Ginger opened the door to her apartment about a half an hour later with a bag of groceries and David behind her. "Hey Lily," she said. She put down the paper bag on the counter and walked over to her. "Where's my baby? There she is! She's so pretty!" Ginger took Jenny from Lily. "You're so pretty! I missed you, honey! I did!"
"She was wonderful today, Rosemary," Lily said. "She didn't cry once."
"I knew she wouldn't. She's very good like that," Ginger said, taking her baby's little hand in her finger and bouncing it up and down. The baby smiled. "Oh, she's smiling!"
"Its probably just gas," Lily explained.
"Thanks, Lily," Ginger said, shaking her head. "Ruin my moment."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Lily said, gathering her things.
"All right, thanks." Lily smiled, said goodbye to Jenny, and then left, not as much as looking at David who was unpacking the groceries at the counter. "Um, David?"
"Yeah?" he said, looking up.
"Do you mind�I mean, would you have a problem if I fed Jenny over there?" Ginger said, pointing to a spot on the couch where a whole bunch of pillows were gathered.
"Sure, why would I mind?"
"Because I breastfeed," Ginger explained. His eyes grew in a bit of surprise.
"Oh! Oh, no I don't mind," he said. "Go ahead. I'll just get started here."
"Thanks." She walked over to the couch and sat down. She could still see David in the kitchen. "Um," she said, starting to unbutton her shirt, "the pots and pans are in the cabinets on the island, you can see the spices on the turnstile over there, and I have some more in the cabinets above the stove. Anything you'll need to cook should be in those drawers on the island there."
"All right," David said, turning around. "Holy shit�" He happened to look when Ginger had just exposed her breast.
"It's okay, David. It's not like you haven't seen them before. Neither has the rest of the world for that matter, I breastfeed in public so much," she said, grinning. "If this is going to be uncomfortable for you I can go in the other room�"
"No, no that's okay. I'm fine with it. It's just weird. I mean those used to be an object of my distinct pleasure and now�now there's a baby sucking at it." Ginger laughed. "And now you're laughing at me."
"I'm not laughing at you, Davey," Ginger said. "The breasts are always the hot thing, 'Oh look at her jugs, man!' until you see a baby sucking off of it, and then you're utterly repulsed."
"Well it's weird!"
"It's weird when you suck off 'em!"
"I never did that," he said, giving her a look. "You and me did a lot of stuff but I never did that."
"I know, I know�"
"Can I ask you something?" She looked over. He was getting a pot out of the cabinet.
"Sure."
"Where is Jenny's father?" Ginger sighed.
"I thought you were going to ask about breastfeeding," she admitted.
"I'm sorry, do you want me to ask you about breastfeeding?" She shook her head.
"No, it's all right," she said, looking down at Jenny. She looked back up at her mother and it made Ginger smile a moment. She saw Zac in her daughter, every time Ginger looked at her, and it broke her heart every time. "Jenny's father and I broke up way before she was born. We had a long relationship; we were actually engaged, then I fucked it up. I really messed up and we broke up. He didn't know I was pregnant."
"Does he know now?"
"No."
"Are you ever going to tell him?"
"I'm sure I will, but not anytime soon." David nodded. "So�what are you making?" Jenny was done and Ginger put herself back together, then stood up and walked over to David. She grabbed one of Jenny's blankets and tossed it over her shoulder, carefully placed Jenny there, and began rubbing her back. It was about a half a minute later when Ginger heard her burp.
"Just�something."
"You're not going to tell me?" she asked, pushing him in the arm. Jenny was still leaning against her shoulder. David gave her a grin. "You better tell me before you start making it, I might not like it. You know how picky I can be."
"Don't worry, you'll love it. I know you will," he said. "So this is Jenny?"
"Yeah, this is my baby." Ginger took Jenny off of her shoulder and carried her in her arms.
"God, Rosie, she looks just like you."
"That tends to happen when I created her and all," Ginger said, smiling. He gave her a look. "Do you want to hold her?"
"I don't know�"
"Come on, if you're careful you can't drop her. She's very extroverted; she loves to meet new people." He still seemed reluctant. "She's dying to know who you are, Davey, you might as well."
"All right." Ginger carefully handed Jenny over to David, who looked down at her. Jenny looked up at him and smiled. "She's going to grow up to be a pretty girl. Just like her mother."
"Davey�" Ginger looked down at Jenny. "She's tired," Ginger said. "Let me put her down." Ginger took her daughter back and went into her bedroom, where she laid down Jenny down in her stroller that Ginger wouldn't use until she was older, and brought her into the main room so she could keep an eye on her.
David was busy making dinner when Ginger sat down at the counter and watched. "So have you been living here long?" David asked, gesturing generally to the apartment.
"Since February," Ginger said. "So about ten months."
"Do you like it here?"
"No, not at all," she said. "I hate it here. This place is a dump and this neighborhood is terrible. I don't want my daughter growing up here. But right now it's all I can afford."
"It's not that bad," David said, looking around. "Not as bad as you think."
"How do you know what I think?" she asked.
"It's obvious, Rosie," David said. "Just the way you're talking it's obvious you think this place is too poor for you. I know you and your family weren't rich, you weren't anywhere near it, but you never thought of yourself as poor. You never thought that a place like this could be in your price bracket."
"You knew me too well," Ginger said. "I never could believe how well you knew me."
"Knew?" he asked.
"I've changed a lot since we broke up, David," she said. "I've gone through a lot and I've really grown up, especially since Jenny."
"You're not that different," he said, glancing over his shoulder at her. "Not as different as you think. I bet by tomorrow I'll be right where I left you."
"Yeah, you did leave, didn't you?" David paused.
"I was waiting for you to bring that up," he said. "I left for a reason, Rosemary, and I gave you that reason. I did it because I had to, not because I wanted to. I still loved you." She shook her head.
"Don't be saying stuff like that to me, Davey."
"What?"
"Don't talk to me like we might be getting back together. We're not. You're still Davey�that kid from high school, the one who's studying business or whatever. I'm somewhere completely different. I have Jenny. We're not going to be that popular couple that everybody thought was just so perfect together, they were going to stay together forever�Rosie and Davey, how cute."
"Rosie, stop it. You don't know anything about my life since you."
"You don't know anything about me since then either."
"I know more than you think," David said, turning around. She sat back and waiting for him to elaborate. "After you broke up with me you met Mr. Zac Hanson at a party, got together with him in your next perfect relationship. He got you out of that shit hole you were living in and put you with your best friend. He ditched interviews to see you in the hospital after you nervous breakdown and even stuck around when you got cancer. You got better. You moved in with him, got engaged, and then you 'fucked up' and he kicked you out, leaving you pregnant and alone. You come back to town, my brother gives you a job, and then you meet me and think I don't know anything about you. Like I haven't been thinking about you at all since we broke up."
"David�"
"What? What now, Rose?"
"How did you know all of that?" she asked.
"You told the whole story to my brother, didn't you? He mentioned to me you were working for him and eventually I got out of him what I wanted." She shook her head. "I'm not saying all of this and doing all of this just to get back together with you if that's not what you want. I'll say it now. I still love you. I haven't stopped loving you. But if you don't want to be with me again, fine. If you just want to be friends, fine. If you don't, I won't bother you again. It's your decision." He went back to the food.
Their conversation was very light until dinner was ready. Ginger sat down at the table with David but he wouldn't let her see any of the food just yet. She kept an eye on Jenny, who was still asleep, until David placed the main dish in front of her. She gasped. "David!"
"What?" he asked, a grin dancing on his lips.
"How did you remember?"
"Come on, I memorized this recipe," David said, sitting down. "Every time I made this you would�never mind."
"I hope you weren't trying to recreate anything," she said, putting her napkin on her lap.
"No, I forgot that part," he said. "I apologize."
"No," she said. "No it's all right." She looked around the table. "It looks wonderful." She giggled. "Wow."
The table had an array of food that together made the perfect dinner. There were stuffed mushrooms, plain but warm sliced Italian bread (with no butter) and for the main dish chicken in a sauce Ginger was never able to make as good as David on top of pasta. She didn't know what it was or how he did it, but every single time David made this she enjoyed it so much she always had him stay the night.
"Oh my God," Ginger said upon taking her first bite. "It's exactly as I remember it. I haven't had this in so long�you know I've actually tried, numerous times, to make this? I've gotten the mushrooms and, of course, the bread down, but I can never make this sauce the way you do. I don't know what you put in it."
"Brandy."
"That's it!" she said, snapping her fingers. "That's what I was missing!"
"Well now you know," he said.
"I guess I don't need you anymore."
"I guess not."
A half an hour she'd had her fill. "Wow, David�you're amazing." He shrugged, agreeing with her. "I cannot believe I completely forgot about this dish. This has got to be the best meal I've had since�well the last time you've made it."
"Coming from you, that means a lot," he said. "You done?"
"Yes."
"I'll clear the table."
"Davey, no. You cook, I clean." She stood up, pushing him back down in his seat, and cleared the table. She loaded the dishwasher and within five minutes she was done. "There we go."
"And that work was so evenly distributed as well," David said. "I cooked for an hour and a half and you clean everything in five minutes."
"I'm just good that way." She yawned. "Goodness, I'm tired." She looked at the time. It was nearly eight o'clock. "You can tell I have a baby, it's eight o'clock and I'm yawning."
"Even with seeing you here, and seeing Jenny, it's still hard to believe you're a mother." She nodded.
"Yeah�yeah it does. But you know, that stuff happens. You have sex too much and then, well, you can get pregnant! And I did! You know, Jenny is the best thing that has ever happened to me, but I'm never going to be the same again. I'm never going to be a kid again. I'm going to be a mother for the rest of my life. I�I grew up too fast."
"Rosie, you were grown up before you had Jenny. You were grown up when you were dating me. You just didn't realize how grown up you really were. I'm sitting there wondering if I'm going to have enough time to play football and have a job at the same time and you were wondering how long it would be before your brother came home drunk and hit you again, and where you were going to live after you turned eighteen, what your job was going to be, how you were going to survive�"
"It wasn't that deep," she said.
"It was close." She looked up at him. "Well," he said, "I should probably get going if you're tired. I'm sure sleep is a rare luxury for you."
"It's not that much of a luxury," she said, rolling her eyes. "Um�you don't have to go."
"I should," he said.
"No, I want you to stay," she said. "The night." David paused.
"Are you sure?" She nodded. He kissed her.