the same attitude: that the callers were the customers and she was there to serve. The students were the customers, too, which made for a delicate balance, trying to satisfy everyone. She did her best.
“Hey, Kate.”
Hearing the familiar Kentucky accent on the other end, she relaxed. “Hi, Nancy. What’s up?”
“I just need to talk to an adult for a change.”
Kate heard Sammy whining in the background. “Having a rough day?”
“You could say that. Sammy has a cold, which makes him super fussy. And we can’t go anywhere because I don’t want to get anyone else’s baby sick. I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic.”
“So you called a counselor,” Kate joked.
She heard Nancy’s muffled voice say, “Sammy, Mommy’s on the phone. You have to be quiet. Why don’t you play with your train?” Then she uncovered the receiver. “Sorry about that.”
“That’s OK.” Kate turned back to her Franklin calendar hoping to multi-task.
“You want to talk to Sammy?”
She has got to be kidding. Before she could answer, Kate heard Nancy put the phone up to him. He screamed, possibly damaging Kate’s eardrum before she jerked the receiver away.
When Nancy got back on the phone she said, “Sorry about that. Are you doing anything Friday night?”
“I’m going to see Joely as soon as I get out of school.”
“What about Monday then?”
Imagining Nancy wanted to catch a chick flick, Kate turned her calendar pages. She noted that her annual check-up was that afternoon and on the weekend the Foxworth football team had an away game. She smiled, seeing that she was free Monday night.
“I was thinking,” Nancy said, “if you wanted to get some practice being a mom, you could babysit Sammy.”
Kate’s enthusiasm plummeted. Nancy didn’t want some one-on-one time with her; she wanted to see her husband. Didn’t she realize that Kate gave her heart and soul to kids all day long? When Kate turned off the light in her office each night, she was drained. She looked forward to drinking a cup of chamomile tea while she waited in her quiet house for Mitch to come home. Once he arrived, they took turns making dinner and exchanging anecdotes about their work. This process helped her recharge. That way she could be ready the next day to once again solve everyone’s problems but her own.
As Kate opened her mouth to answer, she heard a thump and a loud wail through the telephone.
“Oh, Sammy just fell. Gotta go.” Click .
Kate had to admit she was relieved. She felt confident about one thing: the last place she wanted to be on Monday night was trapped in the house alone with a baby.
Returning to her calendar, Kate flipped the pages backward. Counting the weeks, she realized something.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
What am I going to do if I’m pregnant? It would make it easy for me to keep my word to Joely. But I was hoping I would have more time to get “on board” with the whole kid thing. If I could talk myself into it, I would then try to sell Mitch on the idea.
As Kate thumbed through last week’s issue of People , her palms started to sweat. She remembered Aunt Suzy taking her to the gynecologist for the first time when she was twelve. The obese, balding doctor—a man Kate had never met before—explained to her the birds and the bees. Needless to say, her cheeks burned and she wanted to hide under the table. As if the experience hadn’t been traumatic enough, on the car ride home Aunt Suzy told her that if she ever got herself “knocked up” that her aunt would kick her out of her house. She went on and on about how nobody else would take Kate in, how nobody would want her. That was probably another reason Kate always saw having a baby as something to avoid.
Part of her couldn’t help but wonder how her mom would’ve handled Kate’s transition from girl to woman. She always felt cheated out of one of the key moments between a mother and daughter. She liked to think
“Hey, Kate.”
Hearing the familiar Kentucky accent on the other end, she relaxed. “Hi, Nancy. What’s up?”
“I just need to talk to an adult for a change.”
Kate heard Sammy whining in the background. “Having a rough day?”
“You could say that. Sammy has a cold, which makes him super fussy. And we can’t go anywhere because I don’t want to get anyone else’s baby sick. I’m feeling a bit claustrophobic.”
“So you called a counselor,” Kate joked.
She heard Nancy’s muffled voice say, “Sammy, Mommy’s on the phone. You have to be quiet. Why don’t you play with your train?” Then she uncovered the receiver. “Sorry about that.”
“That’s OK.” Kate turned back to her Franklin calendar hoping to multi-task.
“You want to talk to Sammy?”
She has got to be kidding. Before she could answer, Kate heard Nancy put the phone up to him. He screamed, possibly damaging Kate’s eardrum before she jerked the receiver away.
When Nancy got back on the phone she said, “Sorry about that. Are you doing anything Friday night?”
“I’m going to see Joely as soon as I get out of school.”
“What about Monday then?”
Imagining Nancy wanted to catch a chick flick, Kate turned her calendar pages. She noted that her annual check-up was that afternoon and on the weekend the Foxworth football team had an away game. She smiled, seeing that she was free Monday night.
“I was thinking,” Nancy said, “if you wanted to get some practice being a mom, you could babysit Sammy.”
Kate’s enthusiasm plummeted. Nancy didn’t want some one-on-one time with her; she wanted to see her husband. Didn’t she realize that Kate gave her heart and soul to kids all day long? When Kate turned off the light in her office each night, she was drained. She looked forward to drinking a cup of chamomile tea while she waited in her quiet house for Mitch to come home. Once he arrived, they took turns making dinner and exchanging anecdotes about their work. This process helped her recharge. That way she could be ready the next day to once again solve everyone’s problems but her own.
As Kate opened her mouth to answer, she heard a thump and a loud wail through the telephone.
“Oh, Sammy just fell. Gotta go.” Click .
Kate had to admit she was relieved. She felt confident about one thing: the last place she wanted to be on Monday night was trapped in the house alone with a baby.
Returning to her calendar, Kate flipped the pages backward. Counting the weeks, she realized something.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
What am I going to do if I’m pregnant? It would make it easy for me to keep my word to Joely. But I was hoping I would have more time to get “on board” with the whole kid thing. If I could talk myself into it, I would then try to sell Mitch on the idea.
As Kate thumbed through last week’s issue of People , her palms started to sweat. She remembered Aunt Suzy taking her to the gynecologist for the first time when she was twelve. The obese, balding doctor—a man Kate had never met before—explained to her the birds and the bees. Needless to say, her cheeks burned and she wanted to hide under the table. As if the experience hadn’t been traumatic enough, on the car ride home Aunt Suzy told her that if she ever got herself “knocked up” that her aunt would kick her out of her house. She went on and on about how nobody else would take Kate in, how nobody would want her. That was probably another reason Kate always saw having a baby as something to avoid.
Part of her couldn’t help but wonder how her mom would’ve handled Kate’s transition from girl to woman. She always felt cheated out of one of the key moments between a mother and daughter. She liked to think
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