Steeling a Dream:
Part 3: House of Steele (R)
Part 3: House of Steele (R)
Steeling a Dream:
Part 3: House of Steele
Part 3: House of Steele
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Steele Holting On
Chapter Ten: Third Base
Thursday, 29 September 1988 -- 28 weeks, 0 days
Having been down this road three times, Donald could have told him.
The unnatural peace lasted exactly six more days. That’s when the walls between the penthouse and the
new addition came down, and Laura entered into her third trimester. On the same day, the baby
discovered that Laura’s bladder was a great place to rest a weary head, and after at least twenty trips to
the bathroom--half of which accomplished exactly nothing--her temper hung by a gossamer thread.
But she’d stayed determinedly happy until she came home to find a layer of dust on every surface of the
apartment, Siobhán sprawled out in the living room with remnants of an afternoon snack of popcorn
scattered everywhere, and Remington unseen for half a day. Ostensibly, he was with a client, but she
just knew he’d caught the Lauren Bacall retrospective at the cinema that afternoon while she fielded
questions from an attorney about a sting operation she and Remington were setting up to catch an
employee suspected of leaking proprietary information in a software company.
As soon as the foyer doors opened, the head contractor had a dozen pressing questions that only her
missing husband could answer. Laura stalked to the phone and paged him. Twice. And then a third
time. When his Lordship deigned to return her call, her rant shocked Siobhán and scared the contractors
into packing up for the day.
The fact that Remington arrived an hour later cheerfully content that the Laura he knew and adored was
back and in fine form didn’t help matters. She verbally attacked him the moment he zipped through the
door.
Armed with ready wit and his most amiable smile, he walked on sure ground now. He packed Laura off
to the bathtub to relax with a steaming cup of tea while assuring her that he would deal with the
contractors personally.
“Stop charming me,” she muttered as she stepped into the Jacuzzi.
He didn’t have three decades of experience in handling the opposite sex for nothing, more than six years
of them specifically with Laura. “Of course not, love. I’m simply making up for my earlier negligence.”
Laura narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously as she sank down into the bubbles.
When he returned from their bedroom, he caught Siobhán’s worry. “I suppose you haven’t seen Laura
in a temper.” She shook her head, and he grinned in return. “You were correct on Friday, a stór. Our
grace period is over. She has a good one. Mostly, it’s directed at me, and I expect we’ll see much more
of it in the coming days. Laura doesn’t take well to being told she can’t do something--and I rather think
this baby is about to insist on having his or her way with things.”
“So why was she so upset when she came home?” Siobhán’s soft voice was full of hesitance and a
touch of fear.
Abruptly reminded that Siobhán had little experience with these kinds of emotions, Remington settled her
too with a quick hug and a kiss to the top of her head. Then he tilted her chin up and spoke in Gaelic.
The language they shared had become another way they connected as family, speaking it nearly
exclusively when Laura wasn’t around. “It’s no more than a fit of pique, Siobhán. She gets upset, yells
at me; we talk, and then it’s over. Sometimes I even shout back a time or two. But, a stór, neither of us
can stand to be at odds with each other for long.”
Sitting on the edge of the sofa so he wouldn’t have to look down at her, he clasped his hands in his lap
and switched back to English. “Today? I wasn’t at the office this afternoon. Wasn’t planning to be and
she forgot. The baby is making her trip off to the bathroom every five minutes, and she’s irritated about
it--but, of course she won’t blame our lovely wee one--so instead she gets mad at me. It’s easier.”
Siobhán crossed her arms. “She’s upset at the baby?”
“Not really. It’s more that the pregnancy is making her irritable. Laura likes to be in control, and the
baby isn’t letting her call all the shots. I suspect I’ll have a lot of placating to do in the coming weeks as
she learns to adjust.” He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned again. “It’s not all that unlike when
we first met, and she had to make room for me. She didn’t like that either, but she wasn’t willing to let
me go. So we sparred a great deal in the process.”
He hadn’t come up with these brilliant insights all on his own, but he wasn’t about to tell Siobhán that
he'd made a discrete phone call to Murphy from the car on the way home from the theatre. After his
brother-in-law had stopped laughing at him, he’d proceeded to give him a laundry list of things to look
out for in the upcoming days. “Her job is to be pregnant, Steele. She’s cranky, irritable and will blame
absolutely every bit of it on you. Up until now, it was funny that you two got pregnant so quickly. Now
she’s going to hold it, and anything else she can dream up, against you. Your job is to make her feel
better. Time to suck it up, Steele, and take whatever she dishes out.”
Isn’t that what I’ve been doing all along? he wondered. But keeping the advice firmly in mind, he
ordered one of her favorites--Chinese from the restaurant down the street. Then he and Siobhán made a
quick dash through the penthouse to clean up the worst of the dust while they waited. When the food
arrived, he sent Siobhán down the elevator with money to pay the delivery boy.
In the meantime, Remington peeked into the bathroom. Laura grimaced as she attempted to leave the
whirlpool. “Getting in is easier than getting out,” she said.
He schooled his expression so she wouldn’t think he was laughing at her, but she didn’t miss amusement
in his blue eyes and scowled in his direction as she took his proffered hand and gingerly stepped from the
tub.
“Feel better?”
Pursing her lips, she looked up at the ceiling and then at him while he draped a towel around her. “I do.
I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I forgot you were going to the movies.”
“I did try yesterday to convince you to go with me,” he reminded her.
“I know; I know. It completely slipped my mind. I can’t keep anything in my head these days. It’s
driving me crazy.”
“You’re pregnant, Laura. Even your doctor said these things would happen, love.”
“I know,” she said again while retrieving a loose-fitting shirt and similar pants from the closet. When she
was dressed, she put a hand on her hip and another on her forehead. “Promise me something, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t make me deal with the contractors. You spoiled me by handling the build-out on the new office.
I don’t ever want to deal with contractors again.”
Remington reached over to let the water out of the Jacuzzi. “Why not? You scared them into fits
today. I’m sure they’ll do anything you want now, if only because they want to avoid another
confrontation with a pregnant woman dressing them down as if they were schoolboys in short pants.”
Laura covered her eyes and snorted. “I didn’t really do that, did I?”
“Juan offered a five-hundred-dollar credit if he can deal only with me in the future. What should I tell
him?”
She burst out laughing, holding on to her belly. “Hold me in reserve if it doesn’t look as if they’ll finish
by Thanksgiving.”
“I’ll do that. It will make a rather effective threat.”
By the time they made it back to the kitchen, Siobhán had Chinese food spread across the island and was
nibbling on an eggroll. It took only one look for Laura to realize she’d frightened the girl with her
temper. She didn’t want Siobhán to feel as if she had to walk on eggshells around her. The teen was
settling in beautifully, given the circumstances, but Laura could see that at her core Siobhán still feared
being sent away.
Laura took her hand. “Siobhán, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn’t have.”
“It’s … it’s okay. Da … explained it to me.”
“No, Siobhán, it’s not okay. I scared you. Sweetie, we’re a family. Which means it’s okay to not like
everything I do. And you can tell me. Remington tells me all the time when he’s had enough of me.
Just as I do him. I still love him. Just as I’ve come to love you.” Laura tugged Siobhán to her so that
she could put her arms around the tall teen.
Reminding Siobhan that the adoption papers had been finalized, she said, “It’s official, remember?
We’re a family. You can get mad at me or I at you, and we will still be okay.” Siobhán’s expression
lightened, and she took a deep breath before nodding in agreement.
From behind Laura, Remington remarked drolly, “Good Lord, Laura, are we beginning to act like mature
adults? I’m disappointed with you. You’re eliminating an excellent source of amusement for me.”
She turned. “How so?”
“How can I pick on you if you’re being sensible?”
She arched a brow at him. “Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Steele; it seems that you’ve picked on my
sensibilities any number of times. It’s the irresponsible portion of your personality coming out.”
“Ah, that. Hmm. You know, since Siobhán has come, we haven’t been nearly irresponsible enough.
What do you have going on at school tomorrow, a stór?”
Grey eyes flickered between devious blue ones and resigned brown eyes. “Ah, nothing much. I have a
paper due Tuesday but just classes tomorrow.”
“No tests?” he asked to make certain.
“No. We had a pop quiz today, so we won’t have one tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” He pressed a hand to Siobhán’s cheek. “Oh, my dear girl, I’m sorry to tell you that you
have a slight fever and won’t be at school tomorrow. Yes, yes, I see it’s about--what would you say,
Laura, love--one hundred?”
Shaking her head at his audacity, Laura agreed, “I think so, Mr. Steele. She certainly seems rather pale
to me.”
“My thoughts exactly. Eat up, girls. We’ll be in Catalina by midnight.” He nicked an eggroll from the
plate and strolled off to make a series of phone calls. Laura shrugged in response to Siobhán’s
questioning look and began loading her plate with food.
Siobhán’s eyes widened at the helicopter that would take them to the little island. Gracefully, she
climbed in and took her seat. Johnny had flown her several times in the one he owned. She loved the
sensation of dancing along on the air.
Laura sagged onto the seat next to her with a huff before Remington strapped her in, deftly making
adjustments to the harness across her lap. He checked Siobhán’s and raised his eyebrows at the secure
straps. “Flown before?”
She nodded happily. “Johnny wouldn’t let me fly on anything but his private airplane and helicopter.”
He touched her cheek and settled into his own seat for the fifteen-minute flight.
Siobhán felt enormously guilty for skipping school on Friday but admirably dealt with it by sleeping in.
She walked the beach mid-morning with her parents, picking up shells for keepsakes and tucking them
into pockets that eventually overflowed. At the end of the short walk, she turned around, squinting into
the sun to see them trailing along behind her and holding hands. They were obviously amused over
something. Da held up his hand, motioning her to come to them.
“We wondered if you were going to walk the whole bloody island,” he said as she approached.
Siobhán put her hands on her hips. She’d learned not to take Da’s quips seriously. “It's too rocky.
Having trouble keeping up?”
Mom let out a laugh. “Rei, I think she’s learning to not fall for your charm.”
He scratched his nose. “Then she’ll be one over you.”
Pretending to be affronted, Mom kicked water onto Da’s shins while Siobhán chuckled and took his
outstretched hand.
Remington arranged for them to have lunch on a chartered boat where they were lucky enough to see a
pair of enormous blue whales as they swam along in the Pacific. While Laura dozed in a deck chair
afterward, worn out from the morning walk, he leaned on the rail next to Siobhán. Her light brown curls
tangled in the breeze.
“A stór, perhaps I’ve pestered you one too many times on this subject, but I have to know. Are you
happy here?”
She smiled at his question; it wasn’t the first time he’d asked. “I am. You guys are pretty cool. Are you
okay with me?”
He grinned at the American slang peppering her speech now. “A stór, it’s not as if you’re a difficult kid.
You’re quite bright, lovely to look at and have excellent manners. In that way, you’re a great deal like
Laura. In addition, you do your homework, help me cook and clean up your own messes. As far as I’m
concerned, we’re good.”
“Okay, then how about we negotiate an allowance?” she ventured with a gleam in her eye.
Unfazed, Remington shot back, “How about you ask your mother.”
Siobhán tried another tactic. “Why do you always shift those questions to her? I thought you guys had a
partnership?”
His blue eyes twinkling, he answered, “One of the hallmarks of an excellent partnership is knowing the
strengths of each party. As I have no experience at all with the concept of an allowance, I will defer
to--or at least confer with--Laura before I make an executive decision of such magnitude.”
Siobhán chewed on a lock of hair. Remington reached over to tuck the strand behind her ear. At his
touch she turned abruptly, giving him a hard hug and holding on as if she were about to fall from the
ship’s deck. He nearly lost his balance but recovered to close his arms about her.
Used to Laura’s mercurial moods, he automatically shifted mental gears to deal with Siobhán. Her
shoulders began shaking as she cried in his embrace. Gaelic words began tumbling from her as she
described her guilt over loving her new life at Johnny’s expense, how much she liked living with him and
Laura, and how awful she felt about intruding on them when they were expecting a baby.
Startled by the outburst but not surprised by it, Remington held her until she began to calm.
“Shh, shh, a stór. Listen to me.” He tilted her chin up to kiss her on the forehead. “Johnny made his
own choices. You and I have paid the price for a number of those choices. I think perhaps, that finding
a little happiness is fair recompense for what we’ve endured.”
Siobhán’s gray eyes opened, framed by spiky wet lashes. He stroked her hair. “Johnny owes both of
us, and I think he knew it. Giving you to me was his way of making it up to the pair of us. And I, for
one, am extraordinarily grateful.” He leaned her head against his shoulder and patted her on the back.
“I’ll hear no more of this about the baby. Laura and I agreed we wanted a family. Laura herself said
that it didn’t matter whether we had an infant or a teen. So now, we’ll have both.”
Siobhán stared at him. “Why are you being so cool about it all?”
Why indeed? Perhaps now, he understood Laura’s calm acceptance of the changes. He twitched his
eyebrows. “Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by beautiful women all of the time? I’m adding to my
collection.”
“Da!”
“Siobhán. Call it kismet. My walking into Laura’s life was no different. It shouldn’t have happened. It
certainly shouldn’t have turned out like this. But for whatever the reason, I’m damned grateful. You, a
stór, are kismet. Want to know why I call you ‘a stór’?” She nodded. “Because a treasure is often
something unexpected. When you find a box, you might have an idea of what’s inside, but you never
really know until it’s opened. You are our unexpected treasure.”
Shuddering another sob, Siobhán leaned against him to let his words soak in while his arms cradled her.
Remington’s idle thought had little to do with his daughter’s outburst. Having finally understood what it
meant to be in love with Laura, it didn’t take him nearly as long to comprehend how much he already
loved Siobhán and his unborn child.
Over Siobhán’s head, he took in Laura as she napped on the lounger, curled up on her side with a hand
splayed over her rounded belly. Daniel, I wish you were here to see this. It’s worth it. Any price, any
at all.
Siobhán stayed curled in his arms until the boat began to dock; then together they roused Laura to
disembark as a family.
After dinner, they found the local cinema and suffered through Alien Nation, which Siobhán liked and
Remington panned. Laura insisted on being a disinterested third-party as she listened to the pair debate
the merits of the movie.
“Now, when George hung from the helicopter, the rotors would whip up a positive storm of sea water
which would burn him,” Remington pointed out.
“It’s a movie. A good one with relevance for today’s society,” Siobhán retorted.
“Yes, but a good film must be consistent with the details.”
Laura only sighed as the pair bantered for the rest of dinner.
Much later, when the Steeles made love that night, there was a great deal of amusement involved as they
struggled through the mechanics of making all the pieces fit properly. Never let it be said that either
Laura or Remington backed away from a challenge.
On Saturday morning, the family played in the surf. It didn’t take long before Laura sat down at the
water’s edge to rest. Remington dropped down beside her while Siobhán continued to dance in and out
of the waves.
“Are you all right, love?” he asked worriedly.
“I am. The baby is moving around a great deal. It’s distracting.” She reached for his hand and placed it
on her belly. “I think that’s a foot, but I’m not sure.” The slight bulge visibly moved under her swimsuit.
“Alien, Sigourney Weaver, Twentieth Century Fox, 1979,” he marveled before leaning over and giving
the little bump a kiss while she rolled her eyes at the comparison.
She couldn’t resist running her hands through Remington’s black locks as he nuzzled her belly. He
looked up and shifted to capture her mouth in a scorching kiss. When he lifted his lips from hers, his
eyes had deepened to nearly indigo.
“Is that all you guys do?” Siobhán asked from the water.
Remington started to retort, but Laura clapped a hand over his mouth. “No. Don’t say it. She’s only
fifteen, remember?”
He kissed her palm as he pulled her hand away. “Why, Laura, are you implying that I might say
something inappropriate?”
“You usually do.”
“Such a lack of faith.”
“Such familiarity with the way you think.”
He grinned. “Ah, Laura, only you.” With that puzzling comment, he stood and pulled her to her feet.
Turning, he called, “Come on, Siobhán. Laura’s hungry again.”
Drawing her brows together, she asked, “How did you know?”
Dropping an arm around her, he quipped, “Such familiarity with you, love.”
That afternoon while Laura napped, Remington set Siobhán up for a two-hour lesson in the hotel pool
with what turned out to be a cute blonde scuba instructor in his early twenties.
Remington discovered that the uncomfortable chair under the poolside umbrella was a great place to
enjoy a drink.
When Siobhán returned to school, her friends greeted her with expressions of sympathy for her “illness,”
which turned to ones of envy as she told them where she’d spent part of the weekend.
“Ya know, Shiv, you’ve got the coolest parents,” Jennifer told her. “My mom would never do
something like that.”
Caitlin nodded. “Yeah, and your dad is sooooo hot. In an older man kind of way. And his cookies, oh
my God, they’re like, totally amazing.”
Giggling, Siobhán agreed with a toss of her curls. “For sure, they’re totally awesome.” She wasn’t
referring to the cookies.
3 November 2009
Chapter Eleven: Cribs
Thursday, 29 September 1988 -- 28 weeks, 0 days
Having been down this road three times, Donald could have told him.
The unnatural peace lasted exactly six more days. That’s when the walls between the penthouse and the
new addition came down, and Laura entered into her third trimester. On the same day, the baby
discovered that Laura’s bladder was a great place to rest a weary head, and after at least twenty trips to
the bathroom--half of which accomplished exactly nothing--her temper hung by a gossamer thread.
But she’d stayed determinedly happy until she came home to find a layer of dust on every surface of the
apartment, Siobhán sprawled out in the living room with remnants of an afternoon snack of popcorn
scattered everywhere, and Remington unseen for half a day. Ostensibly, he was with a client, but she
just knew he’d caught the Lauren Bacall retrospective at the cinema that afternoon while she fielded
questions from an attorney about a sting operation she and Remington were setting up to catch an
employee suspected of leaking proprietary information in a software company.
As soon as the foyer doors opened, the head contractor had a dozen pressing questions that only her
missing husband could answer. Laura stalked to the phone and paged him. Twice. And then a third
time. When his Lordship deigned to return her call, her rant shocked Siobhán and scared the contractors
into packing up for the day.
The fact that Remington arrived an hour later cheerfully content that the Laura he knew and adored was
back and in fine form didn’t help matters. She verbally attacked him the moment he zipped through the
door.
Armed with ready wit and his most amiable smile, he walked on sure ground now. He packed Laura off
to the bathtub to relax with a steaming cup of tea while assuring her that he would deal with the
contractors personally.
“Stop charming me,” she muttered as she stepped into the Jacuzzi.
He didn’t have three decades of experience in handling the opposite sex for nothing, more than six years
of them specifically with Laura. “Of course not, love. I’m simply making up for my earlier negligence.”
Laura narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously as she sank down into the bubbles.
When he returned from their bedroom, he caught Siobhán’s worry. “I suppose you haven’t seen Laura
in a temper.” She shook her head, and he grinned in return. “You were correct on Friday, a stór. Our
grace period is over. She has a good one. Mostly, it’s directed at me, and I expect we’ll see much more
of it in the coming days. Laura doesn’t take well to being told she can’t do something--and I rather think
this baby is about to insist on having his or her way with things.”
“So why was she so upset when she came home?” Siobhán’s soft voice was full of hesitance and a
touch of fear.
Abruptly reminded that Siobhán had little experience with these kinds of emotions, Remington settled her
too with a quick hug and a kiss to the top of her head. Then he tilted her chin up and spoke in Gaelic.
The language they shared had become another way they connected as family, speaking it nearly
exclusively when Laura wasn’t around. “It’s no more than a fit of pique, Siobhán. She gets upset, yells
at me; we talk, and then it’s over. Sometimes I even shout back a time or two. But, a stór, neither of us
can stand to be at odds with each other for long.”
Sitting on the edge of the sofa so he wouldn’t have to look down at her, he clasped his hands in his lap
and switched back to English. “Today? I wasn’t at the office this afternoon. Wasn’t planning to be and
she forgot. The baby is making her trip off to the bathroom every five minutes, and she’s irritated about
it--but, of course she won’t blame our lovely wee one--so instead she gets mad at me. It’s easier.”
Siobhán crossed her arms. “She’s upset at the baby?”
“Not really. It’s more that the pregnancy is making her irritable. Laura likes to be in control, and the
baby isn’t letting her call all the shots. I suspect I’ll have a lot of placating to do in the coming weeks as
she learns to adjust.” He rubbed the back of his neck and grinned again. “It’s not all that unlike when
we first met, and she had to make room for me. She didn’t like that either, but she wasn’t willing to let
me go. So we sparred a great deal in the process.”
He hadn’t come up with these brilliant insights all on his own, but he wasn’t about to tell Siobhán that
he'd made a discrete phone call to Murphy from the car on the way home from the theatre. After his
brother-in-law had stopped laughing at him, he’d proceeded to give him a laundry list of things to look
out for in the upcoming days. “Her job is to be pregnant, Steele. She’s cranky, irritable and will blame
absolutely every bit of it on you. Up until now, it was funny that you two got pregnant so quickly. Now
she’s going to hold it, and anything else she can dream up, against you. Your job is to make her feel
better. Time to suck it up, Steele, and take whatever she dishes out.”
Isn’t that what I’ve been doing all along? he wondered. But keeping the advice firmly in mind, he
ordered one of her favorites--Chinese from the restaurant down the street. Then he and Siobhán made a
quick dash through the penthouse to clean up the worst of the dust while they waited. When the food
arrived, he sent Siobhán down the elevator with money to pay the delivery boy.
In the meantime, Remington peeked into the bathroom. Laura grimaced as she attempted to leave the
whirlpool. “Getting in is easier than getting out,” she said.
He schooled his expression so she wouldn’t think he was laughing at her, but she didn’t miss amusement
in his blue eyes and scowled in his direction as she took his proffered hand and gingerly stepped from the
tub.
“Feel better?”
Pursing her lips, she looked up at the ceiling and then at him while he draped a towel around her. “I do.
I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I forgot you were going to the movies.”
“I did try yesterday to convince you to go with me,” he reminded her.
“I know; I know. It completely slipped my mind. I can’t keep anything in my head these days. It’s
driving me crazy.”
“You’re pregnant, Laura. Even your doctor said these things would happen, love.”
“I know,” she said again while retrieving a loose-fitting shirt and similar pants from the closet. When she
was dressed, she put a hand on her hip and another on her forehead. “Promise me something, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Don’t make me deal with the contractors. You spoiled me by handling the build-out on the new office.
I don’t ever want to deal with contractors again.”
Remington reached over to let the water out of the Jacuzzi. “Why not? You scared them into fits
today. I’m sure they’ll do anything you want now, if only because they want to avoid another
confrontation with a pregnant woman dressing them down as if they were schoolboys in short pants.”
Laura covered her eyes and snorted. “I didn’t really do that, did I?”
“Juan offered a five-hundred-dollar credit if he can deal only with me in the future. What should I tell
him?”
She burst out laughing, holding on to her belly. “Hold me in reserve if it doesn’t look as if they’ll finish
by Thanksgiving.”
“I’ll do that. It will make a rather effective threat.”
By the time they made it back to the kitchen, Siobhán had Chinese food spread across the island and was
nibbling on an eggroll. It took only one look for Laura to realize she’d frightened the girl with her
temper. She didn’t want Siobhán to feel as if she had to walk on eggshells around her. The teen was
settling in beautifully, given the circumstances, but Laura could see that at her core Siobhán still feared
being sent away.
Laura took her hand. “Siobhán, I’m sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn’t have.”
“It’s … it’s okay. Da … explained it to me.”
“No, Siobhán, it’s not okay. I scared you. Sweetie, we’re a family. Which means it’s okay to not like
everything I do. And you can tell me. Remington tells me all the time when he’s had enough of me.
Just as I do him. I still love him. Just as I’ve come to love you.” Laura tugged Siobhán to her so that
she could put her arms around the tall teen.
Reminding Siobhan that the adoption papers had been finalized, she said, “It’s official, remember?
We’re a family. You can get mad at me or I at you, and we will still be okay.” Siobhán’s expression
lightened, and she took a deep breath before nodding in agreement.
From behind Laura, Remington remarked drolly, “Good Lord, Laura, are we beginning to act like mature
adults? I’m disappointed with you. You’re eliminating an excellent source of amusement for me.”
She turned. “How so?”
“How can I pick on you if you’re being sensible?”
She arched a brow at him. “Oh, I don’t know, Mr. Steele; it seems that you’ve picked on my
sensibilities any number of times. It’s the irresponsible portion of your personality coming out.”
“Ah, that. Hmm. You know, since Siobhán has come, we haven’t been nearly irresponsible enough.
What do you have going on at school tomorrow, a stór?”
Grey eyes flickered between devious blue ones and resigned brown eyes. “Ah, nothing much. I have a
paper due Tuesday but just classes tomorrow.”
“No tests?” he asked to make certain.
“No. We had a pop quiz today, so we won’t have one tomorrow.”
“Excellent.” He pressed a hand to Siobhán’s cheek. “Oh, my dear girl, I’m sorry to tell you that you
have a slight fever and won’t be at school tomorrow. Yes, yes, I see it’s about--what would you say,
Laura, love--one hundred?”
Shaking her head at his audacity, Laura agreed, “I think so, Mr. Steele. She certainly seems rather pale
to me.”
“My thoughts exactly. Eat up, girls. We’ll be in Catalina by midnight.” He nicked an eggroll from the
plate and strolled off to make a series of phone calls. Laura shrugged in response to Siobhán’s
questioning look and began loading her plate with food.
Siobhán’s eyes widened at the helicopter that would take them to the little island. Gracefully, she
climbed in and took her seat. Johnny had flown her several times in the one he owned. She loved the
sensation of dancing along on the air.
Laura sagged onto the seat next to her with a huff before Remington strapped her in, deftly making
adjustments to the harness across her lap. He checked Siobhán’s and raised his eyebrows at the secure
straps. “Flown before?”
She nodded happily. “Johnny wouldn’t let me fly on anything but his private airplane and helicopter.”
He touched her cheek and settled into his own seat for the fifteen-minute flight.
Siobhán felt enormously guilty for skipping school on Friday but admirably dealt with it by sleeping in.
She walked the beach mid-morning with her parents, picking up shells for keepsakes and tucking them
into pockets that eventually overflowed. At the end of the short walk, she turned around, squinting into
the sun to see them trailing along behind her and holding hands. They were obviously amused over
something. Da held up his hand, motioning her to come to them.
“We wondered if you were going to walk the whole bloody island,” he said as she approached.
Siobhán put her hands on her hips. She’d learned not to take Da’s quips seriously. “It's too rocky.
Having trouble keeping up?”
Mom let out a laugh. “Rei, I think she’s learning to not fall for your charm.”
He scratched his nose. “Then she’ll be one over you.”
Pretending to be affronted, Mom kicked water onto Da’s shins while Siobhán chuckled and took his
outstretched hand.
Remington arranged for them to have lunch on a chartered boat where they were lucky enough to see a
pair of enormous blue whales as they swam along in the Pacific. While Laura dozed in a deck chair
afterward, worn out from the morning walk, he leaned on the rail next to Siobhán. Her light brown curls
tangled in the breeze.
“A stór, perhaps I’ve pestered you one too many times on this subject, but I have to know. Are you
happy here?”
She smiled at his question; it wasn’t the first time he’d asked. “I am. You guys are pretty cool. Are you
okay with me?”
He grinned at the American slang peppering her speech now. “A stór, it’s not as if you’re a difficult kid.
You’re quite bright, lovely to look at and have excellent manners. In that way, you’re a great deal like
Laura. In addition, you do your homework, help me cook and clean up your own messes. As far as I’m
concerned, we’re good.”
“Okay, then how about we negotiate an allowance?” she ventured with a gleam in her eye.
Unfazed, Remington shot back, “How about you ask your mother.”
Siobhán tried another tactic. “Why do you always shift those questions to her? I thought you guys had a
partnership?”
His blue eyes twinkling, he answered, “One of the hallmarks of an excellent partnership is knowing the
strengths of each party. As I have no experience at all with the concept of an allowance, I will defer
to--or at least confer with--Laura before I make an executive decision of such magnitude.”
Siobhán chewed on a lock of hair. Remington reached over to tuck the strand behind her ear. At his
touch she turned abruptly, giving him a hard hug and holding on as if she were about to fall from the
ship’s deck. He nearly lost his balance but recovered to close his arms about her.
Used to Laura’s mercurial moods, he automatically shifted mental gears to deal with Siobhán. Her
shoulders began shaking as she cried in his embrace. Gaelic words began tumbling from her as she
described her guilt over loving her new life at Johnny’s expense, how much she liked living with him and
Laura, and how awful she felt about intruding on them when they were expecting a baby.
Startled by the outburst but not surprised by it, Remington held her until she began to calm.
“Shh, shh, a stór. Listen to me.” He tilted her chin up to kiss her on the forehead. “Johnny made his
own choices. You and I have paid the price for a number of those choices. I think perhaps, that finding
a little happiness is fair recompense for what we’ve endured.”
Siobhán’s gray eyes opened, framed by spiky wet lashes. He stroked her hair. “Johnny owes both of
us, and I think he knew it. Giving you to me was his way of making it up to the pair of us. And I, for
one, am extraordinarily grateful.” He leaned her head against his shoulder and patted her on the back.
“I’ll hear no more of this about the baby. Laura and I agreed we wanted a family. Laura herself said
that it didn’t matter whether we had an infant or a teen. So now, we’ll have both.”
Siobhán stared at him. “Why are you being so cool about it all?”
Why indeed? Perhaps now, he understood Laura’s calm acceptance of the changes. He twitched his
eyebrows. “Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by beautiful women all of the time? I’m adding to my
collection.”
“Da!”
“Siobhán. Call it kismet. My walking into Laura’s life was no different. It shouldn’t have happened. It
certainly shouldn’t have turned out like this. But for whatever the reason, I’m damned grateful. You, a
stór, are kismet. Want to know why I call you ‘a stór’?” She nodded. “Because a treasure is often
something unexpected. When you find a box, you might have an idea of what’s inside, but you never
really know until it’s opened. You are our unexpected treasure.”
Shuddering another sob, Siobhán leaned against him to let his words soak in while his arms cradled her.
Remington’s idle thought had little to do with his daughter’s outburst. Having finally understood what it
meant to be in love with Laura, it didn’t take him nearly as long to comprehend how much he already
loved Siobhán and his unborn child.
Over Siobhán’s head, he took in Laura as she napped on the lounger, curled up on her side with a hand
splayed over her rounded belly. Daniel, I wish you were here to see this. It’s worth it. Any price, any
at all.
Siobhán stayed curled in his arms until the boat began to dock; then together they roused Laura to
disembark as a family.
After dinner, they found the local cinema and suffered through Alien Nation, which Siobhán liked and
Remington panned. Laura insisted on being a disinterested third-party as she listened to the pair debate
the merits of the movie.
“Now, when George hung from the helicopter, the rotors would whip up a positive storm of sea water
which would burn him,” Remington pointed out.
“It’s a movie. A good one with relevance for today’s society,” Siobhán retorted.
“Yes, but a good film must be consistent with the details.”
Laura only sighed as the pair bantered for the rest of dinner.
Much later, when the Steeles made love that night, there was a great deal of amusement involved as they
struggled through the mechanics of making all the pieces fit properly. Never let it be said that either
Laura or Remington backed away from a challenge.
On Saturday morning, the family played in the surf. It didn’t take long before Laura sat down at the
water’s edge to rest. Remington dropped down beside her while Siobhán continued to dance in and out
of the waves.
“Are you all right, love?” he asked worriedly.
“I am. The baby is moving around a great deal. It’s distracting.” She reached for his hand and placed it
on her belly. “I think that’s a foot, but I’m not sure.” The slight bulge visibly moved under her swimsuit.
“Alien, Sigourney Weaver, Twentieth Century Fox, 1979,” he marveled before leaning over and giving
the little bump a kiss while she rolled her eyes at the comparison.
She couldn’t resist running her hands through Remington’s black locks as he nuzzled her belly. He
looked up and shifted to capture her mouth in a scorching kiss. When he lifted his lips from hers, his
eyes had deepened to nearly indigo.
“Is that all you guys do?” Siobhán asked from the water.
Remington started to retort, but Laura clapped a hand over his mouth. “No. Don’t say it. She’s only
fifteen, remember?”
He kissed her palm as he pulled her hand away. “Why, Laura, are you implying that I might say
something inappropriate?”
“You usually do.”
“Such a lack of faith.”
“Such familiarity with the way you think.”
He grinned. “Ah, Laura, only you.” With that puzzling comment, he stood and pulled her to her feet.
Turning, he called, “Come on, Siobhán. Laura’s hungry again.”
Drawing her brows together, she asked, “How did you know?”
Dropping an arm around her, he quipped, “Such familiarity with you, love.”
That afternoon while Laura napped, Remington set Siobhán up for a two-hour lesson in the hotel pool
with what turned out to be a cute blonde scuba instructor in his early twenties.
Remington discovered that the uncomfortable chair under the poolside umbrella was a great place to
enjoy a drink.
When Siobhán returned to school, her friends greeted her with expressions of sympathy for her “illness,”
which turned to ones of envy as she told them where she’d spent part of the weekend.
“Ya know, Shiv, you’ve got the coolest parents,” Jennifer told her. “My mom would never do
something like that.”
Caitlin nodded. “Yeah, and your dad is sooooo hot. In an older man kind of way. And his cookies, oh
my God, they’re like, totally amazing.”
Giggling, Siobhán agreed with a toss of her curls. “For sure, they’re totally awesome.” She wasn’t
referring to the cookies.
3 November 2009
Chapter Eleven: Cribs