“I thought you meant me, mom.” I watched my mother tenderly cradle my daughter. This was technically a honeymoon. Because Charlie and I did things the wrong way and got pregnant first, we decided to postpone a honeymoon until after the baby was born. Well, technically, Ashley didn't really give us the choice to go on a honeymoon before she was born. The first half of the pregnancy was pretty smooth sailing, but I had had to be on bed rest twice during the second half.
The delivery itself was okay. It was the most taxing, hardest thing I had ever done, but then hearing my little girl crying for the first time made it all worth it. Traveling with an infant was, in a word, hard. Charlie had been adamant though. We had to have our honeymoon now. So here we were.
Admittedly, I wasn't even sure where the Cook Islands were when he mentioned that that was where we were going. He had planned the whole thing. Between the stress of the wedding, then the stress of the birth, then the stress of raising a new-born, I had been down for anything. It's like Bora Bora, but with fewer tourists, he had told me, like that meant anything to me. Now, I was sorry for ever talking shit.
We were at an exclusive resort, overlooking a beautiful, serene lagoon. We were coming up on a week here already. All we had done all day
, besides taking care of Ashley, which we had been getting help with from my mother and the resort’s childcare service, was, well nothing. Laying around on the beach. Drinking cocktails way too early in the day. Having sex in a tropical paradise. It was perfect.
“Is she hungry already?” my mother asked.
“She just woke up, so she might be in a little while.”
As much as I appreciated the help with our infant, my mother wasn't here just for free childcare. Well, to be honest, that is the way that she convinced Charlie to let her come. Usually, people weren't caring for a new-born when they were on their honeymoon. It had been great getting to spend time together without worrying that our baby was well taken care of. My mother was a hundred percent cancer-free. I thought that was cause for celebration. As much as I appreciated the free childcare, I loved that this experience, one that she deserved was one she was getting to have.
Besides, she loved Ashley. She had probably spent as much if not more time with her as I had. I was her only child, and Ashley was her first grandchild, which meant she had hit the jackpot. That baby was in for a lifetime of being spoiled to death. I loved that for her, both my mother and my baby. I was so glad that she won her fight with cancer and got to meet her first grandchild.
I had felt many times throughout my life that my mother was proud of me, but never so proud as she was when I became a mother myself. Now, I understood her in ways that I was never able to before. Just like I would do anything for my baby, she would do anything for me, including volunteering to be my honeymoon babysitter.
“I don't know if you should have her out here,” she said. “It's getting a little hot.”
The veranda was covered. We were standing under the shade. It was four-thirty in the afternoon, far past the hottest time of the day. My mother was just being overprotective. Sure, I was a new mother who didn't know what the hell to do half the time, but that didn't mean I hadn't Googled the shit out of every stupid and also reasonable question when it came to taking infants on tropical vacations.
“I think she’ll be fine, mother,” I said.
“Are you sure?” she said, tugging at the neck of Ashley’s t-shirt. It was so warm here that we hadn’t worried too much about her getting cold. In fact, the t-shirt was a bonus. For the past few days we had let her hang out in just her diaper.
“Yes, I’m sure,” I said.
“There you three are.” I looked up, seeing Charlie walk out onto the veranda. I smiled seeing him. He came up and kissed me and the baby. Trailing after him was Veronica. Yeah, Charlie and I were the couple who turned our honeymoon into a family vacation. Truly, when Veronica had heard that my mother was going to be coming, she wouldn’t let it slide. One mother was enough, but two hadn’t been as bad as expected. It was a honeymoon. Both mothers respected that the two of us were going to be doing newlywed things but it was a little strange. That was undeniable.
I smiled at her. “Veronica,” I said. She smiled back and gave me a small nod. Charlie had been ready to tell her she couldn’t come because of our history, but things had turned around tremendously in the past several months. When forced to choose between her pride and her son’s family, she had chosen us. It was still slow going, but we were beginning to build a relationship. She loved Ashley as much as my mother did and she was showing effort. I couldn’t refuse to give her another shot when she showed how serious she was about earning forgiveness.
I was more scared about how she and my mother were going to get along. Things seemed okay so far. They both loved Ashley and so far, having that in common was giving them something to bond over. Charlie hugged and kissed me.
“Wanna go for a walk?” he asked. I looked over at my mother and Veronica who were fawning over Ashley. They barely registered that we were there. They wouldn’t miss us.
“How does it feel to be completely edged out and replaced by a younger model?” I asked.
“Oh, you mean Ashley?”
We walked hand-in-hand down the beach. We were the only ones out there. The resort was so exclusive, they only took single groups at a time. That meant that if it was just Charlie and me, we would be the only ones on the island, save for the staff. I thought it was a little over-indulgent to basically hire out an entire island for ourselves, but Charlie didn't pay attention to my objections about spending too much money these days.
I didn't want to be ungrateful, complaining about the man I loved giving me literally anything that I wanted, but it was still taking a little while to get used to.
“Yeah. I mean, we're both only children. Is this what it would have felt like to get a sibling back in the day?”
“Mm. A cute, new baby who your parents can project all their fantasies onto since you already failed them.”
I laughed. We walked a little more over the silky white sand as the tide lapped slowly against our feet.
“You know, I think about that summer every time I see a beach. I think it’s high time you admit you missed me too!”
“Is that what you've been thinking about the entire time we've been here?”
“Not the entire time,” he said suggestively. Sure. Maybe just the time when we weren't taking care of our baby or otherwise taking care of each other.
“Dana Point was great and all, but it has nothing on this place,” I said.