Part 29A ******************** Josephine struggled with a box, carefully rounding the corner. She dropped the box unceremoniously in front of her apartment door, looking down at her daughter. “How you doin’ sweetie?” Jamie pulled her knees up to her chest, her dark unruly hair covering her sad brown eyes. “I miss home, mommy. I don’t like it here.” “Oh sweetie.” Joey sat down on the worn floor, her hands cupping her daughter’s cheeks. “I know you do, but this is our new home now. Remember? We’re here to find your brother, and when we do- Jamie looked up at her mother, her voice little. “But what if he doesn’t like me?” Joey felt her heart twitching in her chest as she saw the wary look in her daughter’s eyes. She wished that she could say something, do something, anything, just so she could ease her daughter’s fears of rejection; but there was nothing she could. In truth, she was afraid herself. She hadn’t had contact with her son since his birth, and she knew that it was naïve of her to hope that he would be willing to make amends, but she had to have hope. “Jamie, I’m sure your big brother will love you just as much as I do.” She kissed the top of Jamie’s head before placing a baseball cap over her head. “We just have to find him first.” Joey returned to the task of carrying the boxes inside the apartment, leaving Jamie to stare at her untied shoelaces. Jamie kicked at her feet, heaving a heavy sigh. She leaned her chin on her hand, eyeing the dusty floor. Her eyes lit up as she caught sight of a little furry puppy, chasing his own tail down the hall. She pulled herself up, walking cautiously to the dog. “Hi, puppy.” The dog wagged it’s tail, hanging it’s tongue out as it smiled at Jamie. Jamie kneeled in front of the dog, petting it gently. “Hi.” She chuckled lightly when the puppy licked her hand, his wet nose nuzzling her cheek. The door to apartment 5J opened, revealing a very pregnant Isabel. “Nanook? Nanook? Where are you sweetie?” Isabel hobbled out the door, her hand resting on her lower back. “Nan- Her voice stopped when she caught sight of Nanook playing with a little girl. The soft laughter and the playful yelps echoed down the hall, eliciting a small smile from her. “Hi.” Jamie stood up, stepping away from Nanook. She hid her hands behind her back, her toes shuffling in her scruffy sneakers. “Hi.” Nanook gave Jamie a friendly shake of his head, turning around to circle Isabel’s feet. “I see you’ve met Nanook.” She smiled warmly, holding out her hand. “My name is Isabel.” Jamie narrowed her eyes, not sure whether to trust Isabel. “I’m not supposed to speak to strangers.” “Oh, I see.” Isabel tucked her hair behind her ear. “Well I understand.” She looked behind Jamie, her eyes scanning the open door to apartment 5H. “Where’s your mom, sweetie?” “In the apartment.” She pointed behind her, walking backwards. “I gotta go.” She ran the rest of the way, her little feet thudding against the floor. Alex appeared at the door, picking up a squirming Nanook. “Who you talking to, Iz?” Isabel sighed as she watched the apartment door close. “A little girl. I guess someone moved into 5H.” Alex placed his hand over Isabel’s shoulder. “That’s nice. It’ll be good to have some more kids around this place.” ************* Max carried the dishes to the sink, calling out over his shoulder. “Did you want some coffee, Michael?” Michael seized playing with Leah, holding out a hand to Max. “Thanks.” “Go ahead and help yourself.” Michael nodded, pouring himself a cup. “Where’s the cream?” Max opened his mouth to answer, when the phone rang. He grabbed it, holding it against his ear. “Hello?” Michael scratched the side of his head, looking around the table. “Cream…” His eyes lit up when he caught sight of Leah’s baby bottle, filled with milk. He grinned at Leah as he uncapped the bottle. “You don’t mind, do you Leah?” Leah just gurgled, kicking her arms and feet in the air. Michael poured a little milk in his coffee, giving it a good stir. Max returned to the table, with a bottle of cream, handing it to Michael. “Here’s the cream.” Michael shook his head, bringing the mug to his lips, taking a sip. “It’s ok. I already got some.” Max looked perplexed, scratching his chin. “Where’d you get it?” Michael tipped his cup to Leah’s bottle. “I just took a little of Leah’s milk.” Max burst out laughing, his eyes filling with tears. “Michael, that’s breast milk!” Part 29B ***************** “Michael, that’s breast milk!” Michael promptly spit out the coffee in his mouth, running to the sink to rinse. He threw a glare at Max, while scrubbing his tongue, and then gargling water. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand while making a gagging face. “Thanks for the warning, Max.” Max just held onto his stomach, unsuccessfully trying to keep his composure. “Sorry.” He wiped away his tears, taking a deep calming breath. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, it is still milk.” Michael scowled, crossing his arms. “Yeah, milk that just happened to come out from one of my best friend’s body.” He shuddered as he continued thinking about. “Regular milk comes from cows. This milk just happened to- Michael shook his hands in the air, his face paling at the thought of milk coming from Liz. For the life of him, he couldn‘t even figure out how she had managed to put the milk in the bottle, but he didn‘t dare ask. That just fell into the TMI category, and there was just some things he didn‘t need to know about. “That’s just….I don’t even wanna think about it anymore.” He reached for another mug, pouring himself a fresh cup of coffee. He was going to reach for the cream, but decided against it. Better to be safe than sorry. Max straddled a chair, shaking his head as he watched Michael purposefully drink a fresh cup of coffee sans the cream. “So….what brings you by?” “Not much. I was in the neighborhood.” He jumped up onto the counter, making himself comfortable. “In the neighborhood? Michael….you live like three blocks away. You’re always in the neighborhood.” Max rest his chin on the back of the chair, laughing. Michael shrugged as he eased himself on the counter. “Okay, so maybe I just don’t want to head to the restaurant yet. I have to do like a million interviews today, and I don’t want to be there till the last possible minute.” “Still no luck finding a new hostess?” Michael ran a weary hand down his face. “Nope. Maria’s been real anal about just hiring anyone. She’s going all out, doing background checks and references.” He chugged the rest of his coffee, exhaling a long breath. “You know, I’m almost to the point of not caring anymore. We’re being swamped, and having Maria double as a hostess isn’t cutting it.” Max gave his a sympathetic smile. “I’d help if I could.” Michael jumped off the counter, smiling. “Thanks. But it’ll work out. It always does.” He walked to the sink, rinsing his cup as his cell phone began ringing. He brought it up to his ear, cringing when he heard the high pitch screech that was Maria’s voice as she chided him for not being at the restaurant yet. Max stood up, pushing the chair back in. “Maria?” “Yeah.” Michael stuffed his phone back in his pocket, smirking. “I better go if I don’t want to spend the night on the couch.” He tipped his head to the side as he exited through the back door. “Max....Leah.....Thanks for the coffee.” *********** Joey sat at the small kitchen table, uncapping a red pen as she searched through the want ads. She tapped the end of the pen on the edge of the table, scanning for places that were hiring. “Not enough qualifications.......no experience.......” she muttered under her breath, realizing that most of the jobs required a lot more than she had to offer. The only ones that she could possibly do were waitressing jobs, but even then, she had no experience. She circled two openings. One at the Crashdown Cafe, and the other at some restaurant named Blondie’s. Both places were holding interviews that day so Joey grabbed her keys, tying her hair in a loose knot. “Jamie! Let’s go!” Jamie dragged her feet, following her mother reluctantly. “Where we goin’ now, ma?” “Mommy needs to look for a job.” ************** Michael smiled weakly, shuffling a stack of applications. “Thanks. We’ll get back to you.” When the girl was gone, Michael banged his head against the table. “No more!” Maria rubbed his neck, whispering softly. “Michael, we’ve only got a few more to go through.” Michael shook his head wildly, his hands pulling at his hair. “It doesn’t matter.” He held up the applications in his hands, shaking them at Maria. “All these applicants suck! They have no experience- “Isn’t it better that we find out now that these people aren’t qualified, rather than hire them and realize it was a bust?” “But this isn’t my job!” Michael whined. “I’m supposed to be worrying about what’s going to be on the menu. This is supposed to be your department.” He made a wild gesture with his hands, pointing to all of the paperwork. Maria just raised an eyebrow at him. “We’re partners Michael, and this is what partners do. They do things together. Just the way married couples do.” She emphasized the marriage part before pouring herself a cup of tea. Michael made a face at her when her back was turned, but felt his face drain of color when he heard Maria’s voice. “And quit making faces behind my back, or else your sleeping on the couch, buddy!” How the heck did she do that? He stood up, walking to the door. He leafed through the application, yelling out a name. “Sara Whitmore?” Michael gave a slight nod when a girl stood up, following him inside the office. Just as he pulled the door closed, Joey pulled the front of the restaurant door open, tugging on Jamie’s hand. “Is this where they’re having the interviews?” Joey asked to no one in particular. A bunch of uninterested nods were sent her way. “Gee....thanks.” She huffed a breath, taking a seat in the corner. She pushed Jamie’s cap out of the way, smiling into her daughter’s stormy eyes. “Remember what we talked about, sweetie?” Jamie nodded, fiddling with the edge of her shirt. “I hafta be on my bestest behavior.” “That’s right, cos mommy really needs this job.” Part 29C ************* After all of the applicants were called in, Maria was set to lock the front door, getting the restaurant ready for dinner. She placed a hand to her chest, surprised to see a woman in her mid to early forties. Sitting in the waiting area with a little girl no more than four years old asleep with her head on the woman’s lap. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that there was anyone else out here.” She gave her a warm smile. “I must have missed your application.” Joey sat up, careful not to wake Jamie. “Actually, I don’t have an application. I was here on the off-chance that you would give me an interview anyway.” Maria bit her bottom lip. She knew that Michael had had enough of doing interviews today, and frankly so had she. But she just couldn’t turn the woman away. It seemed apparent that she had been waiting a while. Heck, what was one more interview? “Why not?” Joey made a move to stand up, but Maria waved off her efforts. “It’s ok. We’ll just have an impromptu interview here. I wouldn’t want you to have to wake her. Besides, I think my husband’s probably clocked out in there,” she laughed as she pointed to the office. Joey smiled her gratitude, feeling at ease with Maria. She held out her hand. “My name is Josephine Timmons. Joey for short.” Maria took her hand gladly, giving it a firm shake. “Maria Deluca-Guerin.” She took a seat in front of Joey, nodding at the sleeping little girl. “Who’s the little one?” “This is my daughter, Jamie.” She smoothed back Jamie’s hair, pulling her closer. “I would’ve left her with a sitter, but we just got into town yesterday. I’ve barely had time to unpack.” “I know the feeling.” Maria laughed. “I think my husband and I still have boxes in our garage from when we moved in together after high school.” She clasped her hands together in her lap. “So, where are you from?” “Albuquerque. I know it’s not all that far away, but I have family here…” “Oh really? That’s great.” Maria threw her hand flippantly in the air, more interested in having a getting-to-know-you conversation with Joey, rather than actually interviewing her, but she needed the new hostess. “Just to get this out of the way, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you.” “Shoot.” “Have you had any experience as a waitress? I know the job description was for a hostess, but sometimes we’ll need you to cover a table or two.” Joey shook her head slowly, causing Maria’s smile to falter. Maria wanted to hire her. There was something familiar about the woman, but she just couldn’t quite put her finger on it. But she didn’t have any experience. “Look, I know I don’t have any experience, but I’m a fast learner. I can wash dishes, mop floors, anything….I really need this job.” Maria looked into Joey’s pleading eyes, then down to the sleeping form of Joey’s daughter Jamie. She stood up, wiping her palms against the skirt of her dress. Joey felt tears sting her eyes, reading Maria’s actions as her way of dismissing her plea. She swallowed past the lump in her throat, gingerly picking up Jamie in her arms. “Thank you for your time.” “The restaurant doesn’t open till seven, but we need the staff to be here at six sharp. I don’t have a uniform for you to wear, but I do have a dress code.” Maria grabbed a piece of paper, handing it to Joey. “It’s all right there. I’ll give you the rest of the info when you come in tonight.” Joey stood by the door, her jaw hanging open. “You want me to come in tonight?” Maria nodded matter-of-factly. “That’s what I said. Six sharp.” She placed a hand on Joey’s shoulder. “And if you want, you can bring Jamie with you. I’m babysitting for my little sister tonight, and they’re about the same age, so…..” “I don’t….I don’t know what to say.” Giggling, Maria shooed her out of the restaurant. “Say you’ll bring Jamie tonight.” “Ok. Thanks, Mrs. Deluca-Guerin.” Maria stuck her tongue out, making a face. “It’s just Maria. No one calls me Mrs. Deluca-Guerin. Ever.” She waved as she watched Joey get into the car. “You can meet my husband later.” After strapping Jamie into her seat carefully, Joey drove back home. “That’s one down. All I have to do now is figure out how to get in contact with my son.” ************** “How’s daddy’s little girl?” Max tickled Leah’s round tummy, making funny faces at her. “Is that really necessary?” Alex laughed as he helped Max get Leah’s bath ready. “Is what really necessary?” Max dipped his hand in the water, checking it’s temperature. “The funny faces, the voices?” Alex scratched his chin, still reeling over the fact that Max had no qualms about playing the doting father. Max gently placed Leah in the water, using a wash cloth over her body. “Trust me, when your baby comes, you’ll be talking like that too. It just sorta happens. You can’t help it.” He reached for the yellow rubber ducky, placing it into the water. “Plus, it helps things stay familiar for them. She knows that when I make that face, and use that funny voice, the water and the little yellow ducky comes.” Alex reached into his back pocket, pulling out his palm, quietly writing something down. “Interesting….Familiarity…” Max raised his eyebrows, his voice filled with mirth. “Are you taking notes?” Alex shrugged, making a face that said, What? “The whole point of this exercise is for me to learn. At least that’s why Iz sent me down here. She said I could pick up a few pointers from you.” “I didn’t realize that this was an exercise,” Max laughed. “I thought you came over to hang out.” “I did, but you know your sister.” “That, I do. I’m surprised she hasn’t signed you guys for every class available.” Alex quickly looked at his watch, tapping the glass face. “Actually we have a class for first time parents in like a half hour. You got any more pointers before I leave?”