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“You’re a spiritual guy,” she replied. “I like that.”
“What about you?”
“I believe in karma,” she said, laughing. “Does that count?”
“Karma is awesome. It’s a powerful motivator. So I’ll be back in about an hour. Is that good for you? I’ll help watch baby Flynn first if you have something to do.”
“Are we safe to take him to church?”
“It’d better be the one place that’s safe to take him. I’d kiss you, but I’m unwashed and all that.”
“Thank you,” she replied, giggling.
“I want to, but…”
“We’ll hug when you return.”
She walked him to the door, and before he could get away, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his prickly cheek. He’d washed his face in her bathroom; she could smell the lavender soap. And after she kissed him, he gave the baby a kiss on his head.
“You’ll have to wash his hair now.”
Waiting in the doorway, she watched him get into his truck and drive off, like the world had swallowed him up.
“Watch it, Clark. It’s only been a week.”
But she knew it was too late.
Chapter 4
Walking from the parking lot to the church with Tony holding the baby felt surreal. Back at the apartment, looking over her shoulder, Tony hovered as she dressed Flynn in a special little baby suit, with the awareness that he would be scrutinized by Roberta and Big Mike. Anything negative they might say would impact her relationship with Tony. She couldn’t help it. The baby had become her keystone, and everything added to her life after his birth would be measured by the reception he was given.
“I’m so nervous,” she mumbled.
“It’ll be fine. You’re going to reconnect with the universe and nothing else.”
Stumbling in the heels she wore as a gesture for Roberta, Tony grabbed her arm. “You didn’t need to do that,” he said, looking down at her feet. “Although they are cute.”
“Ha! It was worth it, then.”
At the church, they walked through the massive oak doors, and it took a while for their eyes to adjust to the cool and dark space flickering with candlelight. The smell of incense and roses, which were amassed in profusion at the altar, greeted them along with candle wax.
The back pews were empty. Tony stood aside so she could go in first. They sat and listened to the mass. “It’s in Latin,” she whispered.
“Yes. Do you understand it?”
“I do. Remember, I went to St. Mary’s, too.”
“I graduated four years before you did,” he said.
“That lady is shushing you,” she whispered, ducking down.
“Hey, Roberta!” he said it softly, but Roberta wasn’t amused, putting her finger to her lips again.
“Don’t tick your mother off right before she meets me, please.”
Nerves growing exponentially, she tried to remember that this was the woman who made sure she had a clean private place to pump.
After mass, they waited for Big Mike and Roberta outside. Roberta was easily a third of Big Mike’s size, although she was tall. Outfitted in a beautiful lime-green silk suit with shoes to match and a pillbox hat with a little veil, she could have been the mother of the bride instead of attending mass.
