Tainted Love by Melody Mayer

Author:Melody Mayer [Mayer, Melody]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-49817-5
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2007-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

Anya and Kat stood by the kitchen counter and nodded with approval as they watched Martina hoist a heaping serving of broiled tofu and grilled vegetables onto her plate. Meanwhile, Jimmy stared aghast at his sister.

“Are you feeling okay?” He shook his head in disbelief.

Martina took a big bite, chewed thoroughly, and washed it all down with a large gulp of Rice Dream dairy-free milk. “Sure.”

“But you hate tofu, you hate vegetables, and you're not big on Rice Dream, either,” Jimmy reminded her. “What are you doing?”

“It's okay. I'm kind of hungry. You ought to eat more. It's really good.”

Her eyes met Lydia's, who did her best to hide her grin lest the moms figure out that something was up. So far, Martina was living up to her side of the bargain. She was eating three meals a day of the allegedly good-for-you health crap that Paisley was preparing.

“This is last meal for Jimmy on low fat,” Anya declared, with an authority that brooked no opposition. “Now that he is golfer he must create muscle mass. I will leave instructions for cook.”

Lydia sensed a bonding opportunity. “You really should see Jimmy out there on the driving range. He has a lot of talent.”

Anya nodded. “This is not surprise. His father was champion—”

“Anya, please.”

Kat, who almost never interrupted her partner, cut off Anya's sentence. Lydia knew why. Though Jimmy and Martina had the same sperm donor, there was never discussion in the household of his identity. In an uncharacteristically sloppy move, Anya had been about to spill the beans.

“Our dad was a champion what?” Jimmy was on it immediately.

“Never mind,” Anya replied. “I have not said anything.”

“Was he a golfer?” Jimmy pressed. “Tiger Woods? Phil Mickelson? Sergio Garcia? Jack Nicklaus?”

“Jack Nicklaus is old man,” Anya scoffed.

“They can freeze sperm. I read it on the Internet.”

“Jimmy,” Anya chided. “Enough. No sperm talk at dinner table.”

Jimmy frowned, and then mashed a fork into a square of tofu on his plate. “I don't see why everyone else gets a mom and a dad and I can't even know who my dad is.”

“It's not important. You have your mother and me.”

Lydia felt for the kid. It wasn't exactly true that everyone he knew had both a mom and a dad. Many of the kids at the country club had single moms, since single momhood had become a very Hollywood thing. A few had single dads. More than a few had two moms or two dads. One kid lived in something called a polyamorous household—Lydia still couldn't figure out the mechanics of that arrangement. Still, she could understand how a boy in middle school would want to know about his father.

“Now we talk about training for Jimmy,” Anya announced.

Training for Jimmy? He was a nonathletic kid who had finally found a sport he enjoyed. There was no need for him to treat golf like an Olympic event.

“Oh, I think the walking and swimming we do is probably enough,” Lydia opined, then forked a mushroom slice into her mouth.

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