Mark of the Wiseman (The Wiseman Series Book 1)

by Hightower, R. Caresse

  “The number on her arm matched the ID for the last embryo we tested. It was the one that survived the longest and allowed me to fix the viability problem.”

  “What about the other girls?”

  “They’ve been discharged. I don’t know where they are.”

  “My heart goes out to Iris, it really does, but I think being our nanny is a bit extreme… and unnecessary. I don’t work and we already have Agnes.”

  William gave her a look. “Surely, we won’t stop with just one child. I thought you wanted a houseful.”

  “I did. I mean I do.”

  “We have three more embryos.”

  “Even if we do have more babies, I’d like to interview my own nannies. People with references. People who speak English.”

  “Demetri already said he could work with her over spring break and summer.”

  “I get it, it’s just… this is a little too close for comfort.”

  “If she doesn’t find work here, Agent Roswell will send her back to Laos. She’s nineteen. Her parents are dead and her aunt beats her.” Iris never said that, but William felt an embellishment wouldn’t hurt. “She wants to stay here and if she worked for us, I know she’d be safe.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Just meet her, okay? Don’t make any decisions until after you meet her.”

  “This is pointless. I can’t sacrifice the safety of my child just because you feel you owe this girl something.”

  “Promise me, you’ll at least meet her.”

  Eve flung her hands in the air, then let them fall onto the cushions with a thud. “Fine, I’ll meet her, but I’m not making any more promises.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Eve and Iris regarded one another as Agnes served tea in the living room. Eve felt she should have been more mindful when she dressed this morning. She wore a pair of diamond earrings and a gauzy, haute couture maternity dress. Iris was in a thin grey shirt, a long, brown skirt and clogs with a pair of white socks.

  It was hard not to stare at the girl. She was nearly all skin and bones after her lengthy hospital stay. Iris had pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail, but several strands had escaped and were sprouting out of her head like fine spider legs.

  William sat next to Eve on one sofa and Demetri sat next to Iris on the other. Eve picked up her teacup. “I guess we should get started.”

  Demetri translated and Iris smiled and nodded. Eve looked down at her list of questions. How flexible is your schedule? What is your most recent position? Why are you no longer working there? Do you have any formal childcare training? When are you able to start?

  Eve folded the piece of paper and laid it on the cushion beside her. She wasn’t sure whom she should address, Demetri or Iris. She smiled at Iris.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

  Iris spoke.

  “She says she feels much better,” Demetri said. “Getting stronger every day.”

  “Good.” Eve fiddled with her wedding band. “Good. Um, so have you taken care of many children before?”

  Demetri translated and waited for Iris to answer.

  “She says she quit school to take care of her cousins.”

  “Quit school?” Eve asked.

  Demetri translated. “Yes. I tried to stay in school, but my aunt made me quit when she had her last baby. I couldn’t get my school work done and take care of them.”

  “How far did you get in school?”

  “I did very well. I can read and write. My teacher said I was very smart.” Demetri leaned in. “And on a personal note, just speaking with her these past few weeks, I can tell that Iris is very bright. She picks up things very quickly.”

  Eve nodded. “How many children did you care for, Iris? What kind of things did you have to do?”

  “Everything,” was Iris’s answer. “I had to care for the babies, clean the clothes, make dinner, keep the house clean, keep my cousins out of trouble. Six cousins.”

  “Six? How old were you?”

  She shrugged. “I was just a girl.”

  Eve wanted to remind her that she was still relatively just a girl. “Did you have friends?”

  “No time for friends.”

  “Did your aunt not help?”

  “Not usually. She said that since she took me in, I owed her.”

  Eve shifted in her seat. “Owed her what?”

  “Whatever she asked. Make the padaek, scrub the floor, bathe the children. If she hadn’t taken me in, I would have been homeless.”

  “What’s a padaek?” Agnes chimed from behind Eve.

  “It’s like a fermented fish sauce,” Demetri said.

  Agnes scrunched up her face. “Ew.”

  Eve cleared her throat. “Iris, do you enjoy taking care of kids?”

  “It’s hard, but yes. They are fun and cute and loving.”

  “What do you enjoy most?”

  “Teaching, I think,” Demetri translated. “It’s nice to know that they know things because of me. I was there when they learned to walk and said their first words. I even taught the oldest how to read a little. She didn’t go to school at all.”

  “How comfortable are you with sick children or children with injuries?”

  “I’ve bandaged cuts and put salve on bruises. I know what to do if a child has a fever, and I saved one of my cousin’s from choking. Sometimes, they had nightmares and I would sing to them.”

  Just as Demetri finished talking, Iris unexpectedly started singing. She had a melodic, soft voice that somehow reminded Eve of… glitter: shimmering, luminous and beautiful. Eve had no idea what the words meant, but the sound filled her with warmth. She could see how a child, scared in the night, would be soothed by it. Iris sang a few lines and ended the song.

  “Well, that was different,” Agnes said.

  Eve turned around. “Will you get the lemon tarts, please?”

  Agnes seemed to sense the gentle admonishment. As she walked away, she said, “I didn’t say it was bad. I just said it was different.”

  Eve turned her attention back to Iris. “That was beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How do you feel about discipline?”

  Iris twisted her lips into a thoughtful expression before answering. “I do think that children should be obedient because it keeps them safe, and they will grow up to be good adults, but I know what it’s like to be too mean to a child. They should have freedom to have fun too.”

  Eve twisted her wedding band around her finger. She wondered if, had she really been pregnant, the band would go around so easily. Would her hands be swollen? Did anyone else in the room think she should look bigger?

  “Eve?” William said.

  “Sorry.” She started to cross her legs, but thought better of it. This was only the third time she’d worn her prosthetic belly, and she was still trying to get acclimated with what to do and what not to do.

  “Are you alright?” William asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine.”

  She was relieved when Agnes came in and distracted the room with a tray of lemon tarts. While they exchanged light banter, Eve tried to imagine what it would have been like to live Iris’s life. The girl, who had lost both of her parents, became an indentured servant in her own family, was kidnapped and nearly killed, sat across from her, smiling.

  Iris held the little tartlet filled with lemon curd in her small, delicate hands like a hot chocolate on a cold day. With Demetri by her side, she engaged in conversation with William and Agnes.

  Iris’s smile was genuine, not strained like the interviewees before her. Those women were well-mannered and handed over impeccable resumes, but were also incredibly boring and impossible to get to know. Knowing who Eve’s husband was made them eager to put on just the right face to be employed by the Wisemans.

  Eve interrupted the laughter from a joke she’d just missed. “Demetri?”

  “Yes, Eve?”

  “Ask Iris if she actua
lly wants to work here.”

  “Sweetie,” William said. “If she didn’t want to work here, she wouldn’t be here. We asked her that at the hospital.”

  Eve got up and sat down next to Iris. She spoke to Demetri, but kept her eyes fastened on Iris’s.

  “There’s a difference between wanting to do something and feeling that you must. I think it’s time that, for once, she gets to make a decision about her life. She doesn’t have to be a nanny. Tell her that we’ll help her get whatever she wants, whether she takes the job or not.”

  Demetri looked at William inquisitively.

  William lifted a shoulder. “The lady of the house has spoken.”

  Demetri translated for Iris.

  “She wants to know where she will live,” Demetri said.

  “Here, just like Agnes,” Eve replied.

  Iris spoke again.

  “And she wants to know if she can finish school.”

  “Yes,” Eve said. “Demetri can help you for a while, and when you’re ready, we’ll see about community college.”

  Demetri translated.

  Iris, still holding her half-eaten tart, smiled. In heavily-accented English, she said to Eve, “I… stay… with you.”

  After Iris’s paperwork was completed, she returned to the Wiseman house. With Demetri and Agnes in tow, Eve gave Iris a thorough tour of the house, ending in the kitchen.

  Demetri checked his watch. “Well, ladies, it’s been fun, but it’s time for me to go. I’ll be here tomorrow, say around eleven?”

  Eve was glad. All of the translating had given her a headache. “That will be fine. Thanks for today. We really appreciated it.”

  Demetri said goodbye to everyone and left.

  Agnes looked at Eve. “So now what?”

  Eve shrugged. “It’s almost lunchtime.” She turned to Iris. “Are you hungry?”

  Iris smiled.

  Eve had never been great at charades, but that was all she had right now. Through a series of ridiculous hand gestures, Eve asked Iris if she was hungry. Iris nodded.

  “She’s hungry,” Eve announced.

  Agnes looked at Iris. “What does she eat?”

  “I guess you don’t know any Lao dishes, do you?”

  Agnes pursed her lips.

  “Okay, we can do this,” Eve said. She got a pen and a pad out of one of the drawers and drew a bird, an onion, and a bowl of steaming soup.

  Agnes pointed at Eve’s bird. “What in the world is that thing?”

  “A chicken.”

  “Oh my goodness.”

  Eve studied her drawing. “It looks like a chicken.”

  Agnes shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.”

  Eve showed the paper to Iris, gesticulating. “Would you… like a bowl… of chicken soup?”

  Iris cocked her head to the side and pointed to Eve’s chicken curiously. “Baw kao jai.”

  “See?” Agnes said. “Look at her face. She has no idea what that thing is. Let me try.”

  Agnes proceeded to flap her arms and strut around the kitchen. Eve had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Iris still looked confused.

  “A chicken, honey,” Agnes said loudly. “A chicken. Like this… cluck, cluck, bwak!”

  Iris burst into giggles. “Gai.” Then she pointed to Eve’s drawing. “Yes… please.”

  Agnes pulled out a pot and opened the refrigerator. “Let’s get this little party started.”

  While Agnes cooked, Eve pointed out objects in the dining room that Iris repeated after her. The three women sat at the bar in the kitchen and ate soup. Eve noticed that Iris’s eyelids were getting heavy. She mimed sleeping and took Iris up to the guest quarters across the hall from the nursery. She pointed out the bathroom and handed Iris the television remote in case she wanted some ambient noise. That always helped Eve sleep in unfamiliar places.

  She pointed to her watch, tugged at her own clothes, then pointed to Iris. “Tomorrow, we will get some new clothes for you, okay?”

  Eve wasn’t sure Iris understood, but the girl nodded anyway. Eve pointed to herself and then the floor. “I will be downstairs.” Iris nodded again.

  Eve bumped into Agnes as she was closing Iris’s door. Agnes tried to soften the collision by holding out her hands, which resulted in her momentarily holding Eve’s protruding prosthesis. Agnes’s eyes darted to Eve’s stomach before she snatched her hands away.

  “I’m sorry, Mrs. Wiseman.” She stole another glance at Eve’s belly and gave her a shaky smile. “I was going to get a comforter for Iris.”

  “Oh, of course.”

  Eve watched Agnes continue down the hall to the linen closet. Agnes kept her eyes on the carpet as she returned to Iris’s room.

  “I’m going back downstairs,” Eve said.

  Agnes half turned toward Eve, but did not look at her. “Okay. I’ll be down to clean up in a minute.”

  Eve lingered a moment to see if Agnes wanted to walk back down together.

  After Agnes put the comforter at the foot of Iris’s bed, she said, “I’m going to make sure the bathroom has towels and toothpaste.”

  Eve hesitated. “Okay.” She turned and walked down the hallway, knowing that Agnes had already checked Iris’s bathroom earlier that morning.

  In July, Eve’s sister threw an elaborate baby shower. Marissa hired a professional photographer and decorated the entire first floor in blue, cream, and silver.

  Marissa handed Eve another gift. “So, little sis, how was your hospital tour?”

  Eve was careful to keep her eyes on the box she was unwrapping. Ever since she announced her “pregnancy,” Marissa had been hovering and fussing over every detail. Because they spent so much time together, Eve had to make sure to play her role flawlessly. The back pain and swollen ankles were no problem, as the belly she wore was big, heavy and really did cause discomfort.

  “It was fine,” Eve said, “but William and I have recently changed our minds.”

  “About…?”

  “We would like to have the baby here.”

  Marissa looked around. “Here? In the house?”

  “Yeah. We’re going to have a nurse-midwife. I want a natural, home birth.”

  Marissa scooted closer to her and lowered her voice. “Okay. How do I ask this nicely? Are you out of your damn mind?”

  Eve gave a weak laugh, and looked around the room.

  A lady who worked with William chimed in. “I had both of my kids naturally. It was so rewarding! It’s like you’re really there, in the moment, you know? When you bring your kids into the world, you really just want to be present.”

  Marissa rolled her eyes. “Present? I wanted someone to hit me in the head with a hammer.”

  “Oh.” The lady shook her head. “There is nothing like feeling the delivery.”

  Marissa snorted. “You got that right.”

  Eve tried to subdue her sister with a pat on the knee.

  “Seriously. What do you get for having a baby without an epidural? A cookie? Please.”

  Eve pasted a grin on her face and tried to speak without moving her lips. “Can we talk about this later?”

  Marissa flung her hand up, abandoning her objections. Several people cooed as Eve opened a box and extracted a baby food maker.

  “Thank you, Kenya,” Eve called out.

  Kenya, one of the Junior League members, lifted her cupcake. “You’re welcome. You can steam, blend, warm, and defrost in the same container. No preservatives!”

  Eve ignored Marissa’s groan. “Write, please.”

  Marissa returned her attention to the gift registry and wrote down the gift and the giver.

  “Have you thought of a name yet?” Kenya asked.

  “Will and I have decided on Garvey.”

  There was an agreeable murmur among the women. When the gathering broke up to enjoy the three-piece band and more hors d’oeuvres, Marissa gave Eve her “explain” look.

  Eve shifted in the chair. “What? I want a healthy baby
without all of the drugs and toxins, and I want to have him here where it’s comfortable and peaceful.”

  “You’ve watched me sweat and scream through four deliveries firsthand. I think you know that there will be absolutely nothing peaceful about it. You need drugslots of themand a real doctor. And who is going to clean up after it’s all done? Have you thought this through at all?”

  “Plenty of women have natural childbirths.” Eve wanted to laugh at her own words. This birth would hardly be natural.

  “Your tree-hugger friends have you brainwashed into thinking you can zen your way through this labor and delivery. Honey, there is going to be an Amtrak train ramming through your insides next month. Now I don’t mean to scare you, but you need to think about this. You’ve worked really hard for this little guy,” Marissa gently patted Eve’s belly and Eve tensed, “and I don’t feel comfortable with you being so far away from emergency care.”

  Eve fought the urge to swat Marissa’s hand. “We’ve already made the arrangements. Don’t worry.”

  “Mom is not going to like this at all.”

  Eve glanced at her mother, who was talking to Iris across the room. “Mom will get over it.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Marissa followed Eve’s gaze. “How’s Iris working out?”

  “So far, so good. She helps Agnes when she’s not having lessons with Demetri. She’s a quick study. Her English is getting pretty good.”

  “Seems like a lot of trouble. Why didn’t you just ask the agency to send someone who already spoke English?”

  Eve stacked up some of her gift boxes. “I just wanted something different, I guess.”

  Marissa raised her eyebrows. “Well, you got it.”

  “When was the last time you spoke to Iris?”

  “Never really. Demetri helped me through a few exchanges when you first hired her.”

  “You should go over and speak to her. She’s a bright girl. Sweet too.” Eve stood. “I’m going to get some punch.”

  “I’ll get it for you.”

  “No, I can” Eve felt the singe on her hand before she heard the crash.

  “Oh my God!” Marissa screamed.

  Eve didn’t see Agnes walking by with a teapot of hot water. She collided with the tray, spilling hot water all down her front.