Wednesday, July 9, 1980
Bridget, Michele, and Theresa were sprawled on the living room rug watching Sesame Street. I sat at the back in the ancient leather chair, feeding Grace her bottle. I leaned my head back and let out a contented sigh. I knew that one day I would want to return to my work as a nurse, but for right now, being with our children was more important to me.
A small hand touched my arm. I looked into Bridget's upturned face. "Can I help you feed Grace, Mommy?" she asked.
"Of course you can, precious." I hefted the baby onto my shoulder as Bridget clambered onto my lap. Carefully, I situated Grace on Bridget's lap and handed over the bottle. "You know how to hold the bottle for her," I said.
The girls had bonded wonderfully with their adopted sister, though they often complained that Grace was too small to play with. Theresa, too, was known to gripe that Grace got more attention than she did. In the midst of trying to make sure that she felt appreciated, it was hard to stifle the chuckles at the memories of Bridget's identical objections about Theresa at the same age.
The sound of Al's car in the driveway surprised me. He normally wasn't due home for a couple of hours. Michele and Theresa ran to the window. "It's Daddy!" they exclaimed.
Michele ran to pull the door open for her father. Al smiled at her and his eyes shone with excitement as he walked inside. His arms were laden with packages.
"Al? What is all this?"
Al grinned animatedly as he stacked the packages on the floor in front of the couch. He opened the top one and pulled out a bottle of champagne. "I got it, Beth!"
"Got it? What did you get?" I lifted Grace off Bridget's lap so my eldest could slide to the floor. Grace began to cry at all the movement. "Shhhh," I soothed as I tried to figure out what Al was talking about. I knew he had to have mentioned something about…the thought struck me just as Al spoke.
"Starbright, Beth. That new black project. They gave it to me, hon!" Al looked like a child at Christmas. "I got the spot!"
"Oh, my God! Al! That's incredible!"
Al's grin widened so much I thought his face must surely hurt. He plopped down onto the couch and chuckled as Bridget, Michele, and Theresa climbed across him. "What's in these, Daddy?" Bridget asked, pointing at the other packages.
"Hmm, let me see if I can remember," Al winked. "Well, I think there's one for each of you to open." He bent to pick up the packages and handed one to each of the girls. They tore into the small boxes.
"Daddy, what's this?" "Huh?" "What's this for?" Three confused faces looked at their father.
I walked over to see. One box contained a leash, another a dish, and the third contained cans of Cycle. He was up to something, and I was certain I knew what it was.
"Al? Did you buy a…?"
Interrupting me, Al said, "Oh, yes! I almost forgot! Be right back!" He grinned mischievously as he slipped back outside. The girls stared at the door in complete confusion. Al strode back in the house with his hands behind his back.
"The most important package of all. Here he is." He brought his hands forward. A Scottish terrier puppy with a smart red bow tied to its collar yipped and wiggled in his grasp.
The girls squealed in delight and ran forward to pet it.
"Al, what am I going to do with you?"
Al bent and put the puppy on the ground for the girls to play with. "I'll think of something," he said suggestively before he kissed me.
"I'm so proud of you, honey," I said. "A government project. I can't believe it!"
"It's going to be spectacular, honey. Space travel and communications, aerodynamics, engines…things are really going to be heading for the future!"
"So we'll be moving again, I guess. Where are the operations going to be centered, at Johnson or Canaveral?"
"Neither. It's all top secret stuff, and there's too much media attention focused there. They're transferring me to Pasadena," Al explained. "In fact, I've got to go out there next week for preliminary meetings."
"Oh, well, Pasadena won't be that big of a move, it's only, what, about six hours from here?"
"No, honey. Pasadena, California. We'll have some partnership with CalTech."
"When will we be moving then?" I started making a mental packing list, trying to gauge the necessary time frame.
He studied my expression and smiled as he recognized the particular cog-turnings I was engaged in. "In about three months or so. I'll do some house hunting while I'm out there next week."
I glanced at the Scottie puppy. "We've got to move, so you bought a dog." I shook my head and snorted. "That makes perfect sense."
"Aw, honey, I wanted to celebrate, and you know the twins have been asking for a puppy. Besides, don't you think he's cute?" He looked imploringly at me, a definite puppy-dog-ness to his brown-eyed gaze.
"We'll see how cute he is once he's housetrained," I said, but I had to admit, the girls were already smitten with the dog. "All right, but you're training him."
Al grinned and kissed me again.
"What position did you get with the project?"
"Administration. I'm gonna help run it, baby! Although, the first year or so is strictly planning and choosing staff," said Al. "Once all that is settled . . .ka-za-zoom! The sky's the limit!"
I giggled at his renewed excitement. "What a name! Starbright!"
The girls looked up from the puppy with interest. "That's his name. Star," Bridget said decidedly. They began singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to him. Star rolled over onto his back and waved his paws in the air.
Al grabbed the champagne bottle in one hand and took hold of mine with the other. Still holding Grace, I followed him into the kitchen, bouncing her as Al withdrew two champagne flutes from the cabinet. He popped the cork on the bottle without causing an explosion of foam, but not without startling Grace and eliciting renewed crying. He filled the glasses while I cooed and soothed her until she quieted down. Al passed me a glass and lifted his own. We clinked glasses in a celebratory gesture and sipped the bubbly drink. Al grinned and pulled me close for a long, passionate kiss before we rejoined our older daughters and the newest addition to our family.