Maria and Sally hooted.
“Or,” Sally said, a little more worried, “they could be telling stories about us.”
The two sisters looked at each other with trepidation. Maria gasped and quickly went to the back door, opening it.
“What is so funny out there?” she asked. “What are you two telling my sons?”
“Nothing about you, my dear,” her husband said as straight-faced as he could.
“Good. Let it stay that way,” she warned him lightheartedly, then went back in.
The men gave each other conspiratorial grins and went back to work.
~~~
On the morning of the wedding, which was to take place at one o’clock, Eva had her usual morning sickness. She did notice however, still in bed, that the weather looked heavenly. The sky was crystal clear; the air crisp, and promised to warm by one o’clock. Pre-wedding nerves were an unwelcome addition. Mamma let her stay in bed as long as she needed. She reminded her that by one o’clock, she should be done with pregnancy illness and have only nerves to contend with. Neither family had to worry about chores for the entire weekend, as Pappa Mattson had hired men to fill in for them.
Around eleven, Eva rose for her big day. She carefully assessed her physical state and decided it was fine, except for a case of a nervous belly. What bride isn’t nervous about her wedding day, she thought. She stared at the mirror on her dresser, studying her body and face, turning this way and that. She stood sideways and put her hand on her belly. It was no longer her normal flat belly. She now felt a small, hard roundness. I can’t wait to show Victor his baby, she thought. She smiled, basking in her growing love for the baby and Victor.
She noticed that her face was puffy and she looked tired. This brought her out of the love she was just bathing in. She felt chubbier, but Mamma had reassured her that this was just from being with child. Everything is fine, she said to herself. She remembered the hidden meadow in the birch near the Mid-Summer Festival, the place where she and Victor thought the baby had been conceived. She remembered the emotions she felt as Victor made love to her, and the final pleasure. It always aroused her to recollect him in his height of release. Her lower belly fluttered. She gasped. She wasn't sure if it was the baby or indigestion. She spoke anyway.
“Hello, little one. Your Mamma and Pappa are getting married today.” Tears welled at her eyelashes. She blinked them off.
~~~
Eva wrapped her robe around her and passed Aili and Liisa in the kitchen. The whole room smelled breakfast-heavenly. She slipped on her clogs at the back door and headed out to the privy.
“I will be back for some of that breakfast as fast as I can,” she said.
“We will be waiting,” Liisa said.
As soon as she stepped outside, the early autumn day dazzled her. There were a few fair-weather clouds now, and behind them, a dazzling blue. The sun was directly overhead. Eva took a few moments to feel the warmth, closing her eyes and tilting her face up. She felt a sudden surge of bliss. This is how I should feel on my wedding day, she thought. I am not going to be nervous for the rest of the day, she promised herself. She walked to the privy, peed, and then went to the sauna that had been warmed that morning to wash her hands and face. She had bathed fully yesterday. Her hair was soft, clean smelling and—sexy, for Victor.
Going back into the house, she found Liisa and Aili laying out a breakfast for the three of them. Finnish pancakes, fried bacon and eggs, coffee, and cool mehu.
Delighted, Eva exclaimed, “I am so hungry. Thank you. You two are the best sisters anyone could have.” She piled her plate and began to devour the crepe-thin pancakes as if she hadn’t eaten in a week.
Liisa and Aili filled their plates and sat down with her.
“It’s our last breakfast as maiden sisters, before you are an old married lady,” Liisa said, with a big grin on her face.
They sat and ate in kindred spirit, laughing at childhood memories.
“Remember the time, Eva, not that long ago,” Liisa said, “when the calf ran into the bog and you had to get her out? I was thinking for a moment or two that we were going to have to rescue you, too.”
Eva laughed. “I was covered in mud, but the heifer was safe and sound. It ended up being a good milker, too. I’m glad we saved her.”
“When you got her to the barn, you were so embarrassed because Eino had come looking for you and you were smeared in mud,” Liisa continued.
“He thought it was very funny,” Aili chimed in. “So did I.”
“I’m sad Eino is gone, and I can’t talk about it. I lost a good friend when he left even though he was …”
Aili interrupted. “Do you remember, Liisa, how you and Eva used to get into scraps all the time?”
Eva thought Aili was trying to change the subject, which she appreciated.
“I think I remember one in which Pappa picked me up by my jacket,” Liisa said, “and Mamma did the same to you.”
“You two used to fight like wildcats over Aili and who was going to take care of her,” Mamma said from the bedroom. “Pappa and I had to separate you. You would scratch and bite each other.”
“We were so wild,” Eva said, grinning. “And look at us now, the picture of decorum.”
They all laughed as Mamma walked into the kitchen, saying, “You two were so close in age, the love was strong and as was the conflict.”
Eva looked at the clock and saw it was noon. “Oh, my! I need to get dressed.”
The girls flew out of their chairs, picked up their plates, and bumped into each other as they rushed to the sink. This put them into fits of laughter, and even more chaos.
“I can’t even walk to my room I’m laughing so hard,” Eva said breathlessly.
Aili and Liisa left for the Mattson’s with the pies and the piggy cookies, ready to help out.
~~~
Mamma came into Eva’s bedroom to help get her dress on and her hair done.
“I think I should put the dress on first, and then we can fix my hair.” Eva was still snorting at the calamity in the kitchen. Her nerves from the morning had continued to abate, turning into more and more excitement. She looked at her mother and could tell she had something on her mind. “What is it, Mamma?”
“Eva, I want you to know how happy Pappa and I are for you. Not everyone finds a good match to marry. You have been blessed. We all have had a blessed life here.” She sat down on the bed.
“Yes, Mamma, many people are not happy. I think happiness comes from the inside, no matter what is going on outside. People can be very poor, but somehow, they can still feel happy. I have been thinking about Eino … I will say a prayer for him today and hope that wherever he is, he is finally happy.” Deep down she knew differently. He’d left home a broken man.
“I will do the same,” Mamma said. “But now we think only of the happiness here, today.”
Eva came back to the present. She put on her undergarments and a pair of new silk stockings. The garters were made of little silk flowers. They held the stockings up at mid-thigh. It gave her a thrill that Victor would have a wonderful time with them later. She gave a pleasurable shudder at the thought.
“What was that about?” Mamma asked of the shudder.
“I … don’t know,” Eva replied, feeling her face flush.
“You know, dear, on our wedding night, your father had the biggest thrill with these garters and my silk stockings.” She gave a sly giggle.
“Mamma! You?”
They both giggled conspiratorially.
The next item was the dress. Eva decided to step into it, rather than pulling it over her head.
“The fit is good, Mamma,” she said after the dress was buttoned.
Her mother moved her well used, strong yet gentle hands over Eva’s waist. “The fit feels perfect,” she said with a satisfied smile.
“I know I look just like you did on your wedding day. Let me quickly put my hair up, and then I’ll comb yours. I would like to do
that for you.”
“Thank you, Eva. You know, it is my last time I am with my first little girl before her wedding day. It’s not that long ago that I carried you. Now you are grown and ready to be a mamma yourself.”
“I’m afraid, a little.”
“There’s nothing to be afraid of, Eva.”
“I want to be a good wife to Victor.”
“I know you will be. He probably feels he wants to be a good husband to you.”
Eva tried to change the subject to keep herself from crying. “How does my hair feel to you? Should I put it all the way up?”
“It feels beautiful. Victor will love how this part flows down over your shoulder. You should keep it the way it is.” She gently fingered the ringlets at the ends.
Eva felt pleased, but with that comment from her mother, the tears began to let loose. She stood up from the dresser stool and invited her mother to sit down. “It’s your turn now. I’ll put your hair up, and you will be the beautiful Mother-of-the-bride.” Eva, too, recognized this as her last time as her mother’s daughter. In another hour, she would be Mrs. Victor Mattson.
As Mamma sat, Eva looked at the elder’s face in the mirror. She saw tears no longer held at bay. Eva’s own tears began to flow freely. Neither of them spoke as Eva’s comb went through Mamma’s hair, stroking it softly. She recognized it was the intimacy between a daughter and the woman who struggled giving birth to her.
Eva pulled back Mamma’s once strawberry blond hair and wound it into a neat bun in the back, pinning it as she pulled it into itself. When she finished, she broke the spell by putting Mamma’s hand up to touch what she had done.
“It looks pretty,” Eva said.
Eva breathed in deeply her mother’s fragrance, homey and safe.
“It feels pretty,” Mamma said, letting her emotions overcome her once again.
Eva, standing behind, put her arms around her mother’s strong shoulders and kissed her cheek. Mamma held on for a moment and leaned lovingly into the kiss. She remained wordless, though both women were speaking volumes to each other in that caress.
“I will forever remember this time with you, Mamma,” Eva whispered into her ear.
~~~
The final touches, shoes, and veil were added. Eva was now ready to marry Victor. She stood gazing in the mirror, amazed and pleased, but mostly excited.
After dabbing her tears dry, Eva applied a thin layer of rouge on her lips as a last-minute thought. Eva and her mother then clasped hands and walked out of the bedroom to a waiting Father-of-the-bride.
Pappa, resplendent in his best black suit, looked at Eva and was speechless.
“I look like Mamma, don’t you think?” Eva said.
He nodded his head in agreement.
He escorted both of them to the one-horse carriage Pappa Mattson had insisted they use for the occasion. There was a bouquet of wild flowers tied in a silk ribbon on the seat.
“Aili and Liisa,” Eva guessed, putting the flowers to her nose and breathing in the sweet fragrance of the late-summer blossoms. Out of the corner of her eye, at the far end of the road, she spotted a horse with two riders on its back. It was an awfully big horse. They look like Neimi’s cousins. Perhaps they are curious. She climbed in the carriage and Pappa drove off, her mind on Victor.
~~~
Everyone at the Mattson house was dressed and ready for the bride to arrive. The women, with much-appreciated help from Aili and Liisa, continued to putter, fussing over the last little details of refreshments and food.
Victor, dressed in his good black suit, vest, and starched white shirt, paced anxiously in the parlor where the ceremony was to take place. In his lapel, Auntie Sally had placed a perfect, leftover wild rose bloom she found outside on the trellis.
“You don’t need to be so nervous, Victor,” Sally said supportively, as she slipped the rose into his lapel. “You are a very handsome groom.”
“I don’t think it’s nervousness so much as it is excitement, Aunt Sally,” Victor said. “I feel very strange, like I’m in a dream. It doesn’t feel real.”
“Oh, but it is. I do know that feeling, though.” She smiled and patted his lapel. She kissed his cheek, and then turned for the kitchen, leaving Victor in his dream world.
“Victor. Victor?” Victor heard his younger brother say and turned to see him dressed in his gray suit. “What is the matter with you? I’ve been saying your name for a whole minute. I’ve never seen you so … distracted.”
“I …” Victor tried to shake himself out of his feeling unreal.
Hannes glanced across the room to his father and Uncle Hannes with a baffled look. The two men laughed.
“Leave him alone,” his father said. “He has wedding jitters. He’ll be able to answer you in a couple of hours.”
That remark got a laugh out of Victor’s uncle, Big Hannes.
~~~
At one o’clock, the standing clock chimed and the carriage pulled up all at the same time. This created a moment of quiet chaotic frenzy inside the house, while everyone moved to the parlor.
“It’s time, Victor,” Big Hannes said.
“Yes, it is.” He felt his face heat up.
“I guess it is the bewitching hour,” Little Hannes remarked wryly. This generated a titter from Aili, who was standing next to him. He turned to her and looked her up and down. “You look pretty.”
Aili looked pleased. “And you are very handsome,” she said quietly.
Aprons were removed, hair was retouched in a mirror in the parlor, and stiff shirt collars were readjusted. Victor, now feeling mildly light-headed, took his place next to Pastor Alve, who stood with his Bible at the ready. Big Hannes had his violin ready to play a wedding song when the bride walked in.
Everyone sat down in the parlor chairs. They had been pushed back against the wall to create an aisle for Eva and her father to walk down to Victor and the Pastor. There was an air of excitement as everyone held their breath for Eva to come in.
~~~
Outside, Eva and her parents stood for a moment together. Pappa requested a moment alone with his daughter before they walked in. Mamma kissed her and was quickly led to the doorstep.
Pappa, not a man to mince words, picked up Eva’s hand and kissed it. “My only wish for you today is that this step you are taking will be a happy one. You deserve the best, and I’ve always thought well of Victor. He’s a good boy. I hope he knows how fortunate he is with his choice in you. You are so beautiful, today and every day, Eva. You are more special to me than words can ever express.” He choked on his emotion. “I am grateful beyond words at the chance to give you away on your wedding day.”
Eva took his hand, brought it gently to her lips, and held it there for a moment. “Thank you, my Pappa.”
They both turned, giving each other a teary smile, and walked into the closed entryway. Once there, Eva primped one more time, and then pulled down her veil, her father affectionately helping. She took a deep breath as the door opened to the great room and the violin began to play. Holding the bouquet in one hand and her father’s arm with the other, Eva began to walk in, bringing her to her intended.
Everyone gasped at the sight of her.
“Is that really Eva?” she heard Hannes say to Aili.
An air of enchantment filled the room. All held their breath as Eva walked to Victor. Pappa was beaming with pride, barely holding tears back.
~~~
Victor stood stunned at this angelic vision of Eva, resplendent in her natural beauty. Where has all that that been hiding? He’d always thought her beautiful, but this was a rapturous surprise. He could hardly stand. His pulse quickened. His heart beat hard in his chest.
Eva took her place beside him. He looked at her, ephemeral under her veil. She turned to let her father help lift it, folding it back on her head. He noticed she had the slightest bit of rouge on her cheeks and lips. Those lips, he thought, and her hair. It flowed down her shoulder and lay on her breast. Those bre
asts! He could see the outline of them, full and voluptuous through the silk and lace. He could still feel his knees wobble and something else start to … he mustn’t think of that yet.
It took a while, but both bride and groom clasped hands together and settled down to be able to listen to the wedding vows they were to repeat.
“Do you two need a minute to look at one another?” Pastor Alve suggested with a wry crook to his mouth. “You seem rapt with how the other one looks.”
“I am ready, Pastor,” Victor assured him, barely taking his eyes off his bride.
“Then let us begin. Dearly beloved …”
“I, Victor Jacob, take you, Eva Elisabet ...” Victor spoke firmly and with conviction as he repeated the vows. He slid the thin, gold band on Eva's ring finger. It was his grandmother’s that his mother had given to him.
“I, Eva Elisabet, take you, Victor Jacob...” Eva, too, spoke with conviction, but softly.
Victor sensed she was solely focused on him, and wanted only him to hear. She held an unwavering gaze, as though willing him to hear her, to really understand she was true in what she was saying.
“... I now pronounce you Man and Wife,” concluded Pastor Alve.
When the ceremony was over, the Pastor allowed them to kiss. The kiss was a long one. When the newlyweds emerged from their kiss, Victor saw Little Hannes blush and head toward the kitchen. Big Hannes played a love song, to which all the adults sighed in nostalgia. Eva and Victor found themselves dancing to the music, while everyone stood round and admired the brand new married couple.
“Look at the handsome new couple,” Big Hannes crowed.
“It’s time to eat,” said an irritated man-boy from the kitchen. Victor recognized it as Little Hannes’s voice.
The spell was broken and everyone shuffled out of the house and toward the tables, covered with food and beverages. Only Eva and Victor remained, standing in the middle of the parlor, holding each other.
Eva and the Irishman Page 15