Page 64 of Baby Blue
She sat quietly for a few more minutes before she said, “School. Why don’t you go to school?”
“I can’t go to school. I have to work.”
“But you could go at night. You could get your GED.”
“I’d have to take the classes.”
She grinned. “You can do all of that online! It’s easy.”
“Is it expensive?” He’d never given that any thought, but wouldn’t it be nice?
“I don’t think so. We can check. But I’ll be in high school, and you can be studying with me! It’ll be fun! I can help you with your homework!”
“Polly, I think that’s an excellent idea. The two of you will be in high school together!” Anne said with a huge smile on her face.
That wasn’t an entirely bad idea. He’d thought about getting his GED many times, but he hadn’t had the money or the time. But if he could work at his own pace and have Polly and Anne to help him, he could do it. “You know, I think I want to do that.”
Polly laughed. “You’re welcome!”
“Oh! Thank you! Yeah. Thanks.” BlueWallace with a GED. He’d never expected that to come up, but he was excited at the prospect.
It would be hard, but he’d make it. As long as he had them in his corner, he could do anything.
The summer wentby without a hitch. Blue was excited about work, and he sold seven more songs to Tidal Wave. Everything was good. Between Blue and Anne, both houses were clean all the time, the laundry was always done, the kids got their homework finished on time, and Anne didn’t have to worry about where they were or what they were doing. They were with Blue in the evenings, and they seemed happy with the arrangement. And on the weekends, when they were both off work, they were at Anne’s house. They’d even gotten a second set of nursery furniture and turned her dining room into amakeshift nursery so Indie would be comfortable when they were there.
Then Blue noticed something odd. Polly hadn’t spoken to him in days. Matter of fact, she’d barely look at him. He thought back and couldn’t remember doing anything that would’ve upset her or hurt her feelings. If he asked her a question, he’d barely get a yes or no. Toady seemed his same old self, so it didn’t make sense.
Finally, on Tuesday night, Blue had enough. “Hey, Polly, is something wrong?” he asked as he put away the dishes from the dishwasher.
“No.” She didn’t say another word, just headed to her bedroom, and he didn’t know if he should go after her and force her to talk to him, or just leave it alone. Then he decided maybe he’d ask Anne what she thought.
Her answer was a big surprise. “She started her period last Friday,” she explained as they lay side by side in her big bed. It was new?Blue had bought a queen bed for them to have at her house, and he’d decided it was worth every penny he’d spent.
“So now she’s a woman?” he asked, and he wasn’t kidding. Wasn’t that what it meant?
“She’s got a way to go for that, but at least her body’s headed that direction. But I think she’s feeling a little awkward and wondering if people can tell just from looking at her.”
Blue cuddled her a little tighter. “Well, I sure couldn’t. I thought I’d done something horrible to her.”
“No. She’s just growing up and feeling weird about everything.”
“Yeah,” he said with a chuckle. “Your little girl is growing up.”
“Ourlittle girl is growing up,” she answered, and Blue could tell she was waiting for his response.
“Yeah. Our little girl.” When their lips touched, he could feel that spark, the one they’d always had, and he hoped she couldfeel it too. Polly and Toady were a joy to be around. Yeah, they were kids, and they got into squabbles and acted like little shits from time to time, but as kids went, they were polite, kind, and well-behaved. “You know, I was wondering… Do you think that, maybe not right away, I dunno, someday, if they want to and if you want them to, and if you want me to, do you think… Could I maybe adopt them?”
The catch in her voice wasn’t what he’d expected, but he understood when she replied, “I think they’d love that, and I know I would.”
Blue sat up and turned on the bedside lamp so Anne could see his face. If she didn’t know how serious he was about being part of their family, she needed to see his expression so she could understand. “I don’t know what you’ve got in mind, but I want this to be permanent. Yeah, it’s kinda soon, and we should probably wait a little while, but I want this to be my life.”
“You sure about that? Because the BlueWallace I knew drank and womanized and slept until noon. And he needed a shave. And to run the washing machine more often,” she said with a giggle through her tears.
“I’m sure. Positive.” Looking down into those eyes, he felt his whole world gel. This was where he was supposed to be. He was surer of it than anything he’d ever considered.
“Well, with that in mind… Polly’s going to ask you something tomorrow night at dinner. Please don’t turn her down cold. Just think about it, okay? It would mean a lot to her.”
“What?”
