When dinner was finished, birthday cake enjoyed, and cleanup complete, Pappa asked to hold Ellen. He did this not through speaking, but by holding out two bony, shaking hands, his nearly vacant blue eyes staring into Eva’s.
“Let’s get you back into bed, Pappa, and then you can hold Ellen again,” she said.
Once the two younger sisters changed his bedding, they put him back to bed. Then they propped him up with pillows so he could take Ellen into his arms. Victor took Ellen from Eva, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently placed Ellen into the proud grandfather’s arms.
“Here, Pappi. Say goodnight to your Little Ellen,” Victor said with love and respect. “We are sharing two women we love, Mr. Maki. Eva and now Ellen.”
He looked into Victor’s eyes. A tear flowed from the corner of Mr. Maki’s eye.
~~~
During Eva and Victor’s quiet breakfast at the cabin on the lake the next morning, Victor’s father came with the news.
“Eva, your father succumbed in his sleep, I’m sad to tell you. I had been keeping a daily vigil for a while now.”
His sad eyes stayed on Eva, now standing. She was still in her nightgown. He walked to her and put his arms around her.
“I’m sorry, Eva,” he said softly into her hair. “He’s at peace now. He suffers no longer.” He turned away quickly to hide his tears. Victor moved in swiftly to comfort Eva.
“I will talk to you later, Victor. I will need your help in a short while.” His father motioned to his son to come outside with him.
“I will see you as soon as I can.” Victor said to his father, and then motioned with his eyes toward Eva as he held her in his arms. He was attempting to signal that his place was with Eva at the present. He saw a nod of acknowledgement from his father.
“No hurry, Eva,” his father said. “Maria is with your mother and your sisters, and that will give you some time to ready yourself to go over.” He walked out the door.
Eva gave Victor a fierce hug, let him go, and went to the table to start cleanup. Victor said nothing to her, knowing she would need space, even while being there for her. The last thing Eva would let Victor do was hover over her. He’d learned that in the hours before Ellen’s birth. He would provide support by doing what he normally did—going to get dressed while she cleaned up the breakfast dishes and put food away in the cold pantry. Ellen was dozing in the small kitchen cradle, satiated with her mother’s milk. Eva’s daily morning routine with the baby, including bathing and changing her diaper, was already completed.
While Victor was in the bedroom, finishing his dressing, he heard Eva snuffling out in the kitchen. Then it turned into sobbing.
He paused for a moment in hesitation, but decided to reach into his top drawer to retrieve a clean handkerchief. He took it out to her. She was leaning, hunched over the sink, shoulders shaking. He put his hand on her back. Gratitude was in her face as she dove into his arms. She wailed and coughed and sobbed into his shoulder. After a few minutes, he took her to sit on the upholstered settee. Once there, he held her until she was all cried out. Her face was puffy and her nose was completely clogged. He whispered sweet things he would say to a child in distress. While he did so, he pushed her hair out of her wet, tear-stained face. He could see how this comforted her. He took a deep breath, thinking to himself that he was relieved she broke down early on at the grim news, instead of keeping it stuck inside where it could eat away at her. Her father had been everything to her, and now he felt it was his turn to be everything to her. As much as she would allow, he amended, smiling to himself. He knew what an independent, stubborn rock she was.
“I’m going to finish dressing,” he said. “Care to join me?” He sensed that she was gaining some composure.
“Yes. I’ll come with you. The kitchen is as done as it needs to be. Ellen is sleeping. I will get her ready next.”
“If you like,” he said. He wanted to let her see he wasn’t going to hover. “If you are still getting dressed when I am finished, I will get Ellen and her bag ready.”
“Oh, that would be good, Victor,” she said. “By the way, I don’t mind if you pamper me a little today, maybe even a lot.” She gave him a half smile.
“Whatever you need, I will be there to give it,” he reassured her, “even if it is to leave you alone.”
“Oh, I don’t think I want to be alone. I have nothing to hide, even my sadness. Pappa would not want me to grieve too long.” She took a deep, uneven breath. “So, don’t leave me for long today.”
She followed him into the bedroom.
“I’ll do my best,” he said. “But Father wanted to see me in a while. I may have to help him dig the grave over at the cemetery. But there is also Hannes to assist. Let’s see how things fall into place today and tomorrow.”
“I think that would be fine. We will want to bury him as soon as possible, I understand.” She stopped speaking for a moment as she pulled her stockings on, sitting on the edge of the bed. Then she spoke again. “There will be plenty of things to do at Mamma’s as well. I have no idea how things are over there, but with your mother there, I’m sure everything is under control.” She stood to walk over to her chest of drawers. “Damn it. I don’t want to wear black.”
“Then don’t,” he said, in support of her. “We are in the middle of nowhere. Who is going to see you? Would you care if anyone judged you anyway?”
She gave him an I-don’t-give-a-damn gaze.
“I didn’t think so,” he said.
“I’ll wear it for the funeral so Mamma feels I am correct. She’s the only one I’ll do it for.”
She did put on a better outfit for the day, however, her dark gray linen skirt, her white, high-collar blouse, and matching jacket.
As Eva finished getting ready, Victor prepared Ellen and her things. He even arranged the baby sling, complete with sleeping baby, on himself. He slipped the canvas baby bag over his shoulder. With coat and boots on, Eva was ready to walk to her mother’s house to be with her family on the day of her beloved father’s passing.
~~~
Eva was correct. Victor’s mother had really taken charge at the Maki house. As she and Victor walked in, they saw food on the table and fresh coffee ready to pour. Mamma Mattson had helped everyone get dressed, and Pappa’s body had been prepared and wrapped in a sheet on the bed. All was calm, including Mamma. She was sitting in her rocker, looking more relieved than grieved. After the prolonged and dreadful illness, we are all relieved, Eva thought.
Silent greetings were exchanged amongst the Maki survivors, including kisses and hugs and tears. Aili took the baby from the sling and went into her bedroom. Liisa looked grieved and forlorn; probably wishing her Yuri was with her.
Victor spoke softly to Eva. “Would you mind if I went to find Father right now?”
Eva gave Victor a look of reassurance. “I’ll be fine. I’ll have a cup of coffee and settle in with Mamma.” She tilted up her chin for a kiss. “Don’t stay too long.”
Victor put his coat and boots back on and walked out the door.
~~~
As he headed down the lane, to Victor’s surprise, he spotted Yuri riding up to the farm. Yuri waved to Victor. Victor told him of the passing of Mr. Maki, and that Liisa could surely use his company and support.
“I don’t want to intrude,” Yuri said with concern.
“I’ll walk you in,” Victor said to his friend. “Don’t worry, you’ll be a help. Liisa will be relieved.”
As Victor walked back in, everyone turned their heads to see who it was. Liisa dropped a dish of cookies onto the table, and ran into Yuri’s arms. Eva felt relief for Liisa. She was touched by the affection between them. Aili came out of the bedroom with the baby and sat in the second rocker.
Yuri hugged Liisa fiercely and kissed her lovingly. “I am so sorry. Your Pappa was a good man. I’m glad I was able to meet him.”
“Thank you, Yuri.”
“How are you holding up? You look all right.”
“I know, darling.”
He gently let her go and walked over to Eva’s mother. He knelt and quietly gave his condolences. Speaking softly, he said, “I truly hope I am not intruding, but as long as I am here, I am at your service.”
Mamma spoke quietly, too. “Liisa is heartbroken. Let her cry with you. I know how fond you are of each other. God knows I’ve heard it all winter.” She managed a caring smile for her second daughter. “You go with her. It’s all right with me.”
Yuri placed his hand on hers and patted it, then straightened to his full height.
“Eva, may I talk with you in private?” he asked.
“Of course. Let’s go into the bedroom.”
In the room, he confessed to Eva. “I had come to ask your father for Liisa’s hand. Now, I don’t know what to do.”
“How wonderful, Yuri.” She put her arms around him.
“I suppose I’ll have to postpone it and ask your mother in the near future.”
“That may be wise. But why don’t you let Liisa in on it. She’s grieving so.”
“Thanks, Eva.”
When they returned to the kitchen, Yuri approached Liisa and took her hand. “If you have a few minutes, come outside with me. Let’s go for a walk in the fresh air. Victor told me you have been up since the very early morning.”
~~~
“Do we really need a minister to bury him?” Victor asked his father pragmatically as they dug the grave in the family cemetery. Hannes was also there to help out. The family cemetery was on the opposite side of the farm from the tenant’s house. Victor’s grandparents and great grandparents were buried there, as well as his father’s older brothers and their wives.
“We’ll have to ask Sinnikka,” Jacob concluded. “I know she doesn’t care for Salmi, but it would take some time to arrange for Pastor Alve to get here for a service.”
“I agree we need to ask her, and Eva,” Victor said. “She would want to be a part of the decision.” He fell silent for a few moments, shoveling more dirt out of the grave. After a few minutes, he stopped and spoke again. “Perhaps we can suggest a simple burial, amongst ourselves, and then we have time to ask Pastor Alve to come when he is able.” Hannes took the shovel from Victor and he climbed out of the deepening hole.
“That sounds reasonable,” his father said. “Let’s see what the women think when we are finished here.”
~~~
Eva agreed with the idea. Neither she nor her mother wanted Pastor Salmi there. They all knew how to read passages from the Bible. Pappa could be interred and then have a full service in a short while when the preferred Pastor was able to come.
Next, the coffin would have to be constructed. The Mattson men could do that within an hour or two, since the lumber was already available in the tool shed. Practicality called for these materials to be available in isolated areas. Oftentimes people died quite unexpectedly.
Everyone gathered at the Maki’s to eat the meat pies Mamma Mattson had made for the mid-day meal. In spite of the sadness of the occasion, everyone was famished.
Victor tended to Eva and his daughter for a while before he returned to the woodshed to help build the coffin.
“I have been all right,” Eva said to him. “Being with family is helping. Tending to Ellen is giving me great comfort.”
Later that afternoon, the finished pine plank coffin was brought to the house. Already prepared and dressed in his best suit, Pappa was placed inside. The bereaved walked behind the horse-drawn, coffin-laden wagon to the cemetery. Time was given to anyone who wanted to read their favorite passage from the Bible, or anything else, over the grave. Mamma Mattson sang an old hymn. Yuri said a Russian Orthodox funeral prayer, with his cap off.
Eva chose the Twenty-third Psalm.
“The Lord is my shepherd …” she read. “… He makes me lie down in green pastures, He restores my soul . . .” As she said the words, they were giving her great comfort. She knew her father was now at rest and she need not be afraid. It gave her strength. She wasn’t overly religious, but she still felt close to her father and knew everything would be fine.
~~~
Back at their cabin in late evening, with the baby in her cradle and Yuri in the other bedroom, Eva lay in bed, contented after a round of love making with an attentive husband. He cradled her in his arms from the top, and slowly moved inside her, bringing her to her finish. Enveloped in Victor’s arms, she talked sleepily about her revelation as she read from the Bible earlier that day.
“I felt deep comfort from reading today. In the psalm, David is singing that God is with us even in our darkest hour, that he provides us His word, His law, for all our needs. Why don’t they teach us that in church? Don’t you think more people would go?”
“That’s an excellent question. Should we ask Salmi that next time we see him?”
There was a short silence.
“Do you believe in spirits?” Victor asked.
“Yes. After all, isn’t God a Spirit? Maybe our spirits go back to God when we die. Then if there is eternal life with God, there is no death. We just leave our body—our spirit leaves, that is—and go back to God.”
“Maybe so, my little philosopher. I’m proud of your exploration of the deeper questions of the time, Eva. I’ve always seen you as intelligent. You just proved it to me again.”
He squeezed her and kissed her neck. She felt him in his aroused state and turned to face him.
“Yuri said he told you something interesting earlier today,” Eva said, “and that I should ask you about it.”
“He said Liisa wanted to take him into the sauna to make love.”
“She’s feeling her oats,” Eva said. “She’s so in love with him.”
“Yuri gently told her it wasn’t the right time. But he thrilled her with a proposal of marriage. He said he would ask your mother at the appropriate time.”
Eva nuzzled into his neck and put her hand on his penis. “I’m happy for her.”
“The family can use another good man like your father.”
“Ummm.”
He pushed his erection into her hand. She squeezed it. “So, you are looking for a second time tonight?” he asked.
“At least.” She stroked him with her hand. “What do you want?” she asked. She was finding a great deal of solace in her husband and their physical relationship.
“It’s your turn. What do you want?” he growled huskily, climbing on top. “I’ll be happy to oblige you.”
“I like it when you come inside me.” Eva dared to reveal a fantasy. “Thinking about it makes me climax.”
“I like it, too,” he murmured, and wriggled in between her legs.
~~~
Yuri prepared to leave a few days later with the intent to immediately get word to Pastor Alve in Turku. Eva and Liisa saw him off.
“Remember our wedding plans, and I’ll be back to work on the farm for the summer. That’s not long. One month at the most.” He kissed her ear, making her giggle. Eva liked the way Yuri was helping Liisa set a better mood for their separation, making it easier on her. Eva got a wink from Yuri as she watched Liisa gaze starry-eyed into his handsome face. Hope and excitement seemed to emanate from Liisa. After one last kiss, Yuri climbed into the carriage and drove off down the lane.
He looked back. “I’ll be back, my love!” he yelled to Liisa.
It made Eva think of Eino. Remembering their wrenching final parting, she yearned for Eino … I can’t think of the past anymore. Victor is my love now, she said firmly to herself.
That night, after making love and Victor had fallen asleep, Eva lay awake. She felt the melancholy she was getting used to since Eino left. It wasn’t there all the time, and for that she was grateful. And when it was, she was learning how to hide it from everyone. She wondered if she would ever get over him, and be truly happy with Victor. She rolled over to look at Ellen who was content, sleeping in her cradle. She smiled at
the preciousness. And sometimes, even if Victor was there, she turned to her daughter and the deep love she had for her to bring her back, when the melancholy visited.
~~~
For the next few weeks, Eva split her time between both houses. While the wait started for Pastor Alve, everyone had to get back to running a farm. Since it was planting time, that’s what resumed. Rye went into one large field, oats in another, and barley in yet another. A pram was fetched out of storage for Ellen, and Aili was designated in charge of the baby. Liisa was needed for planting until Yuri arrived, as well as for chores at the Maki house. Aili was to shadow Eva, or at least be at the ready with Ellen when it was time to breast-feed. It was tricky, but it worked.
Eva surreptitiously watched Hannes and Aili with the baby. He seemed to like his little niece and would hold her after he washed for a meal. Eva could tell that Aili was dreaming of her own family someday. I think it will be with Hannes, Eva thought. They will be so sweet together.
Chapter 19
At the Dady house, Christmas plans and menus were being created. The Dadys had held a Christmas Eve Soiree for years. All the top Harland and Wolff executives attended with their wives and adult children.
Eva and the Irishman Page 20