Chapter 18: I’ll Drink to That

I WAS NOT EXPECTING to be met at the gate by Patricia. No kids. No Anna. Just Patricia. She ran to Ronda and me and wrapped us in her arms as she tried to kiss us both at the same time. That’s something we sometimes do when we’re all sitting or in bed, but I’m nearly a foot taller than Ronda and was getting bent double as Patricia pulled on my neck.

“What a wonderful surprise!” I said. “How did you manage to come to the airport by yourself? Does Anna have the kids?”

“Anna’s been working so hard she just needed to collapse for a while. I left the kids with the nanny,” Patricia said.

“The nanny? We have a nanny?” Ronda asked.

“You’ve been gone for three weeks! Anna has been working five days a week and overtime. Tax season! We wanted living children when you got home, so, yes, the nanny. We decided not to tell you until you got home, so you wouldn’t worry.”

“I’m glad,” I said. “I think it’s a brilliant idea. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

“You’ll love her.”

That was all Patricia would say about the nanny. We had plenty to do in getting our bags and getting to the car. Patricia wanted to know all about Japan and how our visit with my sister had been. That seemed to take the forty minutes from the airport to the house. We got out of the car and started toward the back of the house with our bags when our little terror came running around the corner and jumped into my arms.

“Daddy! We made madeleines! All out of the oven now.”

Patricia picked up one of my bags and I hefted the camera case in one hand while Toni occupied the other arm.

“What are madeleines?” I asked.

“Cookie,” Toni said. Then she began to recite, carefully pronouncing each word: “In an old house in Paris, that was covered with vines, lived twelve little girls in three straight lines. The littlest one was Madeline.”

“That’s a very pretty poem,” I said.

“Book. Aunt Addie give me.”

“Did Aunt Addie send you a book?”

“Daddy! Aunt Addie here.”

What? I looked up as we entered the house from the deck overlooking the water. There, to my great surprise, was Adrienne, holding my baby daughter.

“Adrienne! Are you our nanny?”

“Only for a couple of weeks, master,” she replied. Miss Anna invited me.”

“How wonderful. I see you are acquainted with my littlest daughter.”

I set Toni and my camera case down. Adrienne handed me the precious little bundle.

“She just ate and has the gas,” Adrienne said. I shifted Alex to my shoulder where I could rub and pat her back as I kissed her. Adrienne deftly pushed a burp cloth between the baby and my traveling suit just in time to catch the liquid part of her burp.

“Well, now. That’s an interesting way to greet your daddy, little one. Oh, I’ve missed you! You’ve grown!”

“She’s thirteen pounds now, and has grown almost two inches according to the pediatrician,” Patricia said. “She’s so healthy, I’m jealous.”

“Have you been ill?” Ronda asked after having hugged and kissed Adrienne.

“No. Just tired. You remember how it was with Toni. I didn’t get a full night’s sleep for three months. But it’s been so wonderful to have Adrienne come to help each day. I’ve managed naps and she’s fed us incredible meals. I know I’ve lost most of the baby weight, but I can’t help but feel I’m gaining weight from all Adrienne’s good food.”

“I felt that way from just a single meal that our Fifi cooked,” I laughed. I did finally manage a kiss for our mistress, but my attention was fully occupied by Alex and Toni. Toni, of course, wanted to dance.

“Daddy, can you cha cha-cha-cha? Aunt Addie teach me!”

“That’s wonderful, sweetie. Let me give little Alex to Mom Ronda so you can show me. Do you have cha-cha music?”

I handed Alex to Ronda, who was waiting eagerly for her turn with the baby. Toni went to our record player and carefully took a 45 from its sleeve and put it on the turntable. When it started, I remembered hearing the song on the radio, but I didn’t think we had a copy. Apparently, Adrienne had acquired it so she could teach Toni to cha-cha.

We started dancing and in a few seconds, Ronda was dancing with Alex. Adrienne and Patricia joined in.

“Oh, my! We don’t have an old oak tree,” Anna said from the bedroom door as the song ended. “I had to tie the yellow ribbon around myself.”

I turned to look at her and she had a yellow ribbon tied around her waist. That was all she was wearing.

“Anna, my love!” I said, pulling her into my arms. “Did we wake you up?”

“Oh, no. I’ve heard Tony Orlando so many times in the past two weeks that I’m quite capable of sleeping through him. Welcome home, lovers.”

I kissed her soundly and then Ronda kissed her. Toni was starting the record again so she could continue dancing with her stuffed fox.

Madeleines were not the only things Adrienne had cooked. As soon as we’d stripped out of our travel clothes and made the rounds kissing all our girls again, she had a lovely beef stew she called Bourguignon, served over mashed potatoes. It was wonderful and I could well understand why Patricia would feel like she could gain weight from Adrienne’s cooking.

Madeleines and coffee for dessert were wonderful.

“Are you staying in the nursery next to us or upstairs with Toni?” I asked as Adrienne cleaned up the dishes.

“Oh, no, master. Do not worry about your Fifi. There is a lovely motel in town and I have enjoyed my time there. Not as fancy as the hotel downtown or the one in Stratford, but everything I need. I will fly back to Los Angeles on Monday afternoon.”

“But I won’t get to spend time with you!”

“My loving master, I have been delighted to help Miss Patricia and Miss Anna handle the children and cooking while you were gone. But they have missed you more than you can imagine. You will spend time with them and not with your mistress.”

I kissed her and walked her out to her car.

“Perhaps I could have a little time free tomorrow afternoon,” I said.

“If you do, you will find your obedient Fifi at your disposal,” she smiled.

I went back in the house, realizing how tired I was after the long trip from Japan. It was like living an entire day over again. Ronda had already headed for a shower, accompanied by Anna. Patricia was giving Alex a bottle as I settled in with Toni to read her new book from Aunt Addie. Toni wanted to read me the story, which I assumed she had memorized, though she pointed at each word and pronounced them carefully.

She was still a tired little girl from her exciting day of preparing for Daddy and Mom Ronna to get home. She and Aunt Addie had cleaned the house and cooked and baked. I definitely needed to make some time to thank Adrienne before she flew home.

I got Toni to bed and helped Patricia get Alex to bed. I figured that I’d be up in the middle of the night to change and feed the baby, but once I hit the pillow, the trip caught up with me and I was out cold.

I did manage to get a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon to thank Adrienne for coming to the aid of Patricia and Anna. Ronda slipped over to her motel before checkout time on Monday morning and returned with a smile on her face.

Ronda and I had a week off after our three weeks on the road. But the thirtieth of April we were back in the office to get things ready for our trip to the UK the next week. Of course, that included a full briefing from both our boss, Mr. Martin, and from a State Department protocol expert who drilled us on everything from how we were to arrive at the wedding and where we were to sit to the proper forms of address for everyone on the guest list. How the ambassador had gotten a complete guest list for the wedding, I would never know. The protocol instructor even gave us proper instructions for greeting a prince or princess and the queen and duke. I didn’t think there was much chance that we would have contact with any of them, but we took the instruction seriously.

“So, you’ll arrive on Monday evening,” Martin told us. “An embassy car will pick you up at London Heathrow Airport and take you to a guest cottage owned by the US Government. Guests who don’t require security are often housed in the cottage on visits. I vetoed the idea of you staying at Winfield House. The ambassador is falling over himself to make you welcome as a guest invited by the Queen. I know he’ll want to have dinner with you on Tuesday after you complete your training of the staff at the embassy.”

“It seems like an awful lot is being made of our visit,” I said. “It’s not like we know the Queen. We were invited by two good friends who are getting married. They are even considered to be lesser nobility.”

“One doesn’t question such things,” Martin sighed. “On Wednesday, you’ll be driven to Plympford at Lord Peter’s request. Apparently, he already has apartments there or he’s living with Lady Jane. That wasn’t made clear. What was clear is that you will dine with Lady Jane that night and will be asked to take photos on Thursday. For propriety’s sake, you’ll return to London on Friday so you can join the ambassador on the drive up to Coventry for the wedding. He managed an invitation.”

“I assume we’ll be training at the two consulates the following week,” Ronda said.

“Edinburgh and Belfast. Yes. They are shortish flights, but you’ll fly up to Edinburgh on Monday, train on Tuesday, and on to Belfast on Wednesday. You’ll be back with your family in London on Wednesday night. Enjoy a couple of days sightseeing and return to the US on Friday or Saturday.”

“Sounds like we’re all set,” I said. “I can make sure of the equipment shipments this afternoon.”

“Good. What about the emergency in Sapporo with the earthquake?” Martin asked.

“We’re drafting a memo to all the installations regarding securing equipment against earthquakes,” I said. “After looking at the setup in Sapporo and how the equipment was damaged, I’m suggesting cargo straps to attach the unit to the table, and that the cover be secured on the equipment when not in use. Using cargo straps enables us to maintain the portability of the equipment in an emergency, unlike a more extreme measure like bolting it down.”

“Good. And you are adding the instructions to the manual?”

“Yes, sir. And we’ve put in a requisition for enough straps to send to all the current installations and to ship with all future equipment,” I said.

“Okay. You’re both doing a good job. Ronda, it might seem that you are always in the background, but we know that the trips run smoothly because of you. You should expect a package to deliver to the ambassador in London. You’ll be flying commercial, so keep your bag close to you.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And while you are in London ... None of us really thought about how stressful sending you all over the world would be from Chicago. Next fall, you’ll start installations in Europe and Africa. It seems ludicrous to have to cross the Atlantic on every trip. I think it would be advisable for you to look for a base of operation in London where you can fly shorter trips. Someplace you could live for nine months with your entire family.”

“London, sir?”

“Well, you could choose about anyplace in Europe, but I was thinking for your family’s sake, you’d prefer a country that speaks English. And travel in Europe is not difficult from London, so you could educate your children on some other countries, as you did in the Caribbean,” Martin said.

“How would we afford that?” Ronda asked. She was staring at him in bewilderment. Just like I was.

“You would be given a generous housing allowance,” he said. “After all, we would be assigning two people to a foreign residence, which would count for two families, and we’d be saving an extraordinary amount on commercial airfare. And as a member of the foreign service, it is likely that we would need to adjust your paygrade again.”

“We’ll talk it over with the family,” I said. Ronda and I left the meeting like zombies. We were completely overloaded and unable to think.

Talking it over with the family involved more than just our family. What with the surgery and our travel schedule, we hadn’t managed any time with Jordan and Nadia and they wanted to meet the baby. Monday evening, Deke picked Ronda and me up in front of the Federal Building. Jordan was already in the car. We drove up to the Marshes’ house at the same time Anna and Patricia arrived with the girls.

Jordan was tickled that he got to hug Toni and then hold Alex as we all went inside. I was surprised when we went inside to find another cook working in the kitchen with Nadia. Nadia left everything in her hands and came to join us all in the lounge so she could fuss and coo over the children. Jordan poured us drinks and we chatted about life and travel. Ronda and I told him about our promotions and how the job had changed.

“It sounds to me like they didn’t know how big a job it was when they made the decision to hire you,” Jordan said. “Now they’re expanding the description in order to justify all the pain and hardship they’re putting you through. Typical government crap. They couldn’t just admit the original job was bigger than they thought. So, they changed the job to make it sound like more than it really was. You know they didn’t hire you to be a photographer. You were making far more than they could pay you for that in your own business. But since you were a photographer, they thought they could just capitalize on it without anyone noticing.”

“We figured pretty much the same thing,” I said. “But they dropped another bomb on us this morning.”

“What?” Anna demanded. “You can’t possibly travel more than you are!”

“Um ... I guess they want to make sure we aren’t having to make such long trips,” I said. “They suggested that next fall we move to England.”

“What?” Patricia practically screamed. “You can’t leave us!”

“No, honey, no,” I said. Toni was puckering up to scream as she often did when her mother got upset. Patricia picked her up and comforted her.

“It was just a surprise, honey,” she said. “Daddy isn’t leaving us.”

“Don’t leave us!” Toni demanded to me.

“Never, sweetheart. I will never leave you. Our boss suggested we all move to England, not just Ronda and me. He said we could choose anyplace else we wanted to in Europe, but that England spoke the same language and you might be more comfortable there. He said it would make all our trips a lot shorter if we weren’t having to fly across the Atlantic for every one. You know how hard these trips to Asia and Australia have been.”

“Yes,” Patricia said calming down. Toni jumped down and ran back to Jordan. “Would it really work that way?”

“Well, doing the southern tier of Africa would be about as far as when we did Chile and Argentina. But we might not even get to that area next year. Europe and North Africa would all be within 3,000 miles. And we’d have our own plane and crew, so we could set our travel schedule,” I said.

“There’s the key,” Jordan responded. “Sending the two of you out for three weeks is just fine if it only affects the two of you. If you have a dedicated crew, that means they would all be drawing extra pay if you were out over a weekend. They don’t work at a flat rate. You’d have to be home every weekend.”

“That sounds like it would be worth it in and of itself.”

“They figure to have all the equipment and supplies drop shipped to us in London and have us carry it to each of our installations, too,” Ronda said. “But he did say he wanted us not to schedule more than two a week. We’ve been doing one every other day in Japan, and nearly every day in South America.”

“You were abused and the State Department knows it. Decide what else you’d like before you agree to relocate, even for one nine-month stretch. I understand Adrienne came to help you while you were out of town this time. Do you want to take her with you? Hire a nanny? Enroll Miss Toni in an English school? Will you need a car while you’re there? Shipping your furniture? Help renting the house in Antioch? List out everything you could possibly want and take it to them as a condition for moving temporarily.”

“Sir, Ma’am, dinner is served,” the cook said from the doorway.

We all got up and headed into the dining room where we found our seats, including a high chair for Toni. Alex stayed in her carrier between Patricia and me.

“Uh ... Won’t Adele be joining us?” I asked when I saw every place was taken. Guess I put my foot in it.

“Adele has left us,” Jordan said.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought that up.”

“Not your fault. The truth is, it was getting to be a stressful relationship. It worked for a while. But it was becoming burdensome,” Jordan said.

“She wanted more than I could give her,” Nadia added. She looked very sad. “I don’t know how you all manage with your family.”

“We’ve always been a family,” Ronda said. “I guess we learned the hard way when things didn’t work out with Elizabeth. Adding someone—even someone we all really liked—into our existing relationship was hard on all of us. Especially on her.”

“Well, we have a family that’s being added to, too,” Nadia said brightening up as we ate. “Valerie has had her wings clipped. She and Daren are expecting their first.”

“Congratulations!” we all said.

“I’ll drink to that,” Toni said, lifting her glass.

We all nearly spit our drinks out our noses.

“I think you need to speak to your pet about some of the things she taught our daughter,” Anna said to me. “She taught our little darling more than the cha-cha.”

“I think we have two very different issues to deal with,” Patricia said after we’d gotten home and got the little ones to bed. We all sat naked on our bed and in an unusual mood, we all had a glass of wine. “The first is if we want to interrupt life here in our little corner of Illinois for nine months in jolly old England.”

“If we can accommodate the kidlets, I say let’s do it,” Anna said. “By accommodate, I mean Toni needs to start kindergarten or some equivalent program if the Brits don’t have it. And if I’m not working and no one is pregnant, we can make it work as the two stay-at-home moms.”

“That’s my question, though,” Ronda said. “You have a job. I don’t think Jordan will send his taxes to you in London to do.”

“No. I’ll still get to do yours, though, love. Let’s face it, Jordan created this job for me just so I’d feel worthwhile. It’s not that he didn’t need extra help during tax season, but he could have hired that as a temporary position. He didn’t really need me three days a week.”

“I’m glad you had something to go to, hon. I was a miserable bitch when I was pregnant,” Patricia said.

“Well, we don’t have that to worry about this time, do we?” Anna asked as she leaned over to kiss Patricia.

“Not unless you’re going to do it,” she responded.

Both girls shook their heads.

“You’d both really be okay with leaving what we have here for ... well, we’d be gone this summer, then all next fall and winter, and then the following summer back in Stratford again? We’d be gone from here for a year and three months,” Ronda said. I was glad the girls were handling most of the negotiation. I was at a loss.

“What an incredible experience it would be for Toni. Maybe Alex is too young to appreciate it, but Toni is learning far faster than her classmates in pre-school are. Lisa gives me regular updates and Toni is actually identifying the words in the books she reads. It isn’t just memorizing the story. Living in a foreign country would be very good for her,” Patricia said.

“The only place I’ve ever been besides here and Stratford is our trip to Puerto Rico and Nassau,” Anna said. “I’d love to travel somewhere else. Isn’t that why we have a husband and wife who travel around the world?”

“Then, I guess we should make the list of all the things we want to ask for, like Jordan suggested,” I said.

“Just don’t be ridiculous with the list. We don’t want him to look at it and just say forget it.”

“What is issue number two, Patricia?” I asked.

“Are you going to get Jane pregnant?” she responded. We were all shocked to silence.

“Uh ... Jane hasn’t asked me to get her pregnant,” I stalled.

“Which is a good thing because you don’t know what to tell her,” Patricia said. “And when she sees how big Alex is, she might not want you near her. The pictures you’ve taken say she’s really skinny.”

“But Patricia’s right,” Ronda said. “If the subject comes up, you should know what your response is. In fact, we should all know what your response is. I believe she and Lord Peter will try. It might not be successful, though. If they ask you—and I mean both of them together—then I think you should do it.”

“Really?” I asked. All three girls nodded. Anna took another drink of her wine.

“You get to keep practicing on me,” she said. “Patricia and I talked about it while you two were gone to Japan. It’s really a great honor. We know you like her and making love to her won’t be a problem. We’ll be in England for nine months. Plenty of time to get her knocked up and be there for the birth.”