13
"Our first outing!" Victoria told the baby, who was bundled up tightly against the early December chill. "Isn't this exciting?"
Lydia didn't look terribly excited. Liddie, so pale and so skinny that Victoria was constantly worried that she was starving to death, was a solemn two-month-old. Big, serious eyes in a lean little face. It felt as though she could see right into her mother's soul with those eyes. Liddie was also a quiet baby. She slept well and rarely fussed, provided her meals were on time. There had been a ghastly few weeks of sobs that lasted for hours each night, but that stage had passed.
Hopefully. Victoria tugged Liddie's knit cap down to securely cover her ears and pulled the fur wrap a bit more snug. Inside her layers Lydia wriggled indignantly. How she hated to be swaddled up. She should have been a summer baby.
Through the carriage window the cannery loomed. The carriage rocked a little as Mr. Reed got down from the driver's seat. A blast of wintry air hit them when the door opened, making both of them gasp. Rather than attempt to alight from the carriage carrying the baby, Victoria handed Liddie to Mr. Reed as she stepped out.
"Thank you," she said, taking the baby back. Mr. Reed touched his cap. "We shan't be long. Only long enough for a little visit."
Liddie shoved her fist into her mouth, staring significantly at her mother. Victoria sighed.
"You may eat afterward, you can wait," she told the baby kindly, comfortingly. Still, Victoria immediately felt guilty. Liddie was so skinny, could she really wait? But there was not much Victoria could do at the moment. Besides, it was nice to spend a bit of time properly dressed and not feeding the baby. Victoria hadn't been in such a position since the moment Liddie was born.
Through the door into the shop and up the narrow staircase to the offices they went. No one was behind the counter, so there was no one to ask for directions or to check in with. Victoria had only visited Victor at work a scant handful of times over the past three years. She didn't like to be a bother, and Victor was only at the office two days a week. She wasn't even entirely sure what he did all day. Truth be told, she wasn't sure whether Victor knew what Victor did all day.
This visit, though, had been William's idea. He was keen to show off the newest Van Dort. At the top of the stairs she heard a clock chime the hour. Right on time. She knocked softly on the door. When no one answered, she pushed the door open hesitantly and looked into the office's main floor.
Three men looked over when the door opened. She knew them by sight, but not their names. All were of middle-age, one had a beard. They occupied three of the four desks arranged in the middle of the room. The one with the glasses and mustache nodded to her before going back to his ledger. The other two kept looking, mostly at the baby, who had started to gurgle.
"Ah, there they are!" said William Van Dort from the desk nearest the door, where he'd been leaning over paperwork with a burly-looking man about Victoria's age. "Look here, George, it's Victor's wife. And you've brought the young one!"
"Yes, as you suggested," Victoria replied with a shy smile and nod at George, who grinned as he stood. She'd never met him before, nor had she ever heard Victor mention him. George was handsome, in a brawny kind of way, and was only about an inch taller than she was. He had his hands in his pockets, she couldn't help noticing. It seemed informal for an office.
"I'd heard Victor got married," said George, still grinning, and giving her a look that bordered on cheeky. "Congratulations."
Before Victoria could reply, William took advantage of her distraction to pluck the baby out of her arms. She gasped, aghast and not knowing what to do. Not even her mother or mother-in-law had snatched the baby from her, not ever. She was left clutching the fur wrap and fighting down the instinct to tear her father-in-laws arms off.
"Well, well, well, aren't you just the spit of your father? Aren't you just?" William said, tucking Liddie into the crook of his arm and putting his face close to hers. "More every day. And so tall. What a beanpole! Look here, Auerbach, what a beanpole, eh?"
"Uh," said the bearded man, sitting back a little from the baby suddenly thrust toward him. "Er, yes, sir, quite."
Satisified, William tapped Lydia's nose with his fingertip. "A real pip! You ever seen a baby that's such a pip?" This was apparently directed at the other two men, who glanced at each other.
"No, sir, never," said the one with the glasses.
"Quite a pip indeed, sir," said the clean-shaven one.
Victoria would have smiled if she hadn't been so affronted. It was rather lovely, how much William liked the baby. Not all men did. The older men in the office appeared a bit taken aback. George, she saw, was biting his lip to keep from laughing.
To her fresh horror, William hoisted Liddie into the air and then plopped her against his shoulder in one smooth movement.
"Her head, Mr. Van Dort, her head-" Victoria implored, but her father-in-law waved her off.
"She's a big strong girl, look, she's fine!" he said. And, indeed, Liddie was resting her chin comfortably against William's shoulder, looking this way and that. Victoria relaxed a little, though she felt warm with embarrassment. She'd not realized one could hold a baby that way. "Follow me, just this way, Victor's in my office. Make way there, heir to Van Dort's Fish coming through!"
And off he went toward the back of the room. There were three office doors with frosted glass, the one marked as William's in the middle. Victoria followed along at a trot, eyes never leaving Liddie, just in case. But Lydia appeared perfectly content. Not a peep, her big serious eyes exploratory, gumming idly at William's coat as she looked around.
"She's looking around like she owns the place already," George remarked from behind her, finally letting a chuckle loose.
Victoria did smile a little at that one. It was true.