The Perfect Child by Berry Lucinda

Author:Berry, Lucinda
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-28T16:00:00+00:00

THIRTY

CHRISTOPHER BAUER

It was a bad idea to have Janie at the baby shower. I didn’t want to be here either. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t take Janie for the day while they did their thing, but Hannah insisted we come. All the husbands were invited. Baby showers were no longer women-only events, but I wouldn’t mind going back to when they had been.

Usually Hannah turned into a basket case whenever we had a big party or event at the house, but since Lillian and Allison were throwing the shower, she didn’t have to do much except relax and enjoy herself. She sat in the living room with her feet propped up on our embroidered stool while Lillian and Allison bustled around the house taking care of things. Her feet had swollen up as soon as she’d hit the six-month mark. Janie ran room to room trying to get people’s attention.

“Janie, can you go outside and play so Grandma and Aunt Allison can work?” Hannah asked from her position in the living room.

“I wanna help!” She stomped her feet and crossed her arms. I watched from my spot on the couch in the living room to see what Janie would do.

“Sweetie, why don’t you go outside and play with your daddy?” Lillian shot me a pointed look.

I’d tried helping earlier in the day, but I’d gotten pushed out of the way just like Janie. I tucked my phone in the back pocket of my jeans. “Let’s go swing, sweetheart,” I said, getting up and heading toward the back door.

She didn’t move from her spot in the kitchen.

“Janie, we don’t have time for this. Come on. Let’s just go outside and play. We can do whatever you want,” I said.

“I wanna help,” she said. She stuck out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout.

Lillian handed her one of the balloons she’d just blown up. “Here, take this and play with it outside. You can throw it up and play catch.”

Janie snatched it from her. She glared at her, then promptly squeezed her hands together and popped the balloon, making us all jump.

“Janie, that wasn’t nice,” Hannah said.

“You’re not nice,” Janie fired back.

We were one step away from a battle. I quickly scooped Janie up and threw her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I tickled her legs while we walked and brought her outside. Sometimes it worked and diverted one of her meltdowns, but her face was still set in stone when we reached the yard.

Her behavior didn’t get any better as the day wore on. Janie scowled at people as they filed into the house and greeted Hannah. She barely spoke to my mom when she arrived and refused to respond when people spoke to her. She popped any balloon she could get her hands on, continually startling people. Everyone tried to laugh it off, but it didn’t take long for it to become annoying. At first, we ignored her like we did with so much of her attention-seeking behavior, but we had to step in when she went over to the cake.

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