Chapter 17 – [December 31, 2001]
Sally had received the divorce papers by courier on the day after Christmas, a Wednesday. Ted was moving forward with the divorce with great haste. He had procured a lawyer (from church of course) and seemed to be well organized and protected (no surprise). She had spent the holiday with the kids at home, opening simple gifts and trying to find a way to make Jordan feel as though she had both a birthday and Christmas at the same time.
Ted felt sad about missing Christmas with his girls but in all honesty it wasn’t the first time. Back in 1998, before Jen had come along and while Mindi was just a toddler, he had gotten stuck in the Chicago airport on his way back home from a business trip. It wasn’t exactly his fault but Sally hadn’t thought of it that way – at all.
He and Melissa had had a great time together over Christmas – eating dinner in the restaurant on top of the Space Needle, doing stupid tourist attractions like the floating duck tour busses and Pikes Place Market, and exchanging gifts (including an engagement ring for Melissa). He felt some guilt for the way his previous marriage had unraveled, but he soothed it by telling himself that it had been a bad pairing.
We weren’t matched; we had different dreams; Melissa and I are headed down the same path – she wants to serve the poor as bad as I do. Sally is too much of a homebody and nurturer to let me stretch my wings like God made me to do.
He had only seen the two younger girls since their weekend visit before Jordan went on Christmas vacation. The story Melissa told about what had happened in their bedroom was that Jordan had cussed her out and tried to hit her when she had just nicely tried to help with the diaper. Melissa had told Ted that she thought it was borderline abusive that Sally was making Jordan wear them anyways and that she wouldn’t allow something like that in her home – obviously she was an unfit mother. Ted had misgivings in the back of his mind but went along with the story.
As much as Ted really wanted the freedom to pursue his life’s calling, he also really wanted to prove a point to Sally: that he was stronger than her and that he had been “right”. He wanted to be vindicated in front of the church community. Getting custody of the kids would be a major inconvenience but it would teach Sally a lesson. However, it was not really what he wanted per se and he knew it wouldn’t end up being in their best interests even if he got a nanny or something. The lawyer had pushed for this line of action and encouraged Ted to provide any potential details that could suggest Sally was not a capable parent. Honestly not thinking of any but also honestly not wanting to pursue the lawyer’s game, Ted had resisted.
For Christmas, Jordan had really really wanted the new Apple iPod, which had just been released the previous fall. They weren’t cheap nor were they readily available that Christmas season but she figured she could guilt her dad into ‘going big’ since he had been such a jerk. To her surprise, she received a card, signed only with his name (no other personalization) and a crumpled $20 bill. Even though gifts weren’t her primary form of feeling affection, she had felt deeply hurt by his lack of sensitivity. The other girls had received the same lack of thoughtfulness or generosity.
Jordan’s mom on the other hand, did her best to give generous Christmas gifts although she was afraid of not having enough money for essentials since she had yet to land a new CPA job. She had been applying and looking for child care for the two youngest girls to no avail and so she didn’t want to spend a ton of money they might need to survive in the future. Practical won the day: new clothing items for everyone as well as some new pajamas for Jordan (the abundant washing was beginning to take its toll). The younger girls each received small toys as well. Jordan had been thankful but disappointed.
“I know it’s not like it has been in the past girls, but we’ve gotta be smart right now. I’ll make up for it I promise.” Sally had said.
Despite being a week later than the actual day of her birth, Jordan’s party took place on a Monday night – New Years Eve – deep into Christmas break. She had decided to take her mom’s advice and invite her newfound friends Cindy and Riley, as well as Alex; Georgia was still on her family’s fabulous vacation in Spain so she was left out. The plan was to begin at Jordan’s house for cake and ice cream in the evening before heading out to go ‘skating in fancy dresses’ together. The other girls’ moms were supposed to pick them up shortly after midnight.
The decision for no sleepover seemed curious to Cindy and Riley (but of course not to Alex) – although they knew their newfound friend didn’t have a very big house anyways. Riley’s family was having a huge party and they had told Jordan that they had to leave a little early to get to it anyways.
Jordan had still been wetting her bed nightly and getting the twice-daily treatment from her mom she had begun to expect and even rely upon as a kind of coping mechanism. The Monday morning of her party, she had awoken for the second time in her life bleeding – but this time it had been completely contained to her soft purple diaper. The third menstrual cycle of her fresh womanhood, it was all still a new experience for the girl (her second one had begun the previous month in between history class and leaving the house).
“Oh dear Jordie, looks like you’re more than wet again this morning.” Sally said having pulled the covers back and Jordan’s pajama pants down, “Let’s get you in the bath.”
Well I guess that’s one nice thing about wearing a diaper to bed, she had thought. Then reconsidering she thought further, well, maybe it’s not the only good thing about wearing them…
The (now) teenager’s mind immediately went to the pure white dress she and her friends had picked out for her to wear that night and fears of stains and leaks. But as it turned out, her concerns proved to be unfounded with her mom’s expert care and advice.
When the girls arrived Monday night, Jordan looked adorable in her white birthday dress with the pink bow. It was cold outside and the thin white hairs on her arms and legs stood up on end when her guests bustled in the door, dressed to kill themselves, and offered hugs and smiles and compliments.
“YOU LOOK SOOOO CUTE!” Cindy and Alex cried in unison said.
“Omygosh!” Riley exclaimed and winked, “you’re gonna knock ’em dead girl!”
The four plus Jordan’s sisters (who also wanted to dress up fancy) and mom had a great time eating cake and twirling around dancing in their pretty clothes in the living room before. Jordan had been nervous about her friends wandering into her bedroom and finding her diapers in the closet but she and her mom had agreed to move the supply to the master bedroom (along with the plastic sheet off of Jordan’s bed). The room still smelled slightly like stale pee, but of course Mindi was sharing it at that point and so Jordan had plausible deniability.
Mindi had been a little angry when she was told that she would be taking the fall if the girls asked about the odor because, as she pointed out, “Jordan is wet more often than I am anyways mom! And she’s the one who wears a real diaper too!!”
The complaint was silenced immediately followed by a promise on Mindi’s part to follow through with the ruse. As far as Jordan could tell, none of her guests were suspicious of her little secret in the least (at least the two who didn’t already know).