Authors: Bettye Griffin
“
Besides, he’s not really eligible for adoption, is he? His mother is alive.”
“
Yes, but she’ll be in prison until he’s an adult. He barely remembers her. Why should he lose his childhood on account of her bad judgment?”
“
What about his grandparents?”
“
Mom, they’re about your age. I’d guess his grandmother is in her early sixties, his grandfather in his mid-sixties. They have custody of him, but at that age it’s difficult. And it’s not just Marcus they have custody of. He has three younger cousins. I’m afraid they might all wind up in foster care. The grandparents can move around reasonably well—the grandfather uses a cane—but they were injured in a car accident a couple of years back and had to go on disability. It’s a lot for them to take care of kids so young.”
“
Oh, my.”
Her mother sounded more sympathetic than pitying
. Ava felt like she was making headway and quickly painted a visual picture. “Imagine you taking care of
your
grandchildren on a full time basis. There’s no reason why something like that couldn’t have happened to you and Daddy.”
“
Maybe so, but I still think you should be married to adopt.”
“
In case you haven’t noticed, Mom, I don’t have a husband.”
“
No, but Joy and Maria tell me you’re seeing a nice young man.”
Ava nodded knowingly
. She had expected her sister and sister-in-law to give Doris a full report about Hilton after the open house. “Yes, but that’s as far as it goes.”
“
Is he as nice as, oh, what was his name…”
“
Leon?”
“
Yes. The one you were seeing last year. I actually got to meet him.”
“
Yes, well, he was very nice, but it just didn’t work.” She’d had no choice but to break it off when he expressed a desire to have children one day.
“
I’ve noticed that whenever you date someone it only lasts a few weeks or months. That’s the kind of thing that makes people wonder what’s wrong with you. You know, like those Hollywood actresses who get married three and four times.”
Ava
’s chuckle came fast. “No need to wonder about that. We all
know
what’s wrong with me.”
“
Nonsense. You act like you’ve got a deformity or something. They can fix just about everything nowadays, Ava.”
“
What are you getting at?”
“
I’m saying that there’s all kinds of options for women with your problem. If you were so determined to carry CJ’s baby you could have gotten something done.”
“
I didn’t want to do it.”
“
He told me you didn’t.”
“
Mom, it would have cost a fortune, and they told me that the odds for success were about twenty percent. Not only would I have ended up divorced, but I might have ended up broke as well. And he had no right to discuss our private business with you.”
“
Daddy and I were very concerned when you separated. The three of us had a talk.”
Ava released an exasperated breath.
“Mom, do we have to talk about this? It all happened a long time ago, and we’ve both moved on.”
“
That’s where you’re wrong.
He’s
moved on. Fairly quickly, I might add,” she said in a disapproving tone. “You, on the other hand, are still floating when you need to be grounded.”
Despite her resolve
, Ava began to lose her patience. “You’re either criticizing me or pitying me. What do you want from me, Mom?” she asked, with exaggerated enunciation of the last sentence.
“
I want you to accept the fact that you’re infertile. I want you to get over it. A lot of folks have worse problems regarding their health, even young people. This doesn’t even affect your health,” Doris pointed out. “You don’t have any of the challenges of someone who’s physically disabled. But until you do accept it you’ll never be able to get beyond it. It’s become the focus of your life, and it shouldn’t be.”
“
Don’t you think taking care of Marcus is a start?”
“
I think you’re putting the cart before the horse, but I guess you’ve got to start someplace.”
Ava laughed
. “All right. I’m going to plan a barbecue at my house sometime soon. You’ll see Marcus again, and you’ll get to meet Hilton as well.”
“
I’d like that.”
When Ava left a short time later and hugged her mother farewell, she felt for the first time in a long time that Doris really
did love her.
Chapter
19
“
I
’ll get it, Joan,” Linda called to her stepmother. She reached for the ringing phone. “Hello.”
“
Hello, Linda.”
She drew in her breath and had to clear her throat before her reply had sound
. “Neil. How are you?”
“
I’m doing all right. I, uh, got your letter.”
“
Oh.”
“
I wish you’d told me.”
“
It’s a hard thing to say, Neil.”
“
Especially with me going on and on about how much I wanted children. In hindsight, I see I didn’t make it easy for you.”
“
It’s what you want. You deserve to have what you want.”
“
I’d like to see you, Linda. I’ve missed you, and I need to talk to you.”
“
I can’t think of anything I’d like better, but I can’t get away right now. My father had a stroke.”
“
Oh, no! When did this happen? And how is he?”
“
Last weekend. He seems to be recovering, but he’s having a little difficulty with his motor skills. He’ll be starting outpatient physical therapy twice a week, plus doing exercises on his own to help him regain full movement.”
“
I’m really sorry to hear he’s had a problem. How did he take…well, the news of what happened with us?”
“
He only knew something was wrong. Of course, he and Joan wanted to know the specifics, but I told them it was private.” Linda paused, not sure if she should share her thoughts with her estranged husband. Deciding she should, she said, “I have to tell you, Neil, I think his concern about me was what caused his pressure to go up so high.”
Neil muttered a phrase of dismay
. “Listen…why don’t I come up next weekend? I’m sure there must be something I can do to help.”
“
Actually, I think it’ll do Daddy a world of good just to see you here.”
Standing next to me,
she added silently.
“
I hope so. I’ll be in touch.”
“
All right. Thanks for calling, Neil. You don’t know how much better I feel.”
“
I think I do. I’m feeling a lot better myself.”
Linda gripped the receiver tightly as she lowered it, and her hand trembled
. Neil had called! He hadn’t said anything about divorcing her, instead he actually wanted to see her! He’d actually sounded apologetic.
She
knew she should offer assistance to her stepmother, but instead Linda went to her bedroom and closed the door. She needed a few minutes to rethink the conversation she and Neil just had, to play over every word in her mind to see if she had missed some hidden between-the-lines message. She’d feel like a fool for thinking he wanted to try again if he was really coming up to tell her he was going to begin proceedings to make their break official.
Her conscience wouldn’t let her mind work properly. Her stepmother had been working so hard waiting on her father, and Linda noticed how tired she’d looked this morning.
She didn’t feel right concentrating on her personal problem with her stepmother so busy, so she went downstairs, ready to help out if needed.
Her father and Joan
sat in companionable silence in the living room, she crocheting squares with black, yellow and orange yarn and he holding a newspaper and looking quite normal. “I thought I’d offer to make lunch,” Linda said.
“
That’s sweet of you, dear,” Joan replied. “It’s a little early yet, though. We had a late breakfast today. Maybe in another hour or so.”
“
That’s fine. I’ll be down then.”
She
couldn’t get up the stairs fast enough. Now she could take her time and go over everything. She closed her bedroom door and sprawled across the double bed on her back, in her excitement putting her feet in the air and making cutting-like scissor movements with her legs. Their conversation was still fresh in her mind. She kept hearing him tell her how he missed her, kept hearing the genuine contriteness in his voice when he acknowledged his eagerness for her to get pregnant had only made a difficult situation more so for her.
Then there was that part about his needing to talk to her
. Heaven only knew what
that
was about. Maybe he wanted to tell her in person that he loved her still…but maybe it was something completely different.
She went back and forth and finally decided a second opinion was called for
. There wasn’t a telephone directory in her room, and she didn’t want to venture outside of her room for reasons she didn’t understand but suspected had roots in silly superstition. She picked up the extension and dialed Information, stifling a giggle when a booming baritone voice answered, “Directory Assistance; may I help you?” She knew it was sexist, but she’d never get used to these male telephone operators.
“
I’d like the number for the Beginnings Bridal Salon on Main Street, please.”
Excitement and anticipation contributed to her messing up the number twice, but the third time she got it right. Unfortunately, disappointment awaited
her, for Ava’s assistant informed her that Ava was coordinating a wedding this afternoon. That meant they wouldn’t be able to talk until tonight.
Linda walked over to the window
. It had warmed up to perhaps the low sixties, but the skies were overcast, with the threat of rain. What a lousy day to get married.
*****
By two o’clock, when it was time to leave for the church, the gray skies darkened and the rain came down in torrents. Ava made a fist and banged her thigh. She should have known this would happen. If only the rain had held off just a little longer.
She reached for the three
large multicolored golf umbrellas she’d brought into the house. She kept them in the trunk of her car to guard against for downpours. “Why don’t we hold off about ten minutes to see if it lightens up?” she suggested to the anxious bride and her father. “Usually when it comes down this hard it only lasts a few minutes.”
She was right
. By two-ten the rain, while still a steady downpour, had slowed sufficiently to make it possible to get into the limousine without getting saturated.
Ava placed an oversized raincoat around the bride
’s shoulders, handed her an umbrella and gathered her train for her to carry over her arm. She then gestured to the limo driver from the shelter of the doorway, who got out from behind the wheel and opened his own golf umbrella, the primary colors of each panel brightening the dismal afternoon. He crossed to the passenger side and stood poised to open the back door of the vehicle when the bride approached.
Ava
stood and watched as the chauffeur helped the bride climb into her seat, hampered by the folds of her gown’s full skirt. She handed a second umbrella to the maid of honor, who would have an easier time of it because her hemline only grazed her shoes.
“
Oh, my,” the attendant exclaimed once she stepped away from the protective shelter of the doorway’s overhang. “There must be two inches of water on this ground.” She shook her dress after having inadvertently stepped in a puddle.
Ava watched her progress down the walk toward the waiting limousine, taking baby steps as if to protect the dyed cranberry-colored pumps on her feet.
The standing puddles on the ground took on a crimson hue.
“
No!” Ava cried out suddenly.
The maid of honor turned around in confusion
. “Something wrong?”
“
You have to come back,” Ava shouted.
“
What’s wrong, Ava?” the bride’s father asked.
“
Mr. Turner, I’m going to need a blanket or quilt and two plastic bags, the kind groceries are packed in.”
“
Sure. I’ll get them for you.”
Ava took the blanket from the bride
’s father handed her and brought it out to the car. “You’ll have to wrap this around your dress from your waist down to your shoes,” she told the bride. “Don’t let your honor attendant get near you until you’re done.”
She hurried back up the walk and addressed the
maid of honor. “The dye on your shoes isn’t colorfast, at least not in this rain. If it gets on Destiny’s dress it’ll ruin it, so the moment you get in the car you’ll have to take them off and put them inside a plastic bag. She’s wrapping the skirt of her dress in a quilt for extra protection.”
“
I never thought of that,” Mr. Turner mused. “It would have been awful for Destiny to get dark red spots on her beautiful white dress. Both she and my wife would be crying.” He grinned. “You’re a genius, Ava.”
“
That’s what you pay me for, Mr. Turner.”
*****
Marcus gripped the arms of the high-backed chair. “Is this going to hurt?”
“
X-rays don’t hurt, Marcus,” Maria replied. “Now open wide and don’t bite down until I say so.”
It took nearly a half hour to get the full set of x-rays
. Maria was amazed to see that Marcus, who claimed he had never been to a dentist, did not have a single cavity. He had told her his grandmother insisted he brush his teeth after every meal, and apparently he wasn’t kidding. “Okay,” she said. “We’re going to do a cleaning, and then I’m show you how to use floss, and then you’ll be done.”
“
Is that gonna take long?” Marcus sounded impatient, but Maria suspected he was tickled to be included in the checkups she gave her own children. It probably made him feel like he belonged.
“
Nope. And it won’t hurt, either, and you’ll be in the clear until next week.”
“
What happens next week?” Marcus asked, his voice low with suspicion.
“
You’re going to see Uncle Larry. He’s a pediatrician, and he’s going to give you guys physicals while I check out Nathaniel’s and Emily’s teeth. Between us we’ve pretty much got you kid’s health sewn up.”
“
Wow. That’s neat. How come Aunt Ava’s not a doctor, too?”
“
Technically, I’m a dentist, not a medical doctor. But Ava was too squeamish. She doesn’t like the sight of blood.”
He made a face.
“I don’t like it much myself.”
*****
After briefly checking in with the banquet manager at the hotel where the reception was being held, Ava left the reception. The three-tiered chocolate wedding cake had just been served. The bouquet and garter had been tossed, speeches made, and now all there was to do was to party for another half hour or so, when the revelers, slowed down by the consumption of a four-course dinner plus wedding cake, would no doubt be ready to go home.
She
made a quick stop to check Kendall’s duplex as promised, then headed for Maria’s to pick up Marcus. As she drove she wondered what Hilton was doing tonight. They had seen each other briefly during the week when he delivered Marcus to Beginnings after work, but hadn’t progressed past small talk. Yesterday he’d asked what she was doing over the weekend, and she reminded him that she had a wedding on Saturday. He had not responded, and she considered he probably needed to spend some quality time with Max. Still, it gave her a feeling of emptiness to realize that they might not see each other at all this weekend. It all seemed so silly. He was in love with her, and she with him…even though he didn’t know it yet. They needed to concentrate on that and put all the bad stuff behind. Hilton deserved to know how she felt about him…and most important of all, they should be together, not apart. She savored the time they made love and craved his touch, craved the feel of his hard length inside her.
Conducting a sex life would be challenging with two curious and active little boys around…
“You look beat,” Maria said in greeting when she opened the door.
“
It’s been a long day, but there’s another happy, newlywed couple, so it’s all good,” Ava replied.
“
Why don’t you come in for a while?”
“
Thanks, but I just want to get Marcus and go home. It’s after eight, and Khufu’s probably whining like crazy to go out.”
*****
Marcus had eaten dinner at Maria’s, and Ava had eaten at the reception, so there was no need to stop for take-out. She drove straight home.
She
’d barely evened up the car against the curb when Marcus exclaimed, “There’s a note on the door, Aunt Ava!” He was out of the car and up the porch stairs before she could take the keys out of the ignition.
“
It’s from Mr. Hilton,” he informed her as she slowly made her way to the front door. “He says he and Max were here and they’ll be back later.”
Suddenly Ava
’s feet felt lighter. It would not be a weekend without Hilton after all.
Khufu, as expected, was waiting anxiously at the door, wagging his tail and making those noises that made him sound like a spoiled child
. “Hey, boy,” Ava said. “I know you’ve been holding it.”