Thanksgiving passed… then Christmas. Since Faye didn’t have much of a family, I invited her to celebrate with mine. Maybe it was a little non-traditional to bring my friend with benefits and her niece-daughter to Christmas dinner—but at this point, no part of my life was traditional.
I’d worried a little about how Faye would get along with everyone. With her single-minded focus on literature, I wasn’t sure how much she could relate to non-academics. As it turned out, she had a lot to talk about with my sister, Stephanie. She was fascinated when she found out Stephanie was working on a movie screenplay.
Next, she charmed the entire family with her compliments to my mom and interest in my sisters’ lives. Plus, bringing an adorable baby along scored her major points.
Gretchen sat in a high chair and burbled as my mom served up her famous turkey with homemade stuffing. My sister Gillian pretended not to care about the baby, but I caught her holding her when no one was looking. Stephanie, on the other hand, was vocal about how adorable she thought Gretchen was.
Mom caught me alone after, full of questions about Faye and Gretchen. I kept my answers vague. How could I give her a good explanation of how exactly they fit into my life? I didn’t know, myself. All I did know was how much I wished my dad could’ve been there to meet Faye, too. He and Mom were such perfect counterparts, and I missed him all the time.
Faye and I spent New Year’s in her car, Gretchen in the back seat. We drank champagne this time as we watched the stars, listening to the countdown on the radio. When the clock reached zero, we were already kissing each other. I hoped to spend the whole year kissing nobody but her.
January came, then February. March.
We were well into spring by the time Faye heard from Amanda again.
* * *
I knocked on Faye’s office door at five. Gretchen’s carriage was a great relief for my back, but a bit unwieldy when it came to little things like, oh, getting through doors. Luckily these things only came up about fifty times a day.
“Hey,” I said, giving Faye a quick kiss when she let me in. “What’s that?”
She had a small piece of paper in her hand. From the way it was crinkled, I guessed she’d been folding and refolding it for a while. “Oh… nothing.”
The frown on her face betrayed her. “Doesn’t look like nothing,” I said. “Hand it over.”
Yeah, I was ordering Dr. Faye Charlotte Erwin around these days. What’s more, she actually listened to me.
“You might as well see it,” she muttered.
The paper was a check from Amanda Erwin. The amount wasn’t huge… but I wouldn’t have called it small, either. I bit my lip as I looked from the name to the number, then back again.
“She’s sending you money? Why?”
“There’s no note,” she said. “Nothing but what’s in the memo field.”
For expenses, it read.
“So this is supposed to be child support?” I asked. “That’s… a nice gesture.” Even if she should’ve been doing it since day one.
“I guess she got a job or something,” Faye said. “Anyway… I want you to have it.”
I pushed the check away. “Are you kidding? She sent it to you.”
“And you’ve been spending your own hard-earned money on my sister’s kid. Look, this won’t even cover what you spent on that stroller.”
She was right, but still. I stared at her hand. “I spend out of love for Gretchen. You know I care about that kid as if she was my own.”
Her voice softened. “I know you care… but she’s not yours.” She wrapped her arms around me, pressing a long kiss to my cheek. “I want you to have the money. You more than deserve it for everything you do for Gretchen.”
“I already get paid. Anything outside the job description is my own choice.”
“Jaz… I’m serious. If you don’t take it, I’m ripping it up. Take it.”
I examined the check. “You don’t think it’ll bounce, anyway?”
She snorted, then grinned. “There’s a good chance of that, actually. If it’s going to bounce, you might as well take it, right?”
“Hmph.” I slipped it into my pocket, then slid myself into the chair. “You think this is Amanda’s way of saying she’s never going to want Gretchen?”