"Detrimental?" Ryan gave her a very puzzled look, not having any idea what Jamie was getting at.
"Yeah…um…I’d think at some point it would hurt the baby’s emotional development. I mean, I can’t imagine that it’s healthy for a three-or four-year-old to still be nursing."
"Oh…you mean nursing toddlers." Ryan nodded and said, "I don’t know if there’s much research on that, but I think a well-adjusted baby eventually weans himself. There comes a point at which they want the independence."
"I take it that you plan on letting our kids make that decision for themselves?" Ryan’s position was fairly obvious, but Jamie wanted to mentally prepare herself for having her favorite body part be someone else’s meal ticket for a good, long while.
"Yep," she said decisively. "If they’re secure and healthy, they’ll stop on their own. Cait’s just eleven months, and she’s already down to two feedings a day."
"How did Annie produce enough to give us enough for four days? Doesn’t her supply diminish when the baby takes less?"
"Yep. But she pumps two or three times a day. She keeps a little supply in the freezer, and she donates the rest at the hospital."
"She what
?
!"
Ryan shot her a look, reminding her that the baby was not in the mood to be startled. "She’s a breast milk donor," Ryan explained. "The best milk is obviously from the mother, but some highly allergic or very ill babies benefit from donated milk. She started doing it as soon as Caitlin started to need less."
"I had no idea," Jamie gaped.
"There’s one kid at the hospital that has some rare auto-immune disease. His mother can’t produce milk for some reason, and donated milk is the only thing keeping him alive. Annie’s been supplying his food for a couple of months now." A fond smile settled onto Ryan’s face and she needlessly added, "I’m really proud of her."
"She’s a good person," Jamie agreed, having developed quite a bond with the good-natured woman.
Pulling herself from her self-imposed daze, Caitlin beamed up at Jamie and extended her arms, cooing excitedly until Jamie snatched her up and gave her some kisses. Looking over at her grinning lover she remarked, "There is nothing in the world nicer than waking up to your two sweet little faces."
"Well, this little face is still hungry," Ryan decided. "Let’s go meet the big dogs!"
A half hour later they were all showered and dressed, heading back to the park. Their passports enabled them to enter the park early, so the crush of people was not nearly as bad as it had been the day before. They made their way to Toon Town and found the correct spot for Caitlin’s breakfast with Goofy and Pluto. They had their choice of characters, but since her new toys represented the dogs, they thought it made sense to carry out the theme.
"Are we going to tell people that Caitlin isn’t ours?" Jamie asked during their walk.
"No need," Ryan decided. "Young, blonde, green-eyed woman—blonde, green-eyed baby. Everyone will assume she’s yours. They won’t know what to make of me, but that’s okay. I think we should just act normally and let people figure it out."
"It is a little harder when you’re a same sex couple, isn’t it?" Jamie asked reflectively, thinking that the issue would never come up if Ryan was a man.
"Not if we don’t let it be," Ryan said firmly, her confident demeanor carrying Jamie along with her.
They hadn’t yet been to Toon Town, and Jamie was afraid that she’d never get Ryan into the building where the breakfast was to be held. The taller woman was filled with delight, running around the area excitedly as she pointed out all of the sights and whipping Caitlin into a frenzy.
Oh goody
, Jamie thought drolly,
Caitlin will be at her wildest just when we have to sit down to eat
.
They found their assigned space, and Jamie was pleased to see that they had kept the gathering very small. There were only about ten other kids and fifteen adults in attendance, but the cacophony of sound in the small, whimsically decorated room belied that fact. Ryan had been to air shows that seemed quieter, but she did her best to ignore her aversion to noise as she watched Caitlin begin to get into the fun. The room had been set up with small tables and they looked around for one to share, picking one with another baby and her parents. Little Kelsey was two months older than Caitlin, and over the course of the next few minutes Jamie and Ryan were forced to listen to every stellar achievement that the baby had accomplished during her 13 months on the planet. In fact, the child had very well developed verbal skills, and the parents looked at Jamie with some degree of sympathy when she admitted that Caitlin did not speak yet.
Kelsey’s mother, Becky, actually patted Jamie’s hand and assured her, "You really shouldn’t worry too much that your baby seems a little slow. There’s still a chance that she’ll catch up."
When Ryan saw the look that flashed in those green eyes, she grabbed a croissant and popped it into Jamie’s open mouth. She leaned over and made eye contact with Becky as she said sweetly, "Somebody has to be at the bottom of the class. We’ve just resigned ourselves to the fact that Caitlin will probably have to make a living with her looks." Ryan bit back a howl when Jamie kicked her sharply in the shin, but she wasn’t about to get into a contest with these strangers over who had the smartest baby.
Ryan had decided early on that she was never going to bore people to death with tales of Caitlin’s development. It wasn’t that she didn’t think the child was extraordinary—she did. She just firmly believed that perceptive people would pick up on that on their own. She didn’t have much interest in engaging people who were not perceptive, so she thought the situation would generally resolve itself.
Her comments drew a very startled look from both Becky and her husband Sam, but it didn’t stop them from continuing to sing a litany of Kelsey’s praises. Ryan was looking around for a sharp knife to impale herself on by the time Goofy and Pluto finally made their appearance and all hell broke loose in the crowded room.
The older kids shrieked and screamed when the big dogs entered the room, and the characters didn’t help matters any by running around the room at full speed. Both Caitlin and Kelsey were startled by the noise, as well as the immense size of the animals, and after looking at each other for a moment, both started to scream. Ryan scooped Caitlin up from her high chair and held her on her lap, hugging her tightly until she calmed down. Sam did the same for Kelsey, but it didn’t do much good. When Goofy came by the table, Kelsey let out a scream that could easily have broken the sound barrier, and Ryan kicked herself for not bringing earplugs.
Third rule of parenting—always have a pair of earplugs in the diaper bag!
Caitlin snuggled up tightly to Ryan, but when Goofy got down on her level she shyly stuck out her hand and tentatively patted his big black nose, making her cousin beam with pride at her boldness.
Jamie was prepared, and she snapped a completely adorable photo of the interaction. Caitlin got more and more into the game, and within seconds she held her arms up as Goofy scooped her up from Ryan’s lap. A few priceless photos of a delighted baby examining every facet of the huge dog's face commemorated the event. Kelsey was still screaming at an ear splitting decibel level when Goofy handed Caitlin back, and the noise only got worse when Pluto came sauntering over. Kelsey did everything but crawl into Sam’s shirt as she struggled to protect herself from the huge dog, the man finally getting up to take her outside to calm her down.
Much to Ryan’s pleasure, Caitlin had no reticence whatever with Pluto. She immediately went to him and giggled wildly when he carried her around the restaurant for a few moments. She kept an eye on Ryan, but managed to have a great time being introduced to the other kids, even slapping hands with the older ones like Ryan had recently taught her. When Pluto handed her back she let out a frustrated cry, her need for stimulation as unquenchable as her older cousin’s. Luckily, her attention was quickly diverted when breakfast was served. She happily sat on Jamie’s lap and ate almost all of a Mickey shaped waffle, giggling the entire time.
When Kelsey returned she clung to her mother desperately, unable to eat a bite because of the earlier trauma. Becky opined, "I think the size of the animals confused and frightened her. She’s very aware of proportion you know."
"I don’t think Caitlin has any idea how big things should be," Ryan replied thoughtfully.
"If you don’t want your child to be left behind, you’d better start to play games with her to show her progressive sizes and weights of objects," Becky chided, her disapproval obvious.
Ryan had clearly had enough of this nonsense and she dove into one of her favorite pastimes—yanking the chain of pompous people. She slowly scratched her dark head and looked at Becky in confusion. "Play with her?" she asked dully. "You play with her?" she asked again with a suspicious look on her face.
"Of course we play with her and we read stories…"
"Yours can read?!" Ryan nearly shouted. She turned to Jamie and demanded, "Can ours read?"
"No, I don’t think so," Jamie replied, matching the dim-witted tone of her partner. "She’s never read to me." She suddenly slapped Ryan on the arm as she recalled, "Ours can’t even talk, how could she read!?" They both laughed at this for a long while as their tablemates stared at them in astonishment.
Thankfully, breakfast was winding down, and Jamie stood with the baby and bade a pleasant goodbye to their breakfast companions. The best the other couple could do was look from her to Ryan and back again as they mutely nodded.
As soon as they left the building, Jamie pulled Ryan into Minnie’s playhouse and laughed until her sides ached. "Yours can read!!" she shrieked. "Where do you come up with this stuff?!"
"I just couldn’t stand another minute of listening to them prepare her biography for the Nobel Prize in literature. I figured I could shut them up without being rude. Worked, didn’t it?" she asked smugly.
Catherine had eaten and was dressed and ready when they showed up at 10:30. Jamie spent quite a while regaling her with their morning exploits while Ryan changed the baby, removing her syrup spattered clothing. "I had no idea you’d be such a tease, Ryan," the older woman admitted.
"Oh please!" Jamie said. "She’s the biggest tease in the world! And she does it with such a straight face that no one ever knows she’s kidding."
"I don’t think I’m such a tease," Ryan said innocently. "I’ve always considered myself a torturer!" She grabbed Jamie by the hips and lifted her straight up over her head, with the smaller woman kicking and screaming the whole time. Caitlin was fully used to the rough play of her babysitters, and she shrieked for the game to continue. Ryan turned and caught Catherine’s open-mouthed look of shock as she winked at her and threatened, "Don’t make me mad or you’re next!"
At one o’clock Catherine and Caitlin were waiting patiently in the big outdoor eating area in Tomorrowland. Caitlin was wearing a brand new outfit that had either been purchased that morning or smuggled in the day before. "Nice clothes, Cait," Ryan said conversationally. "I don’t see any mice, dogs, ducks or other animals on them, though. Where’d you get ‘em?"
"I had to bring a little something for her, Ryan," Catherine explained.
"Oh, I understand, Catherine," Ryan said, giving her motherin-law a very composed look of agreement. "A first class airline ticket, a suite in the hotel, and a limo ride are not nearly enough for a one-year-old. I’m afraid you’re just going to have to do better."
Giving the amused woman a serious look, Catherine said solemnly, "I’ll stop if it bothers you, Ryan. I promise."
"Nope. If you enjoy doing it—go right ahead. I just want you to know that it certainly isn’t expected."
"That’s it? No argument?" Catherine asked.
"Nope. I can’t ever win with Jamie, and I figure she got her talents from you, so I may as well admit defeat."
"I love a good loser," Catherine said with a smile, sliding her arm around Ryan’s waist for a small hug.
As they settled down to eat their fast food, Ryan looked at Jamie with a puzzled frown. "Something’s been bothering me all day," she said thoughtfully.
"What is it, Honey?"
"Well, Goofy is a dog, right?"
"Yeah, he certainly looks like a dog."
"And Goofy speaks just like Mickey and Minnie do."
"Correct, again. Goofy is verbal."
"But Pluto is Goofy’s dog and he doesn’t talk. So, are there higher levels of dog? And if not, doesn’t that make Pluto a slave of some kind? I mean, subjugating your own species seems like a strange message to give kids."
Smiling fondly at the thoughtful consideration that Ryan had given the problem, Jamie smiled and corrected her theory. "Pluto isn’t Goofy’s dog, Honey. He’s Mickey’s dog."
"Oh, well, now it makes sense," she said as she crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her lover.
Their discussion was interrupted when Caitlin decided that she was not being fed enough attention or food. Her long wail compelled Jamie to pull her onto her lap, while Ryan cut up tiny bits of a grilled chicken sandwich and popped them into her mouth. Jamie’s hands were full of bouncing baby so Ryan cut up bigger bites with bun and condiments for her. She alternated big and little bites gently placed into both smiling mouths while Catherine watched with delight. Ryan occasionally sneaked a little kiss from both blondes as the meal went on, the vast majority of the kisses falling on the smaller blonde’s face. It was obvious to even a casual observer that this was a very happy family unit, and no less obvious that the adults were lovers, even though their little kisses were brief, infrequent, and chaste.
As Ryan popped another bite into Jamie’s mouth she noticed a shadow fall across the table, and she lifted her head to gaze right into the eyes of an extremely angry woman. She sat upright and returned the stare as the woman began to splutter, "Can’t you people keep your sickness out of a place like this? It’s a crime when a God-fearing country like this can’t keep your kind from having children. My little boy shouldn’t have to be exposed to perverts like you running around Disneyland!"
Ryan shot a warning glance and a quick headshake at Jamie, who was about to get to her feet. Taking a deep breath, Ryan looked up at the shaking woman and calmly asked, "How old is your son?"
That question threw her for such a loop that she had to respond civilly. She shot a glance at the table she had come from, briefly glancing at her son and husband, both of whom looked like they wanted to dig a hole and hide. "H...he’s six," she stuttered.
"And you honestly think the sight of two people expressing their love in a discreet fashion will scar him?" Ryan asked slowly. "I guarantee he didn’t notice anything until you pointed it out."
"That’s not the point!" she yelled loud enough to cause all of the other diners to turn towards them.
"Sure it is," Ryan said very calmly. "He’s probably in much more peril from your anger and your hatred of difference than he is from watching people be loving towards one another."
"What you do is sick!" she spat from a few inches in front of Ryan’s face.
"Are you a Christian?" Ryan asked, again out of left field.
"Yes, I fear the Lord," she replied haughtily, wielding her faith like a truncheon.
Ryan nodded, drew in a breath and spoke calmly. "I’m no biblical scholar, but I’m sure of one thing. Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to love one another as he loves us." She looked up at the woman and waited for her to disagree. When she received nothing more than a beady-eyed stare she continued. "I’m sure he didn’t mean that you have to like what everyone does, but I
am
sure he meant you need to love and accept other people, even when you disagree with them." Ryan’s eyes narrowed and she allowed some of her anger to show. "If you were really a Christian, you would have approached my family in a much more loving way. I don’t for a minute wish to influence your family with my morals, but I would appreciate it if you don’t infect mine with your hatred."