The Problem with Dreams

Chapter 93 - The Naming

Saturday, March fifteenth, was the day of Melody's naming. Although the actual ceremony and the party that would follow weren't scheduled to begin until the early evening, the activities for the day began much, much earlier. The night before was the first night they'd tried Melody's new on-demand feeding schedule, and so after Matt's midnight feeding, Susan had to wait for her to cry before feeding her again. That happened an hour later than usual, meaning her next feeding was at three instead of two, which shifted the one after that to five rather than four. Greg got up for that one and decided to just stay up. As a result, he was up early enough he decided to go to the early service at the temple in Los Angeles, which meant he was home much earlier too. The traffic was light in both directions and he arrived back at the house at half past nine.

"You're home early," Susan remarked.

"I left early. Melody had me up at five instead of four, so I decided to go to the early service today. Do you know, there's hardly any traffic across the middle of Los Angeles at that hour on a Saturday?" Greg asked.

"I'm not surprised. Most people are still recovering from the night before," Susan said. "Alan just called from the airport. They'll be here in an hour."

"So soon?" Greg asked in surprised.

Susan smiled. "Julie is coming at noon, though the rest of her family is coming a bit later. Michael and Rachelle and their family will be here at one. Ruth and Reuben are in Los Angeles. They arrived last night, but they are visiting with some of his family last night and this morning before coming to our house."

Greg arched his brow. "I'm glad I went to the early service. It sounds like I'm going to be needed around here. Do you know if Matthew is working today?"

"No, he isn't. He, Dad, and Zackary just went to the party rental place to pick up the chairs. They should be home before too long," Susan said.

"I should probably get the living room ready," Greg said.

"Mama, can I help?" Jessie asked as she watched everyone else staying busy.

"Yes, you can be a big help, Jessie. Could you watch Melody for me? I've put her in her bouncy seat in the family room for the first time. I'd like you to keep her company while Grandma and I work in the kitchen. Can you do that for me?" Susan asked.

"Yes, Mama. What do I do?"

"Just talk to her if she's awake, or if she goes to sleep, you can watch cartoons or something while you keep an eye on her. Call me if she starts to fuss," Susan instructed.

"Okay," Jessie agreed.

Jessie sat down cross legged on the floor beside her sister and stared at her. Melody stared right back and Jessie giggled. Melody responded with a cooing noise.

"They're going to keep one another occupied for a while," Mrs. Abernathy predicted.

"I hope so," Susan said and she turned her attention back to the preparations being made in the kitchen for the half hour she had left until Melody's next feeding.

c

As Susan expected, Melody started to cry just about ten o'clock. She left her mother stuffing mushrooms for their oeuvres as she went to feed her, picking Melody up out of her bouncy chair and settling herself and the baby in one of the easy chairs to nurse.

They'd just started when everything seemed to happen at once. The telephone rang and Mrs. Abernathy went to answer it. The doorbell rang and Greg went to answer that. Footsteps upstairs announced that Alan and Cindy had arrived at the same moment Mr. Abernathy returned with the chairs and both boys. A buzzer sounded in the kitchen and Susan struggled to tend to it while still feeding Melody.