Chapter Two

 

            Stella looked nervous, and gave me a weak smile. "How are you, Siobhan?" she asked, voice quavering. She looked down and gave that same weak grin to Livy.

 

            I stared, frozen. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, finding my voice.

 

            "I just, uh, I had nowhere else to go." She looked around, nervous, as if the police were going to come and hunt her down, "Can we go in to talk?"

 

            My eyes turned stony, but I felt an odd kind of pity for her. "Whatever." I answered, turning my back and heading for the front door before she could say anything else.

 

            We entered the living room. It was cool with the air conditioning on, but suddenly I felt overheated. I yanked at the chain of the ceiling fan, and a breeze began to sweep across the room.

 

            I felt a tug on my tank top. "Can I go up to my room?" Livy asked me, giving the woman a quick look of distrust. "Sure, baby."  I told her, stroking her golden hair. She scampered up the stairs quickly, escaping the tension that was obvious in the room. I watched my mother's eyes follow her upstairs.

 

            When she was gone, I turned to Stella. "Well?" I asked, trying to be cool and composed. "Where's the husband? How's old Paulie?"

 

            She shrugged, taking a deep breath. "I wouldn't know. We filed for divorce about a month ago."

 

            "Well, it was only a matter of time." I answered, not surprised. "What happened?"

 

            "Well, after a while, I think we both came to realize that there wasn't much in the relationship besides physical attraction and sex." Stella said quietly.

 

            "Any kids?" I continued my badgering unheeded.

 

            Stella shook her head vigorously. "No, no, thank god."

 

            Amen to that. I thought. She didn't need to pop out any more kids than she already had. Two is plenty to grow up the way Livy and I have.

 

            I stopped my demanding line of questioning as Stella gazed up the stairwell where Livy had disappeared to. "She's beautiful, you know. Looks just like you." Stella told me.

 

            I shrugged. "She's a good kid."

 

            More silence followed. I finally broke it. "All right, Stella, let's cut the crap. Why are you really here?"

 

            She stared at me in surprise, and stared at me for a few long moments. She realized that I'd changed from the sarcastic little hockey player to a teenage mother to a five year old girl.

 

            "I'm sorry if I caused you pain, Siobhan." she said quietly. "I wouldn't have left if I though you cared."

 

            I waved my hand, "It's alright." I muttered quietly.

 

            "I'm here–" Stella continued, "because I had nowhere else to go. Paul's friends and my friends both turned their backs on me. Believe me, I wouldn't have come back if I wasn't desperate."

 

            I gave her some credit. At least she knew that things had changed.

 

            "You can have a seat, if you want." I told her. She took a seat on one of the plush couches stiffly. "I'm gonna start supper. You want anything to drink?" I asked, striding into the kitchen.

 

            "Uh, no thanks, I'm fine." Stella called from the living room. I pulled out some salad from the fridge and some frozen fish fillets from the freezer.

 

            As I the oven preheated, I thought about what was happening. I shouldn't act like this, I thought. I should be angry. But try as I might, I couldn't build up fury. Maybe it was like they said. Time heals all wounds. The years that had past had faded the pain and anger, and all I felt for her was pity.

 

            The oven timer beeped me out of my thoughts, alerting me that the oven was heated to the proper temperature. I put the fillets on a cookie sheet and placed them into the stifling heat.

 

            About that time, Stella wandered in. I gave her a slight smile. "You want any salad?" I asked. "I can make extra."

 

            "Mmm, no." she said. "I ate on the way here."

 

            "Okay." I said, letting the silence hang over the room once again. As I placed the salad into two bowls, my eyes wandered to the refrigerator. On it were the three baseball tickets that Brad had gotten for Sam, Livy, and myself. "Listen," I began, "Sam's working late tonight and we've got three tickets to the Red Sox game. Would you be interested in coming with Livy and me?"

 

            Stella's eyes brightened. Even as a child, I was hard to get on the good side of. I built a wall around myself. Now here I was, inviting her to a baseball game after she walked out on us four years ago. That's another way I had grown– I had learned to let go and be carefree.

 

            "Would that be okay?" she asked. I nodded. "Sure, we'd love to have you."

 

            "Well–okay, then." she said. "Even though I'm not really a sports fan…"

 

            I chuckled, shaking my head. "Don't worry, Stella, I remember."

 

            Just then, Livy's little face peered around the corner. "Hey, kiddo." I greeted her. "Come on in here; I've got someone I want you to meet."

 

            Livy sidled her way into the kitchen, giving Stella more looks of distrust. She stopped close to my hips and leaned her head against my side.

 

            "Livy, I'd like you to meet Stella, a–" I paused, "a good friend of mine. She's gonna come with us to the game tonight."

 

            Livy just stared at Stella, who was on the brink of tears, for a few moments, studying the woman sitting in the kitchen. After this long silence, she took a step towards Stella and put out her little hand. "Pleased to meet you." she said quietly.

 

            Stella stared in wonder at the child who she had given birth to. I could read it in her eyes. "It's nice to see you again, Livy." she said weakly. Off my sister's questioning look, Stella quickly explained, "The last time I saw you, you were just a baby."

 

            "Oh." Livy said, nodding. Then she turned to me. "Siobhan, my room is clean. When is dinner going to be ready?"

 

            "It'll still be a while, hon. I just put the fish in." I said. "But you can help me get ready. You wanna set the table for us?"

 

            Livy shrugged, "Okay." she said, skipping to the cabinet that held the plates.

 

            About an hour and a half later, Livy and I had eaten and bathed while Stella sat in the living room, flipping through a magazine. I fished my keys out of my purse and the tickets off the refrigerator. "Livy, come on, we're gonna get going." Livy came downstairs, her slightly damp hair in ponytail. She was in a little Red Sox jersey that Brad had gotten just for her, and black snap pants.

 

            "Ready!" she called out, excited.

 

            I chuckled. "Okay then." I said, turning to Stella, "You ready?" I asked her.

 

            "Oh, yeah." she said, getting up.

 

            The two followed me out to the car. Livy climbed in back, while Stella got in the passenger seat next to me. As we were all buckling our seat belts, Livy began to sing happily. "We're gonna see Bradley, Bradley, Bradley! I love Bradley, lalalalala!"

 

            I tried to stifle my laughter desperately. Stella noticed. "If you don't mind me asking," she began, "who's Bradley?"

 

            Livy answered the question for her. "Bradley's her boyfriend!" she giggled.

 

            Stella smiled. "Oh, we're going to meet him tonight?"

 

            I shrugged. "Maybe, we'll have to see. He might have a lot of pre-game or post-game interviews. It all depends."

 

            Stella cocked her head to one side. "You're not…I mean, he doesn't play for the team, does he?"

 

            I shrugged again. "Well, yeah, he does."

 

            Livy chimed in again, "And he's been on a long road trip, so she's all happy!"

 

            "My god," Stella murmured. "You've really been successful. College, boyfriend…"

 

            I shook my head. "I probably wouldn't be here at all if it wasn't for Sam. If he hadn't helped me with some college payments, I never would have met Brad, never gotten a career…Sam's been real good to me."

 

            "How is Sam?" my mother asked.

 

            "Sam's alright. He's making good money, has a lot of friends…"

 

            "Any girlfriends?" Well, there it was. I knew it was coming. "Not one that he's gone on more than one date with." I answered casually, trying to hide the panic that I was feeling inside. I didn't want her to come in and break Sam's heart again. I felt a sort of protectiveness toward my adopted dad.

 

            About 45 minutes later, we were in downtown Boston, entering the legendary Fenway Park. Livy clung tight to my hand, but I could tell she wanted to stray.

 

            "Siobhan! I want some cotton candy…please?" I patted her hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, sweetie, we might get some later. You just ate. Let's find out seats first, okay?"

 

            Livy shrugged and sighed, beginning to drag her feet. I gave Stella, who was walking slightly behind us, an apologetic smile. "Sorry." I said.

 

            She only smiled. "It's okay." she said.

 

            We worked ourselves down to the box seats near the first base line. On the field, the opposing team, the Blue Jays, were warming up; hitting line drives, grounders and flies into the freshly mowed grass of the outfield.

 

            Around the Red Sox dugout, several reporters were gathered in a massive huddle. I stood on my tiptoes to see if it was Brad they were talking to, but it was impossible to see over the crowd.

 

            To pass the time, we found our seats, and I took Livy to the bathroom. By the time we returned, the throng surrounding the dugout had thinned, and I was able to see that it was Brad. Of course, now kids were crowding, stretching out their hands filled with a baseball and pen, begging for autographs.

 

            Both Livy and I waved, trying to get his attention. When we finally did, he broke out into a huge grin and strode to where we were standing on the fence. "Hey you." he said to me, giving me a quick peck on the lips. Olivia giggled. Hearing the sound, Brad then turned his attention to her. "And there you are, gingersnap." he laughed, addressing her by his special nickname. In one swift move, Livy was on his shoulders, laughing uncontrollably.

 

            "Mmm, sweetie, why don't you come over for a second? I've got someone here I want you to meet." I said nervously, guiding him over to our seats, where Stella was.

 

            "This is Brad." I told my mother, who smiled. "Brad, this is…this is Stella."

 

            "Hey, pleased to– whoa." Brad stopped suddenly. He knew very well who Stella was; I'd told him that kind of stuff a long time ago. Turning to me, he mouthed to me "The Stella!?" I nodded, motioning with my eyes not to be rude, for Stella and Livy's sakes.

 

            "Hi. Brad Main. Glad to know you, ma'am." Brad said politely. Then, plucking Livy off his shoulders, he addressed us. "I'll see you lovely ladies later." He gave me a quick wink. I knew that it was our sign of "I love you" for when the timing wasn't best. "Good luck!" I called after his retreating figure.

 

            The game was fairly uneventful. Brad was 2 for 4 on the night, with two singles and a walk, and the Red Sox won by a score of 3-2. We finally tired of Livy's pleas for cotton candy, and got her some during the fifth inning. Stella seemed to be having a fairly good time, animatedly jumping up and clapping with Livy and I when Brad came up to bat.

 

            As we began to file out, the crowd murmuring with excitement from the win, I picked up a half-asleep Livy, whose head briefly snapped up to see who had roused her; moments later, she had drooped onto my shoulder.

 

            Picking our way through the thick crowd, Stella touched me on the shoulder. "You know, Siobhan, you're really good with her." she said softly, gesturing to the sleeping five year old.

 

            I nodded immodestly. "I know." I answered. "But thanks." We both shared a kind smile before continuing to push through the congregating mass.

           

            After a fifteen minute expedition through the parking lot, we finally got to my car. I placed Livy upright and buckled her into the back. She protested weakly, but soon dozed off with her head rested against the window.

 

            I picked my way slowly though the lot, which was filled with slightly intoxicated fans. I breathed a sigh of relief as I made it onto the main road towards the highway.

 

            The sound of Livy's soft snoring filled the car. Stella and I didn't speak much, until I finally came out with the rather bold statement, "You need a place to stay."

 

            Stella looked at me, shocked, for a moment, trying to play dumb. "What? I mean– no…" Then she stopped. "Yeah…yeah, I do." she said quietly.

 

            "And you want to stay with us…" I continued.

 

            More silence. "Would that be alright?" she said finally.

 

            "Well, we'll have to see how Sam is, but I think it'll be okay…for a few days." I said, choosing my words carefully.

 

            "Thank you, Siobhan. You've been treated me better than I ever deserved."

 

            And that was all we said.

 

            We eventually pulled into our driveway. Noticing Sam's Lexus in the garage when I pulled in, I noted to Stella, "You'd better be careful. He's going to be pretty shocked." Stella simply nodded.

 

            I got out, and pulled a now-sound asleep Livy from her place in the back. She muttered something incoherent, then snuggled into me. I motioned to Stella to let me enter ahead of her. She did so.

 

            The TV blared in the background with SportsCenter as we entered the kitchen. "Hey, girls, how was the game? I heard the Sox won…" Sam called from the TV room.

 

            "Oh, it was fine; we saw Brad…" I called out, making my way to where Sam was, with Stella following close behind.

 

            We entered the room moments later, Sam's deep brown eyes fixed deeply on the television. "Sam," I began, "We had a visitor today."

 

            "Oh? Who was–" his head jerked up, "Oh good lord." he muttered to himself upon seeing Stella.

 

            Silence once again filled the room. Sam was the first to gain his voice back this time. "Shivvy, take your sister upstairs and put her into her pajamas for bed. Then you do whatever you have to do, just don't come down here. We've got some talking to do."

 

            Normally I would protest that I was a grown woman, but I knew that now wasn't the time. "Sure." I said, then trudged upstairs.

 

            The voices were still screaming as I settled myself into bed half an hour later. Sam's voice accusing Stella of abandoning her kids, Stella protesting that it was for the best and that he was being too hard on her. Ahh, just like the good old days, I thought to myself. Eventually the voices faded away; perhaps it was just sleep.

 

            I awoke at about 9:30 the next morning. I stretched, rethinking the previous day's events, wondering if it all had been a dream. But as I walked into the kitchen and saw Stella standing there, still in the same clothes from the night before, I knew it was most definitely not a figment of my imagination.

 

            Sam was also down there; Livy too. When Sam saw me, he smiled wearily. "I'm glad you're here, Siobhan. I wanted both you girls to hear this together."

 

            "What's that?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

 

            "Well…" Sam began. "Stella, here, is gonna be living with us for a while."

 

            TBC…