Doctored (42 page)

“Come on, you guys. Let’s get home,” she told them cheerfully as she ushered them into the Rover.

On the front seat was a cup holder with three strawberry sundaes sporting whipped cream and a cherry on top.  Deanna grinned.  “I thought after all that,” she pointed back at the tow truck that had just finished pulling the van onto the bed and tying it down, “you could use a little lift.” 

Madison, despite the kids that had climbed into the back seat with the dog, leaned over and gave her a peck on the lips.  “Thank you,” she said with complete relief.  She felt much better.

“Oooo,” Chloe said, but the two adults ignored her.  She’d get used to it.

They handed out the sundaes and Deanna waited until the flatbed truck with the van started up and got back on the highway before starting the Rover and following.

“What do you think is wrong with it?” she nodded to the van on the flatbed as they passed it.  He was to deliver it to the house in Santa Barbara so they could offload the stuff inside.

“I don’t know.  It’s been acting up more and more lately.”

“Just getting old?”

“No idea.  I think sometimes it’s where I buy my gas.”

“I’ve heard of that happening.  Maybe it’s time to get a new one?”

“I can’t afford that…” the redhead began, but Deanna just sent her a look that was barely visible in the oncoming lights and they let it go.

They unpacked the van the next day after Roman went to school.  He’d shared his bedroom with Conor after all and they tucked Chloe in on the couch.   After both kids had met Spot and gotten over their initial fears—realizing he was just an overly large cat with the mentality of a kitten—they all settled down.  The only problem was Fluffy, who growled every time the large cat came near.  Spot could only respond in the same way.  Fluffy spent the night locked in with the boys so they could acclimate him to his new home and housemate in the morning.  It was just too late at night to worry about cat and dog fights.

“This is my room?” Chloe asked with awe as they began to bring the things they had packed into the house.

“Yes.  Let’s leave everything of yours in the middle of the room so we can choose a new paint color.” Deanna suggested.

“Me too?” Conor asked, not to be left out.

“You too, buddy,” she promised.  “Think about what colors you want while we get this unpacked,” she grabbed another box from the van.

Between the four of them and the housekeeper that Deanna introduced as Vera, they got it unpacked in record time.  “The dealership will be sending a flatbed,” Deanna told Vera as they got in the Rover to go shopping.  Deanna insisted that they had to get furniture for each of the rooms as well as paint and, of course, register for school to start in a couple of weeks.

CHAPTER THIRTY
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SIX

Madison was thrilled to wake up in Deanna’s arms, in her house, knowing her children were under the same roof with her and they were going to move here permanently.  She smiled up at the blonde who had woken before her and was gazing down at her.

“You know you have a freckle there,” she pointed at one on the redhead’s cheek.

“Where?” she smiled, causing her cheekbones to rise and move the freckle.

“There,” she said huskily as she leaned in and kissed it.

“Where?” she repeated throatily.

“There,” she answered and kissed another spot.

“Where?” she gasped out, enjoying the sensation.

“There,” it became a game of trying to find them, and then Deanna started tickling until Madison started giggling and then shrieking.  All too soon it came to an end as the children charged into the room, the dog following along for good measure.

“What’s going on?” Chloe asked, alarmed, not used to seeing her mother sleeping with anyone, not since her father had left.

Both adults, out of consideration for Madison’s long night, fatigue, and children in the house, were wearing sweats and dressed fairly modestly.  They were laughing from their wrestling match.

“Did you know your mother is ticklish?” Deanna asked, playfully.

“No.  Is she?” Conor said in delight and went to dive on the bed.  Roman and Chloe jumped on the large bed too and soon the dog joined them.  Only when the cat decided to come in did the dog begin to growl.

“No, Fluffy,” Deanna ordered firmly.

“He’s afraid of that big cat,” Conor told her and Deanna wondered if the boy was too.

“Spot’s just a big ole softie,” Roman told him.

“Fluffy just needs to learn his place here.  He’s the new guy and he’s welcome, but Spot was here first so they will both have to adjust,” Deanna told the kids and exchanged a look with Madison that said more than the youngsters realized.  They would all have adjustments to make.

“Who is hungry?” Madison asked the room at large, just to get them all out of the bed.

A chorus of “me” met her question and the kids started scrambling.

“Roman, you still have to get ready for school,” Deanna called before the boy could leave the room completely.

“Aww, Mom.  I thought I could stay home today and help,” he tried to wheedle.  Conor looked on hopefully.

“Absolutely not.  Don’t you have a homework assignment due today for history?” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot,” he said dejectedly as he turned to go into his room.

“Is it done?” she called before he could shut the door.

“Yes,” he answered and closed the door.

“Now what are we going to do with these two?” Madison asked, looking at the dog and cat eyeing each other warily.  She was certain in a fight the big cat would win.

“As I said, they are going to have to work it out.  They’ll adjust,” Deanna told her and pounced on the redhead, bearing her to the bed as she began to kiss her again and again…because she could.

“Uggh, Mom!” Chloe said from the door.  She was carrying the clothes she had worn the previous day.

Deanna sat up immediately and Madison sat up behind her, looking guilty at being caught.  “What can we do for you?” she asked to hide her embarrassment.  Deanna was right, they were going to have a lot of adjusting to do with kids and pets.

“What should I wear?” the fastidious little girl asked.

“If that isn’t too dirty, wear it again and we will unpack your suitcase later for something clean,” her mother instructed her.

Chloe turned with a heavy sigh as though the adults were just too much and made her way to the powder room to change.  The dog followed her.

Deanna turned back to Madison, her eyes were sparkling happily.  “I don’t suppose we have time for…?”

“A quickie?” Madison finished for her, her own eyes sparkling in barely held glee.  She laughed.  “There will be time for that later.”

“Promise?” Deanna growled as she leaned her forehead against Madison’s.

“Promise,” she kissed her, then just as it was turning interesting the cat jumped on the bed to get some attention.  Sighing, Madison got up and out of the bed to get dressed while Deanna wrestled a little with the cat.

* * * * *

“So, paint first or furniture?” Deanna asked.

Both children answered, “Paint,” as Madison answered, “Furniture.”  They exchanged looks and laughed joyfully.  Madison was taking some well-deserved time off while Deanna was here to help her move in.

“I think we should get the furniture first so we know that the paint we buy will match,” Madison was quick to add to forestall the children from arguing.

Deanna drove them to an outlet store and they spent time checking out beds, the kids bouncing on the mattresses as Madison tried unsuccessfully to stop them.  Deanna had a lot more success as she explained that if everyone did that the store wouldn’t be able to sell the furniture that got wrecked.

“For someone who didn’t want children, you sure get along with them well,” Madison said as they walked along looking for bedroom sets together.  Deanna had gone to hold her hand, but understood when Madison avoided it.  She pretended it didn’t hurt, but Madison had seen the look and was trying to work up the courage to be that public.  After all, she had said yes.

By the time they had lunch at a small café, they’d chosen Conor’s bedroom set, but been unable to find one that Chloe liked.  It was like a treasure hunt.  She wanted something like a princess would have, but at the same time the tomboy in her didn’t want anything so girly.

“How about,” Deanna began as she took a bite of her sandwich and then a sip of her soda to wash it down, “we get something similar to what Roman has, but in white?  That way you can put princess stickers on the wood and later, when you outgrow them, you can peel them off?”

Madison could have kissed her for coming up with a solution to the little girl’s difficult problem.  She smiled widely to show her appreciation, her eyes sparkling with promises as Chloe embraced the idea.  The problem had been that the little girl had never had a room of her own or a choice in her furniture.  She’d accepted what was in the past, and the choices she now faced were a bit overwhelming.

“I like Roman’s furniture too,” Conor began.

Deanna headed off a possible problem there by saying, “Yeah, his is cool, but I like yours for the chest of drawers and the hidden door.”  She took another bite of her sandwich, looking innocent as she began to chew.  She waited.

“What hidden door?” the boy asked, suddenly enthused again for the furniture they had picked out for him.

Deanna pulled out the brochure of the bedroom set they had bought along with the receipt…an amount that Madison had wanted to question, but the blonde never even blinked at.  She showed him on the bedroom set diagram.  The hidden door was something he had obviously missed.

“Ohhh, maybe I should get…” Chloe began, sounding a little envious.

Deanna looked at the little girl and shrugged.  “You should have said, but I don’t think it comes in white, and of course we have to find those stickers….”

The little girl debated for a moment, “Couldn’t we paint the wood?”

Deanna nearly smiled as Madison’s eyes went wide.  The price of these sets and the girl wanted to slap paint on the wood?  She waited a moment before answering, swallowing another bite of her sandwich.  “Well, then your bedroom wouldn’t be as nice for a princess who wants to play at being in a tree house now and then.”

That settled the matter for Chloe.  She wanted her own set after that, and two hours later they found it at another store.  It was perfect for what Deanna had suggested, or at least the little girl thought it was.

“How did you do that?” Madison asked.  She had finally worked up the nerve to hold Deanna’s hand…first in the Rover in front of the children, and then in the actual stores.  No one knew them up here.  She would start with small steps here and continue on; it would become easier.  Few, if any, really noticed.  They were after the women’s money, not to judge them or their values.

“I was a young girl once too,” Deanna answered quietly.  She’d gotten a call from the dealership.  The van was fixed and ready.  She didn’t tell Madison how much it had cost.  They were heading there now.

“Did you have a bedroom set like that?” she was curious what kind of child she had been.  After all, she’d been in high school at such an early age.

“No, my parents didn’t have time for frills like that, but I wanted one sometimes.  Other times I was worried about advanced chemistry,” she admitted with a rueful little grin.

* * * * *

“You had sugar and water in the gas tank, ma’am,” the mechanic informed Madison.

“I what?” she asked, alarmed.

“Now, sugar alone won’t do anything.  It’s an old wives’ tale that it will gum up the engine,” he forestalled her as she obviously had heard that one.  “If it got in the engine your fuel filter would catch it; however, with the water added too that needed some work, so we dropped the gas tank and cleaned it out.  You’re lucky you caught it right away ‘cause it could damage your engine,” he explained.

“How in the world did that get in there?” the redhead asked, bewildered.

“Oh, kids do pranks like that all the time,” he assured her.  “I’m sure that’s what happened, although…with the amount,” he sounded a bit puzzled, as though he too was wondering if it was kids and a prank.

She was relieved it wasn’t something more expensive.  “How much do I owe you?” she asked.

“It’s all taken care of,” he said, holding up his hands as she reached into her purse for her checkbook.  Glancing at Deanna who was looking up at the ceiling, Madison realized she had already taken care of it.

“Thank you,” she said and squeezed Deanna’s hand.

Smiling at the redhead, she was pleased she could help.  They went to leave, but the mechanic stopped her again.  “We also gave it a full tune up and changed the oil and air filter,” he quickly told her.  “If you have any other problems, let me know.”

She thanked him and wondered when the oil had last been changed.  She was a little embarrassed to realize she couldn’t remember and was grateful that Deanna had taken care of that for her.