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It hurt Marguerite to watch it. And it fascinated her. As she quietly worked with Chloe and Gen to clear off the cookie plates and dirty utensils, leaving just the teapots at the tables and a few unfinished cups of tea, he kept them entertained single-handedly.
He would make a good father, she realized. Some child deserved him. That hurt even more deeply, such that she turned her back on the scene and retreated to the kitchen with her tray.
Ten minutes later, Chloe came in to report that he'd even coaxed a smile out of Debra. Mellowed her such that she was letting Natalie sit in her lap for a few moments, a surrogate older sister.
"And Tina wants you to come out for this next gift. It's a handmade dress from her mother and she wants you to see it. "
Marguerite dutifully returned to the floor and found herself directed to sit next to Tyler while Natalie opened the gift. He hooked his arm on the back of her chair, fingers loosely caught in the slats, his thumb idly tracing a pattern on the back of her shoulder, playing with the bra strap under the dress in a discreet, sensual way, the very intimacy of it not lost on her. She thought she really ought to encourage him to use email to communicate with her in the future. Email didn't have hands, a male scent. That mouth she couldn't stop thinking about.
She was relieved when the last gift was opened and she could rise and help Chloe and Gen clean up the wrapping paper. She sent the girls scampering after each scrap of paper, ribbon or bow, though most of the bows were now stuck
in their hair, tied onto wrists or made into necklaces with the attached ribbons.
A shriek, a gasp and Marguerite turned in time to see the girls, wound up by the fun and sugar, stumble against Natalie, who in turn stumbled against the birthday girl's table in her oversized ruby shoes. The impact knocked over the rose teapot. The spout broke as it fell over and hit two of the cups. The three items knocked over the bowl of daisies, sloshed out the fishbowl water and all of it spun off the table like pins in a bowling alley. Out of the corner of her eye Marguerite saw Tyler and Chloe emerge from their trash trip into the kitchen in time to witness the glassware, teacups, spilled tea, sugar cookies and flowers crash to the floor all together. The pot, saved by its shape, remained on the edge of the table, a thin stream of tea anointing the wreckage.
Natalie's face was whiter than her mother's and she turned horrified eyes to Marguerite, lips quivering, not the calculated tears of a child knowing how to get out of trouble, but of true dismay.
"Miss M, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. " She bent down and Marguerite realized she intended to get down on those childish hands and knees in her beautiful pink dress to try and fix the damage.
"Oh, no, sweetheart. " She caught her up in two steps, lifting her up to her shoulder with some effort. Feeling the thin limbs twine around her waist, she didn't care that the wet tea on the bottoms of those oversized shoes was likely now staining embroidered silk. "Your pretty outfit. You can't mess it up. And broken glass is too dangerous to pick up with bare hands. We'll get a broom and clean it up. "
"But. . . but it's my fault. . . and you just said how special everything is supposed to be. . . I wasn't careful. "
"No, you weren't," Marguerite agreed, stroking her curls and making those brimming dark eyes look toward her. "And under normal circumstances your mom and I would have you help clean up. But you know what? Sometimes, mistakes happen, when you really, really don't mean for them to. It happens to everyone. And there's this rule that says you can't ever do anything wrong on your birthday. " Natalie blinked. "But I did. "
"But it's wiped away, whoosh, like this. " She brushed a tear off Natalie's cheek, inspiring a tentative smile. "I want this day to be absolutely perfect for you, Natalie. "
"But you won't like me anymore. "
Marguerite rested her forehead against the child's. "Do you trust me to always tell you the truth?"
Natalie nodded.
"There is nothing you can do to make me not like you. Why, you are more important than every piece of china in this whole place. And it makes me feel that you are a very, very good friend, to care so much about my things. "
"I have an allowance. I get five dollars every week. I can pay you back. I should pay you back. " Natalie put her hands on either side of Marguerite's neck, curling her fingers in her hair. She had it pulled back but her braid had unraveled and was flowing down to her waist since she'd removed the clips to pin up Debra's hat.
"All right, then. If you think you should pay some toward the cost, why don't you give me a month's worth of allowance?"
"But the pot is worth like a jillion dollars. " Marguerite smiled. "If that were the case, my friend Chloe over there would have pawned it and sent me a postcard from Bimini. " Chloe chuckled, empting the dustpan of wet glass in the bag Tyler was holding for her. "That's a fact for sure. "
The child looked puzzled by the adult byplay but persisted. "I should give you my allowance forever. "
"No. When something like this happens, you need to give a friend something they will value. You know what I value, Natalie?"
She shook her head.
"You. Your friendship. So, if you'll give me a month's worth of allowance and promise to be my friend forever, I'll consider that a very, very fair payment for my tea set. "
Natalie studied her for a long time. "Mommy," she said at last. "Is that fair? To Miss Marguerite?"
Marguerite resisted the urge to squeeze the precocious child to her heart and never let go. Tina approached, ran her hand up her daughter's back in reassurance. "That's very fair. "
"Okay," Natalie said at last.
"All right. " Marguerite lowered her back to the floor after Tina ran a quick washcloth over her feet. "And look. All better. They got it all cleaned up. And what are you all doing to my hair?" The other little girls, as if released by the license she had given to Natalie, were touching the ends of it, feeling the silk of it around her hips. She spun around in mock outrage and they scampered away, giggling, though this time they were more cautious around the tables.
"Don't you know this is enchanted hair? When I let it all down, I can make the wind blow, the rains fall, or the sun shine. Chloe, why don't you take them out to the back garden and the play area and get some of this energy out? Tyler and I will finish cleaning. "
