The Two-Family House(23)

But Natalie was different. The first night he was home with her, Abe got up around three in the morning. It was habit that woke him, not crying. Helen was asleep, and it took a few moments for him to register the silence. His first reaction was panic. Why was it so quiet? He pushed off the blankets and wandered over to Helen’s side of the bed, where the bassinet was supposed to be. The room was so dark that he only realized it was there when he stubbed his toe on it. He stopped himself from crying out and waited a few moments for the pain to subside. In the meantime, his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he was able to make out Natalie, asleep and peaceful on her side. He leaned down and put his ear up against her mouth. She was breathing, thank God. But how could she sleep for this long?

Abe got back in bed, but he was restless. He lay awake, listening for the sounds of Natalie’s breathing. An hour later, he pulled the bassinet over to his side of the bed so he could hear better. He hoped the movement might wake the baby, but it didn’t. At four-thirty, Abe picked her up. He held her up in the air with his hands under her arms and her face directly across from his so he could look at her. Natalie squirmed for a few moments in his arms and opened one eye to stare at him. Abe felt like she was trying to tell him something. Let a girl get a little shut-eye, will ya? He put her back down and finally fell asleep. When she whimpered at six-thirty in the morning, Helen jumped out of bed and carried her into the kitchen.

Abe wandered out of the bedroom a few minutes later. “Why did you move the bassinet?” Helen asked him.

“She was so quiet! I couldn’t even tell if she was breathing. I got nervous.”

Helen widened her eyes at him. “This is our fifth baby, Abe. Our fifth. And you’re nervous now?

He shrugged. “The boys cried all the time. They never slept. I was too tired to be nervous. This one sleeps through the night when she’s two days old.”

“Since when is sleeping through the night a crime?”

“It’s not. But the boys always let us know if they needed something. They were hungry, they cried. Tired, they cried. Needed a change, they cried. How are we going to know what this one wants if she never cries?”

Helen burst out laughing.

“What? What’s so funny?”

“You just summed up the difference between men and women, sweetheart. Men kvetch, and women suffer in silence!”

“I’m going to take a shower,” Abe said, pretending to be disgusted.

“Bye. Daddy!” Helen lifted up one of Natalie’s tiny hands for a wave.

Steam filled up the bathroom, and Abe started thinking. Natalie was only two days old, but she was already making him question the things he thought he knew, even the way he thought about himself. He had been the father of boys. Easy. Sports question? He had it covered. Need someone to play ball? He was always game. War, politics, business, whatever. He could handle whatever the boys threw at him. Guy has a question about a girl? About sex, even? Abe hadn’t gotten that far yet with his boys, but he was sure he’d be able to figure out what to say when the time came around.

But Natalie? What was she going to ask him about? He couldn’t predict. How was he going to be any help to her? He was pretty sure Mort hadn’t been much help so far to his girls. Maybe that’s why he always seemed so disinterested. Maybe he ignored them because he didn’t know how to talk to them.

Well, Abe wasn’t going to do that. His daughter would have every advantage his boys had. He would make sure of it.





Chapter 19





HELEN


(September 1948)

From the moment he woke up that morning, Joe hadn’t stopped complaining. The others weren’t happy about the first day of school either, but at least they’d stopped grumbling about it long enough to eat breakfast.

“Are you done?” Helen finally had asked Joe, in a tone that made it clear she wasn’t asking. Joe was about to respond, but kept his mouth shut when she began to line their lunch boxes up on the kitchen counter. Helen knew he was smart enough to realize that a nasty response would mean no cookies with his lunch. Missing breakfast was one thing, but no dessert was another, so Helen wasn’t surprised when he’d decided to cut his losses and apologize. “Sorry, Mom,” he managed.

After Helen handed the boys their lunches she gave them all a final once-over. The last gasp of rebellion came when Sam tried to convince Helen that his stomach cramps might be appendicitis. Her response was to push all of them out the door and to lock it from the inside as quickly as possible. A few minutes later, she heard Natalie babbling in her crib.

With the boys gone and only Natalie at home, everything was easy. Helen was almost ashamed to admit how much she enjoyed taking care of her. With the first baby, Helen had always been afraid she was doing something wrong. When Sam came along it was easier, but Harry had been so jealous that Helen had to sleep with one eye open just to make sure Harry didn’t push his brother out the window. And with the twins—well, there were two of them. But with Natalie, Helen could finally relax. The sheer joy Helen felt just from watching her dribble breakfast mush down her chin was sometimes so intense that it brought her to tears.

After she got Natalie dressed, Helen carried her downstairs, pulled the carriage out from its spot in the hallway and knocked on Rose’s door. Maybe Rose and Teddy would come with them to the park.