Mavis patted Carla on the back.
'Now, honey, she's hardly settled in. You just keep your ears open. Let us do the rest.'
The Loose Threads started arriving en masse, fixing plates of snacks and making tea.
'Did you tell everyone what I found?” Lauren asked as she sat down next to Harriet at the table. She had on a pink linen blouse with a Peter Pan collar, and navy blue pants. Her hair was swept back from her face with a navy blue headband. She looked younger and more vulnerable than usual.
'I haven't had a chance. Why don't you tell them?'
'I can't believe you're sitting on this gem. Where is the subject, by the way?'
'If you mean Neelie, she's at the store, and you don't need to say it, I already asked why she got to take a car. Carla's holding the baby hostage.'
'Way to go, Carla,” Lauren said. “Looks like our little friend is growing a spine.'
Harriet shushed Lauren. Fortunately, Carla was in the kitchen and well out of earshot.
'What did you find out?” Jenny asked. Her shoulder-length silver hair was turned under in her customary page boy style, and she was wearing gray wool slacks and a pale-blue crepe blouse.
The room quieted as Lauren explained her discovery that Neelie's sister was possibly still alive. She also told them about the lack of documentation for Kissa and Neelie.
'That's all the more reason Carla shouldn't be here alone with that woman,” Connie said when Lauren had finished.
'Who are you talking about?” Phyllis Johnson asked as she wedged her soft bulk into a dining room chair.
Three people started talking at once, but after only a few minutes, Phyllis was up to speed.
'Do you really think Aiden abandoned a pregnant woman in Africa?” Phyllis asked. “I've known him since he was a guppie. He used to give Avanell fits bringing home every stray dog and cat in Foggy Point. He wouldn't leave his own baby.” Her chair creaked as she settled her bulk. She tugged at the two sides of her pastel piecework jacket. “Mark my words, something else is going on.'
DeAnn came into the dining room, ending all talk of Neelie, Aiden and Kissa.
'This is still happening, right?” she asked Phyllis. She wore a black vest with red appliqued flowers connected by a green vine that twined from one front panel, around the neck, down the back and onto the other front piece. Leaves in three shades of green were spaced between the flowers. The vest was very striking over the red turtleneck sweater she'd paired it with. She wore tapered black pants and ankle boots to complete the outfit. It was a definite change from her usual jeans and green polo shirt with the Foggy Point Video logo she wore most week days-her family owned the video store, and she worked there part time.
'Yes, it's all real,” Phyllis said with a smile. “If everything goes as planned, this time tomorrow you're going to have a beautiful daughter.'
'It's all so hard to believe,” DeAnn said. “I mean, Avery was born while David was still in graduate school. And Hansford…” She paused. “Well, he was a bit of a surprise, so he got AJ's hand-me-downs, which were already secondhand.'
'Well, honey, you just enjoy every minute of it,” Aunt Beth said.
'No baby shower is complete without a couple of games,” Mavis said. “Let's move into the parlor across the hall.'
In her mind, Harriet groaned. She'd been to a few baby showers when she lived in California, and she'd clearly demonstrated that her upbringing, in the hands of nannies and at boarding schools in Europe, Asia and only sometimes America, had left her without the common cultural references most children grew up with. Her parents believed reading children's books to children stunted their potential. When her mother read to her, it was from the periodic table; her father read her Shakespeare.
'Okay, everyone,” Mavis said when the women were settled on the chairs and sofas of the large dayroom. “In this one, there are small gold ‘diaper’ pins mixed in a bowl of rice. Your task is to pick out as many pins as you can in thirty seconds-while blindfolded.'
This task proved harder than it sounded but didn't require previous knowledge of babies or culture. The next two games didn't, either, and Harriet relaxed. She knew she was among friends, but she was still sensitive about her weird upbringing.
Neelie came in the front door as the group was returning to the dining room to have cake and ice cream.
'Oh, hi, Neelie,” Carla said. “Would you like to join us for some cake?'
She looked wary.
'Where is Kissa?'
'She's in the nursery with Wendy,” Carla told her. “I hired a babysitter to stay with them during the shower.'
'Okay, but just a small piece for me.'
'Here, come sit,” Aunt Beth said and brought another chair to the table, placing it between herself and Harriet. “What would you like to drink? We have punch, tea and coffee.'
'Coffee is fine,” Neelie said. Harriet could see the woman was uncomfortable.
'Let me introduce you,” Harriet said. “Ladies, Carla's houseguest is going to join us.'
She proceeded to present each Loose Thread, and they, in turn, each said a few words of welcome.
'Phyllis Johnson isn't a Loose Thread. She works for the adoption agency that is placing DeAnn's baby with her.” Harriet looked around. Phyllis had disappeared. “I guess she's in the restroom.'
'Welcome,” Robin said. “I hope you enjoy your visit to Foggy Point.'
'So, what's Oraba like?” Lauren asked.
'Excuse me?” Neelie said in her lilting English.
'I saw in a video on YouTube that your sister's working in Oraba. I was wondering what kind of place it was.'
If Neelie noticed Lauren's use of the present tense in reference to her sister, she didn't show it.
'It is like all of Uganda-hot and dusty.'
'Are there problems with the water there?” Harriet asked.
'I don't know,” Neelie snapped. “She had her work, and I had mine. We didn't talk about it.'
'What sort of work did you do?” Harriet persisted.
'I work at a bank, just like you have here. I wear a dress. I stand at a window and take people's money or give them their money.'
'How about some more coffee?” Mavis said, and refilled Neelie's cup without waiting for an answer. “Pass her the milk,” she told Harriet.
The conversation effectively ended, the group ate cake and chatted.
'I'm going to go check the baby,” Neelie said when she was finished.
She stood and left the room. Phyllis returned to the table when she was gone.
'Are you okay?” Beth asked her.
'I'm fine. I got a phone call I had to return right away, so I stepped outside where it was quiet.'
DeAnn looked at her.
'Don't worry, it was good news,” Phyllis assured her. “Your little girl is on her way. This time tomorrow, she'll arrive in Seattle and, shortly after that, in Foggy Point.'
DeAnn smiled and sagged back into her chair in relief.
'How about we open some presents?” Connie said and wheeled in the jogging stroller. She and Mavis had set it up and stashed it in the kitchen eating area. The Loose Threads had strapped a baby-sized teddy bear into the seat and surrounded it with smaller wrapped gifts.
'Oh, my gosh,” DeAnn said. “You guys shouldn't have.'
'Isn't that the point of a shower?” Sarah asked. “You shower the person with stuff.'
Aunt Beth took a package from the stroller and handed it to DeAnn.
Almost an hour later, the last package had been unwrapped, and DeAnn was surrounded by piles of mostly pink pajamas, dresses, pants and shirts as well as more than one little-girl-sized quilt. Harriet had made two nightgowns. Since they didn't know the correct size, she and the rest of the Threads had stuck to flexible, loose- fitting garments.
A knock on the door interrupted the oooh-ing and ahh-ing.
'Am I too early?” Joseph Marston asked when Carla had let him in and escorted him to the dining room. “I
