Ashley & Milo

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  I called Jean to find out what she was giving Lindsey for her birthday. I took it she wasn't going to get too much because Jean said money was tight at the Burgess residence. She made me promise that I wouldn't buy a whole lot either so that she wouldn't be shown up. "I may hire a pony for her to ride on her birthday. She loves animals." Jean was okay with that.

  I made the comment that Mark was doing a good job for me which made Jean a little jealous. I said I hadn't really met Steven or Becky yet, although I had seen Becky when I picked up Mark. "She acts like a slut and won't listen to me at all. I'm afraid she is headed for trouble. Do you know she wears the same size clothes that I do, except she is bigger in the bust than I am? Milo do you have to invite her to Lindsey's party? She will show up half naked if you do. I don't want her there."

  "Jean, I have to. She is Lindsey's stepsister. I've invited Mark and asked him to bring Steve. I can't not invite her."

  "I suppose you're right, but she'll make a scene. She just has to flaunt herself and I have no control over her at all."

  Wednesday, when I was finishing the Grover's nursery, I had a talk with Kim. Kim, her kids and Will were invited. Patrick and Linda and family were too. I made arrangements for Henry, owner of the deli, to cater the cake, ice cream and soda pop and invited any of his workers that wanted to drop in to wish Lindsey a happy birthday. Mrs. Hamlin, the Browns and Peterson were invited too. I requested no gifts, please.

  I had no idea what Ashley had planned. She was excited about having a pony for Lindsey to ride. She suggested I get another pony for the other kids that were going to be there. She said she would take care of it, if I was busy. One last detail was to tell Mark that if his mother was up to it, she might like to meet his stepsisters. This might upset Jean, but she would have to deal with it the best she could.

  Thursday and Friday I worked on the big house for Ashley. I went over and had tea and cookies with Mrs. Hamlin while Ashley had the two girls out shopping. There was a twinkle in her eye when she asked, "How are you and Ashley getting along? It must be difficult with two youngsters to find time to be alone together."

  "Why do you think Ashley and I need to be alone together?"

  "Because she loves you, that's why. Don't tell me you don't love her."

  "I love her is right and I just hope I am the right person for her. What is the neighborhood going to say when they find out we are getting married?"

  "You leave the neighborhood to me. You just make that woman happy. Some here in the neighborhood have taken you for their own. I have and I still count around here." I guess Mrs. Hamlin had become Ashley's confidant. "How would you like to have the girls come over and stay with me tonight? I'm sure you can find some way to occupy yourself."

  Saturday was a beautiful day for a birthday party for Lindsey, me too for that matter. I had sent Ashley home at four-thirty, just as the day was dawning. Ashley kept saying it was going to be a busy day. At eight I went by the big house and across the street to Mrs. Hamlin's to see the birthday girl as agreed. Mrs. Hamlin had prepared breakfast for me. Ashley joined us before we were finished and had coffee. I surreptitiously held Ashley's hand. Mrs. Hamlin smiled when she saw this.

  "Lindsey, your mom is coming over to wish you a happy birthday this afternoon."

  "Goody, I miss her. I knew she wouldn't forget my birthday. Is her husband coming?"

  "I don't think so. Mark and Steve are coming and maybe Becky." She was all smiles when I mentioned Mark, seemed okay with Steve and made a face when I said Becky. I knew before this how she felt about her stepsister. Today though, I didn't chide her or tell her she had to be nice.

  Mark and Steve were the first to arrive. They had their mother Shannon with them. She was a pleasant-faced woman, somewhere between forty and forty-five, I judged. At least ten years older than the new Mrs. James Burgess. Shy, I invited her to spend time in the apartment where she could watch the kids ride the ponies.

  These came while Lindsey and Marie were putting on the pretty dresses they received as presents. I knocked on the bedroom door. "Lindsey, I think you better put your dungarees back on. Come look out the window and you will see why." It only took a few minutes before my two girls were watching the ponies come down the ramp from the horse transport.

  I was some surprised myself. I had ordered one pony and Ashley had overruled me and said she would get one more. Instead there were four ponies and one docile mare for the older kids to ride. Almost immediately Linda and Patrick's two were there and then Will and Kim's.

  I was left alone with Shannon Burgess and introduced myself more formally. "I know all about you. Mark has told me you have given him work for the summer. Steve has proudly said that he is on your payroll too. Believe it or not you have shown more interest in them than James ever did. I appreciate it. You know I'm medicated all the time, don't you?"

  "Yes, Mark said you needed to be."

  "I really want to thank you for inviting me. I don't see my children enough anymore. Becky will probably be here although she doesn't know I am. She doesn't come to see me as much as the boys. Mark said it would be better if she didn't come, but I would love to see her."

  "He told me. I think your Becky is going through a phase. She and Jean don't get along although Jean has tried hard enough. You know my ex-wife will be here. Is that going to upset you?"

  "No, I need to meet her sometime. I wish I could warn her about James. I almost feel sorry for her. Well, I don't want to say anymore about that, but if she loves him, she is in for some heartbreak. Now go down and join your party. I'll just sit here and watch from the window."

  I came up to the ponies just as Lindsey was dismounting. She came over and gave me a hug, telling me this was the best birthday ever. "Thank Ashley. She made it possible for everyone to have a ride without having to wait forever." Lindsey went running away to do as bidden.

  I saw Jean arrive. Linda made a bee-line to her to fill her in on what was going on. Jean just waved at me and smiled. I eased over toward the garage. I expected Becky any minute. Mark had whispered that she was getting a ride from one of her many boyfriends.

  I was right, and she soon came around the corner of the building. She was alone and I could almost read her mind. She wanted to make a statement, but the people, family included, would not have approved of her choice of apparel. She would have made a statement all right. The outfit she had on was more than revealing and it practically showed everything. She turned to retreat.

  I spoke to her as she turned away. "Becky Burgess, Mark said you were coming to your stepsister's party. I'm glad you could make it. Come, I'll introduce you to everyone."

  She was in a spot. Her transportation had left and although brave, she was having second thoughts. "I don't think I am dressed right for this party. I thought it would be just a few people."

  "What is it, your dress?" Red-faced, she nodded. "I tell you what. Why don't you sell me what you have on and I'll furnish a different dress for you to wear. It will be much more appropriate."

  "But I like this dress, just not for here. I paid a lot of money for it."

  "I'll double what you paid for this one. You have about a half minute to make up your mind."

  "Do I get to see the other dress first?"

  "No you don't, but you can trust me that it will be more appropriate than the one you have on."

  "Okay, I'll do it. Mark says you are a pretty good guy. You owe me thirty-seven dollars and a new dress." So she had paid eighteen-fifty. It would have been a lot for a girl in her circumstances.

  I gave her the money. "The new dress is upstairs in my apartment. There is a lady up there who will help you get changed. You can leave the dress you have on in the rose bedroom after you change."

  Uncertain about what was going on, with trepidation Becky went up the stairs. I went back to watch my kids on their rented poni
es. I did keep my eye on the doorway. Twenty minutes later, Shannon and Becky were standing there. "Mark, why don't you go escort your mother and sister and introduce them to some of these people?" He looked to where I indicated, seeing his mother, but not recognizing his sister at first.

  He was all smiles when he came back to us. He first introduced the original Mrs. Burgess to the new Mrs. Burgess. Surprised, I couldn't see any tension between the two. Jean addressed Becky, "Becky you are a beautiful young woman. Where on earth did you get that exquisite dress?"

  Becky started to say "Your ex", but instead said, "Mr. Burns and I made a deal for one I had on when I arrived. My Mom helped me change. She gave me the necklace she had on to wear with it. Thank you for saying I am beautiful." I think she was seeing Jean, the hated stepmother in a new light.

  Ashley, who had been watching all of this, was smiling. She came over to me. "I wondered how you were going to deal with Becky. What did she have on when she came and where did the dress she has on now come from?"

  "She had on a slutty little number, just as we suspected she would. The dress she has on belonged to Kim Grover. I found out what size Becky wore from Jean and Kim had this one she said she never could wear again. I bought it from her for Becky."

  Ashley laughed and whispered, "Milo Burns, I can see where life's going to be really interesting living with you. Now I have a surprise for you. There are two sawhorses in the garage next to the jeep. Would you put one in front of the big house and one on the sidewalk by your apartment? Take Steve with you."

  The signs attached to the sawhorses said, "Free pony rides for kids." It wasn't long before the lot filled up with several more kids from the neighborhood, some with curious parents. The next time I saw Marie and Lindsey, they had on a tee shirt over their tops. It was black and across the back it had the advertising and logo that Ashley had copied from my truck door.

  Mark and then Steve and then Kim's two kids and then Linda's two were sporting them and then it seemed as if all of the kids had one on. There was a sea of them. God love Ashley!

  Just then Henry's catering truck pulled in with the cake, ice cream and pop. Lindsey was served first and then came over and sat on the ground next to me. "Daddy this is the best birthday ever. I have a million new friends and Becky even gave me a hug when she said happy birthday. She is pretty isn't she? She said it was all because of you. I just love you to pieces."

  Becky left her mother and Jean talking together and made her way over to me. "Mr. Burns, I was shocked when I went upstairs and found my mother there. I never wanted her to see me in the dress I had on. Then when I opened up the box and found this dress, I knew she was going to forget how I looked. I want to thank you again and again. I know why Mark likes you so much and for once he acted proud to walk beside me. He usually wants to stay as far away from me as possible."

  "Becky, you'll do fine. Actually that dress isn't anymore appropriate than the other for this type of gathering, but it doesn't label you like the other one did. If you are ever in doubt about what to wear, ask Jean. She is a beautiful woman and instinctively knows these things. Let her be your guide, you can't go wrong."

  "I should think you would hate her after she left you for my father."

  "I hate what she did to me, but you must remember she is the mother of my two daughters. How can I hate their mother? If I did, that would hurt them and I can't ever do that."

  Becky looked at me, puzzled a little. "Jean said you were weird sometimes, but I think it is a nice kind of weird. Can I call you Milo, just like my two brothers do?"

  "Sure, I'd like that."

  I was a very happy man sitting in a chair watching the kids having fun. It was almost time for the ponies to leave. Even I could tell they were getting tired. Suddenly, someone came up behind me and covered my eyes.

  "You want me to guess who this is, right?" I got a grunt of assent. "Well, let me think, it has to be a woman. It also has to be someone that I know by sight very well. It has to be someone that hasn't been here yet today, but is familiar with the place. I can't tell by sight, because I can't see you and I can't tell by sound, because I can't hear you. The only thing left is smell. I think it is Lilly Trevor behind me. I recognize the scent you wear."

  I got the tinkling laugh that was Lilly. After greeting her I asked her to take a picture of the kids in the black tee shirts standing around the idled ponies. She did this and then took one of the kids turned so you could see my logo written on the backs.

  Having a minute alone with me, she asked about the lovely young woman dressed in the beautiful tan sheath. I explained how and why she was dressed that way. "In other words, she was Milo'd just the same as I was. Oh, by the way, the supplement will be out tomorrow in the Sunday paper. The story is about you giving away some valuable paintings. You will be surprised at what the final appraisal for them is."

  "How much?"

  "Oh, I'm not telling. Read it in the paper tomorrow." Again the laugh and she was gone. The girls got a hug, ditto, Ashley. Jean came in for a friendly greeting before Becky was asked to relate my little episode with her. Again the expression that she had been "Milo'd" was repeated.

  Some of the neighbors questioned what she meant and she related what had happened to her on our first meeting. She went on to say, "Believe me, it is an honor to be singled out to be "Milo'd." She worked the crowd telling everyone to read the supplement in the Sunday paper. She came by me saying she had to leave and we all watched as this beautiful creature hurried away.

  When the ponies left the neighbors slowly came by Lindsey to wish her happy birthday. Many knew Ashley by sight, but had never met her personally. They thanked her as I had indicated it was she that had supplied the ponies and the location. I disclaimed any knowledge of the tee shirts and said it was a surprise to me. Whether believed or not didn't matter.

  Jean came to me as she was leaving. "Would it be okay to have the girls with me tonight?"

  "Of course, I was going to suggest it. You might consider taking them out for pizza. Do you need any money?"

  "No, that is taken care of. Look, I don't really understand what happened here today. I met my husband's ex-wife and actually like her. My stepdaughter turned from being a possible juvenile delinquent to a semi-refined young lady and all of my stepchildren are getting along with each other and with me.

  "As Lilly would say, I think I have been 'Milo'd.' Anyway, thank you for a wonderful day. The girls are going to be here one more week. Let's sit down before they come back to me and reach some kind of agreement where we can share them with some degree of fairness." The hug I received was especially warm.