Janine and Stacy

   “…So there’s no need to come in today. We have plumbers and water damage folks here so hopefully, by Monday morning, we’ll have everything dried out and we can all get back to work.”

   Janine could hardly believe her ears. Her office manager, Mamie, was on the phone explaining that an old water pipe had burst in the antiquated office building in which she worked as an accountant. The busted pipe had made a soggy mess of the entire floor. Mamie sounded equally frantic and exhausted as she expressed relief that the water seeped up from the floor rather than rain down from the ceiling, in which case all the electronics would have been affected. As it was, Mamie said, the owner was looking at new carpeting, stained furniture legs, and who knows what else! Mamie ended the last sentence with something like a shriek. Janine started to ask about the owner having insurance, but decided not to prolong the conversation. She didn’t want Mamie having a heart attack and falling into the offending water. Ending the phone call, she sat back in her kitchen chair and grinned. A day to myself, she thought. A whole, sunny Friday to myself!  

   Janine grabbed a pen and some paper from the nearby kitchen counter and wrote out a list:

   1. Drop Micah off at Wee Care

   2. Coffee from Brewsters (drive-thru)

   3. Home to change and put on makeup

   4. Manicure and pedicure from JoAnne’s

   5. Shop for purse at mall

   6. Lunch with Gayle at Black Cat Bistro

   7. Home for nap  

   8. Long tub soak (with new bath oil)

   9. Sit on patio and catch up on social media

  10 Place order for Chinese pickup at 6pm

  11 Pick up Micah

  12 Pick up Chinese for dinner

   “There, all set! This will be such a fun, relaxing day. Lord knows I deserve one,” she thought. Janine went into Micah’s darkened bedroom and started nudging him awake with the song she sang to him each morning. “Good morning! Good morning! The sun says good morning. Another day. It’s time to play. Good morning to you!” Three-year-old Micah smiled sleepily even before he opened his big blue eyes. Janine loved this morning ritual of theirs. Picking him up from his crib and hugging him tight while he was still warm and quiet ranked right up there with that long soak in the tub. In a moment, he would be wiggling free from her and on the move, not stopping until seven thirty tonight.

   Janine’s husband, Josh, was dressed for work and in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee when she walked in holding Micah. “Well, good morning you two!” he said. After receiving a quick kiss from both of them, Josh listened as Janine explained about the early morning call from her office manager and her plans for the day. “Good for you, Honey. I think it’ll be great for you to treat yourself to a fun day,” he said. Janine scrambled some eggs while Josh made toast, and the three of them ate breakfast together. Soon Josh was rushing out the door to his car. He had to get to the train station on Providence Street in time to catch the G Train into the city.

   After breakfast, Janine quickly dressed Micah and packed his daycare backpack. Slipping out of her nightgown and into sweatpants and a t-shirt, they were soon out the front door. Backing out of the driveway in her red Toyota, Janine slid open the sunroof and pulled up her favorite playlist on Spotify. A whole day! When it’s unexpected, I think it’s better. She was having this thought when she spotted her neighbor, Stacy, waving goodbye to her husband, Zack, from their front door. Stacy looked up, and with a big smile, waved at Janine as she drove by with Micah. 

   Stacy was not only a neighbor but a co-worker of Janine’s. They didn’t know each other well, but had spoken a few times at company meetings and office parties. As the entire office was affected by the leak and closed for the day, Janine knew Stacy would also be off and wondered what she was going to do with her unexpected time away from the office. She noticed that, Stacy’s husband, Zack, had a little boy in the backseat of his car. He looked to be school age. “Well, I hope Stacy makes the most of it,” she thought, as she flicked on her right blinker, turned off West Maple, and in the direction of Wee Care. “As for me, I’m dropping off this little dude and then making a beeline for a fresh hot cup of coffee.”

   Stacy smiled and waved as she saw her co-worker, Janine, drive past on West Maple in her little red car. Just before she was out of site, Stacy caught a glimpse of a small head sitting in a car seat in the back. “Oh, I forgot that she has a young child,” she said, thinking out loud. “I wonder if they have special plans for today.” She stood a minute longer in the doorway feeling the warm sunshine on her face. It was a beautiful late spring day. Well, sweet little girl, I know where we will be spending most of our day. She turned then, closing the door, and took the few steps to the kitchen where 2-year-old Gretchen sat in a high chair grinning up at her. 

   Gretchen’s brother, Lucas, was on his way to Pointer Elementary where he attended first grade. Her husband, Zack, would be dropping him off this morning by himself before heading to the modest downtown area of the community in which they lived where he worked as an investment banker. Having only one car, Stacy and Zack had set up a transportation routine that worked quite well, except when it didn’t. Like everything else involving the cooperation of two small children, one has to have contingency plans and oodles of patience. Normally, each weekday all four of them piled into the family car long before any one of them had to be anywhere. Zack would have made sure that Lucas had eaten breakfast and that everything he needed for the day was packed and sitting on the seat of the car next to him. Stacy did the same for Gretchen. Then Stacy would jump into the driver’s seat and Zack would ride shotgun. Gretchen would be dropped off first. Zack took her inside the daycare, which typically resulted in less drama than a mother and baby separation. Then Lucas, who had invariably taken at least one shoe off, would be deposited in front of his school from the drop-off lane. Finally, Zack would be dropped off in front of the bank. Stacy’s workplace was just four blocks away and offered free employee parking.  The end of the day routine was made a little easier with the help of Stacy’s mother.

  But today, Stacy had decided to keep Gretchen at home with her. How many times had she wished she hadn’t had to hurry her baby along in the early mornings and instead take time to cuddle or read a book together? Stacy was feeling relieved at not having to leave the house. She could take time to breathe, and it was lovely. She and Gretchen sat idly at the kitchen table. Stacy sipped her Earl Gray tea and gazed out the window to the backyard. Gretchen ate slowly, picking up her Cheerios one by one with her plump little fingers and sticking them in her mouth. They both laughed when once Gretchen couldn’t find a cheerio that was stuck on her cheek.   

   Stacy begin to loosely formulate plans for their day:

   *walk to the park (sunscreen and hat), 

   *play-dough time or make a handprint picture for Daddy, 

   *pretend-play (get lunch ready if G will play alone)

   *lunch (cheese and tomato sandwiches, apples slices, carrot sticks) 

   After lunch she would read a few books to Gretchen and then put her down for a cozy nap. Stacy sighed contently. A sleeping baby meant she had an hour or two to herself. Just think! I can put my feet up and nap or read or watch a movie! Woo hoo! For the afternoon, she had a vague idea about the two of them taking in some fresh air out in the yard and having a sweet treat of some sort, but the details weren’t important. Not yet. Let’s see how the morning goes, she thought. You never know with a toddler.

   Janine turned on to West Maple with coffee in hand and Fiona Apple singing “Criminal” through the car speakers. She was surprised to see her neighbor and co-worker, Stacy, walking down the sidewalk toward her with a baby stroller. “She has another child?” wondered Janine. “Wow, what a busy lady. A full time job and two children. I wonder if there’s another one somewhere?” Janine smiled, imagining a baby tucked into the backpack slung over Stacy’s shoulder. At that moment Stacy looked up and returned Janine’s smile as she passed by. Janine was struck by the serenity she saw in Stacy’s face. “That looks like one contented lady,” she thought.

   Stacy was pushing Gretchen in the stroller to the neighborhood park when Janine turned onto West Maple. Stacy could hear music coming from the sunroof of the red car. She smiled as Janine passed by and she heard Because he's all I ever knew of love, What I need is a good defense… “It looks like she’s enjoying her day too,” thought Stacy, as she reached down and gave Gretchen a smile and tickle.

   The next time the ladies saw each other was after lunch. Janine- manicured, pedicured, newly pursed, dined, napped, and soaked- was sitting in a lounge chair on her back patio. Laptop on her knees, she was scrolling through social media sites. Stacy- also napped, and three chapters further along in her current read, an historical fiction set in the late 1800s- was also in her backyard under an oak tree on a blanket with Gretchen, where they were happily soiling their faces, clothes, and blanket with chocolate ice cream. A radio could be heard playing music softly from the kitchen window.

   It was, in fact, very unusual that Stacy and Janine would see each other in their respective backyards. They had lived in the same neighborhood for six years and had never done so before. The reason this was possible today was because the Ansbergers, the family that lived between them, were currently putting in a new wooden privacy fence. They were at the point in construction where the old fence was down, the new posts were up, but the pickets had not yet been added, making it possible for Janine to see into Stacy’s yard and vice versa.  

   There is certainly a document somewhere that asserts that one’s backyard is a much more private space than one’s front yard, therefore both Janine and Stacy avoided looking directly at one another as they carried on with their activities. But with an occasional furtive glance, Janine noted that Stacy, though presently a chocolate mess, looked so happy, lively, and fulfilled. So…motherly. “Was I selfish with my free day?” she wondered. She thought of Micah in daycare, and the Chinese takeout she had ordered for tonight’s dinner. But Stacy, taking sneak peaks at reposed Janine had her own thoughts. She felt that Janine looked so refreshed, calm, and lovely. So…independent. “Am I being too self-sacrificing?” she wondered. She thought of how unkept she might look in her husband’s eyes when he came home from work.

   The unexpected free day

    is both a blessing and a curse

   The planning of it may steal soul-growth

     and adventure

   But impulsive indulgence may waste opportunities

     to get good things done