As Mike Lomax headed to work as usual, ever the busy business tycoon, his wife, Lucy, who had been outside posting some bills and a letter waved goodbye. She had things to do and they all centered around the house. When Mike got home she was working on a new recipe: grilled and stuffed green peppers. For the past couple months she'd been concentrating on widening her repertoire and actually was having a lot of fun in the process.
They had finally decided to start their family; they wanted two children, maybe three, spaced about three years apart, and felt if they didn't get started soon that might be harder to pull off; they didn't want to be gray-haired parents. This was unlikely since Mike was barely 30 and Lucy was almost two years younger, but still they felt the time was now. The reality was that, after seeing some of their friends' and family's young children they simply wanted some rugrats of their own. To that end Lucy went off the pill and they'd been told it might take a while for her to conceive. So they were somewhat astonished when she suspected only about six weeks later that she was pregnant. The doctor confirmed it and so they found themselves discussing names the next morning over bacon and eggs.
As Lucy slept soundly that night, Mike suddenly began to get qualms. He worried whether he would be a good father. He certainly had no problems in the financial department, but did he have the patience and the wisdom? He was confident about Lucy as a mother, though. She was so sweet and she'd always been good with her little sisters. Um, except for that time during their engagement party when Karen had acted up rather disagreeably. Lucy had been furious. But that was not a usual thing--for either Karen or Lucy--and had only lasted a couple minutes. He tried not to remember the nightmare he'd had right after that. It was only a nightmare. A nightmare that he and Lucy had children who were monstrous brats and Lucy just laughed at them while the little heathens lectured Mike and insulted him. Just a stupid dream...
The chapter where Mike worries about demonic children
One weekend not too much later Mike was dozing in the hammock when Lucy came over to him and said flirtatiously,
"Hey, handsome, why can't we share that hammock?'
He grinned at her,
"Come to Daddy."
It wasn't easy to get frisky in the hammock; but it was definitely possible, as they proved that afternoon. If only it hadn't start raining and hailing in the middle...
To her amazement Lucy had recently sold a story to a magazine. It had been so thrilling to see her words in print in a national forum and Mike had been so proud of her. This gave her the encouragement to work on a new story and consider writing a second novel.
Now that her morning sickness days were well past Lucy was feeling great and her belly was still not enormous so she said to Mike one morning,
"Let's invite Chelsea and Trey and Andy and Holly over on Saturday. We'll cook out and enjoy the pool."
"Sure it's not too much for you?" Mike asked, "I can man the grill."
"Oh, but I want to use that new rib recipe I got; I can do it, Mike. I'm fine. If you'll just make sure the grill is clean and wipe down the outdoor chairs and tables."
Little did she know that in the middle of the night her abdomen would blossom into nearly full-term size. But it all worked out anyway.
As their family arrived Lucy considered both couples. They were different, of course. Trey Lassiter wanted children, the sooner the better, but his wife, Chelsea--who was Mike's sister--was on the fence. This was mostly due to her own childhood coming from a broken home. There was her florist shop to think of as well and the size and style of their home, too. Seeing two of her sister-in-laws pregnant at the same time, though, was breaking down her reservations. She never wanted Trey to think she didn't want his child; it wasn't true, she definitely did. She was just a little afraid of motherhood. Her own mother had not turned out to be the best when she'd deserted her family. Chelsea had to be honest, though, Jenny had been a wonderful mother until that point in time. She certainly seemed to be a good mother now to Loni Faye and Liara, too. That reminded Chelsea, she wanted to have the girls over to the house next weekend for sure.
Andy Lomax and his wife, Holly, had made it clear right from the start that they hoped to have a large family, maybe as many as six children. Holly had 5 siblings and Andy had 3; they were used to big families. Holly was expecting, too, about as far along as Lucy. This would be her third pregnancy, they already had the twins, Arliss and Alexa, and little Bradley.
Holly and Lucy made over each other's baby bumps while Andy and Mike played a quick game of catch. Chelsea and Trey had gone right in to change into their suits and hit the pool. It was a sweltering day.
Chelsea and Trey Lucy, Mike, Holly, Andy
Not long after that the others came out to the backyard, ready to swim except for Mike, who took his leisure poolside. But then the heat finally got to him, too, and he suited up and headed for the water slide. A lively game of Marco Polo had been going on. Finally Mike got the grill going for Lucy,"I think it's ready, hon," he called.So Lucy clambered out of the pool and grilled the meat, using a big soft brush to continually baste it with her homemade barbeque sauce. They all ate the sweet succulent ribs with baked beans and coleslaw as the sun went down.
While they dined Andy and Holly told the latest happenings at their house, keeping them on the humorous side. Trey and Chelsea had just got a beautiful cat they'd name Minger and so they related their adventures in pet ownership. Mike and Lucy looked at each other, hmm, should they have considered getting a puppy or kitten? Well, too late now, maybe when the baby was older.
Later that very night Lucy went into labor and their little daughter, Michelle Katharine, was born. They felt their happiness was complete.
Two days after Micki arrived Lucy's parents and sisters came over to see her. Karen and Kirstie were teenagers now. Karen had sleek, straight hair cut in a short classic style and Kirstie had let her naturally curly hair grow long. Of course, Katharine and Josh Burb couldn't wait to see and cuddle their grandchild.
When the baby was back in her crib for a nap, Lucy and her parents visited out in the backyard while the twins played Marco Polo. Soon after that Mike got home from work and joined them. Lucy grilled chicken for a late supper and they dined outside.
Little Micki was easy to care for and, so far, Lucy still had time to be the bookworm she'd always been.
Mike wasn't much of a hands-on Dad; he loved cuddling and playing with the baby and he'd occasionally do feedings as well if it was necessary, but when it came to diapering and bathing, he was useless. Lucy didn't really mind so much only he was also kind of lazy around the house. A hardworking executive, he was used to a secretary and staff that danced attendance on him and handled any repetitive or unpleasant jobs for him; he was spoiled. He'd take out the trash, he always insisted on doing their finances himself and paying the bills, and he did the yard work which was relaxing to him, but anything else like making the bed, washing dishes, picking up his clothes, cooking or cleaning he not only left undone, he didn't even seem to see the mess. If Lucy pointedly asked him to do something he would do it but he always made a face and grumbled under his breath like a ten year old. He would only make meals when they could be done on the grill since he didn't consider that work, more like a hobby. The only time he'd helped much was during Lucy's pregnancy and a few days after she'd had Micki, he was back to his old ways. He thought she should just get a maid, but the maid, of course, didn't do everything.
Lucy remembered when they used to split chores down the middle way back when they had their apartment at University. Yep, those were the days. Those were the days before he had employees ready to do his bidding. So she handled most everything else that he did not and kept quiet, but decided she might not want another child after all. Counting little Micki; she already HAD two children to take care of, it seemed.
