"I am happy to be here with your 'other' family, my son. The celebration of the birth of a soul is a joyous occasion." Caine laid a hand on his son's shoulder while Peter grinned at him.
Stepping out of the car, Caine opened the door and helped Kacie from her seat. Before he released her hand, he pulled her into his embrace and whispered in her ear, "You must trust your heart."
Kacie's breath caught in her throat, and she rested her head against his shoulder for the briefest of moments before pulling away stiffly.
The front door flew open and Annie stood beaming happily. "Peter? Kacie? Come here and see me!"
Peter reached for his mother first, wrapping her in a bear hug and kissing her cheek. "I've missed you, Mom."
"Well, whose fault is that, Sweetie?" she teased. "We haven't moved in the past few weeks, you know." She released him and held out a hand. "Kacie? Where are you?"
Kacie took Annie's hand and then hugged her. "Annie. It's so nice to see you again."
"Don't be such strangers in the future!" Annie gently chided.
Kacie hugged Annie again and watched Peter's broad back thinking, {Strangers. That's what we are, all right.}
"Come on in. It's cold out here," Annie directed. "Caine, you come here and give me your arm...after you give me a hug!"
Peter and Kacie entered the house, Peter taking their coats and hanging them on the hooks in the hallway. Annie and Caine were close behind, chatting amiably.
Peter looked around and asked, "Where is everybody?"
Annie grinned and answered, "Paul and Kelly are in the kitchen..."
Peter smacked himself in the forehead and groaned loudly, "Oh, God, please. Not Kelly in the kitchen again! Do we send out for the pizza now, or later?"
"I heard that!" Kelly Blaisdell came from the direction of the delicious odors of cooking pot roast, an apron around her waist and potato masher in her hand. After greeting the newcomers, she shook the masher in Peter's face. "Just for being a wise-ass, you get to help. Come on, smart guy." She promptly chased Peter off to the kitchen, swatting at him with the kitchen tool.
Todd emerged from the den to grab Kacie in a rib-crushing hug. "Greetings, fellow out-law. We're faced with a houseful today, Kacie my love." He stopped joking and stared at her. "Wo-o-w. Where did you go? Seeing a lot less of you these days, aren't we?"
"Hadn't you heard, Todd? The waif look is in this season," she joked, jabbing him in the ribs and dismissing his words. There immediately rose a fretful cry from the den.
Kacie looked at Todd in concern. "Is Katie sick?"
Todd rolled his eyes. "Worse. She's teething. Drools all over everything and hates the world. Especially her mother and father."
They walked into the den, and Carolyn looked at them hopefully, the baby in her arms wriggling restlessly and whining. "Somebody please do something with this kid," Carolyn begged. "I love her with my whole heart, but we sure don't like each other very much right now."
Todd started to reach for his fourteen-month-old daughter, but, like many fickle children, Katie twisted in her mother's arms and reached for Kacie, who automatically took her.
Kacie kissed the baby's forehead. "She's running a temp here. Have you given her any children's Tylenol?"
"About four hours ago," Carolyn answered, rubbing her hand across tired eyes.
"Have you rubbed any Anbesol on the sore spot?" Kacie juggled the wriggling baby, and attempted to disengage the tiny fingers from her hair.
"We've got some in the diaper bag upstairs, but she fights us so hard when we try it, we usually give up on the idea," Todd admitted, taking a seat on the couch next to Carolyn.
Kacie smiled at them both. "Why don't I take her upstairs and dose her up?" she suggested. "If I can get her to fall asleep, would that be OK?"
"OK?!" Todd practically shouted. "If you can get our munchkin to sleep, I may very well give you the deed to our house!" Carolyn sagged against his shoulder wearily and nodded in silent agreement.
"I'll give it a try." Kacie grinned. "But you can keep the house." She started to talk to the squirming child in her arms as they went upstairs. "Whatsa matter, Katie- kins? The world not treating you right today?"
Dinner preparations were nearly complete, and Peter
laughed and joked with the family members in the
kitchen. Caine and Paul sat in the dining room, watching
their children with benevolent eyes.
"Caine, you are looking at a happy man," Paul stated with contentment. "I'm here with my family. They're all well; they're all happy. What more could a man want in life?"
Caine nodded and agreed. "A wise man realizes that with such blessings, he has everything."
Paul looked around and noticed for the first time that he hadn't seen his daughter-in-law. "Where's Kacie? Peter didn't leave her home, did he?"
Carolyn came out of the kitchen with a serving bowl to set on the table. "She's being a sanity saver," she told her father. "She's upstairs taking over the 'humor Katie' detail."
"We're about ready to eat," Annie announced. "Peter, would you go get Kacie from the nursery?"
"And our munchkin," Todd added, shaking his head ruefully. "I'll bet dollars to doughnuts she's still wide awake and crabby."
Peter obediently went off on his errand. He walked up the stairs and silently down the hallway, his ear catching the sound of soft singing accompanied by the rhythmic creak of a rocking chair.
He quietly opened the door of Carolyn's old room, which had been converted into a nursery for Katie's frequent stays with her grandparents. He could see Kacie in profile, rocking gently in the chair, holding the sleeping baby in her arms. Little Katie's face was turned toward Peter, one arm hanging limply and the other resting against Kacie's breast. .
Kacie was singing a little lullaby in Spanish, her low voice soft and soothing. She brushed her fingers over the child's back in hypnotic circles, while she rocked the chair in time to the music.
Peter stood watching the maternal scene, and was struck with a longing so strong it took his breath away. {I wish that was our baby she was rocking.} He swallowed thickly. {With things the way they are between us now, that will never happen.}
He cleared his throat and whispered, "Kacie, Mom says we're ready to eat."
She looked at him and nodded, continuing her song as she stood up with the child. Walking with a swaying motion to the crib, she put Katie down, laying the child on her back, the diaper making crinkling sounds as the baby moved.
Peter came into the room and stood behind Kacie, breathing in the smells of baby shampoo and talcum powder. As he watched, the sleeping child's muscles jerked once before she relaxed into sound sleep, emitting a tiny tired sigh.
Kacie pulled a light blanket over the baby, and brushed gentle fingers through the soft hair. Kissing Katie's forehead, she turned and bumped into Peter, who put hands on her shoulders to help her regain her balance.
For a fraction of a second, their eyes met and time seemed suspended. Each waited for the other to speak, and then the moment passed.
"We'd better get downstairs," Peter said softly, "We don't want to keep dinner waiting."
Kacie flipped on the switch to activate the baby monitor that was sitting on the dresser, and carried the matching receiver with her as they left and went down the stairs.
Todd's jaw dropped when the two appeared without the baby. Kacie flipped the little receiver to Todd, announcing airily, "Mission accomplished."
Todd held the receiver almost prayerfully. "You're kidding! Her highness is finally sleeping?"
"Guess she just likes my singing better than yours, Todd." Kacie took her seat as Peter pulled out her chair for her.
"You are a lifesaver, Kacie," Carolyn sighed gratefully. "She's been so fussy lately, there's just been no living with her."
"Or her mother," Todd said mournfully. "Ow! Again with the elbow!" He rubbed the sore spot on his side as the others laughed.
"What was that you were singing to her?" Peter looked at Kacie, whose face grew sad.
"My mom used to sing it to my brother and me, when we were sick, or unhappy." She spoke quietly, and her voice caught. "She said she sang it to us even before we were born. I hadn't thought of it in years, but the words were right there." She cleared her throat softly and went on. "It's a Spanish lullaby, about a mother telling her baby that she will always be there."
Caine interjected quietly. "Laura would rock Peter and sing to him for hours." A smile was on his lips and his eyes softened in remembrance.
Peter's gaze shifted to his father. "I can barely remember that...just bits and pieces. Mostly I remember you."
Caine's face lit up with a warm grin. "Yes. I would hold you and rock you when you were small." He pretended to frown, and shook a finger at his son. "But you did not like my singing."
The group at the table broke into laughter at Peter's suddenly red face.
"Let's say grace and eat, shall we?" Paul enjoined.
The family joined hands with one another, and as Peter took Kacie's in his, he looked over at her. She was staring at the rings on the third finger of her left hand with the saddest expression he had ever seen, before lowering her head and closing her eyes to wait for Paul's prayer. Peter swallowed hard, closing his own eyes and thinking again, {We can't live like this.}