Life is What Happens to You While You're Busy Making Other Plans
There's talk about the birds and the bees, a gala luncheon, a hostage situation and an undercover operation. Just another day in the Ellis-Caffrey household. Part of the Milestones series, takes place between 'A Bump in the Road' and 'New Beginnings'
Title taken from a famous John Lennon quote.
Chapter 1
4.3 years
'So? Anything yet?' Neal asked looking up from his computer screen as Sara made her way into the kitchen
He was sitting at his laptop checking the headlines while Hope sat, still sleepy, in front of her bowl of cereal. It was a beautiful early summer day and the sun was streaming into the kitchen giving everything an unusually bright and cheerful glow.
'NO, Neal. And stop asking' replied Sara, her response abrupt as she made her way to the coffee maker and grabbed a cup from the kitchen cupboard
'You can't blame a guy for being interested' Neal responded, standing and making his way to stand by his wife
Sara softened immediately as she got a glimpse of his baby blues staring down at her. As usual, she had been a little too quick to answer, letting her own anxiety seep through her curt reply.
'I'm sorry' she said, touching his cheek 'of course, you're interested. It's just that I'm anxious too and I feel like I'm disappointing you every time it falls through and - '
Neal interrupted as he reached for her and pulled her to him. 'Sara, you could never disappoint me. I'm sorry if you feel like I'm putting pressure on you. I just…. I just keep hoping that this is the month, you know?'
'What month?' asked Hope, suddenly picking up on her parents' conversation
Sara and Neal stared at each other – they had forgotten for a moment that she was sitting there, listening to every word they were saying.
'The month of June!' said Sara spontaneously, not knowing why she was feeling so flustered. The real answer to Hope's question might lead to a lot of other, much more sensitive questions that she just wasn't prepared to answer right now.
Neal rolled his eyes at his wife and sat back down next to Hope intending to give her more of a complete explanation. Hope was smart and nothing got past her – Neal had figured that out a long time ago.
'Remember, Mommy and I told you we'd like to have a baby brother or sister for you to play with?' he explained
Hope nodded, really not getting the connection between her innocuous question and her dad's answer.
'Well…' he started, totally flustered himself and not knowing how to go on.
'Finish up your breakfast, sweet pea. We need to drop you off and I have to be at the office in 45 minutes' Neal finally uttered, at a loss for words. This was definitely not the right time to have the 'where do babies come from' talk with his four year old.
Hope was precocious in all things – she had a healthy curiosity for life and apparently that included the birds and the bees. Add to that, the fact that she had recently walked in on her parents engaged in a hot and heavy lovemaking session - which had motivated Neal to install a lock on their bedroom door and had definitely put a damper on his enthusiasm for a couple of days.
Hope looked up at Neal, questioningly. For some reason she couldn't fathom, her innocent question had elicited an unusual response from her normally cool and collected dad and she finally just gave up, looking down at her bowl of granola and taking one last bite.
The family prepared to go their separate ways for the day; Neal had been working a case at the White Collar Unit for the past month and he was just finishing up the paper work while Sara had a few more weeks to go at Sterling Bosch before they took time for a family holiday sometime in July.
Over the summer months, Hope was cared for by Donna Mason, her best friend Olivia's mom and close friend to the Caffreys. The Masons lived three houses over so this was ideal for Neal and Sara who would simply drop her off on their way to work. Hope would be starting school in the fall and she was very excited at the prospect; the fact that she would be sharing the experience with her best friend made it all the more fun.
Neal and Sara drove to the ride and park together, preparing to take the train into Manhattan to their respective jobs when the subject returned to Hope and her earlier question.
'We're going to have to have 'the talk' with her sooner or later' said Neal
'I vote for later... Isn't four years old a bit young for us to be explaining the birds and the bees?' asked Sara, who would've been more than happy to put off the discussion until Hope was in her twenties
'I've been reading about it online…' Neal answered 'You just have to go with answering the child's question directly; don't give more information than what they ask for. You know that old joke about the father who launched into a long explanation about reproductive sex when his kid asked where he came from. Then the kid says, 'Oh, 'cause Johnny comes from Chicago'
Sara laughed. When Hope had walked in on them, she hadn't seemed particularly upset, just surprised and taken aback to see her dad seemingly playing horsey with her mom. She had asked Sara if she was alright because she'd heard her moaning – that and seeing her dad in that unusual pose was enough to make her question whether her mom was hurt in some way. Sara had mumbled something about her and Daddy playing a special grown up game and Hope had finally let it go, leaving Neal totally in shock and reluctant to resume activities until they could be sure they wouldn't be interrupted. After years of Mozzie walking in on them, he couldn't believe he now had to contend with a curious four year old.
'Well, there are books that explain where babies come from. Maybe we can pick something up and start getting her ready' suggested Sara
Neal looked up, thrilled at the prospect that there might soon be a baby that required explanations.
'Neal, it's two days, okay? I'm just two days late. Please, don't read too much into it' she said, hoping to bring down his expectations a notch.
Since her cancer surgery more than two years before, Neal and Sara had steadfastly worked at having a second baby. They knew the odds were against them – after all, Sara only had one functioning ovary and add to that the residual damage from chemotherapy and Dr. Cooper had given it a 20% chance of success. But this did not dissuade Neal who continued to hope and give it his best shot, reading about all the little things they could do to improve their odds including encouraging Sara to lay still in bed for twenty minutes after every lovemaking session – a new habit that was driving her crazy.
'This could be it, though!' he added with a twinkle in his eye as he parked the car and they both prepared to catch their train.
WCWCWC
'Olivia said that daddies pee inside mommies to make babies' Hope said, totally out of the blue as Neal prepared to tuck her into bed.
Neal let his mouth drop, not quite sure how to respond and sat by her on the bed trying to maintain eye contact.
'Honey, daddies do not pee inside mommies to make babies' he responded calmly, hoping that was enough of an answer
'Well, how do you make babies then?' she looked up at Neal, eyes bright and blue
Neal wondered how he got roped into putting Hope to bed and took a deep breath, reminding himself of the importance of keeping the information factual and brief. This was the perfect opportunity to use his refined ability at deflection although he didn't want to be dishonest in any way with his daughter.
'Well, you do need a mommy and a daddy to make a baby' he continued looking at her and gauging her reaction
'Oh, okay' she said as she turned and grabbed her stuffed elephant and placed it on her pillow.
Neal did a double take; was that really all there was to the question? He sighed in relief.
'So how do they make it, then?' she continued
Dammit, he'd almost gotten away with that one, he thought.
Neal cleared his throat. He reminded himself that they had always been honest with Hope and careful about using accurate vocabulary to describe body parts and bodily functions. This wasn't the time to go all modest and shy on her; after all, sex was one of the most natural things on earth… and so were babies.
'Well, daddies have what's called sperm and mommies have eggs that are called ovaries and when they get together, it makes a baby' said Neal, trying to sound casual and wondering why this was so difficult even for him, Mr. Silvertongue.
'Okay' said Hope, once again as she turned and snuggled up to the stuffed toy. 'Good night, Daddy'
'Goodnight, sweet pea' said Neal as he playfully tugged her nose
He made his way back downstairs to the family room where Sara was sprawled out on the couch catching up on e-mails and sipping a cup of tea.
'Dodged a bullet on that one' he muttered as he took a spot next to her on the couch
'What?' she asked looking at Neal's face and noticing he was slightly flushed
'Hope just asked me how babies are made' said Neal
'You're kidding! Wow, glad I offered to clean up after dinner' Sara responded, grinning
Neal gave her a sarcastic smirk as he continued: 'Well, I got away with giving her a minimum of information and she seems satisfied for now but you know Hope, she'll be back with a follow-up question before you know it'
Sara was half listening, intent on getting through the numerous e-mails she hadn't had time to get to during her day at the office. There were meetings to set up, instructions to pass on to her underlings and numerous responses to provide to her superiors.
'There's a bookstore up the street from the office' added Neal 'Maybe I could stop in and see if I can find an appropriate book for her'
'Good idea' said Sara, distracted as she continued to read
'Good, 'cause the next round is all yours' said Neal, jostling her and making her giggle
'So, no period yet?' he added, as an afterthought, laying his head on her shoulder
'Neal, please! You'll be the first to know, I promise' said Sara, pushing him away playfully and returning to her laptop.
'No, this can't be happening!' she said suddenly as she read from the screen
'What?' asked Neal, sitting up
'My staff appreciation luncheon on Thursday…'
'Yeah' he said, urging her to continue
'They've moved us to the Fountain room from the Ballroom' she said, madly typing on her keyboard
Neal looked at her, puzzled.
'There was a kitchen fire at the Westin and this stupid art exhibit is being moved to the Ballroom at the Kent'
'Oh yeah?' said Neal 'That exclusive Renoir exhibit – with the private owners?'
He and Peter had been discussing that very event earlier in the day. Private owners across Europe and North America were holding a very elite conference to discuss the artist, his life and times and share pieces of art from their private collections. He had actually consulted on the security with the Westin to make sure they had taken all necessary precautions to prevent a theft.
Elite art exhibit or not, Sara was fuming; she'd been entrusted with organizing Sterling Bosch's staff appreciation luncheon and had been working non-stop on the project for the past month. The company had upwards of 120 employees and it wasn't easy to find a suitable venue in New York. Sara had worked diligently seeing to every detail including the menu, staff appreciation gifts, speeches, entertainment and of course the location, which was the most important element of all.
She scrolled down to the attachment, the contract with the hotel, noting a clause that clearly stated that the Kent reserved the right to move them to another comparable room at their sole discretion. How had she let that clause slip by her, she wondered.
'Damn! I really wanted the ballroom' she exclaimed as she began madly writing a response to her contact at the Kent
Neal took one look at the crazy lady sitting next to him; he knew better than to cross Sara Ellis and he'd learned a long time ago to stay out of her way when she got like this.
'I think I hear Hope calling' he lied, standing and making his way out of the room
TBC