“All your cheerfulness is bugging me,” Tony snapped.
Lilly knew enough of his moods to back off and let him work on it.
The next day they sped onward. Tony’s goal was to make the Pennsylvania border by the end of the following day. In the afternoon, he realized he hadn’t seen Lilly in hours. He backtracked and found her sound asleep under a tree. His annoyance melted as he noticed her hand cradling her belly.
“Lil, hey lil mama. We’re falling behind again.”
“Tony, hi. I needed to lie down for a minute. I guess I fell asleep.”
Tony helped her to her feet. They walked in silence for a time.
Lilly asked, “Are you mad I fell asleep?”
“No, Belle. Obviously the baby was telling you to slow down. I’ve been thinking about what the women said about Caesarean birth. My father told me I was over ten pounds at birth.”
“Ten pounds! Jesus,” Lilly gasped unintentionally. “I’ve seen some small women push out pretty big babies.”
“You wouldn’t get crazy and blame me if the baby is too big, would you?” Tony asked.
Lilly saw this was the root of his black mood and cocked her head. “Well …perhaps …if you were to fetch water for the rest of the trail, and …perhaps, purchase some big rock of an engagement ring I’ve never had, and …”
“Yeah, yeah.”
The next morning Lilly woke to find a large piece of granite on her pack with a note: Here’s the rock to impress your friends, you get to carry it.
That afternoon they met other end to enders. Tony went through both packs while Lilly slept searching for what could be jettisoned. He had her thermal underwear and heavy socks in a pile when she awoke.
“What are you doing?” Lilly asked, vexed that he had broken the unspoken law that packs were private territory.
“We’ve got to get rid of the extra weight in your pack. You won’t need these again.”
Lilly looked at the clothing, feeling she was being put on notice.
“Lilly, I know the book said your emotions would get erratic, but don’t cry over long johns and socks.”
Lilly stuck her tongue out at him and said, “Let’s walk. We have to go to town to get spaghetti, lots and lots of spaghetti.”
Tony nodded agreement, noting her rapid rebound to exuberance. He told the southbound pair their plan and found ready recruits for an excursion that included a spaghetti dinner.
Lilly accepted their gentle ribbing about having a craving. “It must be the Italian half. It’s calling ‘pasta, pasta’ quietly. There it goes again.”
Lilly tilted her head down. “Listen.” Which silenced the trio of men for a brief second.
She laughed. “I can’t believe you guys.”
They separated after dinner. Tony suggested they return to the trail to walk.
“Let’s let the long daylight work for us. Perhaps we can make better time. We’ll walk in the morning, stop for breakfast. Then walk until lunch when you can nap. We’ll walk until dinner, then you’ll rest again, and we can walk until twilight. We’ll use the tent more, not going lean-to to lean-to. We don’t need the lean-tos since we’re out of bear country,” Tony said persuasively.
“You thought this out while I napped?” Lilly asked.
“I’ve been thinking a lot. When you get home, you’ll have to fix up the catch room for the baby. We’re going to economize. I’m planning to sink all my money in the business. I’m going to convince Vincent to move east so we can start small, right out of the junk room. We’ll have to live cheaply, though. I was hoping to pay myself only about fifteen thousand a year until the business works.”
“Tony, I’m a nurse and a musician. Both are pretty flexible, marketable skills. I’ll go bargain hunting at second-hand stores for maternity clothes and baby furniture. Remember that store I used to get all the evening gowns? They had nice stuff. But we have no insurance.”
“Lil, we’ll make it. I didn’t mean to make you uneasy. You are thrifty naturally. I used to wonder if you were half Scotch.”
“I’m all Irish, and I’m not chintzy either. Some of your deals,” Lilly said, looking up to heaven. “Mr. Frugal, with strong leanings to Shylock.”
“Don’t be inflammatory. The baby better not have red hair like Ann or Brian’s. I don’t think I could take two Irish tempers.”
“You have the dominant coloring. She’ll be dark,” Lilly said convincingly.
“She’ll?”
“It’s a girl, Tony. It really is.”
“Don’t get set on it,” Tony warned.
“I’d love a son, but I feel it’s a daughter.”
They set up camp on a ridge. Lilly thought Tony was sleeping when he uttered, “I’m really going to miss you.”
Lilly kissed him amorously, but he pulled back.
Lilly touched his face and spoke soothingly, “When I was in nursing school in Jamestown, during the semester we did maternal child nursing, we spent three weeks on maternity. The students were there during the daytime only and only a few days a week. My hitch was ending, and I hadn’t seen any births, either regular of Caesarean, but I talked to this resident who was a friend of Adam’s. That Saturday at five-thirty a.m., he called me and told me to hightail it to the hospital. I saw a birth, a beautiful normal, vaginal delivery.
“The labor unit was hopping. It was a weekend and the hospital had a laid-back Saturday attitude. The nurses on the unit let me stay and observe and then help. They had seven deliveries that day, one Caesarean. I saw them all. I gave the two-and five-minute exams to two newborns.
“The resident was wonderful. He was encouraging with each birth. There was a space between births, and we had a cup of coffee. He told me walking and sex were the best thing for the unborn set. Walking because it is so beneficial in general. Sex because it increases the blood supply to the pelvic area, and it keeps the pelvic floor toned. If I am three and a half months pregnant, I’ll bet we’ve made love sixty times. Have you ever seen such a healthy pregnancy? In the camps I delivered so many babies, alone with the mothers. They were unhealthy pregnancies.”
She could tell Tony would oblige her if she insisted, but his doubts were not eased. Then as he slept, she worried he would find her expanding figure repulsive. The more she dwelt on it, the easier the tears came.
Tony woke to find Lilly in tears. “Lil, what’s wrong?”
Lilly shook her head but didn’t speak.
He was more receptive to seduction this time and afterward brought her to sleep with him.
Pennsylvania and New Jersey passed more quickly than either had expected with their revised plan aided by a long-lasting omega block that gave them sunny, warm days and cool, clear nights.
They picked up a family of hikers in the Delaware Water Gap. The family consisted of a husband and wife and two teen-aged daughters. The men broke away, while Lilly and the wife trailed behind. The teenagers walked for a while with the men and then with the women.
“Your husband told us you’ve walked all the way from Georgia, and you’re pregnant, and you’re a musician who has played in rock and roll bands and has even written songs,” the older daughter said.
Lilly nodded. “Is he gossiping about me?”
The mother was more practical. “Have you seen an obstetrician?”
“Not yet. I will in New York. I’m fine.” Lilly answered.
“I’m a nurse, so believe me, it’s very important to see a doctor early.”
Lilly answered, “I’m a nurse, too. The baby is fine. I have two naps a day and I’m on vitamins.”
“A nurse and a rock and roll musician?”
Lilly felt her nose had been firmly tweaked, so she picked up the pace until she met Tony, boiling water for her daily spaghetti. She ate and tried to sleep while the husbands chatted. Both were ardent Yankee fans, and Tony had lost touch with the season.
Tony filled the canteens when the wife and daughters arrived. Water here was sparser than in other areas.
Tony mixed a package of nonfat milk and handed it to Lilly as he woke her.
“For me?” Lilly asked teasingly.
“By proxy. Let’s move, Lil.”
Lilly hoped that was a sign they would lose the family, but that wasn’t to be. Once again, the men walked together while Lilly tried to adjust to a pace between that of the mother and the men. The teenagers were anxious to talk to her, so they walked with her. Lilly suspected the mother wouldn’t want her daughters exposed to her, unsupervised, so she was not surprised when she joined them.
The girls mainly told her about school and boys. Lilly asked questions but offered no pertinent information about herself. The families camped together. They made a small campfire and as night fell, they all drew around, drinking tea.
The elder daughter, Heather, asked, “Did you have a big wedding?”
“No, only a justice of the peace,” Lilly said.
“A justice of the peace? Did you elope?”
Lilly hesitated, then looked at Tony for permission. “We sure did.”
“How old were you?”the quieter sister asked.
“Sixteen,” Lilly answered.
“Sweet sixteen,” Tony added.
Lilly touched his upper arm. “He was an older man of eighteen.”
“What did your parents do? Did they get it annulled?”
“They disowned me. I have not seen my mother or a single one of my brothers or sisters in eight years. Tony’s family was great though. They found us an apartment and were always there for us.”
“Where did you run away to?” Heather asked.
“Tennessee. But we went back to New York. Tony was in school.”
“Brighton,” Bud added. “My alma mater.”
“Isn’t that an expensive school for teenage runaways?” The wife asked.
“I had an athletic scholarship. I also had a math scholarship. I also had a hard-working wife. I worked in a gas station between basketball seasons.”
“Was Dearson coach then?” Bud asked.
“He left the year after I graduated. He was some bastard. He was personally offended when I got married. He tried to get my scholarship revoked.”
“Tony, you never told me that,” Lilly said.
“You had enough just holding on back then,” Tony said quietly.
Lilly sipped her tea and leaned back on Tony.
Bud and Tony talked about basketball as the ladies, one by one, retired. The fire burned out, and the men went to their tents. The breeze brought the sounds from the larger tent to the smaller.
The snatches of conversation became a steady stream of the wife’s tirade. “She says she’s a nurse and a musician. I think they’ve been on the trail too long; they are making stories up as they go. She’s pregnant.”
“Tony told me.”
“She hasn’t seen a doctor. Hasn’t been examined. Think of my sister, who would be a responsible mother and can’t have a baby. It makes me sick.”
“Sonya, go to sleep. This is a nylon tent. They probably heard every word you said,” Bud replied in hushed anger.
The next morning Tony and Lilly broke camp early and prepared to leave. Heather came out of their tent to say goodbye. The della Robbias headed north into threatening skies. The clouds turned to a steady rain by midmorning. The drenched hikers slid on wet rock while their packs slogged side to side. Rather than complain uselessly, each fell mute, occasionally muttering.
The rain continued the next day as they prepared to cross into New York. They stopped at a store to call Tony’s parents. There was no answer. Tony called Frank. He refrained from telling Frank about the marriage, knowing his father would be offended to hear it second-hand. Tony asked Frank to meet them at Bear Mountain.
Tony added as an afterthought, “Have Pops drive his car. Lilly will be riding back with you. She’ll have her pack.”
Frank asked, “You’re going your separate ways?”
Tony, dreary-witted from the rain, replied, “Yes, you’ll give her a ride to the city.”
Tony walked away from the phone concentrating on setting up camp in the rain again. Frank hung up, exploding with conjecture.
It continued to rain on Lilly’s last day on the trail. Each hour seemed more laborious. Each step became a trial on the last mountain.
They arrived at Bear Mountain State Park early in the afternoon and were able to secure a room in the inn. Tony went to check the hours of the cafeteria. He returned to find Lilly deep in sleep across the foot of the bed with her shoed feet still on the floor. He gently removed her boots and wet clothes and settled her into bed.
Tony purchased a bestseller and junk food. Lilly remained in the motionless sleep of the exhausted. He woke his wife for fruit and a sandwich around midnight. He gave her his love for dessert.
The morning broke with brilliant splendor. They showered and dressed. After breakfast, they returned to their room to prepare for the separation that loomed.
Lilly drifted back to sleep nestled in Tony’s arms. He held her until he deemed it time to dress and meet his family.
******************************
26. August 1978
The ride to Bear Mountain was filled with speculation.
Frank said, “We’ll probably have to drive her to her friend’s house in Yonkers.”
Tito snorted. “I don’t know why we got to drive her anywhere, she likes to walk so much.”
They arrived at Bear Mountain early and found Tony. The reunion was jovial.
Isabel asked, “Where’s Lilly?”
“She’s sleeping upstairs, Ma. Let’s sit down. I want to talk to you about …” Tony started.
“We got Pops car to give her a ride to EO’s right?” Frank interrupted.
“No, to my house. I’d appreciate it if you’d help her get settled in,” Tony answered.
“Your warehouse? For how long this time?” Tito asked.
Tony stared him down before answering, “‘Til death do us part” in a quiet, serious tone.
Frank reacted first. “You’re married? Shit man. When’d you do that?”
“June 30.” Tony kept his eyes on his father’s disapproving face.
Debbie spoke first. “If you’re married and she made it this far, why are you splitting up. She’s pregnant.”
Tony didn’t answer. He wondered if he’d ever be able to control his own life where his family was concerned.
“Well?” Tito demanded. “Is she?”
Tony shrugged and then smiled, trying to disarm them. “We are going to have a baby.” He added, “We are both very happy about it. We have to get out of the room, so I’ll get Lil and the packs. We’ll leave them in the trunk of your car while we picnic.”
Tony considered warning Lilly about the hostility of his family but vetoed the idea upon seeing his well-rested wife. She seemed to glow in pregnancy. He didn’t want to dim her shine.
They returned downstairs, and Lilly smiled brightly at his family.
Isabel embraced her sincerely, saying, “Welcome back. The baby, when?”
“I’m not sure. I have to see Dr. Feldman. I think maybe mid-January or February.”
Frank took her pack. The family picnicked beside a small lake, and then the ladies walked on a path beside the lake. Lilly told Isabel the baby would be named Tatiana if it were a girl. The men stayed behind to talk baseball.
Tito blurted out, “She trapped you again. I don’t believe it. You’re the smart one and the punta traps you twice.”
“Don’t ever say that. She’s not …” Tony stopped and then spoke with exaggerated care. “She didn’t trap me. It’s my baby too.”
Tony turned away from his father.
Tito puffed angrily. He said in small, breathy, groups of words, “Do you think …she had an accident …what did …she say …Tony, we got to get …”
Tony silenced him by slapping the table with enough force to make the picnic supplies jump. “If you ever talk about her like that, or to her, like …you
won’t ever see me again. You won’t see your grandchild. I did not even know about the baby when I asked her to marry me.”
The women returned to find the men, not talking, as separate as three people could be at one picnic table. Lilly stood behind Tony massaging his shoulders, oblivious to the tension.
“There are more people here today than we’ve seen in months, pal. It’s neat. Only I feel like a voyeur listening in on all the families,” Lilly said.
Tony took her hand and kissed her palm. “Don’t go wide-eyed to the city. I don’t want you getting mugged, acting like some bumpkin, Daisy Mae.”
He stood, “If I’m going to hurry home, I’d better get started. I want to get a little distance from the madding crowd before I set up camp.”
They walked to the parking lot in staggered bunches. Debbie and Frank accompanied Tito, while Isabel walked with Tony and Lilly.
Tony said to Lilly, “Write me. Put it in the box Frank’s sending me at Sherburne Center, Vermont.”
“OK. I’ll call Dr. Feldman tomorrow morning. Please be careful at Mount Washington and in the whole Mahoosuc range. I know you are trying to make up time. Please don’t take chances.”
Tony nodded to her. “I’ll be careful. I’ll call when I can. Are you sure you have enough to live on? You won’t be able to touch my bank accounts. Maybe I should go back with you, and you can drive me back here tomorrow.”
“I’ll be fine. I have the plane and set-up money. If I get short, I’ll hit Carolyn.”
“Don’t hit Carolyn if you run short. Frank, can she hit you up for a hundred until I come home if she needs too?”
“Sure, we’ll take care of her.”
Tony bade them farewell and then threaded his way through the parking lot.
Lilly settled in the back seat with Debbie and Isabel.
Debbie chatted, “Wait ’til Colleen hears you’re married and having a baby. ”
“No, please don’t talk about me” Lilly said quietly.
“While you’re pregnant, you should continue to exercise. We have a modified class for moms-to-be.”
“That sounds interesting, but I think I need time to digest.”
A Yonkers Kinda Girl Page 45