Ed piped in. “I’m not surprised. She’s a force to be reckoned with.”
“Tell me about it,” Liam said.
Sean shook his head and said, “What amuses me is that my son is not affected by her strength at all.”
“Has wee Sean showed an interest in any particular field?” Liam asked.
“I’m not sure what he wants yet. He seems to be fascinated by those Thoroughbreds down at the stables. He begs Molly and me to let him go when a mare’s foaling. He’s got a fine eye for breedin’ pairs as well, or so they tell me down there. There’s money to be made in horse breedin’. He’s excellin’ in horsemanship all ’round.”
“I’m determined to let my children choose what they want to do with their lives,” Liam said. “I know what it’s like to be under the undue influence of parents, thinkin’ they’re goin’ to tell ye what to do when ye’re an adult.” He glanced toward Eva, who was in conversation with Colleen. He noticed her feet were not up, but flat on the floor. “Eva,” he said sharply. “Put yer damn feet up.”
Eva did what he asked but gave him a dark look, eyelids turning to slits. She waited to return to her conversation with Colleen.
Ed whispered. “Holy Christ, Liam. She’s about to rip ye a new one.”
“Let her rip away,” Liam said, equally annoyed at Eva, raising his eyebrows at her. He looked away.
The men chatted a while about their familial influences with elder Alpo, who was from peasant stock near Finland’s Arctic region.
~~~
Ellen, along with the other children, was recruited to set the table. With the extensions in the table, it took two tablecloths to cover it. The centerpiece was a cornucopia in fall colors. Sean’s mother was seeing to getting the children started.
“Aren’t these gorgeous?” Molly remarked of the china plates as she pulled them from the cabinet. Then she asked Ellen, “Do ye know how to set the dishes and silver?”
“Oh, yes. I can take care of it, Mrs. O’Neill.”
“All right, then. Have at it,” she said and left for the kitchen, seeming satisfied that the table would get set.
Ellen knew the place settings by heart and taught the younger girls.
“Maggie, go count how many big people there are,” Ellen said. “Then we’ll know how many places to set. We kids will sit in the kitchen.”
Young Sean was in charge of filling the water glasses and keeping the pitcher filled as the dinner progressed.
Maggie came back to Ellen with the count, and Ellen thanked her.
As Ellen laid the plates on the table, she said, “Sean, how did you feel when you heard that story by Poe?”
Sean poured the water in the Chrystal water goblets on the table. “It gave me shivers up my spine,” he said with a grin. “You were right.”
“I’ll have a time turning my light off tonight,” Ellen said, shivering herself and giggling.
~~~
Liam went into the kitchen to see if dinner was almost ready. Sally, Molly, and Annie were busy filling serving bowls with a variety of national foods: American, Irish, and Finnish, including colcannon from Ireland, rutabaga casserole from Finland, and all the turkey and trimmings from America.
“We’re bringing everything out momentarily,” Annie said. “I’m just about done filling the children’s serving bowls for here in the kitchen.”
As the adults gathered at the table, Liam noticed that Kari Pelto, aged twenty-two, couldn’t keep his eyes off the lovely, but married, Colleen Murphy Brady. Liam also noticed how seemingly aloof and uncaring Colleen's husband was toward her. He wondered what would eventually become of this union. He wouldn’t say anything to Ed unless Ed volunteered the information. He saw no noticeable bruises on her this time. Brady had also done his share of drinking before dinner.
Liam asked Ed Murphy to lead a prayer of thanks, and Sally carved the turkey, taking a small platter of it to the kids in the kitchen. With everyone seated after the prayer, the side dishes were passed.
“At the children’s table, young Sean did his own version of a thanksgiving prayer. First, he glanced toward the adults in the dining room. Then he whispered.
“Good God, good food, let’s eat.” He giggled and crossed himself.
Ellen tittered.
Warm fires blazed in the fireplaces keeping the freezing late November cold outside where it belonged. It was a true American gathering to Liam, each person finding a place not only at the table in front of them, but at the grand American table, peopled by those who came from a faraway land searching for a better life, not only for themselves but for the children who followed, born true Americans. He knew that for Eva, the journey had been for Ellen, along with getting out of the trouble Victor had found himself in. For Liam, the journey had meant freedom from the restrictions that had been placed on him by absurd social mores, mores by which his own mother blindly lived by. No one at this table was under the illusion it would always be easy, but all knew it was up to each of them to determine the success or failure they would experience during their allotted time at the American table.
~~~
Liisa woke up after dinner and Liam retrieved her. He fed her at the kitchen table with a small amount of the foods and small pieces of turkey. Then he brought Liisa and her sip cup full of milk to Eva, who was now re-propped comfortably in her plush chair. Clean-up was quick, as the children carted empty plates and serving bowls to the kitchen. Liam washed while Ed and elder Sean dried. The rest of the former twenty-five-pound turkey was sliced and split between the four families for take-home leftovers. Ellen and young Sean were not allowed to have their pie eating contest, as there was not enough extra.
“I ate the most food,” young Sean bragged to Ellen after finding out they couldn’t have their pie eating contest.
“No wonder, because you are a bleedin’ pig with the biggest pie hole I’ve ever seen,” she blurted.
This made them laugh like loons.
“Let’s go back to the library and read The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” young Sean suggested. The two left.
While Liam and the other two men he recruited washed and dried the dishes, Eva entered the kitchen with one last empty bowl.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Eva! What the hell do I have to do to keep ye sittin’?” Liam hollered. He felt the end of the rope in his hands.
She placed the bowl on the table with force, glared at him and left the kitchen. Liam followed her, but she headed up the stairs. While Liam watched, feeling feckless, he heard their bedroom door slam. He went back to the kitchen.
Shortly after, Ellen entered the kitchen. Apparently, she had heard the argument from the library. “Pappa, Mamma is very angry with you,” she scolded.
Ed coughed and elder Sean cleared his throat. They were standing next to Liam, drying the dishes.
“You have been very bossy today,” Ellen said quite commandingly. “I’ve heard you. Mamma’s having her third baby. She knows what she is doing.”
Liam took a deep breath and let it out in a long snort through his nose. He did not make eye contact with the protector of Eva, but focused instead on washing the dish in his hands.
Seemingly satisfied that she made her point, Ellen then hugged Liam around the waist, staying for several moments which gave Liam a time to soften just a little, and then she left. Liam watched Ed and elder Sean pause their drying and glance at each other, seeming stunned, and definitely amused.
“I’ve never seen such a fine balance between utter cheek and diplomacy,” Ed remarked.
Elder Sean added, “Christ, Liam. Ye’ve got two o’ them. Wait ’til she starts with her monthlies. With Eva, they’ll make a great tag team. They’ll come at ye from both sides. I know, I have two that have started the turn-takin’ with their mother.”
Liam said nothing, giving his “supporters” a hairy eye ball. This made Ed and elder Sean clear their throats and go back to drying the dishes, trying to stifle their giggling.
Liam turned his
head away and smiled. They’ve got that right, he thought to himself. It was rare for Eva and Liam to have arguments and be angry at each other, not since their first months together.
After finishing the dishes, Liam came out of the kitchen and stood at the door to the library. “Ellen,” he snapped, “get Liisa, and make sure she’s not on the stairs. At least we can make sure she’s not goin’ to break her fuckin’ neck, if she falls.”
The two were in dead-on eye contact. Ellen gave Liam a very black look, walked past him, and went to find her sister.
~~~
For the next several days, Eva slept in the spare bedroom and barely spoke to Liam. She went up and down the stairs as she pleased. Liam would leave for work, slamming the front door. Eva would leave a plate of supper on the stove, which would be cold by the time he arrived in the evening. He wasn’t rushing home.
Annie sat with him one evening about a week after Thanksgiving while he ate, brooding. Eva was nowhere in sight. “You need to be on the watch now, Liam. She’s so close to deliverin’. Jesus, ye ought to know that, ye’re a doctor.”
“She won’t even look at me, Annie. She’s so angry. She’s avoiding me now.”
“Do ye want to know somethin’?”
He gave her a side glance. “I have a feelin’ ye’re goin’ to tell me even if I said ‘No’.”
“I don’t blame her.”
“I knew ye’d say that.” He scratched his head, dropped his fork on the half empty plate, and rubbed his face with both hands. He growled in frustration.
At that moment, Ellen showed up in the kitchen. Her eyes were wide and anxiety ridden. “Mamma needs you upstairs,” she said. “The floor is wet where she was standing in our room changing Liisa. It sounded like water dumping out of a bucket. That happened about an hour ago.” She didn’t wait for a reply. “She’s in the bathroom and in labor.” Ellen turned and left the room.
“Christ, Annie. How long has she been in labor and not told me?” Liam snapped.
“She hasn’t told me or Ed anythin’ either.”
“Jesus, Eva!” Liam hissed threw his teeth.
“What can I do, Liam?” Annie asked.
“As we go along, it’ll become clearer.”
“How about if I boil water?” Annie smiled.
“Brilliant, then come up.” Liam smiled back just a little, and then rushed out of the kitchen. He hurried up the stairs, cursing the safety gates as he unlocked and opened them. “How ironic,” he said, barely audible. He wanted to get to Eva.
He ran into the girl’s room to find it empty except for Liisa, asleep in her crib. He ran into the master suite.
“Eva,” Liam called, sounding anxious.
He found her and Ellen in the bathroom.
“Liam,” Eva said, obviously fretful and in pain. She was on her hands and knees on the white hexagonal ceramic tiles.
“How long have ye been in labor and ye haven’t told me?” Liam said. “God damn it, Eva!” He rushed to her. He saw she had gotten caught in a contraction.
“Stop! Yust stop. God damn it, Liam. You get out if you gonna yell at me. I'm sick you beink angry vit me!”
“Fine!” he answered crossly.
He fumed as he tried to help her. He could see her agonizing labor pain, the contraction coming on, feeling it with his hand. He watched her face and attention turning completely inward—gone from his self-serving rant—and to the impending birth of her third child. He suddenly felt like one giant arsehole. “All right, darlin’, let’s take care of ye.” He turned soft and attentive. “Ellen, darlin’, I know ye’re probably not happy with me right now, but I need ye to help for Mamma’s sake.”
“Fine, I can help you.”
“Is the bed ready? I had brought a large piece of rubber cloth from the hospital, like rain macks are made of. Take the blankets off the bed and put that down on the mattress. Then put all the old quilts on it. See them in the corner of the room?”
“Yes. I see them. I’ll go get the bed ready.”
Annie came in with a kettle of the boiled water. “I brought these clean towels as well.” As she put them on the dresser, he saw her startle as she noticed Eva on the floor.
“Oh, darlin’ Eva,” Annie cooed, going immediately to her. “We need to get ye in the bed, sweetheart.” Annie looked at Liam, asking with her eyes if it was all right if she helped a bit.
Eva reached for the helping hand of Annie.
Liam hoisted Eva up from her underarms. Once she was on her two feet, she fell into Liam’s arms.
“I vant you hold me,” she said like a young child.
Liam enveloped her and whispered, “I love ye, and I’m sorry I’ve been a royal bastard.”
As he kissed and nuzzled her, a big contraction hit. Her legs buckled. Liam scooped her up off the floor, carrying her to the bed.
“Baby is comink,” Eva began to panic.
Annie and Ellen put pillows behind her. Her nightgown was already soaked with sweat. Her face was pale. Annie placed a folded sheet under Eva’s bottom to catch the placenta when it delivered.
“I’ll get a cold cloth,” Ellen said, running into the bathroom to fetch it. She came back out and wiped her mother’s face and neck. “Mamma, are you gonna be all right?” she asked.
Eva was beyond speaking. Ellen looked inquiringly at Liam.
“Mamma is very engrossed in the birth now,” he said. “Many women can’t, or don’t, want to hold a conversation. So far, though, I think she’ll be fine.” As Liam gently put Eva’s knees up to examine her, he saw that the baby was already crowning. “This is not going to be long,” he said. “The baby’s right here. No wonder ye’re hurtin’. It’s another dark head, sweetheart.” Speaking soft and lovingly, he looked at her to see if he could make eye contact. He got it momentarily. “Push hard next—”
“Ahhh!” She started to push before Liam finished.
“Mamma!” Ellen cried. She went to her mother and held her hand.
It was just a few more pushes and the newborn came wailing into the world.
Liam could barely see what he was doing; tears of joy were getting in the way. He turned the baby over. “Eva, it’s a boy.” He could barely speak.
“God and Mary be praised, look at him,” Annie said in awe. She was close enough to Liam to kiss his cheek. “He’s beautiful, like his father.”
“It’s a boy?” Ellen moved from her mother and went to see the newborn. It seemed she was momentarily disappointed. Then she gazed at him. “But he is kind of sweet looking. He looks like Liisa.”
Eva promptly delivered the afterbirth, which Annie took care of in the folded sheet.
Ellen helped Liam wipe the newborn down. She even got to cut the umbilical cord. “Really, I can?”
“Just like the doctor would,” Liam said, smiling at her. Ellen wiped Liam’s tears with her fingers, then took the medical scissors from him and cut where he showed her.
“I did it!” she said.
“And brilliantly, I may say,” Liam said proudly. “Now let’s get yer baby brother weighed and then to his Mamma to eat. He’ll be hungry from the journey he just took to get to us.”
“Not only that, but I hope he doesn’t stay smushed like that.” Ellen was concerned, yet still managed a wry comment. “Look at his head. It’s pointy.”
“Babies are soft so they can be birthed,” Liam said, forcing himself not to laugh, yet not doing a very good job of it. “He’ll regain his shape shortly.” He gave Ellen her swaddled baby brother to hold.
“He’s a big chunk,” Ellen mused. “Monster boy.”
“Let’s see how much that monster boy weighs,” Liam said.
He had brought a scale from St. John’s just before Thanksgiving. It was sitting on the low dresser. He had Ellen gently place the baby on it.
“Jesus,” Liam said. “He's ten pounds, two ounces. See how ye read the scale, Ellen?”
“Is that big, Da?”
“Oh, aye. Most newborns are
five or six pounds, if they’re healthy.”
“What makes babies healthy?”
“When the mamma eats well, especially havin’ vegetables and meats and all, milk too, the baby’s more likely to be healthy comin’ out.”
“He still seems small though, compared to Liisa and me.”
Liam was always impressed at how Ellen would compare and contrast beyond what was in front of her.
~~~
As exhausted as Eva was, she found the conversation between Liam and Ellen precious. It was so far beyond the forced exchanges when they first met. Their interactions were quite natural now. Eva was also surprised at the weight of the son she just delivered. “I yust puss dat bik boy troo me? No vonder …”
She remembered the brief embrace between her and Liam just before the baby was born. It helped her put the last several miserable days behind her. She was eager to start fresh. She could see it in Liam as well.
“I can feed him for lil vhile, den I like to clean up.”
Liam took his swaddled son from the scale to Eva, who put him to her breast. The newborn was hungry, making little “uff” sounds as he nursed. Eva spoke in sweet Finnish baby sounds and gazed intently at her son. Liam sat on the edge of the bed.
Eva looked up at Liam. “Vhat you tink ’bout?” she asked softly.
“It astounds me to see the first few minutes of a mother-child bond that will last an eternity,” he responded. Tears began to well and spill over his eyelids.
As Eva put her hand on his knee to quiet him, he began to cry his heart out. She imagined he was letting out all the pent-up emotion that had built up in the last several months, originating from the heart-piercing loss of Dolly and the fear that the same would happen to her.
“Annie,” Eva said. “Liam and I like to name dis boy Conor, for you.” As she spoke, Liam collected himself, wiping his face with his kerchief.
“That would be grand,” Annie said, tears welling. “I’d like that very much.”
“Then, Conor Michael, it is,” Liam said proudly.”
Eva and the Irishman Page 66