I drifted off at some point. When my cell phone rang, my book lay atop my chest and my neck felt a little stiff. I grabbed the cell phone, vaguely noticing that the time read a few minutes past ten.
To my surprise, the voice on the other end was not the one I expected. Sean said, “Dad, sorry if I woke you, but I need to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong?” I came fully awake, terrified that something had happened to Alex and baby Rosie.
“There’s no emergency,” Sean said. “Only this is the first time today I’ve had time to myself long enough to call you.”
I could hear the exhaustion and stress in his tone. “Alex isn’t doing any better?”
“No,” he replied. “I’ve been trying to talk to her about a nanny, but she says she won’t listen and starts crying and saying I think she’s a terrible mother. I just don’t know what to do. I’m not sleeping, I’m up to my eyeballs in work with no end in sight, and I can’t deal with Alex anymore. What should I do to help her? We can’t go on like this much longer.”
I had feared that the situation might come to a crisis point like this. Alex desperately needed help, but the poor child was so wrapped up in misery she was pushing away any attempt to help her. Always a high-achiever in everything she did, she couldn’t cope with a situation she wasn’t able to control. Her loved ones were going to have to intervene to solve the problem.
The question was, how?
TWENTY-ONE
I overslept the next morning by nearly three hours. Having been up until about two a.m., I couldn’t drag myself out of bed at the usual time.
During my conversation with Sean last night I had suggested he call Alex’s best friend, Caroline, right away and ask her to come to the house to talk to Alex. They had known each other since the fifth grade and had been like sisters ever since. I went over as well. Stewart was in the kitchen when I left, and I hurriedly explained where I was going and why.
At the last minute I decided to take Diesel with me. He was fond of Alex, and she of him. I thought his presence might help somehow.
Caroline was there when I arrived. She already had the situation in hand, as I expected she would. She was deeply shocked by Alex’s condition. Alex hadn’t said anything to her about her struggles. Caroline’s husband’s sister-in-law, Anne Marie, was a therapist. Caroline had called Anne Marie to assist, and she arrived not long after I did. While I looked after Sean and baby Rosie, the two women took care of Alex. Diesel stayed with them for half an hour or so; then he came to find me and baby Rosie.
Much of the time I spent with my son was spent listening to his self-recriminations. Sean insisted on blaming himself for not having asked Caroline for help sooner. I didn’t try to argue with him. Once he’d had a chance to rest and could see things more clearly, I would talk to him.
Anne Marie turned out to be a godsend. As Caroline told us later, the therapist dealt kindly but firmly with Alex and got her to agree to go to the hospital. Alex was badly run down and at the point of complete collapse. Around one thirty Sean and Anne Marie took Alex to the emergency room, and Caroline stayed with Rosie. She insisted that I go home, and knowing how capable Caroline was, I didn’t argue.
The hospital planned to keep Alex overnight for observation and to also get her rehydrated; then they would let her go home. In the meantime there was stored breast milk at home for Rosie, along with formula if needed.
I felt depressed when I got up late the next morning. Christmas would be upon us soon, and Alex might not feel up to being with a large group of people. To celebrate without her seemed wrong somehow, but I knew she would feel guilty if she found out that we didn’t because of her. I would figure something out. We could hardly all crowd into her bedroom to have a party.
I had completely forgotten that Frank was due this morning to install the video camera to monitor the front door. By the time I remembered and hurried downstairs to see if he was there, he was finishing the setup. I found him in the living room. The kittens were playing noisily, and Diesel lay beside the cage watching them. I rubbed his head briefly before addressing my son-in-law.
“Frank, I’m so sorry, I completely forgot you were coming,” I said. “I didn’t get to bed until two this morning.”
He held up his hand. “It’s okay, Charlie, you don’t have to explain. Sean called Laura this morning to let her know what was going on.” He shook his head. “Alex has been needing help, and it sounds like she’s getting it. I feel bad for her and Sean. I feel incredibly lucky that Laura didn’t go through this.”
“Yes, it’s been such a difficult time for everyone concerned,” I said. “I hope Sean didn’t stay all night at the hospital and then try to go to work.”
“He came home for a while this morning. He told Laura that he didn’t care if the office burned to the ground. He was going back to the hospital as soon as Azalea’s cousin’s daughter could get there to start looking after Rosie. Caroline has gone home but is planning to come back later.”
“Then I won’t call him. I’ll wait until he calls me,” I said. “He looked like he was at the point of collapse himself last night. I was afraid he might end up in the hospital with Alex.”
“Now that Alex is getting the help she needs,” Frank said, “I’m sure he’ll bounce back pretty quickly. One thing I’ve learned about him and Laura is how resilient they both are.” He smiled. “I think they take after you in that regard.”
“Yes, they are resilient,” I said. “Whether they take after me is another matter.” I decided to change the subject. “Everything is set with the video camera now?”
“Almost,” Frank said. “We need to download an app to your phone and install it on your laptop, or the desktop if you prefer.”
“Phone and laptop will be sufficient, I think.” I gave him my phone.
While he downloaded the app, I retrieved my laptop from the den. Once he finished with the laptop, he showed me how to access any video from both devices.
“Pretty simple,” I said. “At least this part is, anyway.”
“It was an easy job,” Frank said. “The camera is motion-activated, so it won’t record unless movement triggers it. It will keep recording as long as there is some activity. There are actually two cameras. One is hidden in the wreath on the door. The other one is sitting in one of the shrubs, aimed at the living room windows.”
“That’s great,” I said. “I hope the object of all this didn’t see what you were doing.”
“I don’t think so,” Frank replied. “I never saw anyone, and it took me only about three minutes to place the cameras outside.”
“What about wires?” I said. “Are they visible?”
Frank grinned. “No, I used invisible wire.”
If I hadn’t still been so tired, I would have picked up on his meaning right away. As it was, I think I stared blankly at him until he said, “They’re wireless, Charlie.”
“Right,” I said. “Sorry, I’m slow on the uptake this morning.”
“Understood.” Frank grabbed his tool bag and another bag that I presumed had contained the equipment he brought. “If you have any problems or questions, let me know. I need to get to my office at school to pick up something, and then I’m heading home to take care of Number One Son while Laura goes to the grocery store.”
I thanked him again and let him out the front door. Diesel meowed at me, rather insistently, and I wondered what he was trying to tell me. Then I realized what it was. The kittens were overdue to be fed. I checked the time: nearly nine forty-five.