“She’s twenty-five and has children of her own. They’re with her ex-husband right now and she really misses them.”
“Why are they with her ex-husband?” Vanni wanted to know.
“Reasonable question, before you let her help out with your children. The details aren’t really mine to share, but I can assure you she’s a wonderful mother. I’ve spent a couple of days with her and the kids and she’s devoted to them. She’s brash with me.” He laughed. “And nothing but sweet and gentle with the kids. The separation is real hard on her. Maybe this will serve two purposes—give her some kids to cuddle and you a little break. Plus, she cleans like a genie in a bottle.”
“Are you sure she wouldn’t mind?” Vanni asked.
“Oh, I’m positive she’d welcome it, compared to the crappy work I’ve had her doing on that old church.” And maybe Gramma Baldwin can counsel while she’s at it. He smiled secretly.
When Ellie came to the church the next morning, Noah said, “I have a special assignment for you. Today, tomorrow and for as long as you think it’s necessary. Some friends of mine have a situation—you know Paul? The builder?”
“Can’t miss him,” she said. She dug into her tight jeans and pulled out a couple of cotton balls she clearly intended to stuff in her ears.
“Well, a woman he barely knew and whom his wife never met died recently and, guess what? She named Paul as her baby’s guardian in her will. Without any warning, with a son of their own only eighteen months old, they inherited a baby girl who is under a year. Vanni is struggling to keep up and they might be getting the best of her. Go out there and help, will you?”
“What should I do?” she asked.
“You’ll know what to do. I wrote down some directions for you—they’re about ten minutes out of town. And, Ellie? If you can make her laugh, that would be good.”
“Sure,” she said, grinning. “I’ll get right on it. I have a bunch of preacher jokes I haven’t tried out yet.”
When Ellie rang the bell at Vanni’s house, the door was a long time in opening. When Vanni finally answered, she had a little boy on her hip, the sound of a baby fussing behind her, and she was wearing her robe. “Hi, I’m Ellie, Pastor Kincaid’s assistant,” she said. “Want a hand?”
“You’ll be sorry,” Vanessa said, turning away from the door.
“Nah, I’ll be happy. Your husband is making my life miserable!” Ellie walked in and went immediately in search of the fussy baby. She found her standing in the playpen, reaching out. The second Ellie came into the room, her face lit up in a beautiful smile. She reached for the baby. “Well, my little cupcake. What’s your name?”
“That’s Hannah, our newcomer,” Vanni said. “And this is Matt.”
“Hello, Hannah. What a pretty name. Are you wet or hungry or just ornery?”
“She could be wet, but they’ve had breakfast.”
“Then let’s try a change,” Ellie said. “Where are the diapers?”
“Right down the hall. I could do it if you—”
“Nah, let me. It’s been years since I’ve changed a baby. I kind of miss those early days, difficult as they are.” And off she went to carry through. When she returned a few minutes later, Vanni was sitting on the couch, holding Matt, looking pretty down in the dumps. “This one has diaper rash, but you probably knew that.”
“I’ve been putting stuff on her. There’s a tube on the changing table.”
“Uh-huh, I found it, gave her a good smear.”
“Listen, if you have other things to do—”
“My mission, assigned by none other than His Holiness Kincaid, is to see what I can do to help you. I understand Miss Hannah here was a surprise?”
“To put it mildly,” Vanni said.
“Well, that’s my specialty. Both of mine were surprises. But what luck—they’re awesome. Danielle is eight and Trevor is four.”
“You don’t seem old enough to have an eight-year-old,” Vanni said.
“Oh, I’m not.” She laughed. “Like I said, I specialize in surprise children. But I’ve decided to give that up.”
“Paul and I were just about to start on one of our own when Hannah showed up.”
Ellie frowned. “One of your own?”
“Oh, I guess Noah didn’t tell you. I was married to Paul’s best friend before. I was pregnant when he was killed in Iraq. And Paul stepped in to be my husband and Matt’s father. And, as it turned out, a woman he’d dated before we married died in a car accident and bequeathed that adorable little package to us.”
“Well, holy shit,” Ellie said. “No wonder you’re a little out of sorts! So you’re the mother of that one and Paul’s the father of—”
“No, Hannah’s not his. Sometimes I think it might be easier if she were. But she’s not. And even considering Hannah has a father out there somewhere, Paul brought her home.”
Ellie nuzzled the little girl. It was anyone’s guess what Vanni struggled with most—the fact that she suddenly had two small children, or that one of them was Paul’s previous girlfriend’s. Did Vanni wonder just how important Hannah’s mother was to him? That would be enough to put anyone in a mood. But she said, “Listen, I have an idea. Since everyone is dry and fed, why don’t I take over while you enjoy your morning rituals. Take some time. Have a long soak or shower, a primp, even a rest if you’re tired. I can handle everything till lunchtime. Or even longer.”
“You might find it to be more than you bargained for.”
Ellie shrugged. “Or, I could have more fun than I’ve had cleaning and painting an old church. If I have trouble, I’ll come for you. Go on now—this is your big break. Unless—gee, maybe you want to observe me for a while, to be sure I’m okay with the kids?”
“Noah says you’re wonderful with kids.”
“He did? Well, how about that. I should be—I’ve had plenty of practice. It’s been just me and the kids for a long time.”
“I’ll go take a shower,” Vanni said, without responding to that last comment. She handed off Matt. “If you have problems, holler.”
“And take some time for yourself,” Ellie said, bouncing a kid on each hip. “I’ll juggle for a while.”
When Vanni disappeared, Ellie took the kids to the kitchen. Once there, she found the remnants of breakfast on their high-chair trays and the kitchen was a mess—dishes in the sink, the floor sticky, dirty pots on the stove, the newspaper spread out on the table in front of a coffee cup with a ring around the inside. “Well,” she said softly to the kids. “Mommy’s got issues. But, hey, we can deal. Right?”
Hannah said, “Ma!” and Matt patted Ellie’s head.
“You two,” Ellie cooed, kissing each cheek. “Could you be any more delicious? Come on, let’s settle in. There’s stuff to do here.”
Once she had them strapped in the high chairs, she cleaned off the trays. She found sippy cups in the sink, scrubbed them and filled them with juice. Then she put a handful of dry Cheerios on each tray and, talking and singing little ditties the whole time, began cleaning the kitchen. There was a thin, sticky coat of kiddie paste over everything, including the floor and high chairs, so when the dishes were loaded, she started the dishwasher, wiped down the stove, table and countertops. In the laundry room off the kitchen she found a bucket, mop and sponge. Also, loads of dirty laundry. “Hmm,” she said, thinking. “Well, whoever said ‘one thing at a time’ didn’t know squat.” She got a load of kids’ clothes going. Back in the kitchen, singing the “ABC” song, “People on the Bus” and “Little Soap,” she washed down the high chairs while the kids were in them, stopping occasionally to make faces and noises and tickle. And then, dishwasher and washing machine humming away, she mopped the floor, scooting the high chairs out of the way one at a time.
She flipped the laundry and started another load. And then she took the kids to the great room where a playpen stood ready. She settled both of them, playing with them for just a moment before she left them to grab some Windex and Pledge and rags. If there was one thing a single mother of two had learned pretty well, it was how to make a small house presentable in record time. Well, this was no small house—it was like a castle to Ellie—and brand-new. She knew she would never live in such a house, not unless she won the lottery—which she never played—or fell in love with some rich guy, which was now off the table. But still…
She shined up the glass and wood furniture, found the vacuum in the front-hall closet and, talking to and singing to the kids, she ran it around the room. She glanced at her watch and saw that Vanni had been missing for well over an hour, but it had been time well spent. She was making great progress.
Another hour passed and she had cleaned the kitchen and great room, folded some clothes on the couch while picking up toys that had been pitched out of the playpen. Since she had a couple of stacks of clean baby clothes, she put them in the nursery, rounded up towels and ran a bath.
Ohhh, they loved the bath, so she supervised while they played until the water was cooled. Little Hannah needed that soak on her rosy bottom. Next, clean clothes and a glance at her watch told her it was lunchtime. She took the little ones back to the kitchen. She found baby food in the pantry but, if memory served, there was one thing kids loved universally. “Mac and cheese,” she said, grinning at them. It took only minutes in the microwave and then minutes to cool a bit. She managed to put away the clean dishes from the dishwasher, though if Vanni ever found them again, it would be a miracle. When the mac and cheese had cooled down enough, she gave each child a bowl on their tray.
Now, this was where aggressive supervision was required if they were going to get more in their stomachs than on her clean floor. She sat on a chair with a handy rag and helped Matt guide his spoon while she fed Hannah. “I so knew you’d love this,” she said to them. “It was a big treat at my house.”
There were bottles in the dishwasher. Since she didn’t find any powdered formula anywhere, she was left to assume they were now on regular milk. So, she filled a couple of bottles, and with Hannah in her arms and Matt lying on the couch, his legs draped over hers, they relaxed together. Hannah played with Ellie’s ponytail that fell over her shoulder and Matt held her finger.
These children needed to be touched! They needed kisses and giggles and cooing and pleasant smiles! They needed to feel the love! But their mother was sad, overwhelmed, hurt and exhausted.
Both children passed out with their bottles. Ellie scooted out from under Matt’s legs and hefted Hannah into her arms. Matt slept with his mouth open and arms limply splayed outward, totally gone. To his sleeping form she whispered, “Do not roll off this couch or I’ll be fired!” Then she took Hannah to her crib and went quickly back for Matt.
Both children were settled and Ellie was folding another load of clothes when Vanni finally appeared. “Well,” Ellie said, smiling, “you look like you had a little rest.”
“I apologize. I didn’t help you at all. I left you high and dry with them.”
“Don’t apologize, angel-cakes. I was having a nice time. This is a magnificent house you have here. I enjoyed tidying up a bit. Are you hungry? Why don’t I fix you some lunch.”
“Oh, don’t bother. Now that you’ve done so much and the kids are sleeping, you don’t have to stay—”
“I still have things to do, Vanni. After the kids wake up, I’m going to freshen their room. But while they sleep, I thought I could get you a fresh set of sheets, give your master bath a bit of a fluff and buff, maybe run the vacuum around in there.” She smiled happily. “You should take advantage of me while you can.”
“Only if you’ll have a little lunch with me,” Vanni said.
“I’ll make us a couple of sandwiches,” Ellie said. “How’s that?”
While Ellie made the sandwiches, Vanni snuck the clean clothes into the drawers in the nursery. Vanni stripped her own bed and got her sheets washing. Then they sat at the kitchen table together.
“So your children came as surprises?” Vanni asked.
“I think stunned and scared shitless would be more accurate,” Ellie said, biting into her sandwich. Vanni laughed in spite of herself. “Believe me, it wasn’t funny.”
“No, not that. I’m laughing at the way you swear. Must be quite a challenge for Noah.”
“Uh-huh. He’s talking swear jar in the church. Quarter a curse.”
“Mel and Jack have one of those!”
“So I hear. I also heard Mel’s taking the town on a cruise in the spring, just on the contents. Really, just so you don’t think I’m completely terrible, I never swear in front of children. I don’t even slip. I know that sounds far-fetched, but really. When I swear, I do it on purpose.”
“Well, at least you’ve got that going for you.” Vanni laughed. “So—the kids?”
“Oh, yeah. I got pregnant with Danielle in high school. My boyfriend was killed in an accident—motorcycle versus car, not his fault.” Once again she conveniently left out the fact that she had two children by two different guys, neither of whom married her. She chewed a little more and swallowed. “I was on my own. Well, with my gram’s help, but she died when Trevor was two.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ellie. I’m sorry for the loss of both your boyfriend and your grandmother. Is that the extent of your family?”
“I have a mother somewhere, but she hasn’t been around since I was, like, three months old. She drops in once in a while, but she never spends the night. She’s pretty much consumed with her own life, which is fine. My mother—she’s a real load. She needs taking care of. If she ever got the idea I could do that for her, I’d never get rid of her and she’s very self-centered.”