“You’re a great sister.”
I felt so deflated. I wanted Nicole and I felt like a pervert for wanting her.
* * * *
I got no further rewards after that, even though I regularly changed Owen’s poopie diapers. Nicole never mentioned it. I guessed she considered the nursing thing was a one-time lark. Should I ask for another reward? She never seemed in the mood to give me one.
If Nicole was interested in me, she was hiding it very, very well. She didn’t flirt with me. She frequently complimented me, but always along the lines of I was “so sweet” or “so considerate”. She apparently had satisfied her interest in my love life as she never asked about it again. My compliments on how her workouts were firming up her body were greeted with a ho-hum “Thanks”.
Towards the end of the summer, I asked, “Why do you go to all of these mom functions?”
“Lots of reasons. One is that as much as I love Owen, I’d go crazy if I spent all day with only him. It’s great to talk to people I have something in common with. The other moms know I am struggling for money so they let me know when they see any bargains. Also, I’ll watch one mom’s baby while they go shopping and they do the same for me. And I was hoping to find a mom to watch Owen while I go to school.”
“Why not daycare?”
“Daycare costs so much and babies in daycare are sick all the time. That’s why I didn’t work this summer. If I had worked, most of my pay would have been for daycare and medical bills.” I hadn’t known that daycare was that expensive. “Talking with the moms has strengthened my belief that to be a great mom, you have to be a great wife. Being a mom is too big of a job to do by yourself. All the other moms are married and I ask them lots of questions about how to make a marriage work. Once I find a dad for Owen, that’s it. I plan on being with him forever. Mom taught me squat about how to make a relationship work.”
“Squat” was a major overstatement.
“At least she taught us lots of things to not do.”
Nicole snorted. Then her face turned serious. “One thing that bugs me,” she said, “is that all of the moms look down on me for having a kid so early. The other moms are in their late twenties or older. So many teenagers have sex and no form of birth control is one hundred percent effective, but they seem to think only an idiot would have a baby in their teen years.”
I too thought it was crazy to have a baby so young. But what other options does a young pregnant girl have? I guess abortion and giving up the kid for adoption, but I can see both of those causing regrets for the rest of their lives. What would I have done if Mandy had gotten pregnant? Or one of the girls I had screwed in high school?
“That reminds me,” said Nicole. “I have a huge, huge favor to ask of you. I have found a mom who will watch Owen for four hours a day while I go to school. In return, I’ll watch her kid two hours a day during the week and five hours on Friday and Saturday night. Would you help me on those nights? Watching one kid is tiring and watching two will leave me exhausted. I know you’ll have parties and dates on those nights, but any night you can help me would be a big, big help.”