Motherhood Is Murder

Suddenly I felt sad. A little lonely somehow.

I started on a set of lunges.

Funny how I craved alone time, and now that I had it, I felt lonely.

I gave up on the lunges and walked down the hallway to our bedroom. ?Margaret called. She wants to hire me,? I said.

?Who?? Jim asked.

?Tutu,? I said.

Jim laughed. He had already climbed into bed and was cuddling Laurie, who was lying on top of him. ?What does she want to hire you as??

?What do you mean? As a PI.?

Jim snorted. ?PI? You don?t have a license.?

?She doesn?t know that.?

?Did something or someone give her the idea you did??

I hung my head. ?Someone might have bragged the other night at dinner.?

Jim laughed. ?Oh. Someone bragged, huh? Here.? He held Laurie up to me. ?She needs a diaper change.?

?So go ahead and change her,? I said from my position in the doorway.

?I?m trying to nap.?

?I?m doing my workout!?

Jim frowned. ?Yeah. I see that.?

Men.

Oh well, it would soon be time to nurse and I knew he couldn?t do that. May as well stay on duty. I crossed the room and plucked Laurie off his chest. She was like a little sow bug, all curled into him. Warm and cozy on the front and soaked in the back.

?Poor thing,? I said.

Jim nodded then turned over, trying to sleep.

I stayed at the foot of the bed. ?Do you think if I take the case to Galigani, he?ll take it on??

?What?s in it for you then??

?Galigani can?t work the case. At least, I don?t think so. It?s too early after his open heart surgery. But I could use his license, right??

?I guess that?s up to him. Call him.?

After changing Laurie?s diaper, I placed her in her crib and twisted the mobile for her. She gazed up at the dancing bears and tried to bat at them.

I did another set of lunges, rehearsing how to ask Galigani for the use of his license. Pain shot through my lower back.

Nice. Try to do too much and wind up getting nothing done.

Taking advantage of Laurie?s temporary calmness in the crib, I dialed Galigani. I was still unsure how to ask him, but figured something would occur to me when he picked up. He answered on the third ring.

?Hi, it?s Kate Connolly.?

?Ah! Kate! You must have read my mind.?

?Really, why?s that??

?I was wondering if you and your husband and, of course, your beautiful daughter might join us for dinner.?

Us? Who was ?us?? I thought he was single.

?We?d love to.?

?Great, how about six??

?That works.?

?So, what can I do for you??

Okay, here was my moment. Just say it, spit it out.

?Uh . . . well . . . no . . . Uh, we?ll see you tonight.?

Jim shuffled Laurie in his arms as I rang the bell. We waited a moment for the door to open, enjoying the smell of frying garlic wafting in the air.

Galigani pulled the door open and smiled. ?Welcome!?

Jim placed a hand on my waist and guided me inside. I handed the bottle of Chianti to Galigani and