Motherhood Without Parole

Mom was never boring.

She glanced up to find Kate looking at her. “What?” It came out disrespectful, and she was surprised Aunt Lily didn’t reprimand her again.

“Are you all finished?” her stepmother asked.

“Yeah, I guess I wasn’t very hungry.” Now that breakfast was over, would the women carry on the conversation they’d abruptly ended? “But I could stay and load the dishwasher for you if you want.”

Kate raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious of the offer. Just because she couldn’t make waffles didn’t mean she was stupid. “That’s all right. Why don’t you and PJ go play? Maybe you could help him get his video games set up.”

“Sure.” Go play? I’m not six. She was beyond the stage where she dressed Barbies in her room while the grownups had their Very Important Talks.

As soon as PJ had all the cords plugged into the right outlets, Neve grabbed the Harry Potter book she’d been reading and sat in the silvery-gray armchair closest to the kitchen. The chair wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the couch or the recliner closer to the television set, but she wouldn’t be able to hear anything from either of those seats.

Right now it sounded as if Kate’s friend Delia was saying goodbye. Neve made a point of concentrating hard on her book when the tall blond woman walked through the living room to the front door.

“Well, I didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable,” Aunt Lily said. “How was I supposed to know she was pregnant?”

“I don’t think she’s ready for people to know—that’s the point.” Kate’s tone was civil, but even a kid could hear the tension between the two women.

“Then, if I can give you a little advice, don’t bring controversial subjects up with kids in the next room. They hear more than you think.” As if realizing the truth in her own words, Lily suddenly lowered her voice.

The rest of the murmured conversation was a lost cause, so Neve gave up and tried to pay attention to what was going on at Hogwarts instead. But not even Hermione, her favorite character, could distract her. Controversial? That meant, like, scandalous. Was Delia’s having a baby a scandal because she was so old…or because she didn’t want to have one?

Adults should be more careful, in Neve’s opinion. They should be responsible so that there didn’t end up being kids all over the world who felt unloved. If I ever have children, I’ll love them all the time. Even when they were annoying, like PJ. And she would sure as hell never kick them out of their own home because she didn’t have time for them.

CHAPTER 4

Although she’d offered her help—numerous times— Lily had to admit she was a little surprised her sister-in-law was taking her up on it. Especially so soon.

“I understand if you can’t do it.” Kate was already backtracking, jamming spoons into the basket portion of the dishwasher.

“No, no. We’ll work something out. Brittney has drill team rehearsal at the high school and Davis has football—all the sports programs start meeting before school starts—but maybe Bob can drop off one or both of them. I’ll swing by here with the two youngest to pick up Neve and PJ, and we’ll have time to make it back to the schools before practices finish.”

Kate blinked. “I’m lucky you drive something big enough to haul around all these kids.”

“You and Paul might want to think about getting a vehicle besides those tiny cars you drive. Even without four kids, Neve will have girlfriends she’ll want to take to the mall, PJ will have teammates. You may want to carpool with some of the other moms, but you’ll need more room.”

“I’ll, um, think about it.”

Yeah, you do that. Kate rarely objected to any suggestions outright, but she didn’t exactly give off a flexible vibe. As far as Lily was concerned, flexibility and a sense of humor were two of the main weapons in a mother’s arsenal. Lily could understand not wanting to trade the sleek model Kate drove for a minivan, but the car, in Lily’s opinion, functioned as much as a status symbol as a mode of transportation. She wouldn’t call Kate a snob, exactly—well, maybe she would.

Stop it. So she has more money than you do. It was your choice to have a big family and no outside job. Four kids required strict budgeting. But it was more than Kate being affluent or wearing nice clothes.

It was the way she never got caught in the same outfit twice or the way she dressed up even for Sunday cereal with the kids—what, she didn’t own a pair of jeans? True, Kate was a natural beauty, but she also seemed to put a lot of effort into appearance. Her makeup, her well-tailored, wrinkle-free slacks, the manicured lawn she paid someone to keep perfect, the curtains that were carefully color-coordinated to the throw pillows.

Lily didn’t know who, if anyone, the woman was trying to impress, but one thing Kate would learn soon enough: kids had a way of making life a little messier. Lily hoped for all their sakes that her sister-in-law was more adaptable than she seemed.

Not even noon yet, and Kate was ready to call it a day. All-nighters in graduate school had been less draining than this first morning with the kids. In their defense, however, they hadn’t put her through the ringer as much as Delia’s unexpected announcement and Lily’s unexpected arrival. Considering the favor their aunt had agreed to do tomorrow, Kate tried not to seem happy to see the woman leave. Good thing I have minor acting experience.

“Well, looks like it’s just the three of us,” she announced, dropping onto the sofa after Lily’s departure.

Neve glanced up from a thick novel just long enough to spare a dubious look. Clearly she didn’t think “the three of us” had the same companionable feel as, say, musketeers or even amigos.

Good thing Kate wasn’t a quitter. “Since your aunt is going to watch you while I’m at work tomorrow, we should do something together today. Any suggestions?”

If Neve didn’t exactly brighten, at least she let her book fall closed. “Shop for school clothes?”

Without pausing in his complicated joystick maneuvers, PJ shook his head. “Shopping is boring!”

Actually, Kate enjoyed shopping. Or did when she had spare cash with which to make purchases. “A fun outfit for the first day may be in order, but you won’t need much to supplement your wardrobes, right?”

“Wardrobes?” Neve’s eye roll was perfectly timed with her sigh of disgust. “You do know we wore uniforms at Newsome? I barely have enough regular clothes to get me through a week.”

Even though Kate knew this was an exaggeration, she had forgotten their previous school clothes were provided by the Academy. As fast as she’d noticed kids grew, they probably did need substantial wardrobe supplies, especially for when the weather turned cool in another month or so.

“Too bad Aunt Lily left,” Neve said wistfully. “She’d know from Brittney where the cool places to buy clothes are.”

“Hey, I know plenty about clothes,” Kate said. Not even the disdainful teen could argue Kate was a bad dresser.

When it came to shopping, though, Lily obviously wanted the crown for expert bargain hunter. It drove Kate a little nuts the way Paul’s sister-in-law wore her thrift like a badge.

Oh, do you like Brittney’s dress? She found one in a magazine and we improvised a pattern. Who can afford the price of a formal dress she’ll wear to one homecoming dance and then relegate to the back of her closet?

Yeah, we’d talked about going a different color with the furniture in the den, but once I saw the love seats were fifty percent off, who could resist? I figure Bob can grow to love fuchsia.

Any woman was entitled to a great buy every once in a while, but Lily made Kate uncomfortable, remarking on a cute purse and asking if it was new, just a hint of disapproval in her tone or commenting wistfully on Kate and Paul’s honeymoon, mentioning that it had been years since she and Bob had been able to splurge on a luxurious vacation. “Got those four college tuitions we plan on paying,” she’d sometimes joke.

Even though the comments never seemed to bother Paul, Kate found them to be a little too reminiscent of her mother. Lorna Brewster had always had a “woe is me” air about her, a way of working comments into the conversation so that those who were better off felt obligated to either help her or feel guilty about their own successes. One of the many reasons Kate had informed Lorna that she didn’t have to spend her money to travel to the wedding. All we need are your best wishes, Mom.

With both of Paul’s parents deceased and Kate estranged from her one known relative, it had been natural to have a small, private wedding. The fact was, if Lorna got a look at how well-to-do Paul was, requests for family loans were sure to follow, even if they were cleverly disguised passive-aggressive requests.

But Lily hadn’t asked for money as far as Kate knew, and it was beside the point now since they had none to lend. Kate didn’t think she needed to start clipping coupons—yet—but once Paul came home, who knew how long it would take him to find a good replacement job and what sort of salary he’d be offered. She doubted another CEO position would fall into his lap, especially with his now murky record.

“Could we go to the pool?” PJ asked cheerfully. “It’s better than Florida. No jellyfish.”

Apparently Neve had been stung one year at the beach and PJ had spent the past couple of summers afraid to go back in the water. To PJ, jellyfish were the new Jaws.

The posh neighborhood included membership to a large pool and private clubhouse. They could spend the afternoon there without spending a dime, not counting the semiridiculous check she and Paul had written to the mandatory homeowners’ association in January.

“Now that sounds like a good idea,” Kate agreed. “What about you, Neve? Want to take advantage of the last couple of weeks of summer? It will be fall before you know it.”

“I like fall,” the girl said. “Everything’s dead then.”

Chipper sentiment.

Just as Kate began to worry that Neve was headed for teenage years filled with Goth clothing and suicidal poetry, Neve added, “It’s easier on my allergies. Summer’s not so bad, but spring is miserable.”

“Ah.” Come to think of it, Kate should probably make it a point to learn more about both children. As far as she knew, no one would go into anaphylactic shock at the sight of peanuts or shrimp, but there were dozens of potential missteps she would rather avoid. Especially those that might lead to emergency room visits. She had one dizzying moment where she realized how much she didn’t know. Hell, Patti had left more explicit instructions when Kate house-sat for her once than Paul had for turning over his children.