* * *
“All right, here’s the doctor’s phone number,” Keely said, scribbling on a notepad, “and the name and number of the closest pharmacy. You’ve got Jack’s cell phone number in case you need to reach us. For anything else, just dial nine-one-one.” She ripped off the sheet and handed it to Petra, who was sitting across from her at the kitchen table.
Petra took the paper, laid it beside the others already on the tabletop. “Let’s see what we’ve got here, okay? First, we’ve got a list of foods Candy can have now. Applesauce, rice cereal, and formula.”
“Only two teaspoonfuls of applesauce,” Keely reminded her, even though she’d written it all down. “One teaspoon yesterday, two today, a tablespoonful tomorrow, just to make sure she isn’t allergic. After that, you can feed her as much as she wants, except not too much, because she needs to drink all of her formula. Same with the rice cereal. Two teaspoonfuls today, a tablespoon tomorrow.”
“Gee. It’s like quantum physics. I hope I can handle the pressure,” Petra said, rolling her eyes. “Okay, so I’ve got the phone numbers, I’ve got the instructions about her food. I’ve got a schedule for her bath, her naps, her playtime. Don’t ever let anyone call you anal, Keely, because I already said it. But just to clear this up—does this mean we can’t take Candy out for pizza and fries?”
Keely pressed her hands to her temples. “Oh, I can’t do this. I can’t leave. What was I thinking?”
“Oh, come on, Keely, I was just kidding. Candy will be fine. We’ll all be fine. It’s only for two days. And not to be mean or anything, but less than two weeks ago, you didn’t even know Candy existed.”
Keely blinked back tears as she looked down at Candy, who was in her jump seat, industriously trying to put her entire fist in her mouth. “I know,” she said, sighing. “And yet there are moments when I think my life would be impossible without her.” She looked at Petra, sighed. “It’s good that I’m leaving her for a while. It’s good preparation for when I’ll leave her for good. I mean, it wouldn’t do to have her get too attached, right?”
“Right,” Petra agreed with a profound nod. “You’ll be leaving both of them, Candy and Jack. Not a good idea, getting attached.”
Keely wiped at her eyes. “Oh, great. This from the girl who arranged it so that I end up in Arizona with Jack for two days. I mean, you could have mentioned this attached stuff sooner.”
“Hey,” Petra said, shrugging, “I’m a genius, not ‘Dear Abby.’ Not that I couldn’t be. Did I tell you Sweetness and I are going to work out together? He’s going to teach me how to jump rope. I never learned. Then, in exchange, I’m going to teach him how to box.”
Keely’s head hurt, it really did. “What do you mean, you’re going to teach him how to box? Isn’t he a professional fighter?”
“If you mean does he get paid for falling down, sure. Joey only puts him in fights he’s already been told to lose. That’s criminal, by the way.”
“But Jack told me Joey isn’t really involved in criminal activity,” Keely said, mentally unpacking her bags. “Maybe he’s finally graduated to the real thing.”
“I don’t think so,” Petra told her, unstrapping Candy from her jump seat, picking her up. “Sweetness says that’s just the way it is in this one club in Bayonne. But I think he’s got potential. Who knows, I may buy out his contract, become a fight manager.”
“Been saving your allowance, have you, Petra?” Keely asked, pushing away from the kitchen table, trying to put some distance between herself and Petra’s latest phase.
“Mock me if you must,” Petra intoned rather majestically, “but I see a great future here. Besides, it’ll drive Dad nuts.”
“There’s always that,” Keely agreed, going over to the window to watch for Jack’s car. “Is it that important to you to upset your father?”
“Hey, it’s what teenagers do, part of the code. I’m just trying to be a normal teenager.”
Keely laughed out loud. “How many teenagers do you know who own their own boxer?”
Petra shifted Candy to her left hip. “Do I smoke or do drugs? No. Do I stay out late with guys? No. Do I skip school, get lousy grades, pierce things?”
Keely turned around, stepped closer to Petra. “That’s it. That’s what’s been bothering me. No rings. Not in your eyebrow, on your earlobes, or through your navel. And no marks, either, no scars. Do you mean to tell me you glued those things on the first day I met you?”
“Even the one in my tongue, although that was a little tricky, I grant you,” Petra told her. “You mean you didn’t figure that out until now? Wow, Candy’s going to run rings around you when she’s a teenager.”
“I won’t be here when Candy’s a teenager,” Keely reminded her.
“I know. You’re going to be in New York, decorating penthouses, going to all the best parties, maybe even having your own segment on CNN on Saturday mornings. Keely McBride, Big Success.”
Keely was silent for a few moments, then looked at Petra. “Exactly how many psychology textbooks have you read since you entered this new phase?”
“Four. I’m a speed reader,” Petra told her “It’s a pity I’m giving it up, though, because I could write a whole thesis on you. Jack, too. But I think that, right now, I’d rather explain the absolutely marvelous science behind a good right cross to Sweetness. Oh, look, here comes Jack. Are you going to tell him you’re not going with him?”
Keely held out her hands and Candy giggled, leaned toward her, so that Keely could scoop her up, hold her close against her cheek. “Is Aunt Keely doing the right thing, Candy?” she asked the baby, who was busily pulling at her French twist, reaching for the pins that held Keely’s curls in check.
She loved the way Candy filled her arms, warmed her heart. She loved the way the baby made her feel wanted, needed. But was that enough? Enough for her, enough for Jack? Could they let their love and concern for Candy push them into something that would eventually, if not immediately, make all three of them unhappy?
Keely didn’t know. What she did know was that suddenly Jack was standing in the kitchen, looking at her as she held Candy—with this look in his eyes—and suddenly her stomach had gotten lodged halfway up her throat.
“Da! Da-da-da-da!” Candy crowed as Jack entered the house, squirming in Keely’s arms, trying to get to him. He crossed the kitchen in just a few steps and took the baby in his aims, kissed the top of her head.
“You ready?” he asked Keely, who was doing her best to pretend that looking at Jack with Candy, how good and natural he was with Candy, wasn’t enough to make her want to weep.
“Ready,” she said, then cleared her tight throat.
“Okay, let’s get moving, the car’s already outside, waiting. Bye, sweetheart. I’m going to miss you so much,” he said, kissing Candy again, then handing her to Petra.
Keely headed for the door, then stopped, walked over to the table, picked up the sleeping, napping, eating schedule, and ripped it into two neat pieces. “Just go with the flow, Petra, and try not to lose her anywhere. Okay, Jack, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
She didn’t hear Petra tell Candy, “What we have seen here today, honey, is one small step for you and one giant leap for your Aunt Keely. Now come on, let’s go find Uncle Sweetness and let him drive us to the park to feed the ducks.”