Playing for Keeps

by Hill, Jamie

  "You too." She turned and left. Outside, she climbed in the SUV.

  Rob blinked with surprise. "Where's Soph?"

  "She's going to spend the night. They said they'd—"

  Rob interrupted angrily, "It's not her weekend to have Sophie!"

  "I know that," Maddie said patiently. "But they were being very nice, and they wanted a little more time with her. I certainly didn't want to stay longer tonight." She looked at the sleeping kids in the back seat. "We need to get them home."

  He snapped at her. "You know I planned to take her to the last weekend of Oktoberfest tomorrow."

  "Don't bite my head off," she replied. "Of course I know that. That's why they're bringing her home by noon."

  "She shouldn't be staying at all. It's not Dee's weekend."

  "Oh for God's sake," Maddie said, irritated. "It's not a big deal, Robert. Get over it."

  He looked at her. "It is a big deal, Madison. You know I think she's trying to get her foot in the door of this custody thing. I don't want to lose Sophie."

  "You're not going to lose her by letting her spend one unscheduled night here. You might lose her if you hang on to her so tight that everyone feels you're trying to keep her away from them."

  "When did Dee become a 'them'?" he asked angrily.

  "When all of a sudden there's a man by her side, and they're making decisions together."

  "I don't give a damn what he wants. He is not Sophie's parent."

  Maddie looked at him. "Thank you. Thanks a lot for that."

  "I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about him."

  "There's no difference between me and him, except a marriage license. If he marries Dionne, is your opinion of him going to instantly change?"

  Rob didn't answer, he simply stared out the window, squeezing the steering wheel.

  "Afraid to go there, aren't you?"

  "I would not have let her spend the night here." He dodged the issue.

  "Then march up those stairs and tell her you don't want her to stay. I'm not going to do it for you, because I don't think it's a big deal."

  He started the SUV and slammed the shift into 'drive'. He peeled out and headed towards home.

  Maddie looked out her window. "So much for the rest of this evening."

  "I didn't do anything," he told her. "You shouldn't have let her stay."

  Maddie replied angrily, "Then don't ever ask me to do anything for your daughter again. If I can't make one small decision without you getting totally pissed off about it, then forget it. I'll let you take care of her, and I'll take care of my children."

  "Oh great," he muttered, and they drove the next half hour in silence.

  At the house, Maddie removed Stacie from her car seat in silence. Heading inside, she glanced over her shoulder at Rob, to make sure he took care of Sam. "You'll need to use cold cream on that face make-up."

  "Got it," he replied crisply.

  She proceeded to change Stacie and get her ready for bed. Kissing the baby, she tucked her in, then stopped in Sam's room to say goodnight.

  Rob tucked in Sam and went to Stacie's room for a kiss. When he came out he met Maddie in the hall. "I guess I said some things I shouldn't have," he admitted.

  "Damn right you did. Don't expect me to do all the work that's required to take care of your daughter, then give me no decision-making power whatsoever. That's not fucking going to happen, mister."

  "I don't feel that way. You know I trust the decisions you make for her completely. I'm just scared, Maddie. I'm really scared that we're going to lose her." He followed her into their room.

  Maddie climbed out of her costume and went into the bathroom to scrub her face. "We're never going to lose her, Rob. The custody balance could change, sure, but we're not going to lose her."

  "I don't want it to change."

  She looked at him. "Well, gee. In the immortal words of the Rolling Stones, You can't always get what you want. Like tonight, for instance. I bet you want to have sex with me. But after the way you treated me on the ride home, it's going to be a long time before you touch this body in any way even remotely intimate."

  He stripped his costume off and threw it on the floor piece by piece. "For your information, I don't appreciate the way you're speaking to me. And it's going to be a long time before I'd even consider touching you."

  She got in his face. "A long time? Ha! You can't live without it, baby. You'll be begging me here before you know it."

  "Me begging you? I hardly think so. You're the one with the super-charged sex drive."

  "You say that like it's a bad thing." Maddie pulled a nightgown over her head.

  "It'll be bad for you, here, before too long..." He pulled on pajama bottoms and slapped at the light switch.

  "You don't have to hit the wall," she muttered, rolling on her side away from him.

  "Bite me," he muttered back, and rolled away from her.

  "Yeah, whatever," she mumbled, and tried to go to sleep. She tossed and turned. Every time she looked at the clock another half hour had chugged by. She felt horrible, and couldn't believe the stupid things she'd said to Rob. She didn't think he was sleeping very well, either, judging by the way he thrashed around. She finally rolled over toward him, and found him lying there, staring at her.

  They studied each other for a moment, then they both said, "I'm sorry," at the same time. Maddie slid into his arms and their mouths came together. They kissed for a minute, and Rob started to say something. Maddie whispered, "Shhhh. No more talking. We've talked enough."

  Their hands came up to each other's faces and wiped the tears off each of their cheeks. Maddie lowered her hands to the waistband of his pajamas, and pushed them down. She was usually up for a good amount of foreplay, but tonight, she wanted to go, now.

  A short while later, they lay panting in a heap, but still didn't speak for several minutes. He finally kissed her lips gently. "I love you."

  She held his face in her hands. "I love you too, sugar. I guess I lost the bet. I could only hold out—" She looked at the clock, "about an hour and a half."

  "Then I lost the bet. Because after about an hour, I started willing you to roll over and look at me. I'm sorry, Maddie."

  "I'm sorry, too. Let's put tonight behind us, and look forward, not back."

  "Agreed." He started to pull away and she grabbed him.

  "Stay." She tightened her grip with her legs. "Stay until you absolutely have to go."

  He laid back down on her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I'm never going to go."

  "Thank God," she replied, and held him.

  Dionne brought Sophie back at 10:30 the next morning. Maddie stood in the back of the room to listen, in case Rob got agitated and she needed to intervene.

  "Hi munchkin." He hugged his daughter. "Have a good night?"

  "Yeah. We had a hard time getting the make-up off my face, though."

  Dionne added, "She's still a little green."

  "Did you use cold cream?" Maddie spoke up.

  Dionne chuckled and shook her head. "Didn't think of that. We used a lot of expensive facial cleansers, though."

  "We've got some cold cream. We'll work on it."

  Rob said, "Soph, why don't you run your costume in to your room while I say goodbye to your mom."

  "Okay." Sophie took her costume from her mother and gave her a hug goodbye.

  "I'll see you next weekend," Dionne said. "I love you."

  "I love you, too." Sophie smiled, and ran to her room.

  Rob looked at Dionne. "I know it was unusual circumstances being Halloween and all, but I hope we can stick to our custody arrangements in the future."

  She gave him a look and rolled her eyes. "Thank you for allowing me to breach the contract. I wanted to talk to you about that, anyway."

  He crossed his arms and looked at her.

  Maddie took a step forward.

  Dionne said, "Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends both fall during your time this year. I w
ondered if we could finagle them a bit? You could have her Thanksgiving and Friday, and I could have her Friday night for the weekend? And maybe the same for Christmas. It falls on a Thursday this year, too."

  Rob looked at Maddie.

  She smiled and nodded. We'll have Sophie for both holidays.

  He turned back to Dionne and looked at her questioningly. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

  Dionne nodded. "Look, she's got a family here. She should be with you guys on the actual holidays. We can celebrate on the weekend. Maybe you'll think about letting me keep her a few extra days after Christmas weekend, since she doesn't have school. We could split the week, if you like."

  "Okay, sure." Rob shrugged.

  "Thanks." Dionne nodded, and headed for the door. "Thanks, Maddie. Good luck with the green face!"

  "You bet," Maddie called back, and walked up behind Rob as Dionne closed the door behind her. "Wow, not what I expected."

  He faced her. "She's got something up her sleeve."

  "She was very considerate."

  He shook his head. "I know her. She's setting me up for something." He looked at Sophie as she returned to the living room.

  "Are we still going to Oktoberfest, Daddy?"

  "You bet." He looked at Maddie. "You sure you don't want to come with us?"

  She shook her head. "You guys can do more without us slowing you down. Go ahead, and have fun."

  "Okay. Well, first thing we need to do is find that cold cream."

  They looked at Sophie's faintly green face and grinned.

  Sophie cackled, "I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog, too!"

  After some thought, Maddie decided she'd like to have Thanksgiving dinner at her house. She'd never hosted it before, last year Stacie was a baby, and the year before that, Sam was. She finally felt confident enough to tackle it, and by the time she made up her guest list, she realized 'tackle' was not too strong a word.

  Rosa, Smoky and Callie had no other family close by, so she'd invite them. Fred and Emma were like family. They had a grown son, but he lived out of state and would bring his family back for Christmas, not Thanksgiving.

  Maddie knew Rob's parents would be there. Since Rob's brother had died in high school, Rob and Maddie were their only family. What Maddie didn't know was if her parents would consider flying to Oklahoma for Thanksgiving. She talked it over with Rob, and he agreed she should extend the invitation.

  Maddie phoned them in early November. "Hi Mom."

  "Maddie! How are you?"

  "Great. How are you and Daddy?"

  "We're fine. He's back up to full strength, ornery as ever."

  Maddie chuckled. "I never thought 'ornery' was a word that described Daddy."

  "No, it fit you better back then. But he's the one you got your ornery streak from. So how is the foot?"

  "Back to normal. No lingering effects."

  "You were lucky."

  "I know." Maddie shivered when she thought of the car accident. She put it out of her mind and said, "So, what are you guys doing for Thanksgiving?"

  "Probably cooking a turkey breast and having a little dinner here."

  "Will Matt and his family be joining you?"

  "No, they're going to his in-laws. Marsha's parents live here too, and we split up the holidays. They'll be here for Christmas."

  "Oh," Maddie thought about that, then said, "Well, I wondered if you'd like to fly down here for Thanksgiving. We're going to have a big family dinner. Rob's parents and a few of our friends who don't have family locally will be here."

  "Sounds like an awfully big crowd."

  "You and Daddy would make fourteen. It'd be fun. Please think about it."

  "I will. We'll talk it over and see what flight reservations look like. If your father thinks it would be okay, we'll be there."

  "Great! I really hope you come. Let me know."

  "I will. Thank you, Maddie. I'll call you soon."

  "Bye, Mom." Maddie hung up and smiled.

  She proceeded with her arrangements, cooking for twelve or fourteen wouldn't make much difference. She bought the biggest turkey she could find, a twenty-five pounder. She made out her menu and agreed to let Emma bring yams and a green bean casserole, while Rosa offered to bring rolls and cranberry salad. Andrea Cooper offered to bring something, but Maddie assured her she had the rest under control. She wanted to bake the pies herself, and the rest would be easy to cook along with the turkey.

  She did ask her mother-in-law to borrow two tablecloths. Maddie would have to put a couple of tables together to seat everyone, and they didn't match, so the cloths would cover them and make the table look nice. People would have to sit on whatever chairs they could scrape together, but she knew no one would mind. She was excited and even more so when she got the call from her mother saying they'd be there. They planned to fly in on Wednesday and out on Friday, and stay in Rob and Maddie's guest room.

  It put more pressure on Maddie for things to be perfect, but everything fell into place. She was in a good mood the day before the holiday as she and Sophie baked pumpkin and apple pies. They'd just finished when Rob arrived home from work early, so Maddie could drive to the airport and pick up her parents.

  "These look wonderful." He examined the pies on the kitchen table. "Soph, we may have to sample some once Maddie gets out of here."

  Maddie gave him a threatening look.

  He laughed. "Not even one little taste?"

  She just looked at him.

  He held his hands up. "Okay, okay. I get the message. You sure you don't want me to go with you to the airport?"

  "I'm sure. We've been through this. There wouldn't be room for Mom and Dad if all five of us went."

  "Oh, I should yank the car seats out of there, shouldn't I?"

  "Yeah, thanks." Maddie gave him a kiss and then wiped her mouth. "And maybe shower before we get back? You're filthy."

  "Now you've done it." He chased her around the kitchen table.

  She grabbed a broom and held it out toward him.

  "Stop! I'm ready to leave. Don't get me all dirty."

  "Look, Soph, Maddie found her broomstick." Rob grinned at her.

  Sophie couldn't have known what his comment meant, but she said, "Yeah!"

  Rob swatted at the broom as Maddie shoved it toward him. "I thought you liked me a little on the dirty side."

  "I do, when I don't have to go pick up my parents. Stop! I'm not kidding!"

  He grinned and put his hands down. "Okay, go on, get out of here. I need to shower before everyone else wakes up."

  "Car seats?" she asked him sweetly, and he nodded.

  "Let's go. I'll be right back, Soph."

  "Bye, Sophie," Maddie said to her step-daughter, and left.

  "Bye, Maddie!" Sophie called after her.

  Maddie helped Rob pull the babies' car seats out of the SUV and put them in the garage. She gave him a quick kiss. "See you in a couple of hours."

  "We'll be here." He waved.

  She headed for the airport in Oklahoma City.

  Her parents' plane was on schedule, and she found them easily at the gate.

  "Hi!" She hugged her father, and then her mother.

  "Hello, sweetheart," Michael gave her a big hug. "You look great!"

  "You, too! You feeling all right?"

  "Fine, just fine," he replied.

  "Mom." Maddie hugged her. "You look great, as always."

  "Thank you, honey. We're so glad to be here."

  "It's going to be fun." Maddie nodded. "Do you have luggage?"

  "No," Michael said. "Just our carry-ons. We didn't want to fight the traffic at the baggage counter."

  "Great." Maddie grabbed her mother's rolling suitcase. "Let's go then. I can't wait for you to see the kids."

  "I can't believe it's been over a year since we've been here," Meg said as they headed out. "Stacie was just born, and her birthday was, when?"

  "March," Maddie said. "It's been a year and a half, Mom." />
  "Time flies." Meg shook her head.

  Maddie led them to the parking lot. "I found a pretty good spot here." She pushed the button on her keys and unlocked the doors to the SUV. "We'll put your things in the back." She lifted her mother's suitcase in, and Michael put his in next to it. "Great." Maddie slammed the hatch door, and went around to get in.

  Meg said, "You ride up front with Maddie, I'll sit back here."

  Michael got in the front seat, and Maddie waited until they'd adjusted their seat belts before she drove.

  "Mild weather," her dad said.

  "Yeah, it's been really nice. Rob had to mow the lawn this week. Sometimes we have snow by now, but not this year."

  "It's cold at home," he said. "It was in the forties yesterday."

  "Wow. We had seventies. The only bad thing is, the bugs hang on when it's so warm. We still have mosquitoes and flies like crazy."

  "Yes, that's a drawback."

  Maddie hoped the trip home would go fast. They had almost exhausted talk about the weather. She needed the kids and Rob as a buffer for a longer conversation. It was strange, sometimes she could talk to her parents easily, and sometimes it was strained. This time felt a little strained. Maddie knew why, given their family history with Thanksgiving, but she'd hoped perhaps they were past that after nine years. Apparently not.

  Meg chimed in with some conversation and they made the forty minute trip home without too much awkwardness. Rob and the children were out front to greet them, and he gave her mother a polite hug before he handed Stacie over.

  "Look at you," Meg cooed at the baby. "Michael, doesn't she look just like Maddie did at that age?"

  "Very much so." He picked up Sam and put his hand on Sophie's head. "You," he told Sophie, "need to color me another picture. I've worn the last one out showing it off to everyone at my office."

  "Okay," she agreed.

  Rob moved closer and shook hands with Maddie's father. "How was the trip, Sir?"

  "Not bad, not bad. We thought it would be much more crowded this time of year, but we got through just fine."

  "We're glad to finally be here, though," Meg added. "It's been a long day."

  "Please, come inside. I'll get your bags." Rob opened the back door of the SUV.

  Maddie hurried to his side. "I'll help you." She pulled out one suitcase while Rob got the other. Her parents went in ahead of them with the children, and Maddie whispered to her husband, "God, help me! We discussed the weather and the wheat crop for forty minutes!"