“ You got here just in time,” Diana greeted Terry with a hug, “ We’re going to be late if those boys don’t hurry up.” Frowning impatiently, she turned and yelled, “ Come on, guys! We have to go!”
“ Just a minute, Mom!,” Taylor yelled back.
Diana shook her head. “ I told them to be ready a half-hour ago.”
“ And you actually expected them to be?”
“ You’re right. What was I thinking to expect three teenage boys to be ready to leave the house on time?,” Diana laughed with Terry. She looked upstairs again. “ Guys! If you want to have to explain to Chris about why you’re late…”
“ All right, we’re ready,” Isaac said in irritation and bounded down the stairs after Taylor.
“ Isaac, where’s Zoe?,” Diana asked.
“ Oh, Zac has her. She spit up on my shirt, so I gave her to Zac so I could change.”
“ Well where’s Zac?”
“ I think they’re in the living room,” Taylor said.
“ I’ll go let Zac know he better move it,” Terry volunteered and set out to search for Zac. She quickly found him on the couch, cuddling a whimpering Zoe. “ Hey Zac. Hi Zoe,” she said, lightly touching the baby’s cheek.
“ Hey girl,” Zac responded.
“ What’s wrong with Zoe? Your mom told me she hasn’t been too happy today.”
“ She must be getting the flu or something. She’s been crying all day.”
“ All day?,” Terry paled, “ Don’t tell me that’s all I have to look forward to for the next three hours.”
“ She’s been crying off and on. She calms down, but you never know what will upset her again. But I hope you have a lot of patience, because you’re going to need it.”
“ You know I do. What, you don’t trust me?,” Terry said in mock offense.
“ Who, you? Nah,” Zac joked back.
“ Zac, come on! Mom’s gonna massacre us if we don’t leave now,” Isaac burst in.
“ All right, I’m coming,” Zac said in annoyance.
“ Here, let me see her,” Terry reached for the baby.
Zac carefully settled his little sister in her arms.
“ Hopefully we won’t be gone too long,” Isaac said to Terry. He gave her hand a squeeze and gently kissed her cheek before rushing Zac out.
***************************************************
“ Waaaahhh!,” Zoe wailed, “ Waahh!”
“ Shhh. Zoe, it’s okay,” Terry soothed.
She felt like she was going to drop. She had only been with Zoe for thirty minutes and she had been crying the whole time. Sitting down in the rocking chair with her didn’t seem to help much, so Terry thought she would try walking the baby around. So far, she wasn’t having much luck. Zoe continued to wail.
“ It’s okay, little one. Calm down. Shhh. It’s all right,” Terry said with more calm then she felt.
Briskly walking from room to room, she rocked the little girl in her arms, trying to calm her. She walked though Avery and Jessica’s room and nearly tripped on some Beanie Babies. She walked around the guys room next and stubbed her toe on some scattered Lego’s. She found herself in Walker and Diana’s room next. This room was darker then the others, with the shades drawn and was slightly cooler. Zoe seemed to like the quiet calm and soon her cries turned to soft whimpers.
“ Thank you,” Terry breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Zoe clutched at Terry’s shirt and looked up at her with wet eyes.
“ Poor baby,” Terry said softly as she wiped the tears away, “ I know, you don’t feel good, do you?”
Through the dim light, she noticed that Zoe’s face was a bright red. She felt her forehead and cheeks and noticed how warm they were. She unzipped the sleeper and placed her hand on Zoe’s belly. Sure enough, her body was hot and damp.
“ Crap. Don’t tell me you’re getting a fever,” Terry muttered.
Gently patting Zoe’s back, she hoisted her up to her shoulder and headed towards the bathroom. Scrambling around in the medicine cabinet, she grabbed the thermometer, then as a second thought, grabbed the baby’s Tylenol as well and took them both into the living room. Sitting down on the couch, she pulled down the top half of Zoe’s sleeper and, against Zoe’s objections, stuck the thermometer under her arm and held it there.
“ What’s the matter. The kid has a fever?,” a bored voice said.
Terry looked up in surprise to see Erin, whom she hadn’t seen all day, lounging on the recliner and leafing through a magazine.
“ I’m not sure. I think so,” Terry replied, “ But she hasn’t been feeling too well and her face is pretty hot.” She raised the thermometer to her eye level at its beep and sighed heavily. “ Shit. A hundred-and-two degrees.”
“ Did you remember to add two degrees?,” Erin asked, eyes still on her magazine.
Terry blinked in mild surprise. “ What?”
“ You know. When you take a baby’s temperature you should always add two degrees to get the right number,” Erin spoke as if it were obvious.
“ Yeah, I did. She has a fever of a hundred-and-two. I better call Diana and ask what she wants me to do about it,” Terry said. She settled Zoe on her hip and went to the phone, trying to remember where she put the cellophane number.
How did Erin know that about the two degrees? Terry wondered. I guess she used to baby-sit a lot.
***************************************************
“ Don’t worry, I’m sure I can take care of her for at least a couple of hours,” Terry assured Diana, “ I was just wondering if I should give her some baby Tylenol or something.
“ Yeah, I think that will be fine,” Diana agreed, “ Give her the amount required for a nine month old instead of twelve, though. She’s so small she doesn’t need very much.”
“ All right, I’ll remember that.”
“ Are you sure you don’t mind taking care of her when she’s sick? I feel terrible about leaving her and dumping her on you like that.”
“ Don’t worry about it. I don’t mind, I’m happy to take care of her. So just give her some Tylenol and lay her down with juice?”
“ Actually, you might try Pedialyte. There should be a bottle on the top shelf of the pantry. It might be hidden in the back though.”
“ I’m sure I can find it. Anyway, I’ll see you in a few hours. Bye.”
Terry looked down at the baby in her lap, who was occasionally rubbing her eyes.
“ Looks like you’re getting tired or at least I hope you are,” Terry smiled at her.
Without looking up from her magazine, Erin said, “ You know, if you gave her a bath in cool water, it should help to lower her temperature.”
“ A bath?,” Terry said, skeptical.
“ It will cool her skin at least. She’ll be more comfortable if she’s not so hot or sweaty. Let her soak in cool water for about fifteen minutes, lay her down with some juice or something and she’ll probably go right to sleep,” Erin stated impatiently, trying to sound like it didn’t matter much to her.
“ I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before, but I guess it’s worth a try.”
***************************************************
“ Oh good, her temperature dropped two degrees,” Terry said with relief, “ That bath was a good idea, although the medicine seems to be helping too.” Erin shrugged.
“ Where did you hear about something like a bath lowering a fever, anyway?,” Terry asked.
“ Does it really matter?,” Erin snapped suddenly.
Terry rolled her eyes. “ Sorry. You don’t need to be so touchy. It was just a question.”
Erin sighed. “ I’ve just taken care of a lot of kids and have had to deal with sick toddlers before. One of the parents must have told me about it. I don’t really remember.”
“ Oh.” Terry decided to change the subject. Seeing that Zoe had fallen asleep, she said, “ Wow, she’s crashed. I better put her to bed.”
Erin shrugged again and went out back for a cigarette.
“ Boy that girl is weird,” Terry shook her head. She tried to pull the half-empty bottle of Pedialyte from Zoe’s grasp, but she held on without even waking, so Terry let it be. Terry carefully laid her down in her crib and covered her with a light blanket
The lack of sleep from the night before seemed to catch up with her then. Feeling entirely worn out, she went into the living room and stretched out on the couch. Within minutes she was fast asleep.
***************************************************
Erin made a sound of annoyance as the wind blew the smoke back in her face.
“ Dumb Tulsa weather,” she muttered. She tossed the cigarette butt down and stomped it out. She reached into her pocket for another and discovered that she had only two left.
Oops, better save these. I’ll have to tell Derek to get me some more tonight. If I can find a way to sneak out to that party, she thought with a frown. Seeing as how I’m already on this family’s shit list, it would be better if I don’t get caught. Man, this is a bunch of bull shit. I don’t see why these people don’t just mind their own fucking business. If I wanna see my kid and my fiancée, I should be able to without worry of getting in any kind of trouble, but no, I have to go through all this trouble of sneaking out and risking getting in even deeper shit just to see them for one lousy hour. I’m not even gonna bother asking if I can go, the parents will just say they don’t like those kind of parties. I’m certainly not going to tell them the real reason I wanna go. Then DSS and then our parents will find out about Caleb and that’s the last thing Derek and I need.
She shook her head in frustration. She wished she could think of some idea, but her mind was a blank. Finally, driven by the chill wind, she opened the back door and stepped back into the house. On her way to the kitchen, she noticed that Terry was asleep on the couch.
If she thinks one hour is hard, she should try it on a daily basis, Erin thought as she fixed herself a sandwich. Looking at her watch, she saw that she had about an hour before the parents were supposed to be home. I wonder if I could call Derek about the party before they come home and before the sitter wakes up? she thought to herself. Erin stopped when she heard a noise. Straining her ears, she followed the noise upstairs and into the baby’s room. Erin peered into the crib and saw Zoe leaning against a pile of blankets and chewing on a plastic ring set. She looked up at Erin and gave her a toothy grin.
“ I see you’re feeling better,” Erin smiled. She reached out and touched Zoe’s cheek. “ Much cooler. At least your parent’s won’t spaz out now.” She tickled Zoe’s toes and poked her in her little pot belly, producing a babyish giggle. Zoe pulled herself up into a standing position and held her arms out to Erin.
“ Aw. You really are a cutie.” Erin lifted the toddler in her arms and tapped her on her nose. Zoe grinned and rested her head on Erin’s collarbone, yawning. She noticed the necklace that was hanging around Erin’s neck and darting her chubby little hand out, took a firm grasp on the chain.
“ Hey, you’re choking me!,’ Erin smiled, “ Give me that.” She gently pried Zoe’s fingers from the chain, silently fingering the yin-yang pendant. She remembered how Derek had given it to her when she left him and Caleb…
“ Hey, what’s going on in here?,” a groggy voice asked.
Erin whirled around to see Terry, standing in the doorway, rubbing sleep from her eyes, and frowned. “ Come off it, blondie, I was just talking to the baby.”
“ I didn’t say there was anything wrong with that,” Terry countered. She took Zoe from Erin and felt her forehead, noting her improvement as Erin had. “ At least she seems to be feeling better.”
“ You baby-sit a lot?,” Erin asked suddenly.
“ That came out of nowhere,” Terry commented, laying Zoe down on the changing table.
Erin shrugged. “ I say whatever comes to my mind.”
“ So I noticed,” Terry replied. She pulled off the dirty diaper and took out a clean. “ I guess I do. Diana calls me up and if I’m free, I watch whatever kid for her.”
“ Is that all you do for fun?”
“ No. I also hang out with the guys and lately I’ve also been pretty friendly with their girlfriends.” She fastened the clean diaper and pulled off Zoe’s dirty shirt, tossing it in the clothes hamper.
“ Ever go to parties?,” Erin pressed.
What is she getting at? Terry wondered. “ Only if you count a few parties for the Hanson’s, like Isaac and Zac’s birthday and helping out with Zoe’s.”
“ Well what about wild parties?”
“ You mean the kind where sex and alcohol are found everywhere?”
“ Got any other definition for a ‘wild’ party?”
“ I guess not. Nope, never been to one. ‘Course I’ve never really been invited to one either.” She pulled Zoe’s arms through the light blue one-piece and snapped the bottom shut. She looked up and raised her eyebrows. “What’s with the third degree anyway?”
Erin shrugged again. “ No reason. I just go to really wild parties on occasion. In fact, there’s a few coming up soon. You can come with if you want, you know, get out and have a little fun.” This girl doesn’t have much of a life, does she? Erin said to herself.
“ Walker and Diana agreed to let you go? That doesn’t sound like the kind of thing they would agree to.”
“ I know. That’s why I’m planning on sneaking out somehow. It’s really important that I go to those parties, so don’t tell anyone about me going.”
“ I won’t.” Terry didn’t add that Erin frightened her. She had always had a fear of hoods, and to her, that was exactly what Erin was; a hood. Then she remembered that Erin had invited her to go too. “ What was that about me going?”
Erin grinned, but it seemed to be a rather unpleasant one to Terry. “ You can come with me if you want. I think you would have a good time.”
“ No thanks. I’m not into that kind of stuff.”
“ Fine. But if you ever change your mind, let me know. I always find out when and where the best parties are and if you went with me, I could tell people to leave you alone if they bothered you. They usually listen to me. Just keep that in mind if you ever get bored.”
“ Uh, sure, I guess,” Terry said, doubtfully. Erin grinned again, turned, and walked out of the room.
“ That was creepy,” Terry muttered to herself. She mulled over Erin’s offer in her head and nearly jumped from surprise when she heard the front door slam. Footsteps pounded up the stairs and Diana soon entered the room.
“ Hi Terry. How’s my little girl?,” she asked, lifting Zoe up. Zoe squealed with delight when she saw her mother. “ She seems to be in a better mood.”
“ I know. Taking a nap really seemed to help her along with a bath and the medicine, but I think she still has a bit of a fever,” Terry replied.
Diana ran her fingers along Zoe’s cheek. “ A little, but she’ll probably sleep it off tonight. Odds are she’ll be into anything and everything again by tomorrow morning. Thanks again for your help.”
“ Oh, no problem.”
“ Terry, I was wondering, do you know if maybe Felicia and Maddy baby-sit?,” Diana queried.
“ I don’t know. They might. Why?”
“ Walker and I were talking about going out tonight if Zoe was doing better. It’s been awhile since we had an evening to ourselves. You and Isaac are going to be out late and Zac and Taylor are going out with some friends. Jessica’s too young to do it, so I wondered if Maddy and Felicia would like to team up and do it.”
“ They might. I know that they think the little kids are sweet and no one passes up a chance at making extra money.”
Diana chuckled. “ I guess not.”
After a few minutes of phone calls, Diana went to confirm to her husband that both girls were available to baby-sit.
***************************************************
Erin was elated. The parents were leaving. She could easily get past those two gir ls if they baby-sat. After all, they were what, thirteen and fourteen? She wasn’t worried about Terry telling about her leaving. She knew that Terry was intimidated by her. There were times when she hated being viewed as dangerous or a freak, but life was like that sometimes. But it didn’t matter. Now she knew how she was going to see her son.
