A Love for All Seasons by Bettye Griffin Page A

you call me Alicia?” she asked solemnly.
    â€œUh…We liked that name, too. Now tell me, what do you think of your new little sister?” He peeled the pink blanket back a bit so Alicia could see her clearly.
    She looked at the sleeping infant. “Isn’t she ever going to do anything but sleep?”
    Fletcher laughed. “Sure she will! All babies sleep a lot at first. They sleep, they cry, and they make messes in their diapers. You must have—I mean, you did the same thing yourself.”
    â€œI don’t remember doing that.”
    â€œOf course you wouldn’t. No one remembers when they were babies. Even I can’t remember being a baby.”
    Alicia took another look at her new sister. She looked like a big lump of that stuff Mommy mixed up before she rolled it flat and made biscuits, except she had a little bit of hair at the top of her head. “When will she be able to play with me?”
    â€œOh, not for a while yet, I’m afraid. Babies are very delicate. They have to be handled with care.”
    â€œAnd why can’t I play with Mommy?”
    â€œAlicia, I explained that to you. Mommy has to take it easy. She used up a lot of energy having the baby, and she isn’t as strong as she should be. She just has to rest for a few weeks, and then she’ll be good as new. That’s why we hired Sadie. She’s going to come in while I’m at work to help Mommy out.”
    â€œI can help Mommy out, Pop.” Everything was different from how it used to be. Mommy’s tummy had gotten so big, and her ankles got all swollen, and she spent all of her time in bed. Then instead of Mommy bringing her to school and picking her up, Sadie started to do it. Alicia liked Sadie, but she missed playing with Mommy. Sadie was kind of old, and she got tired real quick. But Daddy told her that Mommy needed to rest because she was carrying a baby in her tummy. Now that the baby was here, Alicia thought things would go back to the way they used to be, but now instead of Mommy in bed all the time, her new baby sister just laid around, too. And everything had to be so quiet. If she wanted to listen to her Winnie The Pooh record, Sadie made it so soft she could barely hear it.
    Fletcher reached and rubbed the back of her head. “You’re a good girl, Alicia. But you have to go to school, remember? You’re a big girl, in the first grade. Remember how you promised you’d make good grades?”
    She nodded.
    â€œThat’s why you can’t miss school. Don’t you worry. You’re going to be a big help to Mommy, though. You’ll help her take care of my little princess.” He bent and kissed Daphne’s forehead.
    Alicia’s forehead wrinkled. Princess? Is that what he would call her baby sister? Why didn’t she have a special name, too?
    Then he got to his feet and reached for her hand. “Come on, Precious. Let’s go see Mommy.”
    Smiling, she took his hand. So now Pop called her “Precious.” She liked it. She started to tell him, but she stopped when she saw his face turned away from her.
    He was lovingly gazing at the baby he held in the crook of his other arm.

Chapter 8
    Ticket To Ride
    A licia took the four-twenty-eight train back to the city. It had been a pleasant afternoon, but it occurred to her now that after Martha’s ill-timed interruption, she never got the chance to resume the conversation with her mother, who’d obviously been about to tell her something.
    Daphne, having woken up, soon joined them, sitting to chat while Alicia and Caroline had breakfast. They ended up discussing a completely different subject matter. The moment Daphne learned of their plans to attend church she insisted on going with them. In the end, she stayed at Caroline’s as long as Alicia had. Actually, Daphne, Todd and little Fletch dropped Alicia off at the Green’s Farms train station on their way home to White