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Happy for a few more minutes with her friend, Jeanie bounded towards the waiting child. Laura followed Ms. Caspian into the office. “Is anything wrong?” she immediately inquired.
“Oh no,” Ms. Caspian reassured her. “I called you here because something is very, very right. I’m not sure how much you’ve noticed, but Jeanie is very intelligent.”
Laura’s grin widened. Her daughter absorbed information incredibly fast, but she didn’t know exactly how accelerated her progress was. “I know she’s smart.”
“Not merely smart,” the older lady interjected. “Really, really smart. I’ve been working with kids all my life, and it’s rare to find a four-year-old with an ability to learn like Jeanie. She has a great gift, Ms. Blake.”
“Really?” Motherly satisfaction swelled, but she had to give Aidan due credit. Jeanie's father was widely considered a genius.
“Absolutely,” Ms. Caspian confirmed. “Which is why I wanted to tell you about an opportunity. Pine Ridge has a very skilled educator who has worked with gifted children for decades. Sue Johnson runs a special class for young children with an advanced capacity for learning.”
“I’ve heard of her.” The paper did a story on her a few years back. Utilizing innovative techniques such as hands-on demonstrations and computer-based learning, Ms. Johnson had cultivated scores of successful children, in a curriculum both adults and kids adored. Each year, hundreds of parents tried to get their children into the program, but because Ms. Johnson insisted on individualized classes, she only accepted a handful. Laura’s smile faded, however, when she remembered why she hadn’t tried to enroll Jeanie in the first place. “The price…”
“Is expensive,” Ms. Caspian admitted. “She charges a lot for her classes, but if you can afford it, the benefits are well worth it. I didn’t know if you could handle the cost, but I wanted to mention it to you. Jeanie would have a great chance at getting in.”
Laura pursed her lips. Jeanie may get in, but she could never afford it. Thanking the lady for her time and promising to think about it, Laura left the office and called to Jeanie. The little girl raced to her, and hand in hand they walked to the car.
Not even her daughter talking sixty miles a minute could lift Laura’s spirits as she drove home. Would she be cheating her child if she didn’t reveal the truth to Aidan, who could easily afford to give Jeanie all the opportunities in the world? Would she be depriving her of not just a father, but her birthright? It was yet another reason to tell him.
Laura forced away her ponderings as they arrived home. The time had grown late, and they would have to hurry. As she ushered Jeanie into the house, her phone beeped with a missed voicemail, and her smile gave way to a grimace. The call had come in hours ago. The antiquated phone didn’t seem particularly concerned about giving her messages in a timely message. She dialed into voicemail, put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table as she jogged into Jeanie’s room to retrieve the tee-ball outfit. “Ready to get dressed?” she asked her laughing daughter.
“Nope!” Her daughter playfully took off across the room. “First you have to catch me.”
Despite the tumultuous day, Laura laughed. These were the precious moments that made everything worthwhile. “Here I come!” she said in a dramatic voice, but her progress was suddenly stopped by two words drifting in from the living room:
Tee-Ball
And
Cancelled.
Laura raced into the living room and pressed the repeat button on the phone. The coach’s lighthearted voice belied the disastrous message. “Ms. Blake, this is Coach Dave from Jeanie’s Tee-Ball Team. Today’s game has been cancelled due to the weather. Sorry for the late notice, but the field is soaked. See you next week.”
Laura sank down to the couch. How had she not realized the game would be postponed? She’d been so preoccupied with the businessman she hadn’t anticipated the obvious. Now Aidan was due to arrive in forty minutes, and unless she could think of something quick, he would be greeted by his long-lost daughter.
“Is everything all right, Mommy?” Jeanie skipped into the room.
Laura opened her arms for her rosy-cheeked daughter. She smelled of cinnamon and love. “Everything is fine, honey, except your game has been cancelled. Mommy has to work today, so I’m going to find a baby-sitter.”
“All right, Mommy.”
Laura’s heart sank as her daughter’s eyes turned glassy and she blinked back sadness. She was trying to be a big girl, but she had been looking forward to that game. “I’ll tell you what. Remember that big sticker album you picked out for your birthday? I’ll let you play with it now, even though it’s not your birthday yet.”
Immediately, the smile returned, pure happiness restored. In an instant she was gone, intent on a thousand and one stickers. Laura wasted no time, grabbing the phone and commencing the arduous task of finding a babysitter on negative thirty minutes notice.
Her mother had a doctor's appointment and Candace was working, so those were not options. Laura swiped down her address book and called every person she trusted with her child, but after six phone calls, four answering machines and two denials, she was no closer to success. The clock read 12:35, and disaster loomed nearer with every second. Although she was seriously considering telling Aidan the truth, he couldn’t find out on his own. If he met the little girl, he might notice the resemblance.
She had only one more name to go. If this call was negative, she would have no other option. Dialing the number, she waited as the phone rang and rang. She was just about to hang up when a voice answered with a friendly, “Hello.”
“Nancy!” Laura greeted her teenage neighbor, a friendly seventeen-year old who babysat when her normal sitters weren’t available. Laura asked if she could come immediately, offering twice the normal rate. She would pay twenty times if necessary. She literally jumped in joy when Nancy said she’d be there in ten minutes. Laura thanked her and hung up the phone.
She took a quick detour to check on her daughter. Jeanie was happily sitting in the middle of her room, placing stickers on every piece of furniture and on the walls. She could only focus on one disaster at a time, so she slowly closed the door and let the girl have her fun. She raced to the kitchen to write out a list of information for the babysitter, cringing at the mess. As soon as Nancy arrived, she would attack the disaster in whatever time remained before Aidan's arrival.
Everything would be just fine.
Aidan pausedoutside the simple pine door, stopping to gaze at a handmade wreath of fabric pink flowers and plastic purple hearts. Gold glitter paint proclaimed, "Welcome to our home," in childlike sprawl, accompanied by an array of hearts, stars and flowers. He couldn't stop a small smile as he admired the creative craft. Although simple, it was impressive, especially since Laura's daughter was only four years old. Didn't children usually learn to write when they were older?
He had learned when he was three.
