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Authors: Nancy Thayer
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starting labor.”
The Nantucket Pharmacy had an ice-skating scene in the window. Fluffy white fleece surrounded a pond made from an oval mirror. Elves, Santa, and a couple of reindeer pirouetted over the shimmering “ice.” Snow people made of cotton balls with candy eyes, noses, and mouths stood next to Christmas trees adorned with tiny blinking lights. Mrs. Santa bent over an open box of chocolates, as if deciding which to choose first.
“Cute,” Sebastian said.
“Adorable. Lucky Mrs. Santa. She can eat all the chocolate she wants.”
“Why can’t you?” her father asked.
“Daddy! I’m already a whale.” Kennedy tugged on his arm. “I’m okay now. Let’s walk some more.”
A fabulous Icelandic sweater in the window of Peach Tree’s caught her eye, but she bypassed it, determined to get her diamond.
“Shall we walk down to Straight Wharf and buy a few wooden toys for Maddox at the Toy Boat?” Sebastian suggested.
Her father was heading them in the perfect direction. She squeezed his arm. “Good idea.”
In the small fisherman’s cottage housing the Toy Boat, Sebastian strode around gleefully, seeming like a kid himself. “Lighthouses, ferries, sailboats—so much to choose from. What do you think, Kennedy?”
Kennedy started to warn her father not to spoil Maddox, but bit her tongue. What she thought was that she wanted her father to spoil
her
. Why did children get all the goodies? The mommies did all the work. Sure, James had Maddox today, but most days of the year, her husband escaped their chaotic house wearing suit and tie, heading to the sophisticated adult world while Kennedy wrestled Maddox into the car for preschool then returned to the grocery shopping, laundry, and dishes.
She could understand now why her mother had employed a live-in nanny. Kennedy did have several good babysitters, and a cleaning service that came in twice a week. The laundry did James’s shirts. They ate out or brought in takeout several times a week, especially since this second pregnancy. Compared to many others, she was spoiled, but she certainly didn’t
feel
spoiled.
Kennedy loved Maddox with all her heart. He was the light of her life. But nothing had prepared her for the noise, the mess, the constant, relentless neediness of a child.
Thank goodness Maddox enjoyed the preschool he attended in the morning. In the afternoon she tried to coax him into napping, but he was a living typhoon. In a month, she’d be saddled with two children, a baby who wouldn’t sleep at night and a boy who tore around all day.
And yet … something deep within her cherished all this. Kennedy admired her mother intensely and wanted to be just like her, except perhaps a bit less perfect, which heaven knew was easy to achieve. Kennedy remembered the messes—real and emotional—she’d made as a child and how her nanny had consoled her and helped Kennedy clean them up. There’d been something so warm, so real, so
bonding
about those times. She wanted to provide that for her own children, even if she did it imperfectly, and oh boy, did she do it imperfectly.
If only someone would understand. No one ever praised mothers for the tedious work of child caring. No one ever gave a mother an award for not losing her temper ten times a day or for cajoling a kid to eat his vegetables. James tried to sympathize, but he was preoccupied with his work.
Perhaps that was why Kennedy wanted her father to give her something, a spontaneous surprise to show her that
she
was the light of
his
life. Something like—a diamond?
Returning along Main Street, they passed Jewel of the Isle.
“Oh,” Kennedy gasped. “Isn’t that pretty!”
Sebastian paused, grateful for an opportunity to set the bags full of toys down and relax his hands. “What, sweetheart?”
“That diamond Christmas tree brooch. So sweet.”
Sebastian peered in the window. “It’s nice.” Suddenly an idea struck him. “Let’s go in, Kennedy.”
Inside, the shop
The Nantucket Pharmacy had an ice-skating scene in the window. Fluffy white fleece surrounded a pond made from an oval mirror. Elves, Santa, and a couple of reindeer pirouetted over the shimmering “ice.” Snow people made of cotton balls with candy eyes, noses, and mouths stood next to Christmas trees adorned with tiny blinking lights. Mrs. Santa bent over an open box of chocolates, as if deciding which to choose first.
“Cute,” Sebastian said.
“Adorable. Lucky Mrs. Santa. She can eat all the chocolate she wants.”
“Why can’t you?” her father asked.
“Daddy! I’m already a whale.” Kennedy tugged on his arm. “I’m okay now. Let’s walk some more.”
A fabulous Icelandic sweater in the window of Peach Tree’s caught her eye, but she bypassed it, determined to get her diamond.
“Shall we walk down to Straight Wharf and buy a few wooden toys for Maddox at the Toy Boat?” Sebastian suggested.
Her father was heading them in the perfect direction. She squeezed his arm. “Good idea.”
In the small fisherman’s cottage housing the Toy Boat, Sebastian strode around gleefully, seeming like a kid himself. “Lighthouses, ferries, sailboats—so much to choose from. What do you think, Kennedy?”
Kennedy started to warn her father not to spoil Maddox, but bit her tongue. What she thought was that she wanted her father to spoil
her
. Why did children get all the goodies? The mommies did all the work. Sure, James had Maddox today, but most days of the year, her husband escaped their chaotic house wearing suit and tie, heading to the sophisticated adult world while Kennedy wrestled Maddox into the car for preschool then returned to the grocery shopping, laundry, and dishes.
She could understand now why her mother had employed a live-in nanny. Kennedy did have several good babysitters, and a cleaning service that came in twice a week. The laundry did James’s shirts. They ate out or brought in takeout several times a week, especially since this second pregnancy. Compared to many others, she was spoiled, but she certainly didn’t
feel
spoiled.
Kennedy loved Maddox with all her heart. He was the light of her life. But nothing had prepared her for the noise, the mess, the constant, relentless neediness of a child.
Thank goodness Maddox enjoyed the preschool he attended in the morning. In the afternoon she tried to coax him into napping, but he was a living typhoon. In a month, she’d be saddled with two children, a baby who wouldn’t sleep at night and a boy who tore around all day.
And yet … something deep within her cherished all this. Kennedy admired her mother intensely and wanted to be just like her, except perhaps a bit less perfect, which heaven knew was easy to achieve. Kennedy remembered the messes—real and emotional—she’d made as a child and how her nanny had consoled her and helped Kennedy clean them up. There’d been something so warm, so real, so
bonding
about those times. She wanted to provide that for her own children, even if she did it imperfectly, and oh boy, did she do it imperfectly.
If only someone would understand. No one ever praised mothers for the tedious work of child caring. No one ever gave a mother an award for not losing her temper ten times a day or for cajoling a kid to eat his vegetables. James tried to sympathize, but he was preoccupied with his work.
Perhaps that was why Kennedy wanted her father to give her something, a spontaneous surprise to show her that
she
was the light of
his
life. Something like—a diamond?
Returning along Main Street, they passed Jewel of the Isle.
“Oh,” Kennedy gasped. “Isn’t that pretty!”
Sebastian paused, grateful for an opportunity to set the bags full of toys down and relax his hands. “What, sweetheart?”
“That diamond Christmas tree brooch. So sweet.”
Sebastian peered in the window. “It’s nice.” Suddenly an idea struck him. “Let’s go in, Kennedy.”
Inside, the shop
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