bell rings.
“Lucky for you, Mom’s here,” Elizabeth says.
Tom opens the door and Cindy walks in carrying her bag of knitting supplies.
“There’s my little princess,” she says, putting her bag on the antique cherry table.
She takes Olivia from Tom. “It’s just me and you tonight, my little Libby Love.”
Elizabeth walks into the room wearing her new dress that showcases her hourglass figure and endless toothpick legs.
Tom whistles.
Cindy smiles. “You look like a million bucks, Liz.”
“Thanks, Mom. Are you sure you know what to do?”
“Liz. I had five daughters. I think I know what to do. Quit worrying. Go out with your husband and have some fun. Just because you’re parents doesn’t mean you stop being a couple.”
“I know, but…”
“But nothing. Libby and I will be fine. Now go.”
Elizabeth sees the knitting bag on the table. “What are you making now?”
“Oh, just another sweater for Libby.”
“But you already made her two.”
“Well, I decided she needed another one. This one’s a pretty green. Oh, and I’m also knitting her some hats. Found a pattern with this cute flower in the front that I think she’ll look adorable in.”
Elizabeth smiles and kisses Libby then her mom. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”
She takes a couple of steps then turns around. “Mom, is there a hair coming out of this mole beside my mouth?”
Elizabeth sticks out her head and tilts her chin so her mom can examine the mole.
“I don’t see any hair. Who said you had a hair? Did you see a hair?”
Tom laughs and Cindy looks at him. “Don’t tell my daughter she has a hair coming out of her mole because we will never hear the end of it. Now go and have some fun.”
“Which one do you like better?” Grandma asked me. “The pink or the purple?”
A baby me sat in the seat of the blue plastic shopping cart, looking at the two bolts of fabric in Grandma’s hands.
“Ma. Ma. Ma.”
“That’s right. Grandma’s right here. Would you like Grandma to make you a pink dress or a purple dress?”
“May I help you?” a saleswoman asked Grandma.
“Yes, please. I’ll take this pink and purple, oh, and why not, that yellow.”
Grandma pointed to the pale yellow fabric behind her. “I can’t decide so I’ll make her all three.”
The saleswoman smiled at me. “She’s an absolute doll. Is her hair naturally curly?”
“Yes, just like her mother’s.”
“You’re a lucky little girl,” the saleswoman said to me. “I wish I had someone to make me dresses.”
The saleswoman got the fabric for Grandma and we headed for checkout.
“Next on our list, Sarah, is to get you a coat.”
“Ma. Ma. Ma.”
Grandma picked me up and put me in her dented Chevy sedan and we pulled out of the discount department store parking lot and headed for the Goodwill store.
“That’s it, Libby. Pull yourself up. Good girl. Now come to Daddy.”
I watch as Tom coaxes Olivia, who’s holding onto the edge of the cherry coffee table, to let go and walk toward him. Olivia smiles and giggles and lifts her pudgy, dimpled hands. She takes one step toward Tom before falling backward on her diaper-clad bottom.
She pulls herself up again and falls backward again. After a few more tries, Olivia takes two steps toward Tom before he catches her and keeps her from falling.
Tom continues to work with Olivia, moving farther and farther from her. She takes high marching steps, lifting her knees, then jabbing the floor with her tiny feet. Eventually, she toddles to Tom and falls into his open arms. She seems surprised that she was able to walk that far without falling. She giggles some more.
“Good girl, Libby. Good girl.” He hugs her and kisses her freshly bathed head. “Wait until Mommy sees what we’ve been working on. She’s going to be so proud of you.”
Just yesterday, Olivia had pulled herself up and walked around the coffee table while holding onto it for the first time. Today, she finally gets the nerve to let go.
Tom scoops her up and sits on the couch and reads her a book before tucking her into bed.
I don’t think Matt ever did anything with me. If he had loved me an eighth of what Tom loves Olivia, maybe things would have been different. But you can’t make someone love you. Believe me, I tried. I tried to be good all of the time. Do everything I was told. But Matt was always so angry. Even when I learned to walk and Grandma was so proud of me the only thing on Matt’s mind was how my newfound freedom made me even more of a pain in the ass.
“Can’t you keep her in one room?” Matt asked Grandma one day.
“Matt, she’s not an animal that you can cage. It’s natural for her to want to explore.”
“Well, I don’t need her exploring and getting into my stuff.”
“Then close your bedroom door. Besides, maybe she just wants to be near you.”
“Well, I don’t want to be near her. Keep her out of my room, out of my stuff.”
“Why don’t you just move out if you’re that miserable?” Grandma said.
“Don’t worry, when I can afford to I will.”
Elizabeth holds up princess-themed party invitations. “How about this, Libby?”
Olivia sits in the grocery cart gnawing on a red plastic teething ring. Her yellow bib is soaked from her drool.
“Princess invitations for a princess,” Elizabeth says as she puts them in the cart. “After all, you only turn one once.”
Elizabeth finds the coordinating tableware and tosses plates, cups, napkins, tablecloths, a centerpiece, utensils, pink and white streamers and other party decorations into the cart. She then orders a balloon bouquet for the big day, selecting a huge princess balloon along with several Mylar balloons and a few latex ones.
“She’s
