7 Weeks Later
August 29, 1988
Dotty heard the baby starting to make little crying noises from her portable crib located in Amanda's family room. She quickly put down her magazine and scooped up her precious granddaughter.
"Well, hello, my sweet Jenny! I have been waiting all afternoon for you to wake up", Dotty said as she cradled Jenny in her arms and kissed her on the cheek. "Mommy had to go to the doctor this afternoon so it's just you and me! Grandma is so excited to see you.
Jenny looked up at her grandmother with a bewildered expression on her face. Her big bluish-grey eyes studied Dotty's face. Suddenly, a moment of recognition occurred, and a happy, toothless smile appeared on her face.
"There she is! There is my girl! Did you have a good rest", Dotty said to Jenny as she sat down with her on the couch. "Grandma has missed you. You are getting so big."
Jenny looked up at Dotty and began to make gurgling coos back at her.
"You look so much like your mamma, except for those blue eyes. Yes, you do! After we have a bottle, Grandma is going to change you into one of the new outfits she brought for you. You are going to look so beautiful in it."
Jenny's mouth split into another huge grin.
"Are you hungry now? It might take a little while to heat up your lunch and your mother said that you aren't really that crazy about the bottle. I think I should get started on heating it up, don't you?"
Dotty stood from the couch cradling her precious cargo and took the bottle of expressed milk from the fridge. She placed it in the saucepan of water on low and left it to heat up.
"You know what, little miss? I think you need your diaper changed. Why don't we go do that while your lunch is heating up?
Shortly after a diaper and wardrobe change, Jenny began to become fussy and made little crying noises.
"Ok, ok! Lunch should be ready!"
Dotty placed Jenny in the crib while she retrieved the bottle from the pan of now hot water. Testing it on her wrist, Dotty determined that it was a good temperature to offer to the ever increasingly fussy baby. She picked up Jenny and placed a burp cloth over her new dress and began to offer her the bottle. Jenny was not a fan of the feel of the bottle's nipple. Amanda warned Dotty that she might not be easy to feed at first but to keep trying. She would eventually take the bottle. After many attempts to get Jenny to take the bottle, she finally acquiesced and accepted the artificial nipple.
"There we go, sweetheart. You are going to feel much better with a full tummy."
Soft gulping sounds could be heard from the little bundle on Dotty's lap.
"See, I knew you were hungry! Your brother Philip used to drink a bottle just like you are now, gulped it on down. Jamie was a little bit more of a slow eater. He was too busy looking around the room at everything to pay attention to eating."
Dotty pulled out the bottle and sat Jenny up to see if she would burp. Jenny loudly protested at the interruption of her lunch.
"Oh, don't fuss. Just give me a good burp and then you can have some more."
Dotty began gently patting Jenny's back, and in between her cries, Jenny produced a burp so big that it startled her, and she stopped crying.
"Oh my! Well, that's got to feel better! OK, let's finish."
Dotty offered the bottle back to Jenny which she hungrily accepted this time. As the bottle drained, Jenny's eyelids became heavier and heavier until they closed, and Dotty was able to remove the bottle from Jenny's mouth with a soft 'pop'. Dotty, draped the burp cloth over her shoulder, followed by Jenny's little sleeping body.
"Let's try and get one more burp out of you before you go back in the crib. I don't want you to get an upset tummy."
Dotty gently rubbed her back, but to no avail. Jenny fell into a deep sleep on her grandmother's shoulder.
"Oh well, not this time, I guess."
Dotty gently wiped the milk drops off Jenny's little pink mouth and kissed her cheek. The two ladies sat there snuggled together for a good while before Dotty felt it was safe to move her to the crib without waking her. Carefully, she placed Jenny in the crib and covered her lower half with the pink baby blanket that Francine Desmond had given to her when she was born. It was a beautiful pointelle knit blanket made with the softest yarn Dotty had ever felt. On the edges of the blanket were embroidered roses and bunny rabbits. It truly was stunning. Dotty wondered how much a blanket like this must have cost. It was not your run of the mill baby blanket.
Dotty sat back on the couch and began to read her magazine, the latest copy of "Brides". Dotty and Harry were recently engaged, and although they were not going to have a big wedding like the ones in the magazine, it was fun to look at all the new wedding ideas that were popular these days. She never thought she would get married again, but once she met Harry, all of that changed. The two were like peas and carrots. They had wonderful conversations, loved to go on adventures, and had a very happy and fulfilling romantic life. Dotty was happier than she had been in a very long time. They hadn't set a date for the wedding yet, but Dotty was hoping it would be soon.
She had barely begun reading when Philip and Jamie burst through the kitchen door.
"Hey, Grandma", Philip said. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
"Where's mom?" Jamie asked as he gave Dotty a kiss on the cheek. The boys didn't see her nearly as often as they used to when she lived here with them. They missed her and she them.
"She had a doctor's appointment and she asked me to watch your sister."
"Where is JD", Philip asked.
"Who is JD", Dotty replied.
"Jenny is JD, Grandma. That's what we call her" Jamie clarified.
"Why JD?"
"You know….Jennifer Dorothea…JD", Philip explained. "We like it better than Jenny."
"Oh, ok", Dotty said as she shrugged. "She's sleeping in the crib in the other room. I just put her down a few minutes ago. How was school? Do you want me to make you a snack?"
"School was ok, and yeah, I'd LOVE a snack" Jamie said.
"Me, too!" Philip chimed in. "I need to eat something before I have to go back to school for soccer practice."
"You have to go BACK to school? Why didn't they just practice after classes were over?"
"Something to do with the coach's schedule this week. Not sure."
"Ok, well why don't you two head upstairs and I will make you a couple of sandwiches. Sound good?"
"Sounds great, Grandma! Thanks!"
The two boys ran up the stairs, their long legs taking the stairs two at a time. Dotty got a lump in her throat realizing how grown Philip and Jamie now were. It seemed as if it were only yesterday that they were the small babies in the crib. Dotty sighed and began making two turkey sandwiches for her growing grandsons.
As Dotty returned from the upstairs sandwich delivery, she met Amanda coming through the front door.
"Hello, Amanda! I didn't expect you home so soon."
"Hello, Mother" Amanda said as she kissed Dotty on the cheek. "Well, the appointment went quickly and I thought I should hurry back in case Jenny didn't want to be cooperative with you this afternoon. How has she been?"
Dotty smiled and clasped her hands together. "She's been an absolute angel! No problems at all."
"Oh, good", Amanda said with a sense of relief. "Are the boys home?"
"Yes, I just delivered room service to them in their rooms."
Amanda smiled and the two women quietly walked into the family room and peeked into the crib. Amanda smiled as she looked at her brown-haired baby sleeping peacefully. She ran her hand gently down Jenny's back.
"Mother? Is that a new dress on Jenny?" Amanda said as she studied the yellow seersucker dress with white Peter Pan collar, embroidered with ducks and blue flowers along the hem.
"A new dress?" Dotty said from the couch trying to avoid the question.
"Oh, Mother! You don't have to keep bringing her new clothes every time you visit! At the rate she's growing, she may only get to wear each outfit once."
"I know I don't have to bring her clothes, but I WANT to! The little dresses and outfits they have these days. They are so adorable. I just can't help myself!" Dotty beamed.
"Well, we appreciate it. Thank you."
Amanda sat next to her mother on the couch.
"My pleasure. How was your appointment?"
"It was good. Doctor said I am healing nicely. She said I can resume all normal activities but to just continue to take it easy until everything is fully healed."
"That's wonderful, darling. You must feel relieved."
"I do. Recovery from having a c-section has certainly been a lot harder than I thought it would be, but I am feeling good. How are you doing? Have you and Harry set a date yet?"
"No, not yet, but soon I hope."
"Have you thought about what kind of ceremony you would like to have?"
"You know, Amanda? The more and more I think about planning a wedding, the more I think that I want something very small with just my family and a few friends. Is that bad?"
Amanda's eyes grew wide.
"Is that bad? No, that's not bad at all! It's your wedding and you should be able to do whatever you want. What does Harry think?"
"He says whatever I want is fine with him, and I think he truly means it."
"Well, I think you should tell him about your ideas for a small wedding and then set a date."
"You know what Amanda; I think you're right."
Just then, they began to hear small fussing sounds from the crib.
"Sounds like someone is awake!" Amanda said as she crossed over to the crib. "Hello, sweetheart! Did you have a good visit with your grandmother?"
Amanda reached into the crib and picked up her daughter. She gave her many small kisses on the side of her head.
"Were you a good girl for Grandma?"
Jenny looked up at Amanda with sleepy eyes and continued to fuss slightly.
"She shouldn't be hungry just yet. She ate about an hour and a half ago. But she wouldn't give me a good burp. I wonder if she has an upset stomach."
"Nope, it's not an upset stomach. That's the 'I want my daddy' fussing."
Dotty looked at Amanda with a bewildered look on her face.
"What did you say?"
"That little noise she is making? That means that she is missing Lee and wants him to hold her. We figured that out a few days ago."
"Are you sure? Could be gas?"
"Oh, I'm definitely sure", Amanda said as she tried to soothe Jenny. Jenny grew increasingly fussy.
"Hello, ladies", Lee said as he came in through the side kitchen door. "How is everyone doing?"
Lee gave Dotty and Amanda a kiss on their respective cheeks, and kissed Jenny on the top of the head.
"We're doing ok, but your daughter is getting fussy."
"Missing her dad?" Lee beamed.
"Yup. Mother doesn't believe me that Jenny has developed a special cry for when she wants you to hold her.
Lee smiled at Dotty.
"Let me go change out of my work clothes and I will be right back, then I will take Jenny."
Lee ran upstairs as Dotty, Amanda, and Jenny sat on the couch. Jenny fussing began to turn into small cries.
"It's ok, Jenny. Daddy will be right back. He has to change out of his work clothes."
Amanda knew that changing out of work clothes really meant locking up his gun before he held the baby. Jenny began to make the cries louder. Amanda tried to console her by patting her back and rocking her back and forth, but Jenny only cried louder.
"Amanda, maybe you should try and burp her. She may have a little gas."
"I promise you, Mother. It's not gas. You will see in a minute when Lee comes down. It really is amazing."
Jenny's warning cries were now over, and she began to outright cry as Amanda held her.
"Ok, Ok Jenny. Daddy's here" Lee said as he rounded the landing into the family room. "Come see Daddy."
Lee lifted Jenny out of Amanda's arms and held her close.
"Watch this", Amanda whispered to Dotty.
"Sshh, sshh, sshh! It's ok, Daddy's got you" Lee murmured in low tones to his daughter.
As if by magic, Jenny stopped crying within 5 seconds of Lee holding her. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes and studied his face. Lee continued to talk to her as he hoisted her up on his shoulder and rubbed her back.
Dotty stared at them, mouth agape.
"See, I told you!" Amanda exclaimed.
"Well, I'll be! You know what you have there?"
"What?" Amanda asked.
"You've got a daddy's girl. You were the same way with your daddy."
"I was?"
"Oh, yes. You certainly were. You two were thick as thieves and it started when you were Jenny's age. I forgot all about that until just now."
Dotty grasped Amanda's hand and they both smiled a melancholy smile in remembrance of Amanda's father and Dotty's husband.
"I sure wish he could have met Jenny and knew Philip and Jamie more than he did."
"Me too, my darling. But just know he would have loved her to bits."
Amanda wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes and nodded.
Lee walked back over to the couch with his now quiet daughter and smiled.
"Guess I've got the magic touch" Lee proclaimed.
"Yup, you've got a daddy's girl there. I was just telling Amanda that she was the same way with her father. The two of them were so very close, just like I think you and Jenny will be."
Lee beamed at this idea.
"And" Dotty continued. "When Amanda got older, she used to call for her daddy in the middle of the night to change her, or tuck her back in. It was nice. I got to sleep more at night."
Lee's smile faded a bit.
"Oh, Mother! I love that idea! See what you have to look forward to, Lee?" Amanda teased.
Lee looked down at Jenny who was now smiling a wide, dimpled, toothless smile at her father. Lee smiled right back at her.
"That's right, Jenny. You are daddy's girl, aren't you?"
Lee leaned over and kissed Jenny gently on the cheek.
"Don't ever stop," he whispered to her.