3. Best Mom Award

Best Mom Award

M ara

Thursdays were a big day for us, especially for Olivia. They took a turn a few months ago when Bex and Willa started taking Olivia to the animal shelter every Thursday afternoon. Even though Bex was a new mother to six-year-old twins, she still wanted to build a closer relationship with Olivia and taking her to the animal shelter on Thursdays was her idea.

The twins stayed with their grandparents Thursdays and Fridays, and Bex worked from home which allowed her great flexibility. Having her own online jewelry store made her the master of her time and her schedule, allowed her to volunteer, and she liked to take Olivia with her.

It was Willa who got Bex involved initially. Willa owned a graphic design company, but she also worked part-time at the shelter as the volunteer coordinator. Willa, too, had a great deal of flex in her schedule, allowing her to support Olivia with this new venture.

The shelter had seemed like it might be a good fit for Bex and Olivia, and it was. Olivia helped in her way and was making connections with new people. She was also learning to rely on Bex, and the cuddle therapy with the kittens was priceless.

It was there that Olivia met Sirius Black, our cat, a tiny black female she named after her favorite Harry Potter character. We adopted Sirius soon after they met, and the little cat slept with Olivia on her bed, got up in the morning when she did, and trucked along after Olivia wherever she went. Willa told me that it happens like that sometimes, a cat will choose a person, like Sirius took to Olivia, and they act more like a dog with their person.

As much as she wanted Olivia, Sirius was stuck with me on Thursdays. At the shelter, Olivia mostly sat in Willa’s office making signs for the enclosures, playing with any kittens Willa brought in for social time, and eventually curling up to draw on her iPad. She enjoyed it. I did too.

Sometimes .

While it gave me time to write, uninterrupted, getting her ready to leave the house was challenging.

I stuck my head in her bedroom door. “Happy Valentine’s Day Little bird! Did you remember you’re going to the shelter today?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, good. It’s time to get up. We need to do a few things and then get ready.”

“I’m not getting up yet.” She burrowed deeper under her blankets.

It was already nine o’clock. Bex would be here by twelve-thirty. This should be enough time, but I knew we were cutting it close. I went over my options. I could insist but that would stress her out and stressing her out right before she needed to go out was never a good idea. I could negotiate a get up time, but her routines took time and we needed to get started. She’d already slept well past her usual.

I’d have to entice her out of bed. I sat on the edge of her bed, my hand light on her back.

“If you get up now, I’ll have time to make you French toast and we’ll still have time to frost the Valentine’s Day cookies. How does that sound?”

She opened her eyes. I looked down at this sweet, complicated child Zale and I had created, and I was amazed as always. Amazed at how much she’d grown and changed. Amazed at how drastically our life changed when she entered it with the intensity of a rocket ship’s reentry into the atmosphere from outer space.

She turned my suggestion over in her mind.

“Are they ready to be frosted?”

We baked yesterday but the cookies were too warm to frost before bed.

“Yes, they are ready, and I already mixed up the frosting.”

“Do we have the right syrup for French toast? I only like the one that has twenty-two grams of sugar. The one with twenty-four grams of sugar hurts my tummy.”

“We do.”

I’d mistakenly bought the wrong brand and she refused to eat it, looking at the label and comparing the sugar contents to convince me the new syrup was sickening to her stomach.

She decided. “Okay, I’ll get up.”

“Great!” I pulled the covers down gently and held out my hand to her. “Come keep me company in the kitchen. I haven’t seen you since yesterday!”

She laughed and threw her legs over the side.

“Go pee first, then meet me in the kitchen. ”

Still, at age twelve, if I didn’t remind her to go to the bathroom she might pee her pants. She just didn’t notice when she had to go until it was too late.

Olivia frosted the cookies while I made her breakfast, after which we approached the next hurdle, teeth brushing. That took half an hour of coaxing, and thirty seconds of brushing. It was nearing ten-thirty.

“You’ll have your shower when you get home, okay little bird?”

“I have my shower in the morning.”

“I know. But it’s cold out and there won’t be enough time for your hair to dry before it’s time to go.”

“I have my shower in the morning.”

“You do,” I agreed. “I know. Can we be flexible today? It’s freezing outside. It’s not good to go out with damp hair and there’s not enough time for it to dry between the time your shower will be over and the time Auntie Bex will be here.”

She thought for a moment. “Tell Auntie Bex to come later.”

I drew in a breath for patience, something that was getting harder and harder to come by lately. “That’s a good idea, but Auntie Bex has to be at the shelter at a certain time for her shift. We can’t make her late.”

Olivia was beginning to retreat inside herself. A change in routine was a serious thing. I thought fast .

“When do you take baths?”

“Bedtime.”

“So how about you have a bath tonight with one of Mommy’s bath bombs, and this way we don’t change your shower schedule?”

“I like bath bombs. But I have my shower in the morning.”

“I know. But if you’d like to use one of Mommy’s bath bombs, it will have to be tonight. Do you think Sirius will be curious about the bath water?”

She looked intrigued. “Sirius has never seen a bath bomb. She likes to dip her paw in my bath water. Okay.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. It was closing in on eleven. We still needed to negotiate an outfit, find socks without seams that met her matching requirements, pack a smaller bag of happiness for her to take with her, get to the bathroom one last time, wash her hands afterwards, and eat lunch.

An hour and a half later, when Bex got to the door, Olivia was ready, cookies packed up and in hand for the staff at the shelter.

“Hey, chickie!” She looked at me closely, then laughed. “Rough morning?”

I rolled my eyes and put a hand to my hair that was so poufy it required its own orbit. At least I showered.

She turned to Olivia. “Hey, beautiful girl.”

“Hi Auntie Bex. Can Sirius come? ”

“Nope.”

Olivia’s eyebrows lowered over her eyes. “But I want her to come. She will miss me.”

“We can’t bring her.” Bex shrugged. “She doesn’t like it at the shelter. It wouldn’t be fair to make her come with us.”

“She doesn’t like to be with the other cats. Auntie Willa told me.”

“It’s true.” Bex clasped her hands together. “Maybe Mommy will look after Sirius for you.”

“Sirius is independent. She can look after herself.”

Just then Sirius wound around Olivia’s ankles. “See! She doesn’t want me to go!”

At this I scooped Sirius up in my arms. “Mommy needs some time with Sirius. If you go out, Sirius will cuddle with me instead of you. Think you can give Mommy some time with Sirius?”

She nodded. “She loves me best.”

“She does.”

“I’m glad she’s not like Neville’s pet,” Olivia commented. I handed her shoes over and she put them on. “Neville’s pet is a toad.”

Bex jumped in. “Oh yeah? I remember that. Wasn’t it always getting lost?” I watched the interplay between the two of them. “I forget his toad’s name. ”

“Trevor!” Olivia informed her. I passed her coat to her next and she put that on as well. Bex held out Olivia’s gloves and she slipped her hands in, then Bex looped Olivia’s bag of happiness over her waiting arm.

“Great name for a toad. Not as good as Sirius though,” Bex stated, and Olivia nodded in agreement.

“Bye, little bird.”

I kissed her head. She leaned her forehead onto my lips for a moment, then followed Bex out the door. I wasn’t sure how today would go. She had been pretty resistant so far this morning.

Bex looked at me over her shoulder, concern reflected in her watercolor eyes. “Have a rest, Merry. She’ll be fine. Fur therapy is awesome, and Willa and I have her covered. Love you, chickie.”

“Love you, too, chickie. Love you, little bird. Have fun.”

I closed the door and the silence roared. My shoulders crept up around my ears. I looked around warily. Being alone was not always a good thing for me. I checked the lock on the front door and checked the other doors to be sure.

I connected my playlist to the speaker, turned it up as loud as it could go, something I could not do with Olivia around, and let the heavy beats fill the empty space inside me as I had myself a dance party, uninhibited and free.

Willa and Bex were coming over for a quick visit after the shelter, but we had no official Girls’ Night planned for tonight. It was Valentine’s Day after all. I flopped down on the couch, closed my eyes, and let the music surround me.

I woke with a start, disoriented and alarmed, like you do when you realize you’ve forgotten something. Slowly, I came fully awake, remembered it was Thursday, and saw that I’d slept for almost an hour.

I rubbed my face.

“I’m worse than Olivia.”

I’d wanted to put in an afternoon’s worth of work on my latest children’s book before I had to start cooking, but the notion had worn off. I turned down the music, listened for sounds in the house that shouldn’t be there, went to my bathroom to fix my hair, slapped on some makeup, and freshened up. The nap was good and needed. I felt guilty but refreshed.

Back in the kitchen, I started pulling out the ingredients for tonight’s dinner. I was making a spinach salad, deviled eggs, and roasted chicken sandwiches on Ciabatta buns. I turned the music back on, cranked it up, and got busy.

Sirius Black wound around my ankles. She was a sweet little thing, affectionate. Oh, my Lord, the shit hit the fan when we brought her home. My mother was not happy.

The phone rang just as Olivia and I returned home from the shelter with her. Olivia was in the throes of bliss, unpacking all of Sirius’ new paraphernalia. I snatched up the phone without checking the call display, something I never did, but I expected it to be Zale calling to talk to Olivia about her new kitty, and I let my guard down.

“Hello?”

“Mara? It’s mom.”

“Hi, mom. How are you?”

“Well! I just finished all my laundry, did my banking, and washed the patio doors. They were filthy. Now, my back hurts. I did too much I guess,” she sighed. “I picked up groceries and I’ve got my bedding in the wash now. You don’t happen to be going out for groceries, are you?”

“No, not today.”

“Oh.” She paused. “I just wanted to ask if you could pick me up a bag of milk.”

“Didn’t you just say you went for groceries today?”

“Yes, I did, but I forgot the milk!” she laughed.

“Why don’t you just go get some?” I was confused.

“Because,” she enunciated slowly and succinctly. “I just went. I don’t want to go back. I figured if you were going for groceries tomorrow you could pick it up for me.”

“I’m not going tomorrow either, Mom. In fact, we added a new member to the family today, so we’ll be home for a few days at least to settle her in. ”

“Did you get a puppy?” She asked excitedly.

“No, no,” I petered off, remembering that she was allergic to cats. This was not going to go well. “Olivia likes quiet, she likes to visit her Uncle Dean’s puppy, but to have a dog full time would, first and foremost, be too much for me to handle, and the barking would drive her nuts.”

I was talking too much, nervous, over-explaining. I imagined Olivia one day feeling like this about me and my stomach pitched.

“Well, that’s why you train your dog, Mara.”

“Again,” I strived for patience, “that’s not something I have the time or desire to take on right now.”

“Well, if it’s not a puppy, what is it?” She asked irritably.

“She’s been going into the shelter for a couple of months with Bex and Willa. A little cat took a liking...”

“A cat?!” she screeched. “You know I’m allergic to cats, Mara!”

“It’s not like you come over here all that often, Mom. Maybe you can take an allergy tablet before coming?”

“I like to sleep over at Christmas time, and see my grandchild on Christmas morning, and now I won’t be able to. This was really selfish of you, Mara.”

“Really?” I drew the word out into three syllables. “You would deny Olivia a cat because you want to visit once a year and not have to take an allergy tablet? ”

“You could have gotten her a dog!” She spat; her voice filled with disgust.

“I’ve already explained why that’s not an option at this time.”

“Willa put you up to this. Why she wastes her time in that flea-ridden place is beyond me. She should be building her business, not messing around with strays.”

From experience, I knew this tirade could go on for quite a while. I cut her off as quickly as I could, which was honestly not all that quick, and got back to Olivia and Sirius.

Unfortunately, as soon as she hung up with me, she phoned Willa and raked her over the coals. I knew this because Willa called me about five minutes after I hung up with my mother to check on me. Bea’s tantrums didn’t seem to bother Willa like they bothered me. I admired her for that.

That was several weeks ago and things with my mom had gone from bad to worse since then. Personally offended that I got a cat, she brought it up constantly. Explaining my reasons over and over and trying to appease her was exhausting and frustrating.

On top of that, Olivia wanted to show her pictures of Sirius, and my mom never failed to dramatically shudder when she looked at the pictures. I don’t know why she couldn't just humor her, but she had a point to make and that took precedence.

I leaned down and scratched Sirius’s tiny head with the tip of my finger. They would be back soon. Olivia would be tired, and no doubt Harry Potter would be back on the tv, Sirius curled up beside her.

I had no regrets. Olivia lived an often-isolated life and Sirius was a good little friend, maybe the best kind of friend for her.

After the shelter, Olivia did indeed curl up on the couch with Sirius to watch Harry Potter and draw on her iPad while the girls and I moved into the sunroom. I made us tea and grabbed a tray with our three mugs. I loved my pottery. They were glazed an ocean blue with a cresting wave coming from each bottom. I could taste the sea just looking at them.

“Well Bride-to-Be? How’s it going?”

I passed Bex her mug. Her real name was Rebecca, but it was only her fiancé, Rhys, who ever called her that.

Bex shrugged. “Good. Easy-Peasy.”

“I think you must have a record for most laid-back weddings.”

Willa was referring to her first marriage that took place at a restaurant for lunch with only a handful of guests. This one promised to be equally relaxed.

“You’re probably right!” she laughed. “This one is going to be at our place. If there’s roasted marshmallows over the fire pit after dinner, I’ll be happy.”

It would still be cold at the end of April, so having the fire pit at night would be perfect .

“In all seriousness, what’s left to do?”

“The pastor is booked. Jeanie really wanted her pastor to do the ceremony and neither Rhys nor I have any objection to that. Rhys bought himself and Cole a suit. I’m taking the little queen out to shop for her dress this weekend,” she smiled and looked down for a moment, gathering her emotions. “A mother-daughter day she says.”

She looked up and her eyes were shiny. The little queen’s real name was Amelie, and she was the female half of Rhys’ twins from his first marriage. His first wife died in childbirth and Bex was the first woman he had ever introduced into the twins’ lives. They took to her immediately, and so the story goes, she fell in love with their picture before she even met them.

I leaned closer and smiled into her happy eyes. “That’s wonderful, honey.”

“I need to shop for my dress…”

“We’re in!”

“Excellent, we’ll have to set up a date, or a few dates for that. We’ll shop for you guys at the same time.”

I was going to be Matron of Honor, again. Barrett, Rhys’ brother, was going to be Best Man.

“What else? ”

“Willa, we don’t need invitations, it’s only going to be you guys, and Zale of course, and Rhys’ immediate family, but I’d like something to commemorate the day, something for Rhys and me to keep.”

“Like your story in a little book?”

“Yeah, something like that, but I’d also like there to be space for all of you to write something, like a mini guest book?”

“I’d love to put something like that together for you.”

“I’ll pay you of course…”

“Re-bec-ca!” Willa’s glittering blue eyes narrowed. “You will not. It will be my honor to do this for you. Mara has a key role, now I feel like I have something important to do for you, too. I’m thrilled to do this for you.”

“Thank you, Willa, so much.”

“We’ll get together to work out some details, we’ll discuss colors and look at some fonts, and you can leave the rest up to me. Okay?”

“That would be fantastic! Thank you, chickie.”

“Is there anything else left to do?”

Bex nodded. “I want gifts for each guest, not favors, something personal for each person. So, I’ll take ideas and suggestions for Zale and Olivia, Rhys’ parents, Jeanie and Calum, Barrett, and the twins, of course.”

“This is going to be like Christmas!” Willa chirped .

Bex continued smiling. “I ordered the flowers, the floating paper lanterns, I think the kids will like those, the mobile petting zoo is booked, the catering is all settled…”

Willa and I hooted in unison, “What?! Did you say petting zoo?”

“Mobile petting zoo.” She pursed her lips. “It’s the kids’ day too you know! As soon as the ceremony is over we’ll take pictures, and then dinner. I’m changing out of my dress after dinner, I don’t care if Amelie and Cole get messy, they can change or not, whatever they choose, but I’m not getting marshmallow goop and ash from the fire pit on my dress.” She laughed again. She laughed a lot these days. “Rhys will probably have jeans and a t-shirt on underneath his suit and will strip right after dessert.” She smirked.

“A petting zoo,” I stated.

“Guys!” she exclaimed exasperated. “There’ll be a tent in the backyard in case it rains, and the petting zoo will only be there for a couple of hours after dinner for the kids. Olivia, Cole, and Amelie will love it. It’ll make the day memorable and fun for them, too.”

“It’s a great idea.” I faked a disgruntled look at Willa. “She’s going to win the Best Mom Award.”

“Cheers,” Willa lifted her glass. “Both of you take motherhood to a new level. Your children are blessed. Truly.”

Our visit wound up quickly and I sent them on their way, with cookies, of course.