Fiction: Babies, daffodils and maybe airships

This month's Words for Wednesday prompts are provided by Wisewebwoman and posted at River's blog over here. This week's prompts are: daffodils, bluebirds, trench, dentist and/or creek, window, ballroom, mask.

Fiction: Babies, daffodils and maybe airships

Jimmy Bleu was a dentist from New Jersey so he didn't know anything about raising a child. When a woman rang his doorbell, handed him a baby and ran, he chased her for three block but had to stop when the baby peed on him. 
    Two years back when the town dentist retired, Jimmy moved to Bluebird Creek and took over his practice and his house. It had been a good change - less patients, calmer days but he didn't expect a baby. Since his thirtieth birthday, he had wished to be a father but not someone's husband. And somehow his wish was granted.
    Back home, he called the local police but they said they couldn't do anything and isn't the boy his responsibility? Jimmy was told the police in the small town were lax but he didn't think they would be this much. They hung up before he could correct them. It was a baby girl. With dimples, just like his.    
    For two weeks, Jimmy closed down his office and took care of the baby who often cried when she should be sleeping and slept when she should be awake. When Jimmy re-opened his office which was a room on the first floor of his house and couldn't get a sitter, he left her in the next room while he attended to patients. Instead of crying, she slept through the noise. The sound of the drills and the instruments he used soothed the child to sleep. After that, Jimmy kept her in the next room while he worked.
    Later, Jimmy had the baby tested and indeed, the child was his but he knew he could've been her father since he never been with a woman in his thirty-three years on earth. And yet, they did the test twice and twice with the same result. He went to the police to find the woman who dropped off the baby but they said they couldn't do anything since all Jimmy could remember about her was that, she had black hair, ran really fast and laughed like an hyena. He still didn't know why she was laughing.
    About ten months after, on an early Monday morning, Jimmy was digging a trench in his backyard to create drainage for the daffodils that he planted because the child loved them when he happened to look up at the sky - an airplane was writing a message. In white fluffy fumes it said, 'Jimmy, you're an ass. Give my baby back.' Jimmy couldn't decide if the message was for him or the other three Jimmys who all had babies.
    When Jimmy saw the message reflected in his second-story windows, he was surprised to find the message, although backward, was altered to: 'Jimmy, you're an angel. Keep my baby safe.' Jimmy turned back to the sky and then the window - why was the message different? 
    The sound of the baby's cry took his attention away. He dropped his shovel and sprinted inside the house. He had decided to call the baby Sarah after his mother.
    But Sarah was not in her playpen in the livingroom where he had left her. He searched all over the house even the little nooks that she wouldn't know to hide in - she was gone. But this was not unusual as Sarah sometimes appeared when she was supposed to be elsewhere. One time, she appeared in the backseat of his car after he had left her at the babysitter's house not an hour before. Another time, he was at the grocery store when he found her in his shopping cart hours after he left her with his neighbor who called him in a panic. And another time, she simply disappeared after a bath. One moment, he was drying her with a towel and the next, his hands were empty. He searched the house but found her in the backyard with the daffodils that had not yet flowered. But after a while, she had stopped disappearing so he thought it wouldn't happen again.
    In a panic, he called the police but the man who answered the phone said they couldn't do anything not until she had been missing for 48 hours so Jimmy hung up. It was a Monday and he had no office hours so he decided he must look for her. There were moments when he was frustrated with her but he had to admit, he had grown attached to her.
     In a few minutes, he had gathered two bottles with hot tea, three sandwiches, two flashlights with extra batteries, two blankets, diapers, diaper wipes, two milk bottles and a first-aid kit and put them all into a large duffel bag and went out to search for Sarah. He had a feeling she went somewhere where she wanted him to go. 
    The town had about thirty houses, a dozen or so shops, a hospital, a park, a school, a public library and a police station. By nightfall, Jimmy had searched half of them and he was exhausted. He sat down on one of many benches that lined the edges of the sidewalks. He took out the second bottle of tea and took a couple of sips. Faint music swept through the air. He looked around and his eyes landed on the closed ballroom a few feet away. Its windows were dark. The music wasn't coming from there.
    A light fell near his sneakers. He bended back to look up and shot to his feet. Through the bright light, the sideway oval shape looked like a dirigible. Something came slumping down. He jumped out of the way. The rope ladder led all the way toward the airship. 
    The silence and the stillness of the night made him fearful and yet, something compelled him to go up. With her ability, Sarah could be up in that airship. He must go to take a look otherwise he might miss finding Sarah. 
    After he placed the bottle back into his bag, put the straps of the bag over his chest, he grabbed the rope ladder and put one foot on a rung and before he could put his other foot down, the ladder began to retract, taking him upward.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When Jimmy reached the opening of the airship, strong hands pulled him up and dropped him onto wooden floor. The ride up had been windy and chilly. For a moment, he stood, blowing into his hands and trying to steady himself. When he looked around, he was amazed.
    The ballroom was vast with white, gilt ceiling with cascading chandeliers, embossed tapestries on the walls, floor-length arched windows framed by tan silk curtains and upholstered chairs in ivory lined the walls. In a corner, there was a small bar with a white counter where a Victrola turntable sat. About twenty people - old, young, some teenagers, were standing with drinks in their hands or swinging about in the center of the room with a large, circular design on the floor. Their bright and glittery outfits made Jimmy felt plain in his gray clothes. None of them masked their surprise at seeing Jimmy. Nervously, Jimmy smiled at them. 
    The man behind the bar flipped the record and a a slow number began. A familiar giggle made Jimmy looked behind him. Sarah was in the arms of a woman who was rocking the baby back and forth. The woman had short, wavy blonde hair parted on her left side. She wore a long black dress with a slit down her left thigh and black platform boots.
    Jimmy made his way toward her. "That's my baby," he said. "May I have her back, please?"
    The woman turned to face him. He noted the tiny white and salmon daffodil tucked behind her left ear and the black eyepatch over her right eye. "Oh?" she said. Through her small eye, she peered down at him but she was an inch or two shorter. "How dare you barged into my airship and demand things. Boots! Take him to the execution room and make sure to leave no trace." She grinned. Sarah giggled. A large gentleman in a dark suit grabbed the back of Jimmy's jacket collar and dragged him backward.
    "Wait!" said Jimmy. "Didn't you throw the ladder down? That sounds like you gave me permission to come aboard so no barging."
    "Hold!" said the woman. Boots stopped and dropped Jimmy who fell to the floor. He picked up his eyeglasses, put it on and got to his feet.
    The woman shifted Sarah to her right arm and glanced down at Jimmy. "You are correct so I'm going to let you go. Boots, send him home."
    Jimmy was glad but then he remembered Sarah. "What about her? Couldn't I take my baby with me?"
    "Of course not. She's mine." The woman tilted her head. "But if you want her so badly, then I'll give you a chance. Strip to your birthday suit and I'll give you your baby back."
    Jimmy blinked rapidly. He was never comfortable being around people even with his clothes on but to strip in front of all these people? He could feel their eager eyes on him from behind.
    The woman smiled. "Too shy? Or is your child not worth it?" The baby was staring at Jimmy. He couldn't be sure but Sarah's lips were in a pout and her blue eyes were narrow as if she was angry at him. 
    There was a neighbor back in Jersey who was a father and he always said, 'Jimmy, a father must sacrifice for his children or else he's not worthy of being a father.' Well, if Jimmy wanted to stay a father, he must strip. His father abandoned him without a backward look and Jimmy was not going to be like him.
    "Fine. I'll strip." Jimmy removed the bag and dropped it to the floor. He started by unzipping his jacket. Soon he was down to his undershirt and boxers. Everyone around them had paused and all eyes were on him.
    The woman was biting her lower lip as if to keep from laughing.
    Jimmy removed his undershirt. He was a bit chubby but he was never ashamed of his body. His hand went to the waistband of his boxers.
    "Hold! You can put your clothes back on," said the woman. She pursed her lips but then burst out laughing, like she was underwater. Everyone started to laugh as well. Jimmy didn't know what was so funny. He peered down at his boxers. There was Tweety the cartoon bird all over his boxers. It was one of his friend's gag gifts when he moved. He hastily put his clothes back on, picked up the bag and said, "Thank you. Now if you please, I would like to take my baby home."
    "Do you have proof this baby is yours? Or should I ask why she was in my room when I woke up this morning?" said the woman.
    That last one was a good question. Jimmy had no answer. If he told her about Sarah's disappearances and appearances, the woman might think he was nuts.
    "I have no explanation of why Sarah was in your room but I have proof that she's my baby. The documents are in my house. If you come with me, I can show them to you." Jimmy smiled but not too wide as he was sure this woman would be able to spot a fake smile easily. Last month, he signed papers to officially adopt Sarah. Her birth certificate was tucked in her diapers. There was no name of the mother but Jimmy was listed as the father which sped up the process.
    She nodded. "Is this your way of asking me for a date?"
    Jimmy was horrified and yet, he knew many of his friends used all sorts of tricks to get a woman to go out with them. Jimmy believed in honest talks and honest actions. "No. No. I just— I thought— I—" His mind went blank.
    The woman laughed. "Relax. I'm joking. I'm Daffy, short for Daffodil. My mother was a hippie. What do they call you?" 
    "Jimmy Bleu." It wasn't his name until after his mother divorced his father and renamed him.
    She smiled. "So Jimmy, wanna dance?" 
    Daffy didn't wait for an answer. Boots took his bag away. Freeing one of her hands, Daffy grabbed Jimmy's hand and led him back to the dance floor. Baby Sarah giggled as if she had always been here. And Jimmy wanted to be where Sarah was and so he decided to stay for a bit.