Life with a new baby combined with a busy restaurant was draining, making me appreciate even more my week’s rest at the Botanic Garden Hospital. Vanessa was a finicky eater, and the doctor had told me to try feeding her as often as possible. Many times I fed the baby without even being awake – Mac would roll me on my side while I slept and let the baby suckle, then roll me over on the other side for a repeat performance! I spent a lot of time dashing between the house and the Pizzeria to feed her, and confess that I became utterly exhausted.
Following Dr. Cyrus’s warning about germs we kept the baby home for the first couple of weeks, not allowing people to visit until the tiny infant grew a bit more. The exception to this rule was Momma Simmons, there was no way she would be denied access to her grand-child! Each day she would make her way to our house and sit gazing at her youngest son’s daughter. She understood why the baby had to remain at home but was also anxious to show her off, and was pleased when Mac and I agreed that the baby could be taken out.
Momma wanted her friends to see the new-born, and when I arrived at her house carrying Vanessa I found a circle of dignified matrons gathered in her living room. Momma took the baby from me and passed her to a lady named Eunice. Eunice inspected the baby from head to toe, examining her ears and the bottoms of her feet. Vanessa was then handed to Esme, who went through the same type of close examination. The six ladies present inspected the wee baby, and it was done in total silence until they had each had a turn.
As the baby was passed back to me Eunice spoke for the first time. With an element of doubt in her voice she announced, “I tink is Mac own”. It took a moment for me to understand what she had just said, and when I realized the implication of her announcement I was outraged! Those six ladies were there to judge whether or not Mac was the father of my child! Indignantly I replied, “of course it’s Mac’s baby, whose else would it be!!??” They looked at my beautiful daughter with her blonde hair and fair skin and just shrugged.
To this day I am sure a lot of old-timers believe I had a fling with a Swedish sailor, even though Vanessa at least had Mac’s feet! That little baby was the spitting image of her mother, something no-one seemed willing to take into consideration.
