Friday morning after Thanksgiving, Vegas
Heith and Edgar stared blankly at the “For Rent” sign in front of Marni and Milli’s house. Looking through the windows, the house was completely empty. Several neighbors were giving them very hostile looks and a police car stopped to tell them to move along or they would be arrested for trespassing. They went to the school address Heith had from Marni’s location app and asked about Marni Haywood-Rowling. The lone security guard at the gate glared at them when they gave their names. Then he threatened to call the police and have them removed for trespassing. At the Famous Vegas Cakery, no one would tell them anything about Milli or which bakery she now worked for.
Desperate, they went to The Velvet Rope as a last resort, hoping that some of Marni’s friends still worked there. The evening crowd was just arriving. It was getting dark, but Edgar did not miss the hostile looks they were getting from the bouncer as th
As they walked back into their hotel, Edgar read through the TRO paperwork. His hands shook. “We’re screwed, Heith. If we go within five-hundred feet of Milli or attempt to contact her in any way, we will be arrested and charged with felony stalking, regardless of wether she agrees to press charges or not.” “What about Marni?” Heith demanded, trying not to touch his broken nose. Edgar flipped several pages as the elevator descended. He looked at Heith, confused, “It doesn’t say anything about Marni.” The hall outside their room smelled like sewage or garbage or both. Opening the door, the smell that wafted out of the room hit them both like a slap in the face and they gagged. Edgar vomited in the hall as Heith slammed the door shut, swearing colorfully. Heith was glad his nose was packed with gauze, as he left Edgar puking, and stormed back upstairs to the front desk. The girl at the front desk blinked at him with an expressionless face, then sent the bellhop
Saturday after Thanksgiving, Durango, Colorado... Milli and Camille were eating pretzels as they walked through the mall behind Willow and Gracie. The girls were taking turns pushing Emily’s stroller and sipping frappes. The 12-year-olds squealed happily and pushed the stroller into a store filled with plushies and candy. In moments, they were hovering over Emily who just yawned as they waved colorful stuffed toys at her. “She looked at this one.” “No, she didn’t, she looked at mine.” “She likes the red and orange one.” “No. The blue and light blue.” “She likes the firefish, Gracie!” “She likes the dolphin, Willow.” They were getting louder and louder, and Emily had scrunched up her face. “Girls! Babies at that age don’t see colors well, it’s about contrasting colors, find something black and white,” Camille scolded. Shaking her head as they stalked off mumbling about penguins an
Milli sat in her car, snowflakes swirled against the glass as she waited for the light to turn green. She watched them dancing, carefree like the fireflies of the summer, and couldn’t stop the tears from running down her cheeks. The only reason her hands weren’t shaking because she was gripping the steering wheel so tightly it turned her knuckles white. She was trying to keep it together until she got home from her obstetrician appointment. The doctor had come all the way back on a Monday to see another high-risk patient and to give Milli some devastating news rather than wait for her appointment on Thursday. * * * Last Thursday... The nurse took all her vitals and had her put a half-gown over her breasts and baby bump. A cart with a portable ultrasound was wheeled in. The obstetrician, an older man with thinning hair and jovial voice, asked Milli a myriad of questions, then if she had any concerns before th
Elizabeth struggled to rise so Lloyd helped her as Milli carried a crying Emily and the carrier toward them. “The doctor said we will know next Thursday if Emily got it from Edgar too. The genetic testing takes three days.” The doctor had followed Milli out, “Ms. Haywood, we really need to talk about your procedure.” “Dr. Barrows, I’m not having an abortion! I’m Catholic!” Milli snarled at him. “But you could die if you get sepsis, he isn’t really alive.” The doctor argued. “You have to consider your health for Emily’s sake. You don’t need to worry; she won’t have this.” Milli snarled at the doctor's suggestion, “You get Emily’s DNA sorted, and then I’ll worry about myself. I will see you Thursday. I’m ready to go.” Milli huffed at Lloyd and Elizabeth. “Fine, Ms. Haywood but if you have any cramping at all, fever, nausea, feeling faint, you call 9-1-1 and come straight in.” The doctor looked seriously at Lloyd and Elizabeth. “Keep an eye on he
As Milli iced the gingerbread cookies Aunt Elizabeth had volun-told her to make, she struggled with the pain. It had only been a little over a month since her world went to heck in a cake box. She had spent two days decorating gingerbread cookies. Camille had asked for help from the Women’s Auxiliary since the diving coach wasn’t much of a baker and the dive team needed a fundraiser for the Winter Carnival and were assigned the cakewalk and bake sale booths. Every cookie brought back a memory of home Milli didn’t want to remember, and she ruined half of what she baked before she found her groove. She decorated the traditional cookies with red, blue, or green scarves and hats, then added white dots or stripes or zigzags. It had been an exercise in frustration at first, but Milli knew she needed the cookies to succeed if she wanted to build her reputation before her bakery opened someday. A hard knock on the door had her peeking at a sleeping Emily as she passed. A pretty blon
Milli carefully arranged the iced shortbread cookies the Church Ladies’ Auxiliary had ordered for the evening service on several large trays. She had made almost two hundred more than needed to make sure the twelve hundred she brought tonight were perfect. Mrs. Wallace and Mrs. McConnell had oohed and awwed over the blue and white iced stars. Each cookie covered in two colors of flares, swirls, dots, and loops; this filigree work had taken a long time. The six-pointed stars looked more like abstract snowflakes or quilted ornaments than cookies. They were art, her art, but they were also an offering, each made with a prayer for her son while she ignored the inevitable. Truthfully, Milli was grateful for the work to keep her mind off the fact that Charlie’s monitor was now beeping more and more frequently. Any time his heartbeat became erratic, it beeped. Milli knew what was coming, and refused to admit it, or her fears. She may hate Edgar, but she wanted Charlie to live. The
At 12:05 AM on December 26th, the doctor cut a thin line across Milli’s stomach. The nurse cleaned and wrapped Charlie quickly before placing him on Milli’s chest. Milli didn’t feel the rest of the procedure, she only remembered the priest blessing her child before giving him last rites. She remembered Jackson saying, “Charlie is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen.” As he took pictures of Milli holding her baby. Milli ran her fingers over Charlie’s tiny perfect face in the quiet room, marveling at how much he looked like a mixture of Edgar and herself. “He looks like both of us.” Her baby never cried, never took a breath, but he would live in her heart forever. Dorine helped Aunt Elizabeth come in. She said softly, “He’s so handsome.” Aunt Elizabeth nodded in agreement, “I’m certain he will give Marni nothing but trouble in the afterlife. Look at that bit of mischief in his smile, oh yes, he’s an ornery one, a little troll just like you.”
Cornell Rowling and Heith found Edgar passed out in his apartment. His company credit card had informed them he bought a round-trip ticket to Las Vegas late on the 26th. But instead of returning the 29th on his scheduled flight, Edgar had bought a first-class ticket back to Dallas the evening of the 28th and then paid cab fare after charging nearly a thousand dollars at a liquor store. He had not talked to anyone in the family since Christmas Day. Empty tequila bottles littered each of the rooms, it smelled like something had died. Edgar mumbled incoherently as they carried him into the bathroom and put him in the giant tub, soiled clothes and all. As Heith’s father filled the tub around his inebriated nephew, Heith looked for the reason behind Edgar's bizarre behavior while he filled a trash bag with empty bottles. Edgar had taken Marni’s death hard, but this was a whole new level of self-destruction. Something black and shiny caught his attention. Heith tapped Edga