NB:Cradle Time-chapter 3
Copyright © 1999
by SamPast and Huggedlots
Charlie woke up before dawn
thinking about Maggie. He knew he had to find a way to talk to Bob and Heather
about the problem without seeming to dictate or tell them how to raise their
daughter, much as he wanted to. He knew he was pretty angry and upset over how
she had been treated, and seeing her turn so inward, blaming herself for things
that had nothing to do with her.
By seven am he couldn't
stay in bed any longer, and went to make coffee and think some more about how
to handle things. A few moments later, a sleepy Maggie wandered into the
kitchen with her thumb in her mouth, and silently crawled into her uncle's lap,
and put her head on his shoulder.
"Are you okay, Maggs?" Charlie asked concerned.
"I had a bad dream,
Uncle Charlie."
Charlie could feel her
little body trembling, and hugged her tight. "Well sweetheart, everything
is fine now. You are safe, little one, and very, very loved. Do you feel
that?"
"I know YOU love me,
Uncle Charlie."
"Sweetie, everyone
loves you, especially your mommy and daddy. I am glad you were able to tell me
what was bothering you, Maggs, and I promise: things
are going to get better."
"How do you know,
Uncle Charlie?" Maggie asked, gazing up at him with the widest, most
trusting eyes he had ever seen. His heart went out to her, and she had it
wrapped in her hand, but he had to make sure SHE didn't know it.
"Well, do you trust
me? Haven't I always made things okay for you?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir, you always
have."
"Well then, trust me
now, okay?"
Maggie nodded and Charlie
gently rocked her until he felt her breathing even out again. Once again, he
put her in bed, and hoped she would sleep for a few more hours.
~~~~~~~~~
Charlie decided that he HAD
to talk to his brother and Heather, and silently got dressed and started
driving over to their place. It was only a half hour drive, so he picked up
some donuts on the way, and arrived around eight o'clock.
Knocking on the door, a
sleepy Bob finally opened it up and was totally surprised to see his brother
standing in the doorway.
"Everything
okay?" Bob
asked, startled.
"Well, not exactly. We
need to talk, little brother. Can I come in?"
"Umm, of course you
can."
Backing up, Bob let Charlie
in, and they headed to the kitchen. "Is Maggie okay?"
"No, she isn't, Bob,
and I wanted to talk to you both about it."
"Well, Heather had a
bad night, and she is fast asleep. Why don't you and I talk, and we can fill
her in later, okay?"
Thinking for just a second,
Charlie decided that that wasn't such a bad idea.
Bob made some coffee and
the two brothers sat at the kitchen table with it and the donuts. Charlie
sighed. Bob stared at his brother, wondering what could possibly be wrong with
his daughter.
Charlie took a deep breath.
"Well, to start off with, your little girl is pretty distraught right
now."
"She is? Why?"
Bob asked.
Charlie blinked. "WHY?
YOU haven't seen anything? Are you blind or what?"
"Whoa, wait a
second."
"No, you wait,"
Charlie said. "YOU and Heather have a very serious problem on your hands,
and you haven't even seen it coming, much less known that it has arrived."
"Okay, Charlie,"
Bob told him, running his hands through his hair. "Please, start at the
beginning, and explain what the hell is going on, okay?"
"Well, for one thing,
you and Heather have been so wrapped up first in each other, and then with this
whole pregnancy, that Maggie feels unloved, unwanted, in the way, the cause of
her mom being sick all the time, and that she can't do anything right, or
please either of you anymore. She doesn't think anyone cares that she exists,
and that you and Heather just want the baby, and would be just as happy if she
were to come live with Lisa and me."
Charlie paused to gauge the
reaction on his brother's face. When Bob didn't say anything right away,
Charlie added, "I guess that sums it up in a nutshell, except that she is
a nervous wreck, afraid her mother is going to die, and looks like a little
refugee from a war torn country."
Bob stared at his brother.
When he finally found his voice, he said, "Surely you must be
exaggerating. I love Maggie with all my heart. She KNOWS THAT!"
Charlie shook his head no. "Really? Well, let me assure you, she doesn't."
Hearing the loud voices,
Heather came out of the bedroom, holding her stomach, and rubbing her eyes.
When she saw Charlie, she was surprised. "Hey you two, what's up? It's the
crack of dawn."
"No, it isn't,
Heather, it is almost nine am."
"Hmmm, okay, soooo, what's up, anyway?" she asked, sleepily.
Bob came around to hug her,
and helped her into a chair. He made her a cup of tea and filled her in on what
Charlie had already told him.
"Why, that's
ridiculous, Charlie."
"It is? You haven't
seen what I have so far this weekend. You two can be in denial all you want,
but you have one seriously hurting little girl. And I for one,
don't intend to let it continue. YOU two had better shape up!"
Hearing that tone in his
voice, Heather looked up at him, almost afraid. Charlie was angry, angrier than
she had seen him in a long, long, long, long time, and it reminded her of the
night, long, long ago, when he had spanked her until she had problems sitting
down for days. Surely he had no intention of doing that again, not when she was
pregnant. Did he?
Charlie looked back at
Heather, and guessed what she was thinking. "You are lucky, young lady, that you ARE pregnant, or I would be tempted to put
you over my knee again. And you Bob, where is your head?"
At this point, Bob had
heard enough. "Look, you might be older, and more experienced, but that
doesn't mean you know everything, so back off! This IS an adjustment period for
everyone, and I know Maggie has had a lot to deal with, but we are here for
her, and if she doesn't know that, then we will both try harder to show
her."
Shaking his head, Charlie
told him, "Well, I hope you can."
Later that day, Bob and
Heather came over to get Maggie, and Lisa invited them to stay for dinner.
Thanking her and declining, Bob told her they needed to get home. Bob had been studying Maggie, and noticed her pale face, shadowed
eyes, and listlessness for the first time. He wondered if she had been like
that for a while and he had just not noticed.
All of his protectiveness
came out, and he swung her into his arms, and held onto her tightly.
"Magpie?" he whispered into her ear.
"Yes,
Daddy?"
"Are you my precious
little one?"
"Ohhhh,
Daddy," Maggie cried, and threw her arms around his neck. "I hope so,
Daddy."
"Well, you are
sweetheart, and you will always be, forever and ever, no matter what."
Bob stood there, with tears
in his eyes, hugging his daughter, and Charlie thought that maybe things would
be okay. At least for a while.
~~~~~~~
Bob and Heather took Maggie
home. No one said much in the car, but not from lack of trying. Heather kept
asking what they did all weekend, but after Maggie told them about the
amusement park, she said nothing.
Heather and Bob exchanged
glances. Neither of them said anything aloud, but they both knew what the other
was thinking. That Charlie had been right, and they had a big problem on their
hands. They hadn't seen that a huge change had come over their daughter.
When they got home, Bob
made them omelettes for dinner. It was just about the
only thing Heather could keep down. Maggie actually chuckled when her daddy put
the eggs on her plate.
"Daddy? We're having breakfast for dinner?"
she asked.
Bob looked at his daughter
and smiled. "Yes, I guess we are."
After dinner, Heather went
to lie down on the couch, while Bob bathed Maggie. While she played quietly in
the tub, Bob watched her. He couldn't believe how she had changed, and he
hadn't noticed.
Fighting back tears, Bob
tried to continue her everyday routines. "Ready for me
to wash your hair, Magpie?"
Maggie looked up. "I
love that nickname, Daddy. I remember when you gave it to me."
Bob smiled. "So do I. You were visiting me in Chicago, when I was packing to
come here."
"Yeah, and you told me
it was a kind of a bird. I liked it."
"Me, too," Bob
said, "Me, too."
Bob worked the shampoo in
and then rinsed it off. Some soap got into Maggie's eyes, and she started to
cry. Bob helped her get it out, and then lifted her from the tub and onto his
lap, wrapped in a towel.
"Magpie, I love you so
much. I hope you know that."
Maggie looked at Bob.
"I love you, too, Daddy."
Bob dried Maggie off and sent
her to her room to put on pajamas. He went to get Heather from the living room. "Come on, sweetie, wake up, and help
me tuck our daughter into bed."
Heather barely stirred. Bob
kept shaking her. She mumbled, "Not now, Bob, I don't feel well."
Bob raised his hand and
landed a giant smack on Heather's rear end. She jumped. "BOB! What was
that for?"
"I said, get up and
help me tuck our daughter into bed."
Heather sat up and looked
around. She could not believe what her husband had just done. What if Maggie
had seen that? Bob just stared at his wife. "Didn't
you hear a word of what Charlie told us this morning? Didn't you see our
daughter?" Bob put his hands on Heather's shoulders and looked deep into
her eyes. "Heather, our daughter thinks we don't love her. Come on, help
me tuck her in."
Heather had tears running
down her face. She finally realized that she had been so wrapped up in her pregnancy, she hadn't paid Maggie much attention. She nodded
at Bob, and he helped her up.
The two of them walked into
Maggie's bedroom together. Maggie was sitting on the edge of her bed, playing
with some of her stuffed animals.
Maggie looked up when she
saw both her parents. "Hi, Mommy, how do you feel? Do you want me to get
you something?"
Heather shook her head and
said, "No, sweetie. I don't want you to worry about or take care of me.
That's what I'm here for, for you."
Bob and Heather sat down on
the edge of Maggie's bed. They held her between them.
Heather said, "Honey,
I'm afraid Daddy and I haven't been noticing you or
your feelings lately, and we're sorry."
"Magpie, we are here
for you. Okay, baby? Anything you want or need, you come to us," Bob told
her.
Maggie looked up at both
her parents and a small smile came on her face. She thought back to that
morning when her Uncle Charlie had told her he would make things all better.
And he did, again.
to be continued...