All In A Days....

Jodi stood outside of her apartment door for a moment, keys in hand, not wanting to go in.  Once again, her boss had made her stay late, creating a report that would, in the end, be fully credited to her boss, who had sat in his office drinking rum and coke and reading the paper. Once, she complained about having to stay late; her boss had offered to ease her burden by “terminating” her, a word he actually used.  A job that hardly paid the bills.  She knew he didn’t have kids…he’d made it quite clear that he was divorced (and available) to all the women of the office, and he’d also mentioned several times that he lived alone.  So, he could not even fathom what it was like to feel the guilt of not spending enough time with her babies.  A feeling that was growing and gnawing at her with each passing day, and night.  She had tried to explain to him once that her children were at home, waiting.  He just gave her a look of “and I should care because?” and walked away.

So, she had to call another last minute baby-sitter and now she had to face the guilt of coming home late, once again.  Leave the job and the stress in the office, she told herself, resting her head against the cold wood of the door.  She took a deep breath and walked through the door of apartment number nine.

"Mommy, mommy! Mommy's home!"  Stefan hollered and jumped up from in front of the television.  In the background, she could hear Ivy crying.  The babysitter came around the corner, from the bedroom Jodi and Ivy shared.  Stefan ran up and hugged his mommy's legs.

"Thank God, you’re here…I tried to put Ivy to bed, but she wouldn't stop crying," Rebecca said, visibly exhausted.  "I have to get home and finish my homework, otherwise I’d stay and let you get situated.  Can you pay me now?  And remember, you still owe me….” Jodi halfway heard her, stress level climbing.

"Mommy, Iby’s been crying a long time," Stefan said tugging on Jodi's dress, still not able to master the letter ‘V’.  The baby's shrieks were already beginning to cut into Jodi's head, creating a painful, throbbing headache.  "Mommy, I'm hungry," Stefan whined, rubbing his tummy.

She took a deep breath and thought, how the hell am I going to deal with this? Home was supposed to be a sanctuary from work.  Right now, she would almost welcome the stale air, florescent lights, and bad coffee of the office.  Heck, she might even be able to take the horny boss, and she briefly wondered if he would like children.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca, but I'm broke right now.”  She put down her coat and purse in a pile on the kitchen table.  “I'll pay you as soon as I take money out of the bank."  She looked down at Stefan.  "Hold on, honey, I'll cook dinner in a minute."

Rebecca was obviously upset, but held it in.  "That's okay, Mrs. Doyle.  I'll call tomorrow night and see if you have it then."  Rebecca walked out the door without another word, slamming the door behind her.  It must feel good to walk away from hungry and screaming children.

"Mommy, mommy! Jerry just cooked Tom in uben.  It was funny!" Stefan shrieked then ran and sat back down in front of his cartoon.  Jodi heard the familiar howls of pain that both Tom and Jerry had, and wished she had the time to sit and watch, revisit a moment of childhood.

"That's nice dear." Jodi said, with a small smile on her face.  She opened up the freezer and took out a foil packed tray of lasagna.  Luxury dining in only 40 minutes, she thought.  She preheated the oven then went to get Ivy from her crib.

"Mommy, when's daddy gonna come home?" Stefan suddenly asked before she left the room.

The words brought back every ounce of stress she had been releasing since she’d come home.  "In a couple of days.  Could you turn down the TV? Mommy's got a headache."

Ivy screamed from the other room.  "I'm coming, honey!" Jodi called.  She went into the bedroom and picked up the baby.  How was she going to explain to Stefan that the bastard left for good after Mommy got pregnant with the baby crying in the bedroom?  How was he going to understand that his father had no heart and even less patience for crying and hungry children?

Jodi tried to put on a soothing motherly voice to quiet the baby.  "Of course you’re crying.  How did Rebecca expect you to get to sleep without dinner in your tummy?"  She took the child into the kitchen and laid her next to her older brother.

Beep-beep, oven preheated.  Ring-ring, telephone, telemarketer at this time of night? Crying baby, pounding headache, blaring television, Stefan misses his daddy.

And I’m all alone.  When was the last time she’d had sex?  Hell, when was the last time she got a hug from a grown man?  She started thinking…I haven’t even had a date in the last year???

"Stefan, I told you to turn down the television!"  She was yelling now.  "Ivy, stop crying or I'm gonna throw you in the oven with the lasagna!"  She turned to her son and still crying daughter.  "Stefan, watch your sister.  I need to change into some more comfortable clothes and take some Tylenol for my headache.  Keep an eye on her!"

Jodi went into the bathroom and took some Tylenol. She was about to change when she looked down at the bathtub.  There sat her dog-eared romance novel, her lilac scented candle and, of course, the tub itself.  She remembered all the goofy Calgon commercials that used to be on TV.  Slowly, she breathed in a deep breath, exhaled, and knew what she had to do.  She cranked the water on and poured in half a bottle of bubble bath.

Already feeling better, she opened the door and went back into the kitchen.  Donning her oven mitts, she put the lasagna into the oven, set the timer and turned to her babies.

"Stefan, mom's going to take a bath and relax for a while.  The lasagna will be done in forty-five minutes. Will you watch Ivy and knock on the door when the oven beeps?"

"Uh huh," Stefan said without looking up from his cartoons.

"Thanks baby." Jodi said and then went in to enjoy her bath.

She didn't remember falling asleep in the bathtub.  Nevertheless Stefan's knocking on the door woke her up. She sat up in the lukewarm bath.

"Mom, the uben beeped."

"I'll be right out."  Jodi got out of the tub, put a towel around her head and threw on a bathrobe.  She walked out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.  Stefan was once again in front of the television, enraptured by some new cartoon.  She walked to the oven and noticed the lasagna smelled a little funny.  She opened the oven door and a scream escaped her lips, growing louder as the shock hit her.  She felt faint and sat down hard on the floor. A hand went to her mouth to stifle more screaming, and then the vomit that was coming.

Stefan looked from the television to his mother.  "Iby started crying so I frew her in the uben wif the lasagna, just like you said mom."  He was very much proud of himself.