Chapter 48

Sarah and Helen could hear the babies screaming as they came along the path in the garden. Everyone else could hear them too. The few people they passed all gaped at Helen’s room. Two small babies could make an awful lot of noise, but Scott’s voice was added to the ruckus, loud and profane.

“Uh, oh.” Helen broke into a run.

Sarah jogged behind her. She had never heard Scott swear.

They opened the door and saw the mess. Two naked babies lying on the bed, screaming and red, eight arms and legs kicking, with lots of poo spread on them and the bedspread. Scott had his share on him too.

“Where the hell have you been? It’s been over two hours,” Scott shouted.

“We were—”

“It came shooting out. Tried to change a simple diaper and now look. Hers came loose, too, and she somehow worked it off. The crap’s everywhere. And they won’t shut up.” He was still shouting.

Sarah went to close the door. A young couple with a baby strapped to their chest stood on the grass and gawked outright. George the maintenance man pushed a cart along the sidewalk. He caught Sarah’s eye and shook his head sadly.

“What a mess,” said Helen. “You always try to do too much at once. You have to have everything set up ahead and work with one baby at a time. Otherwise stuff like this will happen.”

“Don’t tell me what to do. You weren’t here. And you’re not going to be here either,” Scott yelled. “You’re going back to work.”

Sarah saw the window was open. She closed that too.

“You know what?” Sarah said. “Why don’t I take care of this. I have to practice sometime anyway. Why don’t you go to my room to clean up, and then you two can have some time for yourselves. Consider me on duty. We can meet for dinner.”

Scott was out the door before she finished. Helen didn’t want to go, but Sarah pushed her gently out too. She turned to the screaming babies and started to sing, every lullaby and children’s song she could remember. They finally started to quiet, after she’d been through her entire repertoire and was starting over. She scooped them up in one big towel and took them to the sink. The sink was large and they were small. They both fit in together. They liked the water and were quiet and placid during the whole bath. Sarah hadn’t seen them smile yet, but during the bath she thought she saw Emily’s mouth crinkle. Not gas, like people always said about babies, but a real smile.

She got them dressed and fed them a bottle and put them in their crib, both in one crib lying foot to foot with their heads at opposite ends. God, they were tiny. How could Helen stand it, going back to work when they were so small?

Sarah exchanged the dirty bedspread for a new one. Glenda said not to worry, it happened all the time.

The twins fell asleep again in their stroller on the way to dinner. Helen and Scott were already seated at a table near the kitchen. Sarah parked the stroller near the half wall and nodded at the chef who nodded back. Emanuel, the waiter, handed her a menu as she slid into her seat.

“It will be a miracle if they sleep through dinner,” Scott said. “We haven’t had a quiet dinner with both of us sitting down through the entire meal since before they were born.” He was in a much better mood, though he and Helen put Sarah in between them at the table.

“I’ll take a picture to remember it by,” Sarah said.

“Better wait half an hour to see if it’s true,” said Scott.

“Oh, just take the picture,” said Helen. Sarah took a picture of the twins and then one with the adults crouched by the stroller. Helen’s smile looked strained.

“Oh, wait.” Helen fished in her diaper bag. “I brought something to celebrate with. It’ll cheer us up.” She brought out a bottle of champagne and set it on the table. “I hope they can uncork it for us.”

Before Sarah could explain about the alcohol, the proprietor himself came to take their order. Helen asked him about the corkage fee, and he gave a little cough.

“I’m afraid this is an alcohol-free resort. In any case, do you think it’s safe to drink while you’re breastfeeding?” he said.

Helen’s small chin dropped as she opened her mouth and closed it again. “Well, I’m not breastfeeding,” she said.

“Jeepers, miss, I’m sorry. I just assumed,” he said.

“I think we need more time to decide,” Sarah said, and he went away.

“Nosy little man,” Helen said. “What business is it of his? I can’t believe I answered.” She put the bottle back in the bag. “Oh, here are my pills. I’ve missed so many doses, I’d better take one now while I’m thinking of it.”

“Does that mean we can’t have the champagne? Darn. It looks so tempting,” Scott said.

“We can have it tonight,” Helen said. “After dinner we can have it in our room.”

“Shh,” said Sarah. “He’s coming back.”

The proprietor took their order. The babies woke as the dinners arrived, wailing and flailing. A man chuckled behind them, and Sarah swiveled to see the chef watching from the half wall. He put his hand to his forehead and gave a salute.

The babies seemed to have only one volume. Loud. Scott groaned. Helen looked like she was about to cry herself.

“You two go ahead and eat. I’ll take them for a spin and join you in a little bit.” Sarah wanted them to eat in peace. They needed this.

“Sarah, that’s too much. You already bailed us out once today,” Helen said.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m here. This is your last bit of time before you go back to work. I have quiet time every day of my life. Please let me do this for you.” She was already maneuvering the stroller around the table.

The stroller was long and unwieldy, and a wheel caught on Scott’s chair.

“Here, allow me.” The proprietor was back, lifting the front end of the stroller free and then guiding it through the tables.

He held the door as Sarah pushed the stroller through. The angle was all wrong, and he had to help her again. How did Helen manage this thing?

Sarah thanked him and walked out into the cold night with the babies. She tucked a blanket around each one and zipped her own sweater. The babies were quiet and still now that they were in motion. The night was cold but windless, so she thought they would be all right outside. Stars filled the sky, more stars than she’d ever seen. It was dark and the path wasn’t well lighted. She decided to sit on a bench and wait.

She rocked the stroller back and forth, back and forth. Emily made a little noise and smiled again. Sarah was certain. Helen hadn’t said anything about the babies smiling. She’d told Sarah about each other milestone. Was Sarah the only one who had seen it? Should she tell Helen? She didn’t think so.

Sarah leaned back to see the stars shining bright in the black sky. The city had so many lights. The stars never looked like this. She immediately saw a shooting star.

“Did you see that?”

She jumped. She thought she was alone. Now she saw someone sitting on a bench nearby. The chef, Marco. He still wore his white chef hat. He pointed to the sky.

“I saw it,” she said. “It’s incredible.”

“My uncle was an amateur astronomer. Knew everything there was about the sky. If he ever lived in a place as dark as this, he’d be in heaven.” Marco pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to Sarah.

She shook her head and he lit one. The tip glowed in the dark night as he drew in the smoke. She thought of asking him not to smoke around the babies, but that seemed overly rude. She turned the stroller away from him, trying to be subtle.

“These kids yours or theirs?” he asked.

“Oh, they’re not mine. I’m helping my friends.”

“Crying babies, screaming kids, the place is full of them. I don’t even notice,” he said.

Sarah nodded.

“I got two kids myself,” he said.

“Oh, that’s wonderful. How old are they?”

“Five and seven, a boy and a girl.”

“What great ages,” Sarah said.

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t know.” His voice turned bitter. “My wife took them. Packed ’em up and moved back to France where she was from. She got a fancy lawyer who said there was nothing I could do about it. It could be Mars, it’s so far away.”

“France?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah. We met when I was traveling in Europe after high school. Took a cooking class in France and she was there. She seemed so exotic with her accent and her rose perfume. That smell used to drive me crazy. Now I can’t stand it. It drives me crazy in another way.”

Sarah knew someone who used rosewater perfume, but she couldn’t remember who it was. They’d better steer clear of this guy.

He threw his cigarette down and ground it under his shoe. “She never liked it here. And then she said she didn’t like me either. Bitch.”

“Oh,” said Sarah.

“They left when the littlest one was in diapers. Now I see them once a year, tops.”

“Oh,” said Sarah. “That’s too bad.”

“Your friends had some fight today,” he said.

“Oh, you know…” Sarah tried to sound offhand.

“Believe me, I know. I know what’s coming,” he said. “I know how women are.”

Sarah started to feel uncomfortable. “Well,” she said, “I should be getting back.”

“Yeah. Me too. Break’s over.” He stood. “You tell them to watch it. Those kids deserve better.”

As he strolled past, Sarah drew the babies close to her, feeling more and more uneasy as she did.