Elizabeth's Daughter

by Thea Thomas

  “Oh?” Elizabeth asked. “What is that?”

  “Married people have a higher priority for adopting than single people.”

  “Really? You mean, I’m good enough to be a foster parent, but not good enough to be a real parent?” Elizabeth curled her finger nails into her palms. Stay calm, she told herself. Stay calm. “I’ve already given Amy a good home. My being married wouldn’t necessarily make it any better.””

  “Infallible logic,” Mrs. Vargas agreed. “I’m just giving you the facts. When the adoption committee makes adoptive decisions, married people come before single people, given everything else being equal, and babies, of course, are the most adoptable.”

  “After Amy’s surgery, she’ll be... highly adoptable.”

  Mrs. Vargas agreed. “Assuming everything goes well.”

  “Of course everything will go well,” Elizabeth could feel tears threatening. “Of course everything will.”

  Mrs. Vargas smiled at Elizabeth. “Foster parents occasionally form strong attachments to a child, Elizabeth. It’s the worst part of the job, some people just aren’t cut out for it. I hope you’ll be tough enough to deal with it when the time comes. Let me say again that your home is an excellent foster home. You and Gail make a wonderful team.”

  Elizabeth nodded, feeling far away. She wanted to be alone. “ But I don’t consider foster parenting a ‘job.’ Loving Amy has been the most fulfilling experience of my life.” She stood and reached her hand across Mrs. Vargas’ desk. “Thanks for hearing me out.”

  “You’re welcome,” Mrs. Vargas returned Elizabeth’s firm handshake. “So, let’s see,” she glanced down at a calendar on her desk. “it looks like Amy goes into surgery next Thursday. I’ll probably see you in the hospital.”

  Elizabeth nodded and left the office.

  When she got home, she recited to Gail the essence of her conversation with Mrs. Vargas, but for the first time ever, she didn’t feel like listening to Gail’s practical logic. She only felt as though her child was soon to be taken from her. She felt silent and protective. After she fed Amy her supper, she took her upstairs and played quietly with her on the bed until they both fell asleep.

  The next day at work she let the telephone ring and ring, she couldn’t seem to hear it. And she’d been there for two hours without even saying hello to Tony.

  Tony came to the door of his office. “Elizabeth, Elizabeth!”

  She looked up.

  “I’d like to speak with you.”

  She dragged herself into his office.

  “For heavens sake, Elizabeth, what’s wrong with you?”

  “Nothing Tony. I... I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” She didn’t even see him, her eyes focussed somewhere beyond the far wall.

  “Well, what?” She heard his exasperation.

  “Oh, Tony, you’re not the only person living and breathing. There are others of us out here, and sometimes we have problems.”

  Tony softened. “I’m sorry, Liz. I don’t express myself very well, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have sincere feelings for you. Please, talk to me.”

  For some reason, Elizabeth let the gates open and poured out the whole story... how she was sure she was about to lose Amy simply because she wasn’t married, and how unfair it seemed.

  Tony glided around his desk and took both her hands in his.

  “Lizzie, is that all that’s bothering you?” he asked softly.

  “Is that all? I guess you don’t have any idea what Amy means to me.”

  “Yes, I do, I can see it. And I have the solution to your problem. I’ve been trying to get closer to you, but you’ve been so busy with the baby. But now... Elizabeth... “ he raised her left hand to his lips and kissed her ring finger, this is a terrible environment for this question but will you, would you consider marrying me?”

  Elizabeth looked up into Tony’s eyes, completely stunned. “Marry you?” she said, trying to understand if she’d heard correctly.

  “Yes.”

  “But... but....”

  “But what? This is not the setting I had in mind, and, yes, it’s sudden, but, well, the end result is the same.”

  “But, Tony, do you really want to be married, and with a child and... and... everything?”

  Tony hesitated for a moment, then let his guard down. “I’ve never known a woman like you, Elizabeth. You make everyone around you comfortable and happy. I’ve watched you work with clients, and in the most natural way, you’re aware of their needs and intuitively fulfill their wishes. You get people into the home they desire. I have to work so hard to do that. I’ll never meet a woman who has more of everything I could hope to find in one person.” H kissed her finger-tips. “I think the child is adorable. And you have what’s-her-name to help. Everyone can be made perfectly happy with one little word from you.”

  “You mean, ‘yes’?”

  “I mean yes.”

  “I have to think,” Elizabeth breathed deeply, feeling a bit faint. “Frankly, Tony, you just seem like... someone who would never marry.”

  “You’re wrong, Elizabeth. Maybe I seem like that because I’ve built up a wall. It’s true, I’ve believed there was no woman who could possibly touch my heart. But you have. You’re sweet, intelligent, kind and beautiful. But more important than all of that, you understand me. I think sometimes I don’t even understand myself – but you do. Can’t you see how everything would be perfect if you just said ‘yes’?”

  Amy’s dear little face came to mind. This would be the solution to everything. And she’d never seen Tony with his guard down. It was very attractive. “Yes,” she whispered, “I will marry you.”

  Tony leaned over and kissed her. And for the first time, Elizabeth allowed herself to kiss him in return. For the first time, she felt she trusted him.

  Chapter XVII

  That afternoon, after Tony had gone out to show some homes, Elizabeth sat at her desk vacillating between calling Gail and telling her about the engagement, and arguing with herself that it would be better to tell her in person.

  Peter, in his jogging togs, jogged into the office. Edna gave him her usual disapproving over-her-glasses look. And for once it amused Elizabeth.

  “Hi,” Peter said, dragging up a chair.

  “Hi,” Elizabeth returned, fairly bursting with the news, but not wanting Edna to hear... yet.

  “I came by to cheer you up, but you seem cheerful already. I’ve been a bit worried about you. Gail said you were really down.”

  “Oh she did, did she? She was only supposed to tell you Amy seems to be coming down with a cold.”

  “She did. And she said you were depressed, but that she couldn’t talk about it or you’d be angry.”

  “And I would have been if I’d known. But not today!”

  “No,” Peter agreed, “today you seem exceedingly cheerful. Why the big mood change?”

  “Because...” Elizabeth looked around her and then motioned Peter to follow her into Tony’s office. She closed the door.

  “I’ve been very depressed the last couple days because Mrs. Vargas told me I was unlikely to succeed in adopting Amy – which I want more than anything in life – because I’m not married. I’ve been miserable. Until this morning.”

  “Until this morning?”

  “Yes. When I told Tony the whole story, he proposed.”

  Peter’s mouth fell open. “Tony asked you to marry him?”

  “Yes!” The thrill of the words voiced by someone else and making it very real, swept over her. She was afraid she might begin to cry from happiness. “Oh, Peter, I’m so elated, it’s the solution to everything.”

  Peter stood, studying Elizabeth for a moment, then he finally said, “So... you accepted.”

  “I accepted. Now I can adopt Amy without complication.”

  “That’s the only reason you’re marrying Tony?”

  “Well, of course not. I just... I never imagined he felt the way he does about me. When he asked, I was stunned.
I argued with him. I told him I didn’t think he was the marrying kind. He told me I’m the only woman that has ever touched his heart. That he’s been trying to ask me to marry him for some while, but I’ve been so preoccupied with Amy, he couldn’t.”

  “Well then, Elizabeth,” Peter said quietly. “I’m happy if you’re happy. I hope this marriage provides everything you want and need. No one deserves it more than you.”

  He went to Elizabeth and hugged her. This was the first time they’d ever hugged and Elizabeth was stunned to find herself thinking how good his body felt. She pulled away from him, shy and flustered – after all, she was almost a married woman.

  Peter had a little frown between his brows.

  “Thank you Peter, thanks. I’ll need your friendship more now than ever.”

  “How’s that?” Peter asked. “You won’t need – or want – me around at all.”

  “Oh no, Peter, you’re my dear friend, I need you in my life. And Amy and Gail need you too.”

  “Uncle Beetie, that’s me,” Peter said quietly.

  “That’s right!” Elizabeth said cheerfully, opening Tony’s office door and edging back to her desk.

  After Peter left, Elizabeth was surprised to feel a sense of loss. Then she realized that no matter what she wanted to believe, Tony would never let Peter have the same place in her life that he had, until now, occupied, never mind that it was entirely platonic. Peter must have realized that immediately, which was why he became so quiet.

  She couldn’t deny that she’d miss Peter’s friendship. But Amy’s welfare came first.

  She left the office at four. Tony had not come back, but he’d called and made arrangements to take her out to dinner. She wanted to get home and tell Gail everything before Tony arrived.

  Gail and Amy were playing with blocks strewn all over the living room floor when Elizabeth got home.

  “Oh-oh!” Gail said. “Caught in the act! You’re early. I intended to have this place cleaned up before you got here.”

  “That’s okay,” Elizabeth picked her way among the blocks and swooped Amy up, Amy giggling. “I have big news.”

  “Big, happy news, apparently,” Gail observed, picking blocks up.

  “Don’t do that right now. Undivided attention, please!”

  “I can pick up blocks and listen,” Gail said, continuing to clean up.

  “Okay,” Elizabeth said. “I’m getting married.”

  Gail stopped picking up blocks. “WHAT?!”

  “I thought you could listen and work.”

  “But did I hear what I thought I heard?”

  “If you heard me say I’m getting married, you heard correctly.”

  “To whom? Peter! He called this morning, but I told him you’d already gone to work.”

  “No, not Peter. You just can’t let go of that notion, can you?”

  “Not readily.”

  “Tony, of course.”

  “Oh.”

  “ ‘Oh’? Thanks, Gail. How about ‘that’s great’?”

  “Well, certainly I hope you’ll be very happy.” Gail became quiet.

  “We’ll all be very happy. Just because you like Peter better than Tony doesn’t mean he’s someone I should marry, now does it?

  “If you’d seen how sensitive and responsive Tony was this morning, I know your opinion of him would change. I had no intention of telling him anything about the situation with Amy. But he insisted. He took me into his office and got the whole story out of me. He was so sweet and so romantic.” Elizabeth stood cuddling Amy. “He said he’d been wanting to get closer to me, he said that, although asking me to marry him was very sudden, he has wanted to for awhile.

  “Oh, come on Gail,” Elizabeth coaxed, “be happy for me! He may not be as verbal as Peter, but he is sweet and caring in his own way. Give us all a chance, Gail. Be on my side.”

  Gail shook her head. “It’s not part of my job specification to approve or disapprove people’s marital partners. Although I can’t help how I feel. I wonder what Peter will have to say about this?”

  “He came in this afternoon and I told him. He was shocked, he seemed depressed, sort of, too. But I realized that was because he understood more quickly than I did that our friendship will change, of course. I’m sorry about that too. But Amy comes first. Don’t you, Baby-face?” Elizabeth snuggled Amy close to her. “Just think, Gail, we’re bound to succeed in adopting Amy now.”

  “And that’s the reason you’re marrying Tony.”

  “You and Peter own the same recording, I see,” Elizabeth said. “As I told Peter, I never had an idea that Tony wanted to marry me. But of course that’s not the only reason I’m marrying Tony. We’ve been dating since we met. He’s so sweet when he lets his guard down. And... well, he needs me more than Peter needs me, even if Peter were interested in me in that way, which he’s not. Peter is so secure, so sure of himself. Tony, for all his cool facade, is fragile and needs love and attention.”

  “Maybe Peter is strong and would make a much better life-partner than Tony who is selfish and demanding,” Gail observed. “I don’t care how gorgeous Tony is, I wouldn’t marry him.”

  “Lucky you!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “You don’t have to, I am. But you’re still leaving out one fairly significant point. Tony asked me to marry him. Peter didn’t.”

  Gail nodded. “That’s true.”

  “So please, please like him. I want us to live in harmony.”

  “I do too, of course,” Gail agreed. “I have every intention of keeping disharmony as far from me as possible.”

  “Good! Tony’s taking me out to dinner tonight, we have to get all the details worked out. So I hope you don’t mind if I abandon you two to get ready.”

  “Go, Sleeping Beauty, leave us to our blocks, we’re fine. Aren’t we, Amy-Pet?”

  “Hah!” Amy agreed, as Elizabeth handed her back to Gail.

  Running upstairs she wondered why Gail called her Sleeping Beauty. She’d have to remember to ask later.

  When Tony came that evening, he had two bouquets of flowers, one for Elizabeth and one for Gail. He was polite and quiet and went out of his way to make conversation with Gail. As Elizabeth came down the stairs, she winked at Gail as if to say, “see how good he can be?”

  “Has Elizabeth told you the big news?” Tony asked Gail when Elizabeth came up alongside him.

  “Yes. But it still hasn’t quite sunken in yet.”

  Tony laughed congenially, flashing his brilliant teeth. “I guess we all feel that way!” He turned to Elizabeth. “You look lovely, my dear.”

  “Thanks, Tony.” She’d worn another of her mother’s outfits, a dark blue velvet dress with a fitted bodice and gored skirt and a wide off-white lace collar.

  “Shall we go?” he asked.

  Elizabeth nodded. “Don’t wait up for us,” she called to Gail as they went out the door.

  * *

  The next morning, actually, it was almost noon, Elizabeth dragged herself downstairs and joined Gail and Amy, who were playing out on the patio.

  “Good morning you two,” she called cheerily, pulling her bathrobe tight around her.

  “Good afternoon,” Gail answered.

  “Bet!” Amy exclaimed.

  “Amy!” Elizabeth answered.

  “So... tell me everything,” Gail insisted.

  Elizabeth held up her ring finger. “Can you believe he actually ran out and bought a diamond yesterday afternoon?”

  “Kinda small,” Gail appraised.

  “I didn’t expect anything on such short notice. And I’ll bet you wouldn’t be so critical if Peter had given it to me.”

  “Peter wouldn’t give you such a microscopic stone.”

  “Please, Gail stop criticizing my ring,” Elizabeth said, walking to the edge of the patio, facing the lake, with her back to Gail. “Please stop trying to take the energy out of my happiness. What’s the matter with you, anyway?”

  “I’m sorry, Lizzie,” Gail apologized, sound
ing sincerely contrite. “You’re right, it’s rude to criticize someone’s engagement ring. If you’re really happy, then of course I’m happy for you.”

  “Well, I am happy. Elated. Except that you’re making me very worried about how we will all live together in peace under one roof if you’re so completely unable to approve of Tony.”

  “I’ll adjust.”

  “You’d better step up your clock,” Elizabeth turned to face Gail. “We’re getting married next Saturday, and we’re asking you and Peter to be our as witnesses.”

  “Next Saturday!” Gail jumped to her feet. “Are you... are you absolutely certain you want to move that fast?”

  “Of course. As long as we’ve agreed to marry, it may as well be right away.”

  Gail shook her head. “Okay, I won’t say anything more, I hope, after this. But I would be irresponsible if I didn’t say that my instincts and experience tell me this is not a wise decision, although I’ll support you as much as I can. Now I’ve said it, and I’m done. So! I guess I’ll have to adjust rather quickly.”

  “Please do,” Elizabeth nodded. “Now let me change the subject.”

  “Okay.”

  “Why did you call me ‘Sleeping Beauty’ last night?”

  “Because the true prince hasn’t kissed you yet.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Really, Gail, you’re too romantic. If my true prince hasn’t kissed me yet, well then, I guess he just isn’t going to. But let me tell you about last evening....”

  “Wait!” Gail interjected. “Amy will be in the hospital. How can you get married with Amy in the hospital?”

  “I’ve thought it all through, and I realized it’s the best time. When she comes back on Monday, Tony will be moved in and everything will be home-like for her. There’ll be three of us to take care of her and to love her. When Mrs. Vargas comes over, she’ll see the perfect environment for Amy to be adopted into. Tony and I discussed all of this last night.”

  “Maybe I’ve misjudged him. I hope I’ve misjudged him.”

  Elizabeth grinned from ear to ear. “Now, those are the words I’ve been waiting to hear!” The phone rang and she dashed inside to get it. She saw Peter’s number on the caller ID. “Hi Peter.”