Jake used his cell phone to call Pauline and let her know they had knocked off early and were heading out of town soon. She was at the KVA studio working on some paperwork related to the upcoming tour. She had been invited to come with them but had passed. She and Obie and Tabby were going to spend the holiday weekend at an all-inclusive resort in Mazatlán. They would be flying out on a chartered business jet at 9:00 AM the next morning ... He then called the house phone in Oceano. Elsa picked up and he asked to speak with Meghan.
“Hey, Jake,” Meghan greeted a few moments later. “What’s up?”
“We knocked off a little early today,” he said. “We’ll be touching down at around...” He looked at his watch and did a few calculations in his head. “ ... oh, say five-thirty-five or so.”
“I’ll be there,” she promised.
“You’re the best,” he told her.
“Uh ... thanks,” she said shyly.
“You’re supposed to answer: ‘that’s what they say,’” Jake informed her. “Work on your witty retorts a little, will you?”
She giggled a little and then promised she would work on that.
“All right,” Jake said, stuffing the phone in his pocket. “Let’s blow this scene.”
They blew the scene, grabbing their luggage from over by the door and then tossing it into the trunk of Celia’s Mercedes. They let the security guard on duty know that they would be leaving Jake’s truck in the parking lot for the weekend. His name was Frank and he was a young kid in his early twenties who was quite awed to be regularly scheduled for this particular assignment. He promised that he and his colleagues would keep an eye on the truck as well as the warehouse and all of the expensive musical gear inside of it.
Celia drove them to Whiteman Airport with Laura in the front passenger seat and Jake in the back seat (“where you belong,” his wife told him with a giggle). Celia parked her car in the hangar where Jake’s truck was normally kept. They then boarded the Avanti, Celia in the copilot’s seat, Laura sitting just behind Jake. In the seat next to her was one of the four car seats they owned. This one was permanently kept in the aircraft. Another was kept in Jake’s BMW, another was kept in Laura’s cursed minivan, and the fourth was usually kept in Meghan’s new car (she had used her new earnings to buy herself a brand-new Honda Accord). Jake fueled up the tanks to about three-quarters full since jet fuel was cheaper at Whiteman than it was in San Luis Obispo or Heritage. Jill would have been proud of him. They took off a little past 5:00 PM and touched down at SLO Regional at 5:33. Jake taxied over to the general aviation terminal, where Meghan’s new Honda was sitting in the parking lot. He shut down the engines and the three of them stepped out of the plane.
“Where’s my little Caydee?” Laura asked in her high-pitched voice as Meghan walked toward them, Caydee in arms. “Where’s my little girl?”
Caydee, seeing her mommy and daddy and the cool lady who hung out with them a lot, broke into a huge smile. Laura took her out of Meghan’s arms, gave her a big hug, and then covered her face with kisses. Caydee giggled and cooed and kissed her mommy back with her wet, sloppy lips.
“I swear to God,” said Celia, smiling at the display, “she’s grown another inch or two since I saw her last week.”
“She definitely outgrows her clothes long before she wears them out,” Jake said. “Come here, Caydee. Come see Daddy.”
She held out her arms to him and Jake plucked her out of Laura’s grasp. He gave her a few kisses of his own and then hurled her up into the air, catching her neatly as she came down. She laughed in delight at this game, which was one of her favorites.
“I really wish you wouldn’t do that,” Laura said, chewing her lip nervously as Jake did it again, making Caydee laugh even louder.
Meanwhile, Meghan was staring at Celia with an expression of awe that bordered on religious worship. The two of them had not met yet but she was on record as being a huge Celia Valdez fan.
“Apparently they forgot their manners,” Celia said to Meghan with a smile. “I’m Celia.”
“Yes,” Meghan said. “Yes, you are.”
“And ... uh ... you’re Meghan right?” Celia asked, though it was not really a question. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“You have?” she asked. “What did you hear?”
“Uh ... just that you’re Jake and Laura’s nanny,” she said reassuringly. “And that you take very good care of little Caydee while they’re working.”
“Oh ... yeah ... yeah, I do do that,” she stammered.
“I met your sister,” Celia told her.
“You did?” Meghan asked. “When?”
“Uh ... when she was helping Laura deliver Caydee,” Celia said carefully. “I was there when she was born. That’s how Jake and Laura met you, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Meghan said. “Danielle told me that Laura was her patient and she helped deliver Caydee. She didn’t tell me that you were there though.”
“Interesting,” Celia said, impressed. Danielle had kept private information private, even from her own sister. Hopefully that discretion was a family trait. After all, she knew that young Meghan here had been made aware of what was going on between the Kingsleys and herself. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Meghan.”
“It is awesome to meet you,” Meghan said.
Celia then turned to Jake. “Hand over that chiquita,” she demanded. “I’ll hold her while you load the plane.”
Jake handed her over and Celia cuddled her against her body, calling her Chiquita, and exclaiming about how big she was getting. Caydee laughed and giggled and cooed and tried to grab Celia’s nose.
Jake and Laura and Meghan pulled all of Caydee’s baggage out of the Honda. She had more than her parents combined. She had a large diaper bag, the car seat, a suitcase full of clothes and toys, and another suitcase stuffed with extra diapers, extra wipes, bottles of frozen breast milk, jars of homemade baby food, cans of powdered formula, empty bottles, and a kit full of emergency supplies like Tylenol, teething gel, and diaper rash cream (Caydee was very fair skinned, like her mother, and prone to diaper rash). Jake loaded the suitcases into the cargo compartment in the nose. The car seat and the diaper bag were loaded into the main seating area and secured.
“All right,” Jake said once everything was loaded. “Looks like we’re ready to fly. Thanks for meeting us, Meghan.”
“No problem,” she said. “Glad to help, especially if I get to meet Celia Valdez.”
“Enjoy your weekend off,” Laura told her. “We’ll be back on Monday night.”
“I’ll see you then,” she said.
“Goodbye, Meghan,” Celia told her. “It was nice to meet you.”
“Thanks,” Meghan said shyly. “I just want you to know that I really enjoy your music.”
“Thank you,” Celia said. “Maybe when we get our act together a little more you can come out and watch one of the rehearsals and tell us what you think.”
“Really?” Meghan asked, her eyes wide.
“Really,” Celia said. “I’d love to hear a fan’s opinion of how we’re doing.”
“Anytime!” Meghan said enthusiastically.
“We’ll let you know when we’re ready for public consumption,” Celia promised. “You can bring your sister too if she’s not working.”
“That would be so cool!” she exclaimed.
Meghan said one more round of goodbyes and then climbed in her Honda and fired it up. She pulled out of the parking lot with a big smile on her face.