The High Notes: A Novel(60)

No one wanted to leave the theater when it was over. People were hugging and dancing and laughing and some were crying, but they were tears of release and joyful remembrance. Boy could hardly get the big stars off the stage, they were having so much fun with one another, and they jumped down and mingled with the audience and posed for pictures. It was a very different scene from the night a month before. Clay, Iris, and Boy had pulled off a historic event. It took two hours to get everyone off the stage and out of the auditorium. And when the last limo had finally pulled away, and the trailers were being towed away, Clay looked at Iris and Boy and his daughters, and smiled from ear to ear.

“You guys pulled off a miracle tonight. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I doubt we will again.”

“They did it for you, Clay,” Iris said gently. His name worked magic, and who he was, and she was glad his daughters had seen it. She thought he was too modest with them, and they needed to see what a great man he was, and how greatly loved and respected.

“It was fantastic,” Ellen said to all three of them, and Margie was glowing. She had had a ball. They all had. Iris had sent Jimmy home with the sitter an hour before, he was falling asleep on his feet. He didn’t want to leave, but Iris convinced him that he needed to go home and check on Rosie because she’d be so lonely, so he went.

Clay, Iris, Boy, Star, Ellen, and Margie all went to Clay’s favorite diner afterward, and they were ravenously hungry. They’d all been so nervous and worked so hard that they’d hardly eaten all day, except for Margie and Ellen. It was a relief to have the event behind them, and a night filled with love and caring for others.

“What are you going to do about Jimmy?” Boy asked her quietly at the end of dinner. Clay was talking to his daughters, and Star and Ellen hit it off. They were almost the same age. Iris seemed considerably older than all three younger women. She looked younger than they did, but there was something more mature about her, particularly lately with an almost twelve-year-old child to take care of.

“I don’t know,” she said to Boy. “We have to have a hearing in two weeks, if we want to foster him officially. He’s an easy kid, and we love him. If he stays, I’ve got to get him signed up for school.” One of the best schools in New York was a few blocks from Clay’s apartment and they’d discussed it. She was going to put him in public school until she could get him a place in a private school. They were living the experience day to day, not trying to force a decision, and letting it come naturally.

“I admire what you’re doing. I’ve thought about doing that one day. Adopt a kid, to spare him a life like the one I grew up with,” Boy said.

“There’s a little bit of that for us too. Neither of us had even halfway decent childhoods,” Iris said. She hadn’t heard from her father and didn’t want to, and she had made her peace with it. Jimmy had put balm on that wound too. She no longer had a father, but now she had a child. Pattie had left her an incredible gift.

“Do you think you’ll adopt him?” Boy asked her.

“Maybe. We’re figuring it out.”

“How are you and Clay doing?” He didn’t need to ask. He could see it. She was glowing.

“He’s an amazing human being. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

“Are you kidding? I meant it when I told you that you paid your dues. We all did.”

“Maybe so, but I’m grateful every day. And he’s been great about Jimmy. I think he enjoys it. He didn’t get a lot of time with Margie and Ellen when they were kids.”

“Maybe you two will have more kids,” he said, and she laughed and shrugged.

“I’ve got songs to do, and albums to make, and tours to do.”

“You can do both. We all know people who do.”

“I don’t know how they do it. I’ve got one kid with a full-time babysitter, and I haven’t had time for a manicure in a month. Being a mom is a lot of work. And I’ve got music, I’m not sure I need kids, other than Jimmy.”

“What are you two talking about?” Clay asked, as he horned in, and let the three girls talk amongst themselves.

“We were talking about careers versus kids,” she said blithely.

“I vote for kids,” Clay said without hesitating. “The careers take care of themselves. More or less. Kids are forever, like nothing else in life. Look at Jimmy, what a great kid he is.” As he said it, Boy looked at Iris and raised an eyebrow.

“There’s your answer,” Boy said to Iris, and she smiled.



* * *



—

Two weeks later, Clay flew to Biloxi with Iris for a hearing in front of a judge. Jimmy went with them, and Ms. Paley, the social worker, spoke to him in private. He told her he loved New York and they had a dog named Rosie, and Clay was the best dad in the world, even though he called him “Uncle,” and Iris was a terrific aunt. He hadn’t let go of his mom, and Iris didn’t want him to. She wanted Jimmy to remember her, and intended to keep her memory alive.

They had had their home study by then, and passed with flying colors.

The judge asked them if they intended to get married, and Clay said they had no firm plans at the moment, but it was an option. The home study had reported that they had a warm, loving, stable relationship, and they had a beautiful home which was an excellent environment for a child.