An Offering of Hope

by Greenwood Muir, Diane

"You need to finish homework and practice your flute."

  "I don't have any homework and one night of not practicing won't change my world."

  "Two nights."

  "What?"

  "You won't practice tomorrow night. It's Halloween."

  "Well, it isn't like I'll be worse than anyone else in the band. Nobody else ever practices. My lesson isn't until Monday. I think I can handle it."

  "You still aren't driving down to get her." Polly sighed. "I was going to stop in and see Libby and Mary Francis this afternoon. I completely forgot."

  "They think Libby will be able to go home this weekend."

  "Did you see her today?"

  "No, I texted her. She's in so much trouble. Jeff and Adam aren’t pressing charges, but she got caught drinking and driving and she's only sixteen. She’ll lose her driver's license and poor Mrs. Francis doesn't have time to drive her back and forth. What she did was so selfish."

  "Libby is in a bad place. There's nothing about her that isn't selfish. She doesn't have the emotional energy to think about anybody else."

  "That's not her mom's fault."

  "You're right, but they need to figure this out on their own. Mary is an intelligent woman. She's dealing with her own stuff, but she knows that her kids need her to overcome her own pain."

  "They should talk to Mr. Greyson," Rebecca said. "Are you going to ask him to talk to Lexi?"

  "I'll suggest it. She's been through enough that it will take time to assimilate it all. He can help her with that."

  Polly was so glad to see her house, she could hardly stand it. She felt even better when she saw Henry's truck parked in the driveway. His evening wouldn't be so late after all. As she opened the door, her phone buzzed with a text from Lexi.

  "I talked to Melissa online. She has all my stuff. And I checked my bank account. The money I've been saving is still there."

  "That's great news," Polly sent back. She held the phone up so Rebecca could see the message. "Thanks for programming her phone with our numbers. It looks like Lexi will be in better shape than we thought."

  "Does that mean she's moving back to Iowa City?" Rebecca frowned. "She's going to leave us now?"

  "I don't know if that's what it means," Polly said. "She has a life in front of her that she's been planning for a long time."

  "I hoped she could do it here." Rebecca got out of the car and slammed the door shut. "I wanted her to be part of our lives. She would be such a great big sister."

  Polly put her arm around Rebecca's shoulders as they walked to the steps. "She'll always be in your life. You know that."

  "But if she moves away now, I'll never get to know Gillian Rebecca or find out about all the things that Lexi loves and the things she thinks about. I won't get to hear her play the piano or sing. We won't go out for pizza or stay up late talking about how much you and Henry drive me crazy. I won't be able to talk to her about Andrew or my friends or hear about her friends and why she loves them."

  "Let's not get worked up over this before we know for sure what she wants to do, okay?"

  "She just can't leave. Not yet."

  Polly stopped in front of the door. "What? Not until you leave me? Is that it? She has to stay until you're ready to move out? Then what am I supposed to do when all my girls take off? Sit at home like a lonely old lady pining away and wondering if you'll ever come to visit?"

  Rebecca had started to look concerned when Polly began, but then she laughed. "You will never be a lonely old lady. You'll just keep filling your house up with people who need you to love them."

  "But they'll never be you." Polly drew Rebecca into a hug. "I love you so much, my fierce, creative, brilliant girl. I could never have asked for a greater gift than you. Do you have any idea how many lives you've blessed since you were placed on this earth? I'm so thankful for you."

  "I love you too," Rebecca said, her voice muffled as she spoke into Polly jacket. "But you didn't take me to Burger King and I'm starving."

  Polly laughed out loud. "Let's face the hordes."

  Cat and Hayden were the only people in the kitchen when they walked in.

  "You're back," Cat said. "Lexi isn't here?"

  "She's still at the hospital," Rebecca said. "She didn't want to leave Gillian until she had to."

  "I'll go get her later," Polly said. "Where is everyone?"

  "The boys are cleaning their rooms and taking showers. Cassidy is upstairs with Heath and Henry."

  "What are they doing?"

  "Well," Cat said, smiling at her. "It's kind of a surprise. But I think the surprise is for Lexi, not you."

  "What do you mean?"

  Cat sat down on a stool and reached out for Polly. When Polly got close, she took her hand. "I wish you would have talked to me about baby things. You know I would be glad to share."

  "That isn't what Polly wanted to do," Rebecca said. "You and Hayden should be excited about putting together your new life with the baby that's coming. That's all your stuff."

  "Well, it shouldn't be just our stuff. Sharing is what this family is all about, isn't it?" Cat asked. "However, you won't believe what showed up today. Marie and Aunt Betty were here. Sal and Joss were here. Lydia, Beryl, and Andy stopped by, and then Jessie and little Molly came over. Everybody brought something. It was just the sweetest thing.

  That tipped Polly over the edge. She took her hand back from Cat and covered her face as she sobbed. Rebecca rubbed her back and Hayden surreptitiously handed her a paper towel. That made her laugh.

  "Sorry about that," Polly said.

  "When Henry and Heath got home, they couldn't believe everything that was here. Mrs. Merritt wanted to go up and fix the room, but we wouldn't let her. Sal brought a whole bunch of matching nursery stuff. There are even some cute curtains. I don't know what you'll do with it, but it's all bright, bold colors. Lots of polka dots and stripes. The boys carried things upstairs. There might be excess stuff in the hallway. At least until you and Lexi find room. Heath was talking about building her a dresser with a changing table on it."

  "I might have implied he needed to make two of those," Hayden said. "You have great friends, though. All of that in just one afternoon."

  "I only made one phone call," Polly said. "To Marie. She did the rest."

  "Go upstairs. You have to see this."

  "Is there any food left?" Rebecca asked as she trailed Polly to the back steps.

  "You guys didn't eat?" Cat asked.

  Rebecca swatted Polly's shoulder. "She's mean to me."

  "We'll take care of you," Hayden said.

  Polly took the steps two at a time, something she hated seeing her boys do, but she was in a hurry. "Henry, are you up here?"

  "Pol?" He came out of Lexi's bedroom. "You won't believe what happened today."

  "Other than a plumbing explosion?"

  "Yeah. Liam wasn't happy with me, but my guys and I cleaned while he fixed it. Come in here. Mom had fun today."

  Heath was standing in front of Lexi's closet holding a package of diapers. "So. Many. Diapers."

  "Rebecca," Henry said. "I didn't want to dig into the dresser, so I've left the clothing on her bed. I was hoping you'd come home and sort through it for us."

  Rebecca had already run for the piles on Lexi's bed. "Some of these are from Joss. She dressed Mimi Rose in the cutest things." Rebecca laughed and held up a pile. "They're all organized by size. I don't have to sort through anything."

  "We were told not to mess with any of the piles," Henry said. "Cat gave us strict orders to set them out exactly as they came out of the bags."

  "The diaper changing pad thingie came from Sal. She also brought a bottle warmer and an infant car seat. You'll need that when you bring the baby home, right?" Heath said.

  "Lydia, Beryl, and Andy came with all sorts of sizes of diapers and wipes and Mom and Jessie came in with swaddling blankets and more clothing and there's some sort of Diaper Genie?" Henry looked at Polly, perplexed. "That looks interesting."


  Rebecca scowled at him. "It's exactly like the litter genie that I use for the cats. Fill it, tie up the bag and make it be gone." She flicked her fingers. "Move over, boys. I need to empty this bed so Lexi has a place to sleep tonight. Set that up." She pointed at a frame and basket.

  "How?" Heath asked. "What is it?"

  "It's a bassinet. Joss had one when Mimi Rose was born. See, this side comes down so it tucks right up to the bed. Lexi can have little Gillian Rebecca next to her all night."

  "Gillian Rebecca?" Henry asked, one eyebrow raised.

  "After Polly and me," Rebecca said. "Gillian is a soft way of saying Giller. Soft g, like Jill. Make sure you leave out newborn diapers. She'll grow into the rest soon enough. And those are swaddling blankets. Put two of them in the bassinet for now. The rest can go on that shelf, there."

  "How do you know this?" Heath asked. "Is there a class or something?"

  "Kayla and I did take a babysitting class." Rebecca turned to look at Polly. "That was forever ago."

  "Two years," Polly said. "Only two years. How do you know the rest of this?"

  "I babysit for babies all the time. And I read when I don't know what something is. I walked into Joss's house and had no idea what all those things were for the baby, so I looked them up and learned stuff."

  "I am not surprised. Can we leave you and Heath to finish this?"

  "Fine," Rebecca said, flattening her lips. "But I'm going to need dinner."

  "You can take a break any time." Polly took Henry's hand and led him back out into the hallway. "They made the call."

  "How did it go?"

  "Your daughter is a consummate actress. Hopefully the Ankeny police will have the Mortens in custody by now. I told Tab to let me know so everyone could relax. Lexi will bring Gillian home tomorrow. I got her a phone and she managed to get online. She has access to her bank account and her things are still in her friend's garage."

  "Do you think she'll be leaving us soon?"

  "Rebecca asked me the same question. I don't know. I don't think Lexi knows. I'm going to go back to Boone to pick her up later this evening. She needs to sleep in her own bed tonight."

  "No trouble with Human Services?"

  "Nope. Met with Marion Tally this morning. Papers to sign and all, but they want Gillian to be with her mother."

  He chuckled. "We've been calling her Lexi's baby for so long, it's weird that she finally has a name. Does it suit her?"

  "I think so. I need to call your mother and tell her thank you."

  "Do that tomorrow. You're exhausted. I can't believe you managed to remember to pick up groceries today. When did you have time?"

  "I just kept moving. By Friday evening, I might collapse and not come out of our bedroom until Christmas. Can you believe tomorrow is Halloween? I just left those ladies to do all that work by themselves."

  "You know they did things in this town before you moved here. They are the movingest bunch of ladies I've ever known. If Lydia Merritt needed help putting the Halloween sets together, she called on her friends and made it happen."

  "I certainly didn't intend for your mother to call her about this baby stuff."

  "Who knows how it happened, but Lydia would have felt terrible about being left out. You know that."

  Polly leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. "You're right. You're always right. I miss you."

  He tipped her face toward him and kissed her lips. "Maybe we should rent a room at the hotel Friday night and leave the family to fend for themselves."

  "Can we do that?"

  "The better question is, do we dare?"

  "Maybe."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Everyone else was busy with the haunted house, leaving Polly and Henry alone in her office. The lights were turned off, but she'd lit a candle on the table in front of them. They were waiting for the event to finish so they could help pack up the sets and take their boys home.

  "I made the reservation," Henry said.

  Polly peered at him. "The what?"

  "The reservation at the hotel tomorrow night. I called Skylar today and told him we needed a room far away from everyone and nobody could bother us."

  "You did?"

  "Yes, I did. Cat and Hayden know we're going to be out of the house. Heath is planning to stay home." He shrugged. "Ella might spend the evening with him, but that's to be expected. I told Rebecca that she has to be home at a reasonable hour because the family needs her. All that's left is Cassidy and Lexi. What do you want to do about them?"

  "Lexi can take care of herself and Gillian," Polly said. "Cassidy should be okay with Rebecca and Cat."

  Henry nodded. "I considered asking Agnes if she'd like to have Cassidy spend the night, but you and I would be responsible for picking the little one up if things fell apart. First time away from the house? Not when we're trying to sleep."

  Polly laughed. "That's all you're planning to do in a hotel room?"

  "Actually, yes," he said, looking a little sheepish. "It's one thing to get wild and crazy in someone else's hotel room and not know the people who are changing the linens, but these are your employees. I can't do that."

  "You have so many rules," she said, laughing.

  Rebecca was at Andrew's house for the evening, helping to hand out candy. The lights at the Bell House were all out, except for wherever Lexi and Gillian were hiding.

  Cat and Hayden had charge of Cassidy, Caleb and JaRon. They were adorable in their costumes this year. Caleb wanted to be Luke Skywalker and that meant JaRon wanted to be Obiwan Kenobi. Cassidy's choice was Rey, so Polly had looked and looked for the outfits and they were set. Caleb tried to convince Hayden that he'd make a great Chewbacca, but instead, Hayden did his best to dress as Han Solo and they'd found a Leia costume for Cat. Not the slave girl costume. Cat thought she'd look ridiculous as a pregnant slave girl, but the royal princess was fine.

  The nurses at the hospital had dressed Gillian in an adorable pumpkin outfit, which made Lexi cry. The next few months were going to be filled with emotional women at the Bell House between postpartum hormones and pregnancy hormones.

  Paperwork and instructions had all been signed and dealt with by about three-thirty.

  "Have you talked to her about it yet?" Henry asked.

  Polly turned to him. "Talked to who about what?"

  "Lexi. You weren't listening to me."

  "Sorry. What?"

  "About her future with us."

  "We talked while we were waiting for Gillian to be released. She’s not leaving."

  "How long, though?"

  "I don't know. We talked a little about her future. She knows she needs to get a job." Before he could respond, Polly put her hand up. "I offered her one."

  "Where? The coffee shop?"

  "No. Our house."

  He gave her a slow smile. "You didn't."

  "After all the trouble you've given me, I decided to broach the subject. She needs to take as much time as necessary to get used to Gillian and her new life. She needs to heal up, but Lexi would like to take over many of the household duties. I told her that she isn't responsible for the kids' rooms, or Hayden and Cat's apartment. We also discussed that unless we were preparing for guests or a special event, the bathrooms would likely be cleaned by one of the kids. She thought that was awesome. She'll handle laundry and set a schedule for when everyone is to have their laundry either in a hamper in the hallway or in the laundry room. She won't be responsible for chasing down their dirty clothes. The kids will still strip their own beds on a schedule that she sets up. She'll have to remind them or figure out a way that they'll remember. The boys are pretty good with putting their fitted sheets back on, but they need help with the top sheet and tucking in the blankets. They're learning. She can help with that. She will be responsible for building the grocery list and planning four evening meals each week."

  "That's a lot. She's ready to manage it?"

  "Honestly, a lot of it is managing the kids'
behavior and scheduling their time when it comes to cleaning, laundry, and making meals. She wants to talk to Cat about how it worked during the summer. The last thing I want is to raise a house full of kids who rely on someone else to cook and clean for them. And yeah, this would be easier if I hired someone who didn't have a new infant, but she's living in the house, so she has freedom to be with Gillian whenever she chooses. And she has a huge family in place to act as Gillian's village." Polly chuckled. "She’s not a morning person, so getting the kids up and moving is my job.”

  "What about grad school? She’s too bright to be a live-in maid for the rest of her life."

  "That's the thing," Polly said. "This isn't long-term. I didn't have Cat long-term. Lexi did some research today and discovered that Iowa State has programs she is interested in. When she's ready to go back, she can."

  He took her hand. "Are you ready for babies in the house?"

  "As long as they aren't mine, I'm ready. Lexi was worried about having to find a job in town and finding childcare."

  "Mom would have loved to take care of another baby."

  "Your mother is looking forward to moving out to the new house. She doesn't need an infant crawling around while she's preparing for that."

  "What are we going to do with their house, Polly?"

  "I had a few thoughts about that today as Lexi and I were talking."

  "Oh no."

  "My first thought was that you and I could run away and live over there. You'd build me a bedroom set, wouldn't you?"

  Henry laughed out loud. "Perfect plan. I will run away with you any day."

  "Or, we offer it to Hayden and Cat. After a few years, if they decide they want to stay there, we sell it to them. If they want to find something else or move away, then we make a different decision."

  "Maybe Heath would want it by then."

  "Sure. But I don't see it."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Heath is very different than his brother," Polly said. "He’s much more independent, which I find interesting. Hayden is content to be where he is. Heath is only living with us because it makes sense. He also hasn't figured out how to tell us that he's ready to live on his own."