Page 25 of Requiem

Brett 8

Watching Julia’s nanny walk into the Clarke Hotel in Chicago is like watching a giraffe glide in off the Serengeti. Every head in the lobby seems to swivel in her direction. At nearly six feet tall, Natalie Hughes has long, lean legs, toned arms and a neck that would make Audrey Hepburn’s look stumpy. Oblivious to the glances from all around her, Natalie scans the room, giving her broad, toothy smile when she spots Julia and I sharing a couch in the corner.

“Nata!” David squeals from his stroller as he catches sight of her approaching. He’s so excited that he bangs his fists on the tray in front of him, sending dry Cheerios flying onto the carpet. “Nata! Nata!”

When she reaches him, Natalie appears to fold in on herself, dropping three feet of altitude as she squats down to free him from stroller lock-up. She scoops him into her arms.

“Davy Baby!” she croons excitedly. “High-five me big guy!”

She holds up one of her long-fingered hands and he slaps it with his tiny corresponding appendage.

As impressed as I am by her ease with my nephew, I’m even more impressed by a certain skill I discovered Natalie to have. A little something her cop father instilled in her as a kid.

“Natalie,” I cajole with a conspiratorial grin, “read the room for me.”

She glances up at me briefly.

“Jeez, Brett! I’m not a circus freak, you know! Didn’t you get enough of this the last time I traveled with you guys?”

“Oh, Nat, I’ll never get enough. Come on …please?”

She sighs and rolls her eyes at me.

“Fine …”

Even as she’s bouncing the giggling toddler up and down, she’s rattling off an inventory of the people in the hotel lobby and what they were doing when she walked in.

“There’s a couple holding hands on a settee to the right of the door. A pervy old man is watching them from over the top of his newspaper. There are three clerks at the counter, one blonde man and two brunette women, all in their mid-forties, I’d say. There’s a sitting area to the left of the door. A teenager is sitting, cross-legged on one of the couches, texting on his phone. His little sister is next to him, brushing the hair of a blonde doll. I’m pretty sure the couple standing at the counter is their parents because the woman keeps glancing back at them every few seconds.”

“Amazing!” I cry, slapping my hands on my knees. “How the hell do you do that?”

She just smiles and shrugs.

“Hell hell hell hell helllllllll …” David gurgles happily to Natalie. I get an elbow to the ribs from Julia.

“Sorry!” I snicker. “At least it wasn’t the F-Bomb!”

“Little pitchers have big ears, Unca!” Natalie snorts.

“Unca!” David squeals loudly, now turning in Nat’s arms so he can point at me.

Since he’s been around our quartet so much for rehearsals, and now on tour, Julia has him calling me Uncle Brett, or ‘Unca’ in David-speak. I must admit, I kind of like it.

“How was your trip, Nat?” Julia asks, getting to her feet and brushing the hair from her son’s forehead. He’s too entranced by Natalie to even notice her.

“Perfect!” she exclaims in an excited voice, eyes wide as David giggles and tries to stuff his hand into her mouth.

Julia tucks an envelope into the pocket of the stroller.

“Brett and I have to get to rehearsal, but I’ve left everything you need in our adjoining rooms. I’m 216 and you’re 218. Your key card is in the envelope along with the information about the concert hall where I’ll be, and our schedule.”

Natalie doesn’t appear to be focusing on anything but David. But, as she’s just demonstrated, she doesn’t miss a thing. I know for a fact that she’s making a mental note of every detail Julia is throwing at her.

“The crib is set up on my side and his bottles and food are in the mini fridge. There’s a diaper bag here in the stroller and one in the room, too,” Julia instructs.

Now Natalie lifts the chubby redhead over her head and onto her shoulders. The kid can practically touch the light fixtures at that height.

“No worries,” she assures Julia. “I’ll drop my stuff in the room, and then Little Man and I are going to take a walk around Chi-Town. I’ve got every park, zoo, merry-go-round and children’s museum in the city mapped out. By the time we get back, he’ll be begging for a nap,” she grins wickedly.