Free Manhattan Lullaby by Olivia De Grove Page A

to marry the dogs, not to hear a confession from the father of the groom. “Look, Steve, this is really none of my business. I just came here to do the ceremony and make sure the caterer did a good job.” She looked at her watch. “Well, would you look at the time! I really should be going.”
    But Steve didn’t hear her. “Did you know I got two kids? Boy twelve, and a girl eight. She lets me see them every third weekend. Ain’t that nice? Every third weekend I get to spend time with two little strangers. Whatshisname even wants to adopt them. He must have a thing about changing the names of members of my family.” Champagne and pain were making him morose.
    Janie tried again to interrupt. “Ah, Steve …”
    But Steve hadn’t finished yet. “That’s why I got Tony. He’s my family now. Good old Tony.” He took another jolt of champagne. “It’s not the same as kids, though. God, I miss my kids.”
    In spite of her desire not to get involved, Janie felt a great wave of empathy rolling over her. She wanted to say something supportive, something helpful. “Couldn’t you get joint custody or something so you could see them more often?”
    Steve looked even more depleted. “I tried that. But how can a bachelor living in Manhattan compare with a happily married couple living in Fairfield, Connecticut, with a station wagon and a yard? The judge almost laughed me out of the court.” He sighed heavily. “I suppose I could ask for a variance on the court order, but I don’t want to put the kids through that again. They’ve been through enough already.”
    â€œYou could always get married again and have another family,” offered Janie the optimist.
    Steve shook his head. “Nope. Just ain’t possible. All the good women are already taken. Besides, women these days don’t wanna have kids. They wanna have careers—like Lavinia. She thinks that buying fancy clothes for all those rich social types to dazzle each other in is a worthwhile way to spend her life. She thinks that having kids is boring.” Through bleary eyes he looked down at Janie. “You wanna have kids?”
    â€œSure I do. One of these days.”
    â€œYou wanna marry me?” He was only half kidding.
    Janie decided to concentrate on that half. “Sorry, I’m afraid I’m one of the good women who’s already taken. Or at least I will be as of Saturday.”
    â€œSee what I mean?” And he knocked back the last of the champagne.
    â€œWhat about Lavinia?”
    â€œLavinia?” Steve took a sideways glance at the voluptuous body in the violet dress. “Maybe one of these days when I get tired of resisting her efforts to get me down the aisle. Who knows? But she’s too old to have kids now.”
    â€œYou could adopt.”
    Steve shook his head. “It just ain’t the same. A man’s gotta raise his own flesh and blood, you know what I mean?”
    Janie was just about to respond when a few more visual arrows darted her way from across the room. Lavinia Dodge was obviously a cum laude graduate from the if-looks-could-kill school of social graces. Janie decided she had done enough empathizing for one evening. It was time to get back to her own life. Besides, she had never been any good at archery.
    She started to rise from the chair, but Steve, who had intercepted a few of the arrows himself, put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently back down. “Take it easy. I don’t have a Sold sign on me yet. If I want to talk to you, I’ll talk to you, and Lavinia can go …”
    â€œLavinia can what?” said Lavinia, who had approached the chair just in time to overhear Steve.
    Steve, who had passed tipsy and was well on his way to a serious case of champagneitis, looked up and grinned. “Well well, if it isn’t the mother of the bride.” He tried to wrap a