Searching for Mr. Darcy

Scene Fifty-Six

Five hours later, Maisie was ready to sweat on her life that she would never have children.  Between most of their breakfast ending up on the floor, two separate tantrums at the art museum, and most of their lunch ending up on their clothes instead of in their mouths, she was ready for a nap.  The twins, however, had boundless energy and wanted her to play tag with them in the yard.  It wasn't enough for her to sit and watch - she had to be "it."

"Okay, enough of this game!" she announcing after catching them each three times.

"No!" Sailor cried.

"More!" Fisher shouted.

"I have a better game."

"Nuh-uh," Sailor said.

"Uh-huh.  Come inside and I'll tell you how to play."

"I don't want to go inside," Fisher said.

"Too bad for you.  I'm the adult in charge."  She ushered them in and placed Sailor in one corner of the living room and Fisher in the other.  She opened her wallet and pulled out two dollar bills. "Here's how we play.  You each get a dollar-"

"Yay!" they yelled.

"-but you only get to keep it if you follow the rules of the game."

"What are they?" Sailor asked.

"You put the dollar against the wall and hold it there.  You can use your head, your hands, arms, nose - it doesn't matter.  It just has to stay on the wall."

"For how long?" Fisher asked.

"As long as you can.  Whoever keeps it on the longest gets to keep their dollar, plus you'll get another one."

"I'm going to win!" Fisher stuck his tongue out at his sister.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Oh, the other rule is - you can't talk.  If you talk, I take your dollar back and you have to play with a quarter.  Understand?"

They both nodded.

"When I say 'go,' put your dollars on the wall.  Ready.  Set.  Go!"

The twins scrambled to the wall.  Sailor opted to use both hands to keep her dollar up.  Fisher sat back against his, with his skull trapping the dollar to the wall.

Perfect, Maisie thought.  She collapsed on the couch and pulled her phone out.  There were texts from Talia, Marcus, and Bastian, as well as a missed call from Momma Frampton, but nothing from either of the children's parents.  She tried calling Anabeth first, and went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, AB, it's Maisie.  Just wondering if you have any idea when you or Sean will be home.  I don't mind watching the twins, but an ETA would be great because I have plans tonight.  Call me when you can."

She hung up and immediately called Sean.  Voicemail again.  "Sean, hi, it's Maisie.  I'm at your house with the kids.  Anabeth had an emergency at work and neither the babysitter nor the kids could tell me where you are.  Call me back and let me know know when you're going to be home.  Thanks!"

The kids were still focused on holding their dollars to the wall, so Maisie read the texts waiting for her.  Talia just wanted to comment on breaking Marriage Material news, so she sent a quick emoji in response and moved on.  Marcus's said, "I had such a great time last night.  Who knew reconnecting after all this time would feel so natural and easy.  See you tonight."

She grinned as she read it, but one glance at the twins caused a mild panic.  What if she had to cancel tonight?  She didn't want him to think she was flaky or uninterested.  She decided to wait another few minutes to respond - maybe Anabeth or Sean would message to let her know they were on their way.

Bastian's text was less sweet than Marcus's, but a lot more steamy: "Can't stop thinking about kissing you.  Want to come over tonight? I'll find some new places I haven't kissed you yet."

Blushing, Maisie texted back: "I'd love to, but can't tonight.  Make it tomorrow and you're on."  She concluded with a kiss emoji.

Still not a peep from the twins, who were taking their competition very seriously.  This may be the best idea I've ever had, Maisie thought, before remembering she'd actually seen it on Pinterest, and was therefore not as clever as she thought.

She took the opportunity to check Facebook, as she hadn't actually been on the SFMD page in about a week.  The notifications had been overwhelming, and Talia said she'd handle things.  Now, Maisie could see why her friend had encouraged her to stay away.  The number of likes and shares remained fairly steady, but the comments were fewer and the ones coming in were overwhelmingly negative.  The least offensive accused Maisie of being an attention whore, the majority called her an actual whore (or some variation on the concept), and the worst threatened rape.  The worst were only a handful, but the fact they were there at all frightened Maisie.  She couldn't imagine a person with so much hate in their heart that they'd threaten a complete stranger with bodily and psychological harm.  What if some of these trolls were serious in their threats?  What if they found personal information about her - her email address, phone number, physical address, or place of work.  Was she safe?

She closed the app and tossed her phone to the opposite side of the couch, as if just handling it could give the trolls access to her.  When it pinged with a notification a few seconds later, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Bastian: "I hate to wait another day, but that'll just make it better when I do get to see you.  Tomorrow, 7:00?"

Maisie: "I'll be there with bells on."

Bastian: "Don't tease - if you aren't wearing bells, I'm going to be so disappointed."

Her phone rang while she was typing her next response - her brother-in-law.  Thank God! she thought as she answered.  "Hey, Sean!"

"Maisie - what's going on with the kids - why are you watching them?"

"I was supposed to come today and take Fisher out for some one-on-one time, but when I got here, they were being watched by your neighbor, Sadie."

"Who?"

"The teenage girl from a couple houses down.  She said Anabeth had a work emergency in the middle of the night and offered her a $100 an hour to watch them until I arrived.  Of course, she didn't bother to give me a head's up."

"How long have you been there?" Sean asked.

"Since eight this morning."

He sighed.  "Have you heard from Anabeth at all?"

"Nope.  Where are you?  Are you on your way home?"

He hesitated.  Maisie could hear the breath in his throat - did he have a cold?  "I'm out of town," he finally answered.

"Oh.  All weekend?"

"Yeah."  Something in his voice caught Maisie's attention, but she couldn't put her finger on what.

"What's going on, Sean?"

"You need to talk to your sister about that."

"About what?"

"Sorry I can't help with the kids.  Thanks for being there."

"Sean - what's going on?"

"I gotta go."  He hung up and Maisie was left more confused than before.  She tried Anabeth's cell again, but it still went straight to voicemail. 

Through it all, the kids hadn't said a word.  When Maisie looked over to check on them, Fisher had fallen asleep in his original position an Sailor had dropped her dollar and fallen asleep laid out on the floor.  She breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn't heard her weird exchange with their father.