Rainey
Rainey Nolan was having a day and with four kids under the age of seven, who’d blame her for locking herself away in her kitchen pantry and eating the last piece of birthday cake from her youngest daughter, Ella’s second birthday party? No one would even blink an eye at her once they found out that she was a single mom—widowed a little over two years ago if they found her sitting on the linoleum floor licking the chocolate crumbs from the plate.
Her husband, Jack, Sr. was in the military and when his convoy was hit by an IED, he was instantly killed, leaving her with three little ones and another on the way. She wasn’t complaining about her life. She had her health, her sister, Beck, her house, and her husband’s pension that was left to her. And the best thing of all—she had a kid-free afternoon planned and lunch with Beck to catch up on the details of her and Knox’s honeymoon. Well, not all the details, just the parts where Rainey got to live vicariously through her sister’s fantastic life since chaos usually rained around her own.
Her babysitter was due to her home at any minute, and she couldn’t get there fast enough. She hadn’t had an afternoon off in ages. Rainey usually felt guilty about leaving the kids in the middle of the day, especially on a Saturday. It was usually just she and Ella during the day when the others were at school. She hated how quiet the house was on weekdays while the three older kids were gone. But today, they were crazy wild, and she was looking forward to her few hours away.
“Mommy,” Little Jack called through the pantry door. “I know you’re in there,” he shouted. Ella’s tiny hand appeared under the rather large gap under the door, and she bit back her giggle, covering her mouth with her free hand to stifle the sound.
“Mommy,” Sarah shouted next, banging on the door with all her might. Her six-year-old was a force to be reckoned with when she wanted her way. If Sarah was determined to get into the pantry to her, she would find a way.
“Open the door, mom,” Sarah shouted once more. Rainey could hear Penny crying softly on the other side of the door and that just about broke her. Four-year-old Penny was her soft-hearted girl and letting her cry, while she sat inside the pantry eating cake, wasn’t something she could do. Rainey cracked open the pantry door and all four of her kids practically fell into the small closet, landing on top of her.
“You ate the last piece of Ella’s cake,” Sarah grouched. She wasn’t asking her mother if it was the truth but basically accusing her of the bad deed.
“Don’t lie, Mom,” Jack ordered. “We can see the evidence,” he said, pointing to the empty plate.
“I did,” she admitted, “but, in my defense, I didn’t get a chance to have a piece of cake at Ella’s party yesterday because Mommy was too busy chasing around the other two-year-olds who were here to help us celebrate.”
“Oh, so you didn’t have a piece of cake at the party then?” Jack asked. Her son was always an advocate for fairness, especially being the oldest with three younger sisters. Rainey shook her head, and her son wrapped his arms around her neck. “Then, I’m glad that you got to have the last piece of cake, Mom.” She felt like her heart would burst out of her chest as her children piled on top of her, knocking her down to the floor, giggling.
“Puppy pile,” Sarah shouted. Penny had even stopped crying long enough to join in the giggling. Moments like these were few and far between since her husband died. The three older kids were still in therapy, and she was seeing a therapist weekly herself, working out the frustrations and challenges of being a single mother living with the anger of being left behind. Jack didn’t leave her intentionally and it took her almost two full years to be able to understand that, but she was still dealing with feelings of abandonment and that wasn’t easy to live with when she had four little people counting on her.
“Do you have to go out today, Mommy?” Penny asked, still laying on top of her.
“I do, baby,” Rainey said. “Aunt Beck and Uncle Knox are back from their honeymoon, and I want to hear all about it,” she said.
“I want to hear about it too,” Sarah said. A “Me too,” chorus rang out all around her and she giggled, sitting up. The doorbell rang just in time and the kid’s groans told her that they understood that the sitter was there, and they were going to have to miss out on their aunt’s stories about her honeymoon.
“Saved by the bell,” Rainey whispered to herself. She walked to the front of her house and pulled open the door to find her sixteen-year-old babysitter standing on the front porch. “Hey Kim,” she said.
“Hi Mrs. Nolan,” Kim said.
“I told you to call me Rainey,” she insisted. “I’m not as old as you think, she said.”
“How old are you?” Kim boldly asked.
Rainey barked out her laugh, “Twenty-seven,” she admitted. She and Jack had gotten married young. They were both just nineteen when they tied the knot. He was being deployed and the Army wouldn’t let her live on base with him unless they were married. So, she accepted his proposal and got pregnant with Little Jack a couple of months later, just before Jack, Sr. was deployed. She had to get through his pregnancy and most of her girls’ pregnancies without him but losing her husband during her pregnancy with Ella was the worst. She knew that Jack wasn’t going to be coming home this time to meet his new daughter. Rainey was alone and scared half out of her mind about having to go it alone, but she found her footing and hadn’t done a bad job, even if she did say so herself.
“That sounds pretty old to me, Mrs. Nolan. You’re like ten years older than I am,” Kim said.
“It’s eleven years, actually,” Rainey corrected. “Okay guys, I’m going to go have lunch with Aunt Beck. Anyone have kisses that they want me to give to her?” she asked. Her kids ran at her and practically knocked her down again giving her kisses on her face to give to their aunt.
“Well, I know that Aunt Beck will be thrilled to get all of those sweet kisses,” Rainey gushed. “I’ll be just a few hours. You have all my numbers, Kim. Be good, guys,” she ordered. They all nodded like little angels and Rainey giggled, knowing that was just not the truth.
She practically skipped to her SUV and couldn’t get out of the driveway fast enough as her four kids watched on from the front window. Rainey smiled and waved as her kids frowned at her and she could tell that Penny was once again crying—and that just broke her heart.