Laney was working shorter days for the summer. It gave her more time with the kids, for that she was thankful. It also meant she was making less money, but they would make do. Because of the generosity of her church family, she had been able to get her van fixed without getting behind in her other bills. It made things bearable income-wise for the summer months. She had also promised the kids a day at the water park in Wisconsin Dells.
June was a mild month, temperature-wise, so they would wait until July or August to go to the Dells.
She thought about her oldest daughter and the pressure she inadvertently put on her. It was a heavy load to carry for one so young. She wanted to do something special for her, but what? She would be twelve years old in two weeks.
After thinking about it for a bit, Laney had just the thing. She would ask Sheila about having an afternoon tea at her teashop. She would make invitations. Jessi had recently started a scrapbooking and card making class at church and Laney had joined as she wanted to get to know more ladies. She’d invited Ella to go with her but Ella declined, telling Laney she was too old for such things.
Laney would make the invitations and invite Joy’s friends and their moms from church. She would be so excited.
She called Sheila and asked about having the event at the teashop and Sheila came up with a great idea. “Since were closed on Sunday’s, what if we have it on Sunday afternoon, right after church for a tea luncheon. Only us girls? I can ask Austin if he’ll keep Matt. I’m sure it will be no problem.”
“Sheila, she’ll love it. And it will be right on her birthday. Thank you, so much. She has been so strong through everything. I just want to do something special for her.”
They decided to involve Joy in the planning so she could pick exactly what she wanted. Later that evening they sat down with her.
Laney and Sheila were drinking some refreshing ice tea and chatting when Joy came in from playing with her friends. “Hey, can you come sit with us a few minutes? We want to talk with you.”
“Sure, mom. I’ll be right there.”
Joy washed her hands then poured herself a glass of tea. “Yeah?”
“How would you like to have a tea party at Sheila’s teashop for your birthday party?”
Joy was hesitant. “Instead of having my friends sleep over?”
“No, plus have your friends sleep over.”
“Yeah, that would be awesome.”
Sheila smiled. She remembered what being twelve and having best friends was like. A night curled up with sleeping bags and pillows, eating chips and pizza and whispering all night long about which boys were cute. “We would never take away your girl time.”
Joy smiled. “We already have the whole night planned.”
Laney raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? Anything I should know about?”
Joy was quick to answer. “No, mom. Nothing. Um, let’s talk about this tea party.”
Together they made out an invitation list.
Joy started counting off people on her fingers. “Jessi and Olivia, Aunt Merry, Miss Ella, my Sunday school teacher and her daughter,” She also wanted to invite her three friends who were spending the night and their mothers.
“Three, I thought I said a couple?” Laney looked at her daughter.
“Mom, I can’t leave Bridget out. She’s new and it would make her feel bad.”
Laney caved. “Fine. But that’s it, hear?”
“I promise, no more.”
Sheila counted the tally. “Okay, so that puts us with fifteen for the tea? Is that right?”
“I think that is right.” Laney looked to Joy for confirmation.
“Fifteen is a good number, don’t you think?”
All three agreed that fifteen was indeed a good number.
Sheila took over. “Now for the menu. What do you want for your birthday luncheon young lady?”
Joy grinned. “That’s easy. I want those little cucumber sandwiches. They are so good. And fruit soup.”
“The fruit soup we served the day you and your mom came in? The one with the strawberries, watermelon, and blueberries?”
“Yeah, that was so good.”
Laney questioned Joy. “Do you think we should have a couple of different sandwiches in case someone doesn’t like cucumber sandwiches?”
“Good idea. Any kind is good. I’m eating the cucumber ones.”
Sheila moved on to dessert. “How about your birthday dessert? What would you like? Do you want the cookies and scones or do you want a cake?”
“Can I have a cake layered with strawberries and whipped cream frosting?”
“You bet. We can do that. Maybe I’ll put out a tray of little cookies too. How does that sound?”
“Sounds awesome. I can’t wait.”
“I think this might call for a new dress, what do you think?”
Joy eyes popped open. “Mom, remember that pink sundress I saw at the store? Can I have that one?”
“Why don’t we run to the mall tomorrow after church and you can try it on? Maybe we’ll get you some new sandals too.”
Both Laney and Sheila received a big hug for their efforts. Then Joy announced she was taking a shower so she didn’t have to get up quite so early for church and took off running.
“Well, I guess that solves that.” Laney got up to refill their glasses. “How are you feeling?”
“Thank heavens I’m past the sick stage. Now, I just want to eat everything in sight. For some reason, I just want gyros. All the time. I could eat them for every meal. It’s terrible.”
“I don’t understand it either. When I was pregnant with Joy, I wanted Mexican food and fruit. With Matt, I couldn’t get enough wonton soup. I know, weird, right?”
Sheila agreed.
“With Melanie, everything tasted good. I gained forty pounds when I was pregnant with her. Of course, Paul had me on a diet as soon as she came out. I lost the extra weight very quickly, trust me.”
“I better be careful or I’ll be as big as a house.”
“I doubt it. As skinny as you are, you’ll probably be lighter after delivery than you were before you got pregnant.”
“I ate a quart of Ben and Jerry’s last night.”
Laney started laughing. “Okay, maybe not.”
“Speaking of parties, when do you want your baby shower? You know I’ll have it.”
“Well, I’m due in the beginning of November, so I think we have some time. Maybe September, after the kids go back to school?”
“Sounds good. We’ll set a date soon.” Laney took a drink of her tea. “The boys seem to be getting used to the idea of having a new baby sister.”
Sheila shook her head. “They have both decided a sister would be cool, although Jeremiah thinks a baby brother would be better.”
“When are you having your next ultrasound?”
“Next month.”
“Are you going to find out if you’re having a boy or a girl?”
“At first I thought I wouldn’t, you know, have it be a surprise. But, the closer I get, the more I want to know. I think we’ll find out.”
“I can’t wait. Hey, I saw they were digging out for the foundation for the shelter. So, everything’s a go?”
Sheila shook her head. “The petition that the neighbors started to keep us from building got shot down at the city council meeting. You should have seen everyone at that meeting. Some were saying a shelter like that in the neighborhood was a danger to everyone.” Sheila continued, incredulous. “The fourth ward is full of danger. I don’t know what their deal is. We presented our side as well as the fact that the police think it was local kids vandalizing, which means it could be the hoodlums of these parents who were complaining.” She stood up looking through the fridge. “That shut them up. I’m hungry, you have anything to eat?”
“There is some sliced cheese in the cheese drawer and some crackers in the cupboard?”
Sheila shook her head no.
“Okay, I made burgers for supp
er. I think there’s a couple leftover, want one of those?”
“That sounds better. Something I can sink my teeth into.”
Laney got out the fixings for her to build her burger. “Did the builders give you a finish date?”
Sheila had just taken a big bite of her burger. “En' ov seppemer?”
Laney repeated what she thought she heard. “End of September?”
“Yeah, if everything goes well, we should be ready to decorate about then.”
Laney just shook her head at her pregnant friend and pulled some grapes from the freezer. The kids would be hungry for a snack as well.
* * * *
Two weeks flew by and before Laney knew it, three adolescents were invading her house. To make things worse, they were girl adolescents. Not that she had anything against girls. She loved her two more than life itself. But, put four of them, all around the same age in the same house at the same time, and the screams and giggles and whispering would last all night. She highly doubted she would get any sleep.
The girls had all their stuff stowed in Joy’s room. Laney had moved Melanie to her room for the evening so Joy could have some privacy.
She had ordered two cheese pizzas and one pepperoni. Hopefully that would be enough. They devoured every bite. It didn’t help matters that Matt was going through a growth spurt and almost ate a whole pizza by himself. Laney managed to get a couple of pieces and set them aside for later, when the kids were entertaining themselves. She would have a salad to go with it.
Even though she had given strict orders to Matt to leave the girls alone, when she heard them scream, he was the first one she suspected. Sure enough, they had been telling ghost stories and he snuck outside to their window and was making scary noises.
All the girls had come running out and jumped up on the couch by her, insisting a ghost was outside their window. Laney assured them there was no such thing as ghosts. “There is your ghost.” She pointed to Matt who was trying to sneak back in the house.
All the girls yelled at him before running back to Joy’s room. Good thing Melanie could sleep through anything.
Laney made her salad and heated up her pizza. She could still hear the girls. Might as well read for a while.
The next morning Laney made homemade Belgian waffles and bacon, Joy’s pick, of course. The girls were rolling up their sleeping bags when the doorbell sounded. Laney headed for the door.
A deliveryman stood outside with a box for Joy. Laney signed for it and started to close the door when she noticed Paul standing on the opposite side of the street, staring at her. She closed the door.
“Joy, you have a package.” Joy and the girls came running.
She questioned her mom with her eyes.
“It’s from your dad. He is outside if you want to talk to him.” Joy stiffened. Curiosity got the better of her so she opened the package. Inside was an iPod. “Mom. This is what I wanted.”
Laney cocked her head to the side, motioning toward Paul. “He is outside. You should thank him.”
Joy gathered the iPod in her hands and walked outside to where her father stood. Laney told the girls to wait here for her, and then followed Joy outside.
She stood back a little, giving her daughter room to thank her father for the gift. Joy said thank you then went back into the house with her friends.
“You could have mailed that.”
“I wanted to see my daughter on her birthday. Is that okay with you?”
“Her birthday is tomorrow.” Laney stared at him, daring him to contradict her.
“I have plans tomorrow.” He turned like he was going to walk off then thought better and turned to her. “Oh, I never did get a thank you from Matt for the helmet, how did he like it?”
“Actually, we exchanged it. Matt likes the Packers, not the Bears.”
Paul was furious. “That was a signed helmet, Laney. You just don’t return those.”
“Paul, it was signed for mass production and you know it.” She shook her head. “Do you really think I am that ignorant?”
“Do you really want me to answer that?” He smirked. “By the way, I don’t think it’s a good idea you letting Matt outside by himself at night. We both know what happened last time you weren’t watching him well enough.”
“How dare you? How do you know Matt was outside by himself at night? Were you watching my house, Paul? Were you? You stay away from me, do you hear me? And that means my house too.”
He quickly closed the gap between them and grabbed her arm. “I have had to tell you one too many times that you do not tell me what I can and can’t do. You are going to dearly regret your actions very, very soon. Mark my word.” He shoved her backwards and turned and walked away.
Laney quickly stood up, rubbing her arm. She looked around to see if any of her neighbors had witnessed her embarrassment. Not seeing anyone, she walked back to the comfort of her house. She put on a brave face while the girls' parents were picking them up and mechanically smiled as each of the moms confirmed for tomorrow’s birthday tea.
Laney shut the door behind the last pickup. She would not cry. Not now. She would not ruin Joy’s birthday.
She could not believe her husband was literally stalking her. She had to talk with Sheila about this, but not until after the party when everyone was gone.
The knock on her side kitchen door scared her. She looked through the curtains. It was Ella. She opened the door. “Hey, come on in.” She pretended nothing was wrong, hoping Ella did not see what happened.
She should have known better.
“Are you okay? I saw that monster and what he did to you.”
“I’m okay, Ella. I really don’t want to make any waves today. It’s Joy’s birthday tomorrow and I just don’t want to ruin it.”
“I understand. I would feel the same way. But, if you see him again you call the police, do you hear me? He isn’t supposed to be near you.”
Laney agreed. She really should have called them but she just couldn’t bear to break her daughter’s heart. This weekend was about Joy. Not Laney and her problems with Paul.
Laney shoved her encounter with Paul to the recesses of her mind. She had things to do that had nothing to do with that man.
She turned back to Ella. “So, you are coming tomorrow?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Are you sure you don’t want me to make anything?”
Laney had originally told Ella no, she had it covered. She didn’t want Ella to tax herself. Now she was wondering if that was wise. The older woman probably was feeling useless. “You know what, I was going to make some egg salad but I am running short of time. Could you do it for me?”
“Oh yes, I can do that. I have some eggs at home. I’ll go right home and get it started.”
“I already bought the eggs, so please take those or they’ll go bad. We’ll never eat that many.”
She put the cartons of eggs in a bag, along with the mayonnaise and mustard and sent them home with Ella, who looked happier than Laney had seen her as of late.
Laney quickly wrapped the necklace and earrings she had bought for Joy for her birthday. They had bought the pink dress that Joy wanted to so badly and a pair of white sandals as well. Twelve-year-old girls liked to feel pretty. She wouldn’t let her wear makeup; she was too young, but jewelry would work.
She put the little box in her purse so she wouldn’t forget it. Sheila was taking care of the desserts and had put Laney in charge of the sandwiches. The egg salad would be fantastic. She was sure of that. Ella had a way with food. The cucumber sandwiches could not be assembled until tomorrow morning. She began boiling the chicken for chicken salad. She tried to think if there was anything she was missing. She could think of nothing.
Everyone invited was attending, so Sheila had fifteen spots set for tea. It would be a lovely birthday party.
* * * *
Laney heard Joy before she saw her and turned to look. She looked stunning. Laney smiled and went to her da
ughter. “Happy Birthday, honey. You look so beautiful.”
Joy beamed. “Thank you, mom.” She turned around in a circle so Laney could appreciate the full effect of the dress.
“Would you mind opening your birthday gift from me a little early?”
Joy grinned. “Would I mind? You’re kidding, right?”
Laney retrieved the little box from her purse. “I was going to have you open it at the party, but I think you need this now. "
Joy carefully opened the small box. Inside were a single pearl necklace and a pair of pearl studs. Her birthstone. She squealed. “Mom, I love them.”
Laney smiled. “Do you want help putting your necklace on?”
Joy nodded her head yes then turned around and lifted her hair so her mother could clasp the necklace around her neck. She went to the mirror to put the earrings on and stood back, admiring herself in the mirror.
Laney watched her daughter staring at herself in the mirror. She wondered if Joy saw herself the way she saw her. She was a beautiful young girl and she was going to be a stunning woman. The sun was already turning her skin a light golden color and the freckles dusting her nose would soon blend in with her summer coloring.
Joy tucked her long light brown hair behind her ear and turned her head slightly to get a better look at the earrings.
Laney came to stand beside her. “You really are growing up. Come on, let’s get your brothers so we aren’t late for church. "
* * * *
Church seemed to pass quickly. Afterward, Laney handed Matt off to Austin. Of course he had something to say about it. “Mom, how come I can’t go? I’m hungry.”
“Matt, you are going to eat with Austin and the boys. Do you really want to go with a bunch of ladies for a tea? I would think a big strapping boy like you would not want to eat with a bunch of girls in dresses.
Forever Blessed (Women of Prayer) Page 24