The Passion Play Read Free Page A

can't recommend either. They're generating income while this is devouring it."
    "But the market's so low right now. I'll never make back what I paid for it."
    "That's true. You'll be cutting your losses. But better to do it now than later, when the situation is worse. We don't know how long it will sit on the market before you find a buyer. The market may stay the same for years. No one knows. And in the meantime you're paying a mortgage that's too much to afford when you're not working. I assume you haven't changed your mind about that?"
    They both looked to the soft wool blanket spread on the floor, and its cargo of drooling infant, who gummed a whale toy with ferocious determination. Seeing he had their attention, Adam paused to give them a maniacal grin, all scrunched and full of glee. He was dimpled and chubby, his little thighs rounding out his trousers like sausages in their casing.
    "No," said Siobhan softly, and then repeated with certainty, "No. Absolutely not.  It won't be too many months before I can work again. It's not for long. Just this year while he's so tiny. I can't bear to have someone else looking after him. Perhaps next year at the outside."
    "If you took on just part time work you could get to the break-even point." Felicity's eyes were still on Adam. She wished she could pick him up and feel the warm, baby-scented give of him. "Your hourly rate is so high it wouldn't take much."
    "It's so hard to leave him."
    Felicity hummed her understanding. "I don't suppose Peter could maybe contribute a little more . . . ?"
    "Don't even ask. He's been a nightmare. It's like trying to get blood out of a stone. He pays only for half of Adam's bills and nothing more."
    "Maybe if he won't contribute money he could at least have Adam for some of the time while you work. He might be willing to do that, and then you know Adam is with someone who loves him."
    "I hate Peter." Siobhan sounded bitter and vaguely incredulous. "I really do. I don't know what I ever saw in him. How can you love someone so much one day, and then a couple of years later he's just completely different? It's not like I was the only one who wanted Adam. We both did.” She shook her head, sighed heavily, but the twist in her face eased as she contemplated Adam. “I'm so glad I have my baby. Even when everything else is terrible, he makes it worthwhile. Look at him. Isn't he gorgeous? I wish I could just have him and have nothing to do with his dad. Sometimes I think it would’ve been better if Peter and I had never been together at all. Just had Adam as an arrangement without the relationship. At least we'd still be civil."
    "There's no way to have a crystal ball about these things. You thought you were doing the right thing at the time." Felicity watched Adam eye a set of colorful connected rings about a foot from where he sat. He leaned towards them.
    "I know. Hindsight is always perfect, isn't it? In an ideal world we'd sign baby contracts and get together to procreate. No muss, no fuss. Relationships are overrated."
    As Adam started to topple Felicity was out of her chair and across the room, not quite fast enough to save him the impact. She lifted him up and crooned, and his whine faded into silence as he discovered her pearl necklace. Instantly it was in his fist, and he tugged.
    "Don't let him!" said Siobhan, standing by her elbow, her hands lifting, but Felicity had already taken his forearm and clenched fingers in her own hand.
    "Don't worry. I have plenty of nephews. I know what it's like." She said it automatically, her conscious mind surrendered to the sensation of holding this small person, her arm cradling him, his milky scent rising from his clothes and silken skin.
    "He's already broken three of my necklaces. I swear , I've given up on jewelry." Siobhan relaxed and stepped back, then returned to the table and her cup of herbal tea, lifted it to take a sip and watched the two of them over the rim of her cup.
    His feet kicked