Ch91 A Mother's Tears

Jeff had only just arrived home and sat down on the couch in front of the TV with a tall glass of milk and the cherished cookies the girls made for him. He was pretty darn sure he would eat the whole lot of them right then and there, in one sitting. Each bite he took was almost like being with the kids—especially his precious Janet…almost.

He had just selected the third delectable cookie and taken a bite when the phone rang. His heart skipped a beat when he looked at his cell phone and realized it was Wendy.

“Hey, Wendy, you okay?” he said.

“Hello, Jeffery. Yes, I’m fine,” she said.

“I just left the kids. They okay?”

“Yes, we’re all fine. I’m sorry to call so late…”

“Never too late to hear from you. What’s up?”

“Um… just needed to ask a huge favor.”

“Want me come over?” he asked, a mite too eagerly.

“No, nothing like that,” she said, half amused and half distressed for feeling so guilty. “It’s just… I was hoping you could stay with the kids… while I’m away.”

He dropped the cookie tin with a clunk onto the coffee table and stood up. 

“Where…where you going?” he said, his heart beating uncomfortably hard in his chest. He started pacing like a caged animal. All he could think of was Donny Sebastian taking his wife for some romantic weekend trip.

“It’s a work related thing with Alec to New York City. He wants me to meet all sorts of people he knows in the restaurant business and… he’s taking me shopping. Really likes his shopping, he does. He’s worse than all the Kardashian sisters put together.”

“I’ll bet,” Jeff said. “How long will you be gone?”

“A whole week. I leave Friday morning. I’m sorry I didn’t give you more notice and I’ll understand if you can’t…”

“Wendy, of course I can. Don’t worry about that. Do you need a ride to the airport?”

“Oh, that’s sweet, but Alec is taking care of that. He’s sending a limo for me and then we’re going on his private jet. Can you believe that?”

“Yeah, I can. My baby’s going in style, just like she ought to,” he said, though sadly.

Silence fell between them in which more was said than words could do.

“I’m sure the kids and I will be fine,” he said, at last.

“I’ll change the sheets in our…in my bedroom for you and put out clean towels. I’ll have loads of food all ready in the freezer. Don’t forget to feed Liatris and clean the litter box. The girls know what to do about dinner and…”

“Wendy, we’ll manage,” he said. “I was living there not too long ago, you know.”

“Yes, of course,” she said. “I just… I’m a nervous wreck. This is the first time I’ll be away from my babies.”

Jeff smiled. “Your babies are almost self-sufficient now, you know.”

“Don’t remind me!” she cried.

He laughed. “I hope you have a great time, Wendy. Just don’t worry about anything. I got it. Just have fun, okay?”

Too oppressed to speak, Wendy bit her lip before she gave in to the temptation to ask him to come over right now and hold her and soothe her frazzled nerves and tell her all would be fine and… she shook her head and swallowed those thoughts along with a few tears.

“And…will you and Janet be okay?”

“She’s surprisingly coming around…a little. She’ll actually talk to me now…a bit. So… we might be okay…sort of,” he said cautiously optimistic.

 “I’m glad. I know that’s been the worst part of all this for you,” she said.

“No, not the worst part,” he whispered.

Silence fell again and Wendy rushed to fill it. “So, uh…I’ll see you…uh…I’ll be back next Saturday…I think. I’m at Alec’s whim so…”

“In any case, we’ll be fine. Don’t worry and have fun.”

“Thank you, Jeffery.”

“Any time.”

“Good night,” she said.

“Good night, Wendy. I love you,” he said, hopeful she would believe him this time.

She closed her eyes, gripping the phone so tight it hurt her hand. “Good night, Jeffery,” she whispered, quickly hanging up. 

“I love you, too,” she mumbled to herself, a tear slipping down her cheek.

********

“This reminds me of Molly Weasley when she’s saying goodbye to all her kids, plus Harry and Hermoine, at King’s Cross station just before they take the Hogwart’s Express to School and she ends up kissing Harry twice,” Cindy whispered to Stevie.

Two seconds later Wendy did indeed hug her and Stevie for the second time and Cindy burst out laughing.

“Mom, get a grip, will ya?” Stevie said, rolling his eyes. “It’s just a week.”

“I’ve never been away from you, any of you,” Wendy said, wiping at her tear streaked face to no avail. The waterfall still continued.

“That’s not true, Mom,” Janet said, getting her third hug and a very wet kiss. “You had to leave me and Jazzy with Grandma when you went to the hospital for Stevie. Remember?”

“I cried then, too,” Wendy blubbered, hugging her even harder.

“Mom, I can’t breathe,” Janet gasped.

“Come on, guys, we’re gonna be late for school,” Wes said, just before getting an embrace to end all embraces. “You’ll do great in New York, Ms. Meadows.”

“Yeah, buy loads of great clothes!” Jasmine said, kissing her mother’s cheek and slipping out of the door before getting grabbed again.

“Have a great time, Mom!” Janet said, as Wes pulled her out of the house and closed the door.

Donny stood leaning on the wall, watching all this, trying very hard not to laugh. “Well, no one can say you don’t love your kids,” he said.

“Oh, shut up,” she said, blowing her red nose. “How can you be so calm? You’re leaving them, too!”

“Yes, but I know I’ll be back on Sunday. You’re obviously going away for ten years.”

“Ten years, a week, it’s all the same to me!” she whined.

He laughed, unable to stop himself this time and put his arms around her. “Come on now. You have to stop this. It’s okay, Wendy. You’ll be back soon, before you know it and you’ll see…”

A none-too-subtle clearing of the throat, made him stop in mid-sentence and turn around. Jeffery stood in the threshold looking fit to be tied.

“Hey, Jeff,” Donny said, releasing Wendy.

“Jeffery,” Wendy said, between sniffles. “What are you doing here? You just missed the kids. They left for school just now.”

“Yes, I know. I saw them,” Jeff said, looking from one to the other. He didn’t know if he ought to clobber Donny to the ground or console his despondent wife.

“I didn’t mean you had to come over so early. Not until after you closed up shop tonight. They’ll be in school all day,” Wendy said, wiping at her blotchy face.

“I know. I wanted to see you before you left. I knew you’d be upset about leaving the kids,” Jeff said, giving Donny a do-you-mind-if-I-have-a-private-moment-with-my-wife sort of look.

He caught the hint. “Well, um…good. She needs a gentle touch just about now. See you at the airport, Wendy,” Donny said, heading for the door.

“Yes, Donny, thanks,” Wendy said, blowing her nose again.

“Nice seeing you again, Jeff,” Donny said before he closed the door behind him.

Jeff couldn’t say the same so he thought it best to remain silent. He turned on Wendy, just barely controlling his anger. “He’s going with you?” he asked.

“Oh…Alec is giving him a ride to New York,” Wendy said, hiding her guilty face in her handkerchief. “He’ll head up to Boston…from JFK…he’s going to his college reunion.”

Jeff relaxed ever-so-slightly, but not enough. That man was spending entirely too much time with his wife, but there was nothing he could do about it. 

Or perhaps there was. He stepped closer to Wendy and pulled a velvet covered box out of his pocket.

“I have something for you. I was saving it for your birthday, but… I thought it would be nice to commemorate your new career. I hope you like it,” he said, opening the box to show her the gold necklace with hearts intertwined around three birthstones-- two rubies and one sapphire--one for each of the kids.

This thoughtful gesture, however, had the opposite affect he sought. 

Wendy burst out afresh in tears.

“Aww, Honey,” he said, taking her into his arms and holding her tight. 

It was several minutes before she could gain enough control to be coherent again. After one last sob, she gulped, shook her head and said, “I can’t go. I just can’t leave.”

“Wendy, come on. You have to go,” he said, caressing one cheek while kissing the other. “This is your chance to shine, and you will. You’re a bright star in a gloomy, dark sky. I’ve known it all along, the kids know it and now it’s time the rest of the world know it, too.”

She shook her head again staring up at him through a blur of tears. “I’m in over my head. I can’t do it,” she whispered. "That first few nights at the restaurant were just a fluke. It was just cuz.. because you called all my friends and...It's madness! I can't do this."

“You can and you will,” he forcefully said. “You must do this. If not for you, then do it for our girls. What will they think if you back out of this? If you don’t have confidence in your abilities then how will they have confidence in their own?”

She stared up at him, aghast. “I…I didn’t think of that,” she said, finally getting a grip on herself. “Guess I have to.”

“Of course you do and you’ll do great. You’ll wow them just like you’ve been wowing me since I first set eyes on you,” he said.

“I hope you’re right,” she said, sniffing.

“Though I rarely am, I am this time,” he said smiling at her.

“Thank you, Jeffery. You could always talk me down from the ledge,” she said, half smiling.

“It’s my job,” he said, taking the necklace from the box and fastening it about her neck. “Let’s see how this looks, shall we? There, looks nice.”

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, tears threatening again.

“No more of that,” he said, taking her face into his hands. He then added, “There is no crying in New York, you know. You can’t show weakness or you’ll get eaten alive and you’d make such a tasty treat.”

She giggled. “Okay, I forgot.”

“Then it’s a good thing I reminded you,” he said, smirking.

She stared up at him wishing for something to say, but all she wanted was to be held again.

He seemed to understand this without being told. He wrapped his arms around her and thoroughly kissed her. She melted into him and clung to him and he might have kissed her longer had it not been for the persistent honking of a car horn just outside.

“Oh!” she shrieked, pushing away from him. “That’s Alec. I…I gotta go.”

“Wendy…”

“We’ll talk when I get back,” she said in a rush, grabbing her purse and going for her suitcase. “I’ll call the kids each night.”

Jeff grabbed her suitcase before she could. He then opened the door for her and walked her to the shiny white limo. 

“Thanks for everything, Jeffery,” Wendy said, allowing him to open the door for her after he stowed away her luggage. 

He stopped her before she got inside. “What is it, Jeffery?” she said.

“Wendy, I love you,” Jeff said, semi-desperately. “Come back safe.”

Her heart skipped a beat. She nodded and got in, closing the door. She turned in her seat and watched Jeff—his hands stuffed into his pockets just like he always did when he was frustrated-- grow smaller as they drove away. 

“I love you, too,” she whispered. 

Wendy cried all the way to the airport.