Part Six
Sydney has just put Grace down for a nap when the phone rings. She winces, gazing at the baby to see if she's going to wake up. Mercifully, she does not, and Emily snatches up the phone.
"Hello?" she chirps. "Grampy!" she says delightedly. "It's me, Emily!"
Showtime, Sydney thinks. Time to--
"I'm good, Grampy," Emily interrupts her thoughts. "Guess what? Mommy's going to have a baby!"
Sydney claps a hand over her mouth in horror. Shit. Shit shit shit shit--
"Nope, another one. It's going to be a boy. His name is Sam. Oh, okay." She holds out the phone to her mother. "He wants to talk to you."
"Surprise, surprise," Sydney mutters, taking the phone. "Emily, sweetheart, why don't you go play in your room, and I'll come get you when it's time for lunch, okay?"
"Okay!" Emily says, scrambling off.
"Hi, Dad," Sydney says weakly into the phone.
"Sydney, please tell me your daughter was joking."
"No, Dad," Sydney says, leaning against the fridge. "Well, except we don't know if it's going to be a boy yet. We told her we were thinking of naming it Sam if it was, and she's--"
"Sydney, I don't think I have to remind you that your youngest daughter is only five months old."
Sydney twirls a few strands of hair around her index finger, feeling very much like a teenager who has just been caught sneaking into the house late. But why should I? I'm having a baby. That's supposed to be a wonderful thing. And it's not like you were ever around to catch me sneaking in late, anyway. Out loud, she says, "Of course you don't."
"I'm assuming this wasn't planned."
Sydney sighs. "No, Dad, it wasn't."
"Then how--" he pauses. "I know it's ridiculous to ask how this happened, but how did this happen?"
Well, Dad, when two people really love each other… "Michael took me to Jamaica for Valentine's Day."
"You know that's not what I meant, Sydney."
"Well, I'm not sure what you want me to say," Sydney says. "Yes, I was on something, but that's not always effective." Especially if you don't use it properly. "And yes, I know that it's very soon after Gracie was born, and I'm more than a little nervous--" Terrified is more like it. "But it's coming, and there's nothing we can do about it. Michael and I are very excited."
"Of course Michael's excited," Jack counters. "You're the one who's going to be home with a houseful of children all day while he's off making millions. He only gets the fun parts of being a parent, Sydney."
Which is more than I can say for you, Sydney thought, eyes flooding with tears. "Not that you would know this," she says, eyes flooding with tears. "But working does not exclude you from everything but the fun parts."
"Then why don't you do it?"
Sydney bites her lower lip. "Working is something you do to make money. We don't need my income, so I don't work. I know this might be hard for you to understand, but I actually like spending time with my kids."
Sydney takes his silence as her cue to keep going. "Michael happens to be a wonderful father, and a wonderful husband, and we're very happy, and I wish you could just be happy for us."
Another long silence. "I'm sorry, Sydney. I won't pretend to know anything about the kind of life you live. If you really are happy, then yes, I am happy for you. Congratulations on the baby."
Sydney takes a deep breath. "Thank you," she says. "You're still coming out in May for Emily's birthday, aren't you?"
"Yes, sweetheart. I was actually calling to let you know that I bought my ticket."
"You bought it?" Sydney repeated. "Dad, Michael was going to take care of the tickets."
"I don't need your husband to buy me a plane ticket, Sydney."
Sydney stares up at the ceiling, willing herself not to scream. She counts to ten before continuing. "Of course you don't, Dad. But we thought that you and Marguerite could fly out together. It would be easier to coordinate picking you up from the airport that way."
"I was planning on renting a car, anyway."
So damned difficult. "Well, then, it sounds like everything's settled," she says brusquely, wanting only to end the conversation. "Listen, I have to go, I'm sure Emily's getting hungry, but I'll call back when it gets closer to her birthday and get your flight arrangements so we know what day and time to expect you."
"All right." His voice is quiet, regretful, but she knows that he is not about to apologize for a damned thing. "I'll talk to you later, Sydney. Tell Michael, Jack, and Grace hello, and tell Emily it was nice talking to her."
You talked to her for a total of about thirty seconds, and you didn't even ask about Michael, Jack, and Grace, Sydney seethes. Instead, she just says, "I will, Dad. Bye."
"Goodbye, Sydney."
Sydney waits until she hears him hang up, and then she slams the phone down. She slams it a couple of times, just because it feels so good.
"What are you doing, Mommy?"
Sydney isn't sure whether to laugh or cry as she looks at her daughter. She does neither. "Nothing, sweetheart. Does tuna sound good for lunch?"
Emily's eyes grow wide with anticipation. "With pickles, Mommy? And toasted bread?"
"Whatever you want, darling."
She takes her daughter's hand and guides her to a kitchen chair, then goes about the business of preparing lunch, pushing the conversation with her father to the back of her mind.
