JEANNETTE
Topic: - jeannette
"I have to bring him in," Zoe shouted over the screaming.

"No you don't," Robyn yelled back.

"I'm bringing him in."

"You can't."

"I'm bringing him."

This was not at all how Robyn had pictured finally meeting the mother who had abandoned her when she was eight.

Robyn knew Zoe had to bring him in. It had taken years for Robyn to find her mother, track her down to this quaint rustic pale yellow cottage facing Lake Huron. She was finally here. This was the moment.
Zoe had insisted on coming along for moral support. Just for the drive.

But she had to bring her little boy Jake, who was one. She was bringing up Jake by herself. Her choice.
There was no arguing with Zoe. Her hair was blue today, and at the moment stood straight up in a ponytail on top of her head like an angry fountaintop.

Robyn and Zoe were housemates. Robyn loved Zoe as much as her own younger sisters, Daisy and Jenny. Perhaps even at times a bit more because she didn’t share the same twisted history.

The plan had been for Zoe to take Jake on a long walk along the beach when they arrived. But Jake, drenched in sweat from the sweltering August heat, woke up the minute the car stopped. Shrieking, scarlet and gripping his favourite purple toy pickup truck. She did have to bring him.

So here they now quietly stood, a merry greeting party of three, beside the dunes.

Robyn's mother Jeannette watched the strange little group approach from the front window. She tried to focus on the one who must be her daughter. But the blue hair was really distracting. And the florid baby.

For years Jeannette suffered from a terrible recurring dream about a baby. A small perfect face wrapped in a fluffy pink blanket. She tried hard not to think about it now.

Robyn and Zoe paused a second at the base of the steps to the covered veranda. "Don't say a word. Not one. Understand?" said Robyn.

Zoe flashed one of her innocent looks. Not promising. Robyn went ahead and yanked on the woodpecker doorknocker.

Then there she was. Holding the screen door open. Her mother.

They both just looked at each other. Her mother's face had way more lines, and her hair was much duller than Robyn remembered from 15 years ago.

To Jeannette, this young woman with the dark brown curls, amber eyes and dark tan was an attractive stranger.

Carbon copies, thought Zoe.

Neither mother nor daughter made a move to hug the other.

"Robyn." said Jeannette. "And your friends...?"

"Right. This is my best friend Zoe. And her little boy Jake."

"I thought maybe we could sit out here on the porch. There's a nice breeze from the lake." She pointed to a couple of padded wicker chairs by a small table with a pitcher of lemonade and some glasses. She pulled one more chair over from the far side of the porch.

The breeze did feel good. And the lake gave a nice dull roar that helped fill the strained silence.

"I've looked forward to seeing you ever since we spoke briefly on the phone," ventured Jeannette. Dream baby in the fluffy pink blanket.

"I've been looking for you for a long time," said Robyn.

"How did you find me?"

"She has obsessed over it for years. Oops." Zoe had just settled Jake, still clutching his favourite toy truck, with a snack and a drink. Robyn gave her an especially dirty look.

It felt like she'd been searching forever. And all this time her mother had been slightly more than an hour away from Hens & Chickens, two hours from Hungry Hollow. How could she?

"Well, how could you? Leave them?" demanded Zoe.

Jeannette took in the well-loved little boy with sand and soggy cracker blobs on his chin and between his chubby fingers, along with his mom and devoted foster mom. Under the blanket, she can't feel the dream baby's bones.

"I hope you will never have to face the same situation," was all Jeannette said. She holds the dream baby very tight, and all around the dogs are barking.

Robyn didn't seem able to speak so Zoe jumped in, blue fountaintop spouting angrily. "And what about the letter you left for Robyn in that Bible. She takes it everywhere. What was that all about?"
"And the Merchant of Venice for Daisy. And the blank notebook for Jenny?" blurted Robyn.

"Those were the only half-decent books in your grandfather's cottage," said Jeannette.

Robyn looked ill. She was sure the letter and the books had meant more.

Jeannette holds the dream baby close, very close.

"Your grandfather was a war baby," she went on. "He told a story about being five years old and seeing a man in a uniform, with a crutch at the door, and wondering, who is this strange man kissing my mother? It was his father, who had gone to war at age 17.

"John felt he was raised by his grandparents. He grew up with a very flexible idea of family. Too flexible for me. I couldn't breathe. I had to get out."

Zoe and Robyn stared at the older woman sitting with them who said all this with little emotion but freeflowing tears.

Jake stopped making tracks with his toy truck in the sand on the step. He pushed himself to standing, toddled over to Jeannette, and stumbled into her. The toy truck came crashing down on her one knee. He leaned his chin gently on her other knee and looked up at her.

Jeannette reached under his arms and picked him up. Zoe let her. Jake and Jeannette sat together quietly watching the waves on the blue-green lake. Jeannette held him to one side and eased loose the edge of her shirt to wipe her eyes. Zoe gently retrieved him. "Nice to meet you," said Zoe. With Jake on her hip, she went back down the front steps and crossed to the car.

Robyn went over to her mom, squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. "Bye, Mom," she said.

A few moments later Robyn reached into the car and pulled out the small leather backpack she always carried. She hiked over the hot white dunes and tramped the long stretch of dark damp sand to the water. Then she heaved the pack into the lake.
She climbed back up the dunes and slipped behind the wheel of the car.

"Who feels like going for a nice big ice cream cone?" she asked.

Jake squealed and bounced up and down in his seat, arms waving wildly, still clutching his favourite toy truck.