntae hadn’t even thought to look on YouTube for videos to help with this conversation. “I think that’s something else that you and your daddy can talk about later.”

  Morgan folded her arms and pouted. Gary laughed and leaned over and tickled her. He looked around. “Where’s Daphne?”

  “She went upstairs,” Morgan answered. “She didn’t even say hello to Miss Shauntae.”

  Gary frowned and then called out. “Daphne? Come back downstairs.”

  Shauntae said, “Don’t make her speak to me. It’ll only make things worse. Let’s just give it time.”

  “She knows better than to be rude.”

  “Baby, it’s okay,” Shauntae said.

  Daphne came into the kitchen. “Yes, Daddy?”

  “Did you say hello to Miss Shauntae when you came in?”

  Daphne nodded.

  “No, you didn’t,” Morgan said. “I saw you. You came in, looked at her without saying anything, and went straight upstairs. You told a lie. We’re not supposed to tell lies. It’s a sin. I learned that in Miss Cassandra’s class.”

  Shauntae’s breath caught. “Miss Cassandra?”

  “The infamous Miss Cassandra,” Gary said. “Morgan’s children’s church teacher. She’s all we ever hear about.” Gary turned toward his daughter. “Daphne, you know I don’t tolerate rude behavior.”

  Shauntae remembered when Brianna started going to children’s church and Cassandra’s art class. Whenever she came over, all Brianna ever talked about was Miss Cassandra. She never thought about Morgan and Brianna, being close in age, having the same teacher in children’s church.

  “Shauntae?” Gary said.

  “Huh?” Shauntae shook herself out of her thoughts.

  “Daphne said hello to you.”

  Shauntae looked down to find Daphne staring at her with her mother’s evil eyes full of hate. “I’m sorry, Daphne. Hi, how was your day at school?”

  “Fine.” Her mouth was so tight Shauntae didn’t even know how that word got out.

  Shauntae looked at her and Morgan. “Would you guys like an afternoon snack? I have vegetable sticks or some fresh oatmeal cookies. I baked them today.”

  Daphne curled up her nose. “You baked? No, thank you.”

  “Daphne . . .” Gary’s voice had a warning tone to it. Like Daphne had one more smart thing to say and then she was gonna get it.

  Shauntae wondered what “getting it” looked like in this house. She was sure it wasn’t a beating. It was probably a timeout like she had learned from the videos.

  Morgan said, “Mommy doesn’t let us eat cookies after school. Too much sugar.”

  “I thought about that,” Shauntae said. “That’s why I made them with applesauce and bananas. There’s hardly any sugar at all. Think of it as oatmeal and fruit.” Why was she begging them to eat her cookies?

  “Sounds good. I think Mommy would approve,” Gary said.

  “Yaaaay, I want cookies.” Morgan sat herself down at the table.

  Daphne turned up her nose. “No, thanks. I’ll find something else.” She walked to the pantry and looked inside. “Daddy, you don’t have any of our favorite snacks.”

  “I’m sorry, honey,” Gary said. “Miss Shauntae has been doing the shopping.”

  Daphne turned and rolled her eyes.

  Shauntae put a small plate with two large cookies on it in front of Morgan.

  “Yum,” she said in appreciation. Her eyes looked all happy and Shauntae knew it wouldn’t take much to win Morgan over again.

  Shauntae said to Daphne, “If you tell me what your favorite snacks are, I’ll make sure to buy them and have them here whenever you guys come.”

  “No, thank you.”

  Shauntae shrugged and turned to Morgan. “You want milk with your cookies?”

  Morgan nodded. “These are umm, umm good,” she said, her mouth stuffed with cookies. “Dappy, you should try them.”

  Daphne glared at Morgan like she had sold her out.

  “Thanks, Moogie. I’m glad you like them,” Shauntae said, remembering the nickname Daphne had used last time the girls were there.

  Daphne glared at Shauntae. “You don’t get to call her that. Only family members get to call her that.” Her voice got loud. “And you’re not a family member, so don’t ever call her that again. Her name is Morgan.”

  Gary stepped up next to Daphne and started to say something but Shauntae held up her hand. She said, as calmly as she could, “Daphne, I apologize for using Morgan’s nickname. I didn’t realize it would bother you so much and I’m sorry. But it is not appropriate for you to yell at me. I’m an adult and you’re a child and you should never yell at any adult. I know your mother and your father have taught you that. The way you’re behaving does not represent the little girl I’m sure they’ve raised you to be.”

  Shauntae waited for Daphne to say something, but she just stood there looking mad.

  Shauntae continued, “You don’t have to like me, but you do have to respect me. I’m married to your father now, so somehow we have to learn to be family. Family is important to me and especially to your father, so we need to find a way to make this work.”

  Daphne crossed her arms and made a nasty, rude face.

  Gary said, “Perhaps you need to go to your room to think about what Miss Shauntae said.”

  Daphne stood there.

  Gary’s voice was firmer. “That was not a request.”

  Even the way Daphne turned to go upstairs had at
titude.

  Gary put a hand on Shauntae’s shoulder. “You okay?”

  Shauntae nodded.

  “You handled that well, honey.” He planted a quick kiss on her forehead. “Proud of you.”

  Shauntae sat down at the table across from Morgan. Her hands were shaking a little.

  Morgan looked up at her. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why Dappy is so mad. These cookies are really good. Thanks for making them.”

  “You’re welcome, Morgan.”

  Morgan took a big swallow of milk that left her a milk moustache. “You can call me Moogie.”

  Shauntae smiled. Inside, she felt like she could cry. “Thank you, Moogie. But how about I call you Moogie in private and not in front of Daphne. Just until she’s not mad anymore, okay?”

  Morgan smiled real big and nodded. “Can I have another cookie?”

  Shauntae gave her a little frown. “I don’t want you to spoil your appetite. We’re having something special for dinner.”

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a surprise.” Shauntae took Morgan’s plate and cup to the sink.

  Morgan hopped up from the table. “Daddy, it’s a no homework day. Can I go next door and see if Tiffany can come out and play? We’ll stay in the backyard.”

  “Yes, dear. Make sure you stay where Daddy can see you.”

  Morgan went running toward the front door. When the door closed, Gary took her in his arms. Shauntae melted into him. She had been waiting for that hug all day. She spoke into his chest. “I told you Daphne hates me.”

  Gary rubbed her back. “She doesn’t hate you. This all happened so fast. She’ll come around. Give her time. But I liked the way you handled her. See, I told you you’d be a good mother.”

  Shauntae was happy for him to say that. But she wouldn’t be completely happy until Daphne liked her.

  Later at the dinner table, Morgan cheered when she saw the meatloaf and mashed potatoes Shauntae had made. “That’s my favorite.”

  “That’s why I made it.” Shauntae dished up a kid-sized portion for Morgan. She reached out for Daphne to pass her plate, but Daphne ignored her. Shauntae shrugged and served her and Gary’s plates. Little Miss Attitude could starve if she wanted to. If she said one wrong thing, Shauntae would be the one to send her to her room this time.

  “It’s Dappy’s favorite too.” Morgan gave Daphne a mean stare, like she wanted her sister to straighten up and act right.

  Daphne sat there, staring at the table.

  After a few bites, Morgan looked up from her plate. “Miss Shauntae, this is sooooooo good. Thank you for cooking for us. The nanny’s mommy got sick so the nanny had to get on a plane to go see her and she’s been gone for a long time and Grandma can’t cook a lot because of her arthritis so we’ve been eating a lot of food from restaurants and stuff. Mommy can’t cook again yet. She never cooked much anyway. She was at work all the time. But she says now she’s gonna cook more when she gets all better and the doctor said she was gonna be all better really soon. But Mommy really doesn’t like to cook at all. I think she’s gonna wait for the nanny to come back. Hey, I thought you couldn’t cook? Remember before when you made pancakes but they weren’t really pancakes? They were big, lumpy, black things.”

  Shauntae laughed.

  Morgan shoveled a big mouthful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. “Can you teach me how to cook?”

  “I’d love to teach you how to cook. I tell you what. We can pick some of your favorite foods and some of your mama’s favorite foods and then we can cook a bunch of stuff and put it in Tupperware and put it in the freezer and then you guys will have home-cooked meals at your house. We can go grocery shopping in the morning and cook all day if you want to.”

  Morgan clapped her hands together. “That would be fun. I get to cook for Mommy. She’ll be so happy. Can Dappy help?”

  Shauntae looked at Daphne, who was still sulking. “If she’d like to, I’d love for Daphne to cook with us.”

  Daphne didn’t say anything. After a few more minutes of watching everybody eat, Daphne lifted her plate in Shauntae’s direction.

  Shauntae raised an eyebrow and looked at Daphne and waited.

  Through poked out lips, Daphne finally said, “Miss Shauntae, may I have some food?”

  “Of course, Daphne.” Shauntae took the plate, put a medium-sized amount of food on it and passed it back to Daphne.

  They all sat listening to Morgan chat on and on about her day at school, playing with her friends and what she wanted to cook with Miss Shauntae. The more she talked, the more she reminded Shauntae of Brianna. But instead of being irritated like she used to be when Brianna talked on and on, Morgan made Shauntae smile. It was like she had learned on the video. Kids’ minds are simple and pure and it’s cool to see the world the way they do.

  After about ten minutes, Daphne scraped her plate. She looked up at Shauntae and her face wasn’t looking so mad. “Uh, the food was really good, Miss Shauntae. May I please have some more?”

  “Of course.” Shauntae tried not to smile when she filled Daphne’s plate again. “Save room for dessert, though.”

  Morgan’s eyes lit up. “What is it?”

  Shauntae smiled at her.

  “I know. It’s a surprise.” Morgan sat there for a second and then asked, “I know Daddy said he would talk to me later, but is it a secret about the baby, if it’s a girl or a boy?”

  Shauntae looked at Gary and frowned. He didn’t tell them about the baby? Did he not want her to talk about it?

  Gary said, “I thought we would tell them together.”

  Shauntae smiled and looked back at Morgan. “It’s a boy. You’re gonna have a baby brother.”

  “A brother?” Morgan frowned. “How is the baby gonna be my brother if . . .”

  “He’s not gonna be your brother,” Daphne said. “He’s gonna be your half brother. Because he’s from your dad, but he has a different mother, he’s not your whole brother like I’m your whole sister. It’s what happens when parents get divorced and they marry other people and have children. And then like if Miss Shauntae already had another kid with a different daddy not the same as our daddy, that would be our stepbrother or stepsister.” The whole time she was talking, Daphne was giving Gary an evil stare, like he messed up her whole life or something.

  “I don’t understand.” Morgan’s voice was a little sad. “So he’s not going to be my baby brother?”

  “No—”

  “Yes,” Gary cut Daphne off before she could say anything else. “Yes, Moogie, the baby will be your little brother. What Daphne said is kinda true, but I would prefer if we not use words like ‘half’ or ‘step.’ We’re one happy family.”

  “Happy family?” Daphne’s voice got loud again. “We had a happy family and you and Mommy ruined it and now you’ve ruined it even worse by marrying another woman and having a baby. Now our family is gonna be all messed up and all confused like some of my friends at school.”

  “Daphne . . .” Gary’s voice was firm and warning, but Shauntae knew him well enough to know that what Daphne said had hurt his heart. He felt guilty enough about how everything had happened and how it affected them.

  Shauntae reached out to take his hand. She knew it was probably gonna make Daphne even madder, but she wanted to try to say something. “Daphne, I know this isn’t the happy family you wanted. Sometimes things don’t happen the perfect way we want them to in life. And you get to decide—do I want to be mad and angry and mean and blame everybody else for the way things are? Or do I decide to be happy no matter how my life looks?

  “I spent a lot of years being angry and hurting people’s feelings and making bad decisions because of bad things that happened in my life, but then one day, I decided to be happy no matter what and made some changes in my life. And if we believe God is a good Father that takes good care of us, then we believe that things are gonna turn out okay, no matter how bad they look.”

  Daphne crossed her arms and tears f
ell down her face.

  Shauntae continued, “You can say that your family is all messed up and confused. Or you can say, ‘I have a mommy and a daddy who really love me. I have a stepmommy who would love me if I gave her a chance. And I have a great little sister and soon I’m gonna have a little brother.’ If you think about it, that’s a whole lot of love, isn’t it?”

  Daphne turned to her father and said, “May I be excused?”

  Gary let out a frustrated breath. “No, you may not. Miss Shauntae made dessert.”

  “I’m not hungry anymore.”

  “You know nobody leaves the table until everyone is finished eating.”

  “I thought that rule was just for family.”

  Gary stared at her hard. “Daphne, I know you’re not happy with all of this. But you need to make some choices about your attitude. Your behavior is unacceptable, so you need to make some choices about changing it. I’d hate to see you spend all our father-daughter time in your room.”

  “Why can’t we spend it at Mom’s house like we have been?”

  “Because that’s Mom’s house and this is my house. And the truth is, that’s how things are now. We can either make the best of it or we can make the worst of it. Your choice.”

  “Maybe I need to stay at Mom’s house, then.”

  Gary’s face fell. Shauntae wanted to hug him, but she knew it would only make things worse. He finally said, “You know how much I love you and want to spend time with you. I won’t force you to come see me, but . . .” Gary shrugged.

  “Stop being mean, Dappy. You’re making Daddy sad.” Morgan looked like she wanted to stab her sister with her fork.

  “Daddy made us sad, didn’t he?” Daphne yelled at her little sister.

  “You’re not supposed to get people back. You’re supposed to forgive. Miss Cassandra says—”

  “Ugh, Moogie, don’t you think people get tired of hearing about what Miss Cassandra says? Why don’t you shut up!”

  “Daphne, that’s enough.” Gary’s voice boomed so loud that everybody at the table jumped. “You will sit there until we all finish eating and you can either choose to speak to people nicely or you cannot speak at all. But if you say another rude, loud, or disrespectful thing, I promise you will regret it. You know I don’t like to, but I will use the rod if you continue this behavior.”