Vetted Again

by K'Anne Meinel

  “Sandra is a far cry from that thief...what was his name?”

  Fey didn’t want to remember the name of the man her wife had been forced to kill. In fact, she’d love if she could forget the whole incident. It wasn’t every day that you shot and killed thieves hell bent on stealing your ranch. While she didn’t regret her actions, she didn’t want to dwell on them either. Others found it exciting, even heroic, but she found it a necessarily evil. She shrugged as she buckled her safety belt and started the SUV.

  Fey drove home so carefully she was certain her wife was going to complain, but Allyssa was too tired to notice, and she was busy listening avidly for the cries of their babies. Their babies...What an amazing thing that was. They had one more baby than they planned for, but she didn’t mind. She only hoped she could cope with the extra work. That part worried her the most.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The next few days were chaotic as they attempted to get into a routine. Their best laid plans went awry when the three babies would set each other off. One would cry, waking the other two, then all would demand attention.

  “I don’t have enough arms,” Allyssa cried, fighting her emotions and hormones at the same time. She was also experiencing a growing sense of panic and feeling overwhelmed by the amount of work the babies generated. It seemed to be never-ending.

  Fey was fighting her own demons—desperately worrying about getting back to work and generating an income while wondering how in hell Allyssa was going to cope with the three babies on her own. She did everything she could to make things easier on her wife, figuring the two weeks’ head start she had would give her some insight. It didn’t. Their lives were chaos, tinged by a lack of sleep, and with no sign of organization in sight. They were both hormonal and working hard not to fight with each other or take their frustrations out on one another. But even the politeness was starting to grate on their nerves.

  Allyssa managed to call both her parents and her sister to tell them the news before she blogged about it. The post about the three babies garnered more attention than any previous post from their followers, most of whom were clients. The outpouring of love and appreciation for the vet and her wife more than made up for the disapproval Allyssa received from her own family.

  “How in the world are you going to cope with all that, I’d like to know, Allyssa?” her mother started in on her.

  How about, ‘Congratulations, I’m so proud of you?’ thought Allyssa as she cowered mentally from her mother’s berating. “We’ll figure it out,” she told her.

  “And how will you ever afford it?” she wondered. “You aren’t dipping into that rescue, are you? That’s illegal you know?”

  “No, Mother. We wouldn’t do something like that,” she said, shocked at the suggestion. Never in her life would she consider stealing from the good people who donated funds to help feed and care for the horses. Even Fey’s fees had been waived; she did her work for free. The only things they charged on the books they kept for the 501(c) were the medicines Fey used, as well as the feed they gave them. Every dime that came into the rescue was accounted for. She got off the phone with her mother as soon as she could, but her sister wasn’t much better.

  “Three babies, Allyssa. Showing off a bit, aren’t you?” her sister asked, sounding a bit nasty. Her sister’s baby was teething and making her life hell, and she was taking it out on her little sister.

  “No, I’m not. Twins were not in our plans, but it’s not like I can return them, can I?” she asked drolly, wishing she hadn’t called her mother or her sister. The only reason she had called them was because she thought it would be rude to let them find out about the babies from reading her blog. She cut this conversation short too.

  Her father was the only one who showed any sign of support. “Well, Sweet Pea, you’ve bitten off a bit more than you can chew there, haven’t you? Can I send you anything? Do you need baby clothes? Diapers? Money?”

  “Thank you, Daddy. If you want to send anything for the babies, it will be greatly appreciated.”

  “Those are great names,” he said when she told him. “I bought the books, and I’m reading up on the Herriot family. That’s a nice gesture naming the babies after Fey’s ancestors.”

  “Oh, you got that already?” she asked, surprised. Then she recalled her own reaction to finding out Erin had been a woman and Fey’s great-great-grandparents had been two women.

  “Oh, yes,” he answered, chuckling. “This Molly sounds like a proper terror of a woman, who knew her own mind. This is strong writing, and I’m pleased to read it. Fey comes from good stock,” he said, complimenting her. Allyssa felt better already. “I’ll be sending you a package. If you need anything, Sweet Pea, please let me know?”

  “Thank you, Daddy. I will,” she assured him as she got off the phone. A few days later, a check for several thousand dollars arrived along with a bond in all three children’s names and a large carton of diapers for newborns. Fey was pleased to see her wife so happy after her phone calls with her mother and sister had been so dismal. She’d known at the shower that they hadn’t approved, but they had been invited and included anyway. She wondered how they would behave as the children grew up. At least Bob appreciated his namesake. Maybe that was Helen’s problem, she didn’t like that her grandson was named after her ex-husband?

  Clients were all bringing little bundles by. Everyone seemed to understand how much newborns pooped, and the number of garbage bags that had to go into town because they couldn’t be burned out at the ranch were growing. Plastic diapers were the worst things for the environment. Allyssa had thought she would use cloth diapers, but with three newborns it simply wasn’t practical; they’d be doing laundry all the time. They even received a package from the Robinson Vet Clinic where Fey and Allyssa had met and where they worked together for a while.

  A week after Fey and Allyssa wearily returned from the babies’ first checkup and their own postpartum checkups, they received a phone call that surprised them both.

  “Allyssa, this Hispanic woman has called several times today,” Renee told her. “She insists she will only talk to you, and she won’t leave a number.”

  “Did she leave a name?” Allyssa asked, concerned it might be one of the 4-H moms or one of their clients.

  “Mrs. Hernandez?” she said, mangling the Spanish-sounding name.

  “I don’t know a Mrs. Hernandez,” she said thoughtfully, trying but failing to recall if she had heard that name before.

  “She says she knows you and will only speak with you. She’s called every hour since you two left for the clinic.”

  They’d been gone over three hours. They’d had to stop at the bank and all five of them had gotten their checkups at the clinic. It had been a very tiresome and time-consuming trip. Just then, the phone rang again. The caller ID showed a number out of Colorado.

  “Hello. This is the Herriot Vet Clinic. How may I direct your call?” Allyssa said tiredly into the phone.

  “Allyssa? Ms. Allyssa?” the heavily-accented voice came through the line.

  “Juanita?” she asked to be sure, recognizing the voice.

  “Yes. Si. It’s me, Ms. Allyssa,” she said, pleased that she recognized her.

  “Is everything okay, Juanita?” she asked, concerned. Juanita had never called her. They’d exchanged letters, Christmas and Easter cards, but that was all.

  “Si, everything she is fine,” she answered, smiling into the phone. “I see by your computer post that you have your babies.”

  Allyssa smiled. Juanita must have signed up for her blog after she saw her so long ago at her niece’s baptism party. She’d had to explain how to sign up in a letter, and she was pleased Juanita had obviously read it. “Yes, I had the twins, and my wife had Erin two weeks earlier.”

  “You have your hands full there, yes?” she asked, almost hesitantly.

  “Oh, yes. We have our hands full,” she repeated back, seeing Fey frowning and obviously trying to figure out who she wa
s talking to. Fey had put Erin down after feeding him. He’d been starving when they returned from their outing. The twins were in their carrying baskets on the living room floor, sort of dozing.

  “You need help? You need housekeeper? Maybe I help you tend those babies?”

  Allyssa mind was tired, but Jaunita’s questions caused her to sit up straight and a lightbulb went off in her head. “I’m not sure we could afford to pay you much at first, Juanita. We have a lot of expenses with the business and–”

  “I not mind, Ms. Allyssa. I just want to get out of Denver, and you know me, you know my work.”

  “Is everything okay, Juanita? You aren’t hurt? You aren’t in any trouble?”

  Suddenly, Fey realized who Juanita was. Allyssa had long ago explained how important Juanita had been to her growing up. Hearing what her wife was saying to the woman, Fey realized this might be the answer to their prayers...they needed help.

  “Everything, she is just fine,” Juanita assured her. “We work out pay, and I have a place to stay? I take care of your babies?”

  Allyssa noticed her accent had thickened. She’d always spoken good English, so she must be excited or something. Her words were choppier than she remembered. “I need to talk it over with my wife...” she began but Fey was shaking her head.

  “Tell her to come,” she whispered. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “Are you sure?” she whispered back, putting her hand on the phone, so they could have a private conversation.

  “Ms. Allyssa?” Juanita asked, afraid she had been disconnected when the sound stopped.

  “Juanita, Fey says you are to come. There is a bus to Pendleton, but we live near Sweetwater. You let me know when you are coming, and we will meet you!”

  “I can come? You’ll hire me?”

  “You bet we will,” she assured her former housekeeper, knowing she would be excellent help for them both. “We’ll figure things out when you get here, okay?”

  “Okay, Ms. Allyssa. You tell that wife of yours I thank you both.” She rang off a few minutes later, reassuring Allyssa that she would call when she had the bus details.

  “Can you beat that?” she said wonderingly as she looked at her wife. “How can we afford to pay her?” she asked, already worried over their stretched finances.

  “Renee told me today that she was going to take a full-time job in Sweetwater. She and her boyfriend might be on the outs and she needs to be sure she can support herself. Since we are on a break from work with our maternity leave, she’s having financial worries of her own. We can apply what we paid her to what we will pay Juanita.”

  “That won’t be nearly enough, will it?” Allyssa worried.

  “We will have to figure out how much a housekeeper gets paid.”

  “And a nanny,” Allyssa murmured, thinking ahead. With the money her father had sent and the cellular check, they could nearly pay off their car loan, knocking that debt down to just a few thousand. They would have a check from Brock for his rental too, and he was planning on expanding all his fields. And Fey wanted to rent out their northern acreage, maybe they could find a grazer after the roundup. Maybe some of those cattle and horses would fetch a good price? All together, they should be in pretty good shape, although that was a lot of maybes and ifs. She looked down at the twins, and she hoped they could do it.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Fey drove to Portland to pick up her father, but she had to do it in two stages. She had to stop halfway to express her milk and put the bottles in the cooler Allyssa had had the foresight to supply her with. The trip was too long for her on her own, but the cost of having her father brought back to the ranch by medical transport was too high. She drove the Jeep, pleased that Allyssa and the kids had taken the time to clean it thoroughly in anticipation of the trip. It looked like it had been professionally detailed.

  “Can’t tell you how happy I am to be getting out of this place,” Keith assured his daughter. “You didn’t bring my grandchildren?” he asked, disappointed. He’d been looking forward to seeing them after reading the blog where Allyssa posted pictures of the five of them at the hospital as well as many individual pictures.

  “The trip was just too much for the babies,” she told him as she let the orderly walk him out while she carried his suitcase. She’d had to buy him some clothes since his were burned up in the explosion. It was proved that the explosion was arson, but they couldn’t prove who was responsible. Still, she knew in her heart her stepbrothers were responsible.

  “Oh, yeah. I forget they are only about a month old,” he said jovially, almost too jovially. Fey looked at him closely. His color hadn’t improved. Even on Skype she had been worried that he still looked ill. He was pasty white and looked like he had been sweating. His doctor warned him to take it easy. With so much damage to his internal organs, he needed to rest and heal for months, but he could rest on the ranch just as easily as in a home.

  “We have to make sure he doesn’t move around a lot and does nothing strenuous. He no longer has a spleen, and both his liver and kidney were bruised badly, so he needs lots of rest,” the doctor advised.

  “He can manage stairs?” she asked, worried. They had had the guest bedroom made up for him after Althea left, putting off their nursery indefinitely.

  “Yes, if he holds the rail, but I would suggest someone walk with him to be on the safe side.”

  “Let me know when you need to stop,” she cautioned her father. “I have to express some more milk somewhere along this trip anyway,” she told her father.

  “Expel milk?” he asked before he realized what she meant. He flushed in embarrassment when he realized his daughter was talking about breastfeeding. He dropped the subject then, settling into the front seat of the Jeep. “We’re going to have to sell my car,” he said, remembering it had been towed away. “I won’t be able to afford the impound fees.”

  “I already arranged for that,” she told him. “I knew it was probably a write-off, and I contacted your insurance company on your behalf when you were still unconscious.” She didn’t tell him it was Allyssa who had handled it for them. She’d gotten into a ruckus with the insurance company since she didn’t really have any legal right to the car, but Fey, as his oldest daughter, applied additional pressure. Rosemary’s car was a total write-off since it had been parked in the driveway next to the house, and he had gotten a check for it as well. “Didn’t you get the checks?”

  “Oh, is that what that extra was for? I didn’t understand, and I didn’t dare cash them for fear they had made a mistake,” he answered, feeling confused.

  Fey wasn’t used to her father being this scatterbrained. She had noticed his confusion on Skype but had put it down to the distance and the unfamiliar technology. He wasn’t so old that he shouldn’t be able to handle it, but who knew how much damage he had really received. All his months in the home hadn’t improved his physical appearance much either, but at least the abrasions had healed.

  “Could we go by the house?”

  “I understand it’s just a fenced off hole in the ground,” she said, reluctant to drive across Portland. He asked again, and she turned west instead of east on the freeway, making her way to the site of his former home. They sat across the street for a long time until he finally asked her to leave.

  “I’ve seen enough,” he said sadly. About half an hour later, he started to sob uncontrollably. Fey pulled onto an off ramp, concerned, and she held her father until he could pull himself together. “I wasn’t there for her,” he said sadly through his sobs.

  Fey was shocked. She had felt guilty about feeling relieved that Rosemary was dead. She knew it wasn’t nice but that woman hadn’t been very nice. She had thought her father would be relieved to be out of that marriage, but here he was, sobbing over the woman who had made his life a living hell. She didn’t know what to say to him. He hadn’t been much of a father to her, but he was still her father. She figured saying nothing was the best comfort she could give him. S
he let him go when he pulled himself back up in his seat and fell asleep almost instantly, at least he pretended to. She got back on the freeway and two hours later pulled into a rest stop, so she could pump her breasts.

  “Fey, are you in there?” her father called from the doorway after she had been in the restroom a while.

  “Yeah, Dad. I’m pumping,” she called back, embarrassed as it echoed in the concrete bathroom.

  “Oh, I wondered what was taking so long. No hurry,” he said, and turned away, not saying another word. He’d locked himself out of the Jeep and had to wait for her to come out. He was sitting on a bench under an overhang, keeping out of the rain that was falling. “All done?” he asked cheerfully, trying not to glance at her breasts, which had never been so big before.

  “Yep, just have to pack this away,” she said, showing him the pump and three bottles of milk.

  “Uh huh,” he said, embarrassed but unsure why he was embarrassed. He hurriedly got in the Jeep after Fey unlocked the door, then she reached for the cooler.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked him as she started up the Jeep.

  “I could eat,” he admitted, so she stopped at a drive through before getting back on the freeway.

  As they munched on hamburgers, drank strawberry shakes, and shared a large order of fries, she told him about his grandchildren.

  “So, even though Allyssa gave birth to the twins, they are still a brother and sister to my grandson, right?”

  “They are all your grandchildren,” she gently corrected him. She knew it would hurt Allyssa if she heard he thought they weren’t.

  “You named them after my great-grandparents?”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “Did you get the books Allyssa sent?”

  “Yes, they are very pretty. I love the view of the ranch and the valley,” he admitted. “The books are in my suitcase.”

  “Did you ever regret moving away from the ranch?”