by Tey Holden
Karen was reading but raised her head. “Yeah, now that you mention it, it’s like a low humming sound. What could it be?”
“Don’t know, but I’m going to check around.”
“Okay.”
Addy stood up and thought she would head upstairs to check but as she approached the kitchen she saw soap suds coming in from under the hot tub room door into the kitchen.
“Keeerrrr!”
Karen came running. “What? What is it?”
Addy pointed to the kitchen floor.
“Oh, shit! What in the name of heaven—?”
Alex came running too. Her eyes were huge when she saw the bubbles all over the kitchen floor. When Addy saw Alex’s face, she knew what had caused the disaster. Addy said nothing, thinking that controlling the bubble invasion was more important at the moment than dealing with the perpetrator of the deed. When Karen opened the door to the hot tub room, an avalanche of bubbles rushed into the kitchen.
“How could this have happened?” Karen asked in panicked astonishment while surrounded by bubbles. “We need to stop the hot tub!” As Karen spoke, she walked towards the room.
“Be careful, Ker, it could be slippery!”
Karen knew where the switch was and reached it. She walked slowly and carefully.
When she came out of the room, she was covered in bubbles from head to toe. “How did this happen? Who turned on the tub?”
Addy put her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing at Karen who looked like the Pillsbury doughboy. Alex’s face was one of total disbelief and awe.
They both looked at each other. When Karen saw Addy’s face, she immediately knew and looked towards a petrified Alex. “Alexandra Marcos Larsen!”
As Karen called her, she heard little feet running upstairs. Alex was nowhere to be seen. Karen went to the staircase and called her. “Alexandra Marcos Larsen! Come over here right now!”
Karen was fuming. “Ker, go soft on her. She’s just a baby.”
Alex knew from past experiences that when the moms called her full name she was in trouble, but when they called her using her full name and two last names, she knew she was in deep trouble. She came down quietly and with a very somber look. She knew the bubbles were the problem, but she didn’t know why there were so many of them. After all the hot tub always had bubbles.
“What do you know about all these bubbles, young lady?” Karen asked sternly.
Alex remained quiet, probably thinking of what to say to be in the least amount of trouble. “I put bubbles in the little pool.”
“You know that you are not allowed in there alone.” Karen scolded.
“The door waz open, and I thought we were going in the little pool, it didn’t have bubblez, so I got the soap and made bubblez.”
Addy put her hand on her forehead. How could she explain to Alex that the hot tub didn’t need bubble soap to make bubbles? She’d do it later.
Karen was furious. “Look at all the bubbles now, I don’t even know where to start cleaning up! Go back to your room right now and stay there! Is that clear?”
“Yez, I’m zorry, Mommy.” She looked scared and started to pout and cry, as she looked at both women. Addy had remained quiet pursing her lips.
“Aaaww, come here baby.” Alex ran to her and Addy hugged her.
Karen rolled her eyes. “There is no discipline in this house! That is why we find ourselves in these situations.”
“I wanted bubbles.” She pouted, as the humongous tears ran down her cheeks.
“Alex, we don’t put bubble soap in the little pool. Ever! The little pool makes its own bubbles. You couldn’t have known this.” Addy looked at Karen to try to make her understand as well. “The real problem that I see here is that you should not have been in that room by yourself. We have talked about it, and yet you went in there. So that is why I’m worried. Now go to your room for a while, and we’ll talk more about this later. I have to help Mommy Karen clean up. Okay?” Addy hugged and kissed her, and Alex went upstairs feeling a little better, but concerned because Mommy Karen still looked very mad. As she went up, she kept looking at Karen.
Karen started to clean up, but it was an impossible task. There were bubbles everywhere. Frustrated, Karen ranted left and right. After much trying, she had accomplished very little. Addy came close to her and took the mop from her hands. “Ker?”
“What?”
“Look at me.” Karen did.
“Stop, go take a walk to the thinking tree. Let the bubbles come down by themselves. I’ll call the pool maintenance people and have them deal with it. The hot tub will have to be emptied and have all the jets cleaned. Either go for a walk, or let me fix you a relaxing bath, maybe a bubble bath.” Addy grinned and Karen couldn’t help smile as well. “Do you think there’s any more bubble soap left in this house?”
“One day we’ll remember this and laugh. Be thankful that you’ll have memories to cherish in your old age. Come on gorgeous, give it a rest. If you can’t beat them, join them!”
“That little devil! We need to keep her out of there.”
“She’s something, isn’t she?” Addy slapped Karen on her butt. “After you come back from your walk, go and talk to your beautiful little devil and explain to her in that rational way of yours why the tub doesn’t need soap, but don’t scold her. She didn’t know what she was doing. Teach her! And love her!” Karen smiled and Addy patted her buttocks again. “Umm, nice!” Karen went out pretending to be mad but grinning.
When she came back, she looked at Addy, who was sitting on the sofa reading and smiled. Without saying a word, she went up to talk to Alex. Before entering her room, she took a big breath. “Young lady, we need to have a talk.”
“Mommy Karen, are you mad? Remember you zaid you love me a lot.”
Downstairs, Addy tuned her ears to listen to the conversation. She smiled when she heard Alex’s voice, and even more when she heard her darling wife talk. “Yes, fortunately for you, I do love you a lot, but we have to talk about the little pool, little kids, and bubble soap.”
Part 15
Karen and Phillip continued working together through the years. Mr. Kimbell joined their group permanently when Karen, out of eternal gratitude, offered free office space and use of their resources. Mr. Kimbell’s legal practice was more about the everyday legal matters of the citizens of Altee and nearby vicinity, while Karen and Phillip were strictly financial consultants to various law firms.
Karen and Phillip only accepted select and very well paid jobs. Consequently, their workload was limited and manageable. One of Karen’s conditions in accepting work was that she would not travel. Everyone and everything had to come to her. This policy was strictly adhered to after she had to spend an entire week in Switzerland.
Being an entire week gone from home had been so unbearable for Karen that she made sure it would never happen again. To make matters worse, it happened when Alex was three years old and just starting preschool. Had Alex not been in school, Karen would have had them go with her. However, since school had just started, Addy convinced her that it was not a good idea to take her out of school.
“Ker, it’s only a week, for God’s sake! And even if we were there, we wouldn’t be seeing much of you, anyway, because you would be working.”
“I’ve never been away from you since we’ve been together. I don’t like it! Shit! If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have ever taken the darn job.”
“Well, you can call us on the computer when you get back to your hotel every night.”
“Addy, it’s not the same. Are you sure that you are going to be okay here alone? Why don’t you stay with JP and James?”
“No, and I’m not going to be alone. I’ll have Alex with me. We are staying home and that’s that! Stop your silly worrying right now and finish packing. And it’s only for a week. We’ll make up for lost time when you come back.”
“A whole week!! We’ve never been apart—.”
“There�
��s always a first. Pack!”
The next day Addy drove Karen to the airport. “Addy, all the papers are in the safe, the will is on—.”
“Stop! You are not going to start with all that nonsense again, are you? I know where all the papers are, I know where the will is and Mr. Kimbell and Laurie each have a copy and everything is as it was the last time we went over everything, so we don’t need to talk about this anymore. Do not go there! Get on your plane and go and call the minute you land. Is that clear?”
“Yeah.” Karen said apologetically. Alex heard Addy’s speech and didn’t have a clue of what was going on, but certainly understood that Mommy Addy had given an order and that Mommy Karen was going to do what Mommy Addy said.
Karen still had some concerns. “Addy, I’m sorry, I’m also worried about—.”
“I know what you are worried about, Larsen. Are you forgetting that I was there when we went through everything with your family? Be at ease, baby. Calm down. I promise you, that I will be on double watch. You need to trust me, Blondie.”
“Oh, Addy, it’s not that I don’t trust you, baby, I do. It’s just that I feel that my place is here.”
“It’s only for a week, and we’ll be fine, you’ll see.”
At the airport, they walked her until they reached the security gate. Karen crouched to hug the little one. “Bye, Little Bit. I’ll see you in a few days.” She kissed her as Alex put her arms around her neck. Karen got all teary. Alex held Addy’s hand again. Karen stood up and faced Addy. “I don’t want to go.”
“You have to and you are not setting a good example here, if you know what I mean. You know we catch everything.” Karen got the message and composed herself immediately. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” The women hugged and kissed. “Call the minute you land.”
Karen walked towards the security area and continued to look back at them. Addy held Alex in her arms and they were both throwing kisses and waving. After that, Karen didn’t look back. Addy knew that it only meant that she was crying.
As Addy suspected, nothing had escaped the little one. Alex had a way to wrinkle her nose when she spoke in a worried tone, it was an expression similar to Addy’s. “Why iz Mommy Karen zcared. I think she iz crying.”
Addy smiled. “No, baby. She’s not scared. She’s crying because she doesn’t like to leave us. Come on let’s go out there and watch the planes take off.”
“Why can we go wiz her? I don’t want her to go.” Alex was beginning to pout and was about to start crying.
“Mommy Karen is going to work. She is not going to have time to play with us where she is going. Anyway, here is what we are going to do.” Addy crouched down and kissed her. Alex listened with great interest. “We are going to talk to her every night, and we are going to prepare a party for when she comes home. How about that?”
“Yez! A party wiz cake and ize cream!”
Seeing Alex so excited made Addy smile. Alex’s concerns for Karen were forgotten and from that moment on, all she did was talk about the party. However, for Addy it was not so easy. She had barely left and she already missed her. God take good care of her!
The minute the plane landed Karen called home. “We’ve just landed, I’ll call you again from the hotel. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, we are fine. We got home and made some dinner, and now we are going to watch Beauty and the Beast only for the 100th time.”
Karen laughed. “I miss you, I wish I could be there watching it. I’ll call from the hotel.” The minute she got to her room and hooked up her computer, she Face-Timed them. Alex immediately told her about the party, she couldn’t keep a secret.
“A party, huh?”
Addy tried to explain. “Yes, we needed to raise our spirits upon your departure. We sort of got the impression that you weren’t too happy about getting on the plane.” Addy made signals pointing to Alex from behind her back. Alex was on her lap in front of the computer.
Karen chuckled, understanding the situation. To ease Alex’s feelings, she told her about how great the plane was and how much she enjoyed the flight.
“And you are not zcared anymore?”
“No, baby. It was a very good flight.” She also told her about her room and answered all her questions.
“And iz your bed big?”
“Yes, it’s pretty big, but not as big as the one Mommy Addy and I saw once.” She looked at Addy when she spoke and grinned, Addy was smiling also.
“Well, little girl, isn’t it time for you to go to bed?”
“Yes, Mommy Addy iz going to wread me a ztory.”
“Alright, Mommy Addy, can you call me later, after the story?”
Addy smiled. “As soon as possible. Ta Ta for now, baby. Love you.”
“Love you too. Love you, Little Bit”
“I wove you too, Mommy.”
“Good night little one, take care of Mommy Addy for me, okay?”
Alex nodded. “Okay.”
Later that night after Alex fell asleep. The women talked.
“Miss me?”
Addy smiled. “Terribly.”
“How about some sexy phone talk?”
“Ker!”
***
“M’Addy?” Alex yelled.
Addy hurried to Alex’s room. “What is it, baby?”
“I’m zcared”
“Scared of what, sweetie?”
“Mommy Karen is not here, I want her here!”
“Aaawww, baby, she’ll be here soon, and I’m here with you.”
Alex hugged her, and hung herself from her neck. “Can I zlweep wiz you?” She had on a delightful begging face that was absolutely impossible to deny.
Addy thought for a minute. She and Karen had agreed that it was okay for Alex to jump in bed with them in the mornings or to read a story, but they had agreed that they would not get her used to sleeping with them. Addy knew from her past experience with Laurie that such a thing was a bad habit to break once it started. However, exceptions had been made before for special circumstances, and Karen not being home was indeed a special circumstance. In truth, Addy felt more relaxed knowing that Alex was right there with her.
“Okay, let’s go, little girl.”
“Okay!” Alex jumped out of her bed and onto Addy’s, but then she got off again. “Wait! I have to peepee. And get my tigger.” She ran to the bathroom and then to her room to get her stuffed animal and then climbed on the bed. Alex climbed on Karen’s side of the bed but immediately snuggled into Addy.
“You are warm, Mommy. I’m not zcared anymore.” They talked for a little while about the party and about Karen’s return and then Alex fell asleep. Addy smiled and kissed her. She still smelled like a baby.
“Good night, sweetie-pie.” Alex was already asleep.
Of course, Addy knew that Alex would tell Karen about the sleepover the minute she was back. It didn’t matter that they had gone to a farm to see little chicks and ducklings, or that she picked the warm eggs from the coop, or that one of their horses had foaled, and they went to see it, or that they had gone for ice cream almost every day. The most important news would always be delivered first.
The moment Karen saw them at the airport she grinned overjoyed. Alex came running to her and Karen picked her up, and kissed her, still looking at Addy. With her free hand, she brought Addy close and kissed her.
“Umm, God! I missed you!”
“Me too.” They kissed again.
“Let’s go home. I think I need lots of kisses.” Karen made the comment more for Addy than for Alex, but Alex immediately put her arms around her neck and began to give her a million kisses.
“God, how I love these kisses.” The more she said it, the more Alex kissed her. Both women chuckled.
As expected, it didn’t take very long for Alex to deliver the news about having slept on Mommy Karen’s side of the bed with Mommy Addy. “Is that so?” Karen chuckled and immediately looked at Addy, who was supposed to have been the en
forcer of the rules. Addy grinned.
As Addy drove home, Alex began her inquisition about where Karen had been and what she had done. She also told Karen about all they had done in her absence and about preschool. Even though she was listening to Alex, Karen couldn’t take her eyes off Addy, who looked radiant. Addy knew she was being watched and every now and then glanced at her and smiled. She ended up grabbing Karen’s hand and kissing it. Karen did the same but kept Addy’s hand in hers all the way home.
The trip from the airport to home was long and Alex fell asleep. Karen carried her upstairs and changed her into her jammies. Both women tucked her in. “I got her another one of those game things she likes. But it’s in my bag. I’ll give it to her tomorrow.”
“Getting up early for school every day makes her very tired at the end of the day. I’ve been giving her a bath right before dinner because after dinner we sit down to read and she falls asleep. I think she lasted this long today because she was excited about picking you up. By the way, we are having the party for you tomorrow.” Addy chuckled when Karen made a funny face. “Sorry, I had to. When you left she thought you were crying because you didn’t want to leave. The only way I could take you off her mind was with the idea of a party. She’s been talking about it all week. JP and James are coming. We are having ice cream, cake, and balloons.”
Karen chuckled. “You and your bright ideas.” Karen shook her head smiling. “And now that you have a fan, it’s even worse.”
She flaunted around Karen and cupped her face. “That would be my second fan. I’ve always had a fan, baby.” She kissed her on the lips.
Karen grinned. JP was right. She was always smiling around the woman who drove her insane. No complaints there, life was good. Karen followed Addy to their bedroom. “Ah! My bed!” She dropped on it. “I missed it so much!”
Addy immediately climbed on top of her. “Did you miss the bed or the one on your bed?”
Karen smiled. “What do you think? Addy, I don’t want this happening again. I’m not kidding. I’m not going anywhere without you. You had the little one here and she kept you company. But getting to that hotel room and not having you there felt like jumping off a cliff.”