Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 20

He loved them, she got that.  But this?  This was something beyond normal friendship or the way adults gushed over how cute children were.  Aaron believed he had a right to her children.  And Lainie wasn't sure if she had the energy to embrace that mentality just yet.  She couldn't even get out of the freaking bed without falling to the floor from weak, unstable knees.  First things first -- she needed to heal her sick body and get home.

She slept fitfully that night.  Her muscles and joints ached, and her fever spiked around 3 A.M.  The nursed loaded her up with medication and I.V. fluids, but she kept throwing it up.  By morning, the doctor on staff wouldn’t let her leave.  “I’m sorry, Ms. Moon,” he said when she protested.  “Until your fever stays down for twenty-four hours and you can keep something in your stomach, you’ll have to stay here.”

“But I have children,” she said weakly.  “I’m a single mom.  They need me at home.”

“Do you want to risk your children’s health?” he asked in return.

“No.”

“You said they are staying with your mom, right?  They’ll be fine, I’m sure.  It’s better for all of you if you get well first before going home.”

Lainie conceded, but she honestly didn’t know if she could trust her mother to care for Chris and Chloe.  And she started thinking that maybe Aaron would have been a better choice.  Their argument from the night before kept going through her mind.  How many times did the security company have to call in the fire department because the smoke alarm went off?  Lainie knew her mother was careless when she smoked, but she didn’t think it was so frequent that she had to fear for her children’s safety.  

She called several times throughout the day, just to check on them.  By lunchtime, she was seriously considering calling Aaron to go get them.  Chris smacked on a chocolate bar as he told her all about how Gramma was letting them consume their Halloween candy instead of making them eat a healthy meal.  Lainie groaned and hit the phone on her forehead.  

“Chris, let me speak to Gramma.”

“Okay,” he said happily and yelled, “Gramma!  Mama wants to talk to you!”

A few seconds of shuffling and staticky garbling sounded before her mother came on the line.  “Hey, honey, how’re you feeling?”

“Mom, they can’t eat candy all day.  It’ll make them sick.”

“What do you want me do to?  Tell them no and break their hearts?” her mother huffed, and a breathy whoosh followed.

“Mom?!  Are you smoking in the house with the kids around?”

Genna coughed.  “Um...no.”

“Mom!”

“What?” Genna asked innocently.

“Okay, that’s it,” Lainie seethed.  “I’m calling Aaron to come get them.”

“Don’t be silly, Lainie.  I can handle this...uh, oh.”

“What?” Lainie asked severely.  “What happened?”

“Nothing...it’s nothing...everything’s fine,” her mother reassured in a guilty voice.  Lainie heard her mother whisper, “Chloe, go get your brother a wash cloth.”  Then Lainie heard Chloe say, “Eww!  Gross!  It’s all over the carpet!”

“Did Chris just throw up?!”

“He’s fine,” her mother said cheerily.  “Here, Chloe, talk to your mother for a sec.”

“Hi, Mama!”

“Hi, Baby,” Lainie answered.  “Did Chris just throw up?”

“Yup!  He did it last night, too.  Does that mean he gets to go to the hosp’tal, too?”

“I don’t know, sweetie, but I need you to do me a favor, okay?”

“Okay, Mama.”

Lainie took a deep breath.  She hoped Chloe was up to this.  “Remember how we’ve been working on our letters and numbers?”

“Oh, yes!” Chloe answered and started counting for her Mama to show her she remembered.  Lainie let her, and her daughter got all the way to twenty-nine before forgetting what came next.  

“That’s wonderful, Chloe.  I’m so proud of you!  Now, do you think you can find some numbers for me when I tell you what they are?”

“Oh, like the ma’nets on the refrigerator like we do at home?”

“Exactly like we do at home,” Lainie smiled.  “Take the phone over to the refrigerator and I tell you the numbers I want you to find.”

“Okay, Mama, I’m ready.”

Lainie slowly and patiently recited Aaron’s phone number, thanking God that none of the digits repeated, or this might be an impossible chore, considering how a set of numeral magnets only went from 0 to 9.  “You got them all in a line, exactly how I told you?” she asked Chloe.  Chloe repeated the numbers, and Lainie sighed with relief.  “Now, Chloe, this is Mr. Aaron’s phone number.  He’s going to pick you up soon and take you and Chris home with him, okay?”

“Yay!” Chloe shouted gleefully.  “We get to go see Mr. Aaron, Chris!”

“What’s that?” Genna said in the background.  “Here, Chloe, let me talk to her...Lainie, everything’s fine here.  You don’t have to worry.”

“But I am worried, Mom,” Lainie said.  “I want the kids to go home with Aaron.  I’m calling him and he will come get them, so don’t you dare try to keep him away from them.”

“What makes you so sure that he’ll agree to take them?”

“He said so last night,” Lainie reminded her mother.

“That was last night before you spit in his face and told him to leave you alone.  Men don’t forgive stuff like that.”

Lainie knew in her heart that Aaron would race over to get the twins.  He loved them; she had no doubts about that.  She'd just have to set him straight on this possessive streak of his.  “This one will, Mom.  See the numbers on the fridge?  That’s his phone number.  You can call him and check up on the kids if you want, but he is taking them.”

“I think this is a mistake,” her mother said.

“I don’t,” Lainie replied shortly.  “Get Chris and Chloe packed up.  I’ll talk to you later.”  Lainie hung up the phone, suffered another bout of her retching, and called Aaron.

“Aaron,” she said when he answered.  “I need you to go get my kids from my senseless mother.” She pleaded in her best penitent voice and closed her eyes, waiting for the “I told you so.”

He never said it.  Instead, he responded, “Thank you, Lainie.  I’ve been worried sick about them.”

She smiled into the phone.  “Can you get into my house to get them some clothes and their toothbrushes and whatever else they’ll need for a few days?  And I need you to call their doctor and get Chris an appointment.  He threw up again.  It might just be too much candy, but I want to be sure he’s not sick, too.”

“Oh, hell...I’m sorry.  I forgot to tell you he did that last night, too.”

“It’s okay,” she said.  “Will you be able to take a couple days off from work?  I don’t know how long I’ll be in here.  The doctor won’t let me leave until my fevers stop.”

“I’ve already arranged to have the whole week off,” he said, and Lainie felt a rush of relief.  “You just worry about getting better, and I’ll worry about the rest, okay?”

“Thank you, Aaron.  I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”

He chuckled.  “I’m sure we can come up with something.”

Now, she experienced a rush of something else.  Desire, maybe?  Love?  She shook her head.  Can’t think about that now.  “Will you call me later?  I’d like to tell them good-night before they go to bed.”

“I can do better than that,” he said.  “We’ll stop by for a visit after dinner, okay?”

“Oh, no...I don’t want them to get sick.”

“But you need to see them, and they need to see you.  You can wear a mask, and I’ll make sure I scrub their hands with the strongest antibacterial soap I can find.”

Lainie started crying.

“Hey,” he said softly.  “What is it?  Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” she sniffed.  “You’ve said everything right.”

He was silent for a while, breathing steadily into the receiver.  Lainie leaned back in the hospital bed and listened to the calming sound.  He finally said, “I pray that I have, Lainie.”

They ended the conversation with some hasty good-byes, and Lainie curled up on her side and sobbed herself to sleep.