“I wish I knew for sure.”
“I think it’s funny that you want to know. I was sure I’d have to bribe you with a few hundred sheep or something to get you to let them look at all.”
Willow shook her head. “Why not know! We can make clothes, buy toys, pick names… I think it’s amazing that we have the technology, and I love being able to plan it all.”
“Plan. I should have thought of that. The only thing the Finley woman love more than doing things the old fashioned way is to plan out their every step.”
“Sue me.” Willow reached for her water, grimaced, and took a swig. “And here starts the ten o’clock tramp to the necessary.”
“I’ve got another thing to bring up that you’re not going to like.”
“Then don’t!” Her wicked grin prompted a fresh burst of chuckles from Chad.
“Sorry, no can do.”
“So, what won’t I like?”
“We have to buy another car.” Even as he said it, Chad felt like a coward. He’d left out the worst of it and he’d done it deliberately— stalling.
“Soooo why will that bother me? We can’t get the babies home in the truck. I know that. Well,” she thought for a moment and shrugged. “You could always get Mom to take us home.”
“And how would we all go to church, visit my parents, or go to the babies’ checkups?”
“That’s one way to avoid them…”
“Not happening. You agreed.”
She threw up her hands in mock despair. “Don’t shoot! I’ll surrender. So, you buy a car. Do the accounts have enough money? What’s the problem?”
“Well, buying the car isn’t the biggest problem.” Chad took a deep breath. “The big problem is that you’re going to have to learn to drive.”
“Not happening.”
“Not an option,” he countered quietly. Before she could mount her offense, Chad clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to make it playful rather than offensive. “Just listen. I promised not to lead you anywhere you weren’t ready to go unless I had to. This is my first deviation. Like it or not, you must learn. Period.”
“Why?” The lack of belligerence in her tone relieved him.
“Because you never know what could happen to those babies. They get sick. They need help. Croup, pneumonia, RSV, there’s all kinds of stuff that babies get, and I might not be able to get to you in time to get them where they need to be. One could start learning to crawl and fall down the stairs. They could cut themselves on something—anything. Your mother managed not to need an ambulance and I commend her for that but—”
“But you’re not willing to take that risk.”
Chad shook his head. “No. I’m not. I have been praying that you’d understand. I’m not asking you to drive everywhere. If you want to stroll to town with them, so be it. If you never leave the farm except when I’m driving—that’s fine. But I want you able to do it if they need you to.”
“Do I have to get a license?”
“I think it’d be smart…”
“If it was a true emergency, couldn’t they just give me a ticket for driving without one and we pay it? I don’t want a license.”
“But you’ll learn to drive.” It wasn’t a question.
Willow nodded. “You teach me how, and I’ll make sure that in an emergency, I can safely get us medical attention.”
“I won’t pretend I wouldn’t prefer you had a license. I want you to pray about it—think about it—reconsider. But for now, as long as you learn how to drive, I’ll be content.”
They sat discussing names until Willow yawned the third time. For Chad, that was his clue that she needed bed. Now. He practically pushed her upstairs and demanded that she brush her teeth, before he hurried downstairs to blow out the Christmas candles. From just outside the library, he shoved the wise men along the edge of the table a little closer to the tree.
As they crawled into bed, Willow holding her unwieldy stomach until she rolled over comfortably, Chad debated asking the question that had confused him for weeks. He’d known she wouldn’t want a license. Instinctively, he’d predicted her exact response. He’d avoided asking the question, but here, resting comfortably in their bed as he listened to the crackle of the wood in the stove outside their bedroom door, he was ready to ask.
“Why don’t you want a license, Willow? Having it doesn’t mean you have to drive…”
“It’s silly really, but—”
“Come on, I’m curious.”
She rolled over to face him, slowly releasing her supporting hands from around her belly once again. “I don’t want the temptation. Just as Mother needed to turn off the electricity to avoid the things that would drag her from the life she wanted to live, I need to avoid the one thing that I think would tempt me away from the one I want to live. I don’t want to become lazy, and I think I would.”
“That’s absurd! Willow, you’re the least lazy—”
“And I have safeguards in my life that help keep me that way. Remember how I forgot to order staples until I ran out of salt? It’s already easy to do those things, knowing you can just bring them home for me. What’ll happen if I can run to town for a piece of fabric instead of taking the time to make it myself? Little outfits like Cari’s and Lorna’s won’t happen.”
“But you loved making that fabric—surely you’d do it again in the same instance.”
“I don’t know,” she said thoughtfully. “I’d like to think I wouldn’t, but I love to look at fabric ideas that others have as well. Who is to say I wouldn’t be tempted to shop for it? It’s not wrong to shop for it, but I don’t want to wake up twenty years from now and regret that I lost my ingenuity and creativity due to my own laziness.”
“I am having trouble imagining you as lazy.”
She laid her hand on his cheek, smiling. “Chad, you have a hard time remembering that I’m imperfect except when we happen to disagree. It’s sweet, but if you really think about it you’ll remember just what I pill I really am.”
“Should I say something sappy like, ‘if you’re a pill, then I’ll take my medicine happily?’”
“Um, no. That’s just… um… no.”
Laughing, Chad waved her over and began kneading her shoulders and back as he did every evening when he was home at bedtime. Within seconds, she was asleep and he at peace. Knowing his children wouldn’t be at the mercy of an ambulance for medical care if needed reassured him. “Four more month’s Lord… just four more months…”
Chapter 13 6
“I-I-I tried to-to- tell him b-b-but he w-wouldn’t listen.”
“And now the barn roof needs to be replaced already?” Willow stared at Charlie Janovick in dismay.
“Yes.”
“And you think the metal is the best option?”
“Yes.”
Willow nodded. “I see. Ok. Give me a list to do, and I’ll take care of it.”
“I-I-I’m sorry W-W-Willow. I-I-I should have b-b-been more p-p-persuasive.”
“He was in a hurry and heard what he wanted to hear. I probably would have done the same thing.” She dished out a bowl of stew from the stove and handed it to the handyman. “Eat. And while you’re at it, tell me if you want to do the work yourself or if you think I should find a contractor.”
“C-c-contractor. D-d-definitely. I-I-I would d-do it, b-b-but time…”
“You think it’s more important to get it done quickly and a contractor can do it faster than one man alone?”
Nodding, Charlie swallowed his first bite, and nodded at the bowl appreciatively before saying, “I-if I-I-I wasn’t so b-b-usy, I-I-I might have t-t-time b-b-but…”
“Well, I won’t pretend that I wouldn’t prefer to have you do it. You’re a genius with your hands, but if you find me a good contractor who can do it before the next snow, I’ll consider myself blessed.”
“G-g-got the m-man for you. I-I-I’ll s-send h-him out.”
The next morning, a middle-aged man with a spread
around his middle to match knocked on her door. Willow grabbed her coat and stepped outside. “Sorry, my husband is sleeping. He just got in at six so I’m trying not to wake him.”
“Charlie told me what’s going on up there and what needs to be done. I’ll take a look, but I suspect if Charlie says it, then it’s so. He hasn’t been wrong yet.”
“And your name is?” Willow liked the man already. Anyone who recognized Charlie as a treasure was all right in her book.
“Sorry—Paul Plummer.”
“The roofer.”
“You don’t know how often I get people trying to convince me I know how to fix their pipes. Not only do I not know, I don’t want to learn,” the man joked as he grabbed his ladder from his truck. “I’ll just climb up there and give it a once-over.”
Minutes later, he climbed down shaking his head. “Charlie’s right. You’ve got ice between your shingles and some are already tearing. I don’t know what went wrong up there—didn’t take the time to look—but outside the fact that I use this product because I believe in it, I think it’s the only one safe to install this quickly and in this weather.”
“Can you have it done by Friday?”
“I’d have to charge quite a bit extra…” The man seemed embarrassed to say it.
“I don’t care. We can’t afford to add more work onto what we’re already doing.” As she spoke, Willow clutched her stomach and sucked in her breath.
“You ok, ma’am?”
“Yep. I’ve just got a kicker in here, and sometimes he really gets me.”
“You due soon?”
“Two months.”
Before the man could express his surprise, a car pulled into the yard next to his truck. Carol Finley stepped out of it, waving at Willow excitedly. “Wait’ll you see what I brought!”
“My grandmother is here. I need to go, but thank you. I’ll sign whatever paperwork you want. Just please try to get that roof on before the next snow. If we like your work, I’ll see what Chad says about replacing our other roofs to match. I know Mother planned to replace the old barn roof next year anyway.”
Leaving the man, Willow waddled through the snow rubbing her belly briskly and wishing she’d not decided that a maternity coat was a waste of time and money. “Grandmother!”
From the trunk, Carol Finley pulled a large box. “It’s a jogger stroller. It’s meant for use on the roads, so you could walk to town with the babies and it’d be a comfortable ride. The wheels have shocks and everything.” Before Willow could respond, Carol pulled out a large department store bag. “And, one of the ladies at church gave this to me for you. Her daughter had twins last winter and found this coat…”
The women chatted as they dragged the box onto the porch and then went inside. Willow tried on the coat and was excited to see that not only did it button, it would still button for at least a couple of more weeks. “This is so thoughtful! I’ll take good care of it for her.”
“Oh no, it’s yours. She’s not having any more children, so she doesn’t want it back.” Carol pointed at the truck retreating down the driveway. “Who was that?”
“Something’s wrong with the barn roof, and apparently it’s serious enough that it has to be replaced immediately.”
“Storm’s coming Friday. We were worried. They said they expect a lot of power outages in the outer lying towns.”
“Considering we hardly use power, we’re not concerned for us, but I made extra candles yesterday, and Chad took them to town in case people need them. He’s going to haul wood today too.”
One last glance out the window showed the new minivan parked beneath the awning Chad had erected. “I see you bought the car.”
“I’m learning to drive it too. So far, I haven’t hit anything, but I have come close.”
The women talked over tea and cookies, Carol sharing stories of her own pregnancies and Willow laughing at the antics of her unborn mother in utero. As Willow hemmed summer blankets, Carol worked slowly on the afghan she was crocheting under Willow’s patient tutelage and talked about impending baby shower. “I didn’t come to your bridal shower—I wish I would have…”
“You weren’t ready. I understood that.”
“We kept you at arm’s length because of Kari’s decisions. That was wrong, Willow.”
Willow shook her head and snipped the embroidery floss. “No. It wasn’t. Family ties aren’t created at birth simply because of the birth. They’re slowly interwoven as time and relationships emerge. You can’t just wake up one morning, find out you have a grandchild of twenty-two, and expect to have a close, personal relationship. I had more connection with you because Mother was careful to teach me all about you.” She corrected a stitch and added, “When you add to it, all the pain of Mother’s disappearance, I’m amazed you ever speak to me.”
Chad burst through the door grinning. “Fran sent this package home. I think I know what it is, but I’m not sure.” Dropping the box on the couch next to Willow, he raced into the kitchen. “Where are those batteries I bought?”
“In the cellar. Top shelf to the right of the door next to the candles,” Willow called back stifling a giggle as she struggled from the couch. “He’ll stare right at them and never see them… this time.”
“Visual learner?”
“Yeah… the vision of my immense belly reminds him that he can use his eyes just as well as I can use mine.”
Carol’s laughter followed as Willow waddled through the kitchen and down the cellar steps. “Did you find them?”
“Top shelf where—oh Willow, you didn’t have to come in here. Now you have to climb back up again.”
“I can stand the climb better than the shout. Here.” She passed him the box of batteries. “What do you need with them?”
“Power is out in town. I’m going to keep them in the car for when people need them.”
“But the storm hasn’t hit yet!” Willow’s surprise was arrested by a swift kick to her bladder. “Ow!”
“Don’t you dare go into labor now, woman.”
“I’m not due yet! It’s—oof—just a kick. I want you to have a talk with your son when he gets here. I am not putting up with this kind of treatment.”
To her amusement, Chad laid both hands on her belly gently sliding them around until he found the offensive foot. He sank down on his heels and pressed his cheek against her stomach where the baby had started moving again. “Hey, little guy,” the movement stopped. “Be nice. Your mama’s tired and those kicks hurt. You can move, but take it easy ok?”
The foot stretched again, but Chad massaged it until it disappeared from the surface. “How do you do that? I try it and get a punch to the rib in addition to the kicks.”
“They know authority when they hear it.”
“I think you have a future in hostage negotiation.”
Exhausted, Chad crawled from the covers and shuffled downstairs. Sitting in her mother’s rocker, Willow’s eyes were closed, and she rocked slowly. “Can’t sleep, lass?”
“I could sleep fine if little feet weren’t running relays.”
“Relays huh?” He stood behind her kneading her shoulders with his hands. “How do you know it isn’t all one very rambunctious child while his sibling is the victim of false accusations?”
“How do you know the rambunctious one is a he?” She leaned her head back and grinned into Chad’s sleepy eyes. “Besides, I can tell where the movements are coming from. Either they’re doing the tango in there or they’re running relays. One baby can’t be in all places at once. Not even yours.”
“What do you have to do tomorrow?”
“Just a bit of tomato picking for Jill and cooking for the work crew.”
He marveled at this wife of his. “You know, lass, you don’t have to make them a hot lunch every day. It’s not expected, much less required.”
“They’re out there working, in the freezing cold, to protect my barn and get it done before the storm. The least I could do is cook them a
hot meal.” She smiled thoughtfully. “I guess it’s good I didn’t need to relieve any more angst, or we wouldn’t have had enough dishes.”
“Missing Mother these days?” His hands found the knots beneath her shoulder blades and worked diligently to release them.
“I’m missing her, but it’s not the same. I have family in my life now. I’ve read her thoughts and fears that I never really understood before she died. I’m more ready to accept that she’s exactly where she’d wanted to be since that horrible day that changed her life. She’s content. I miss her, but I no longer resent her for leaving or God for taking her.”
They stayed there for some time without speaking—Willow rocking, Chad rubbing the aches and kinks from her very swollen body. Finally, Willow caught his hands in hers. “Go back to bed, Chad. With Brad sick, they could call you in anytime. Get some sleep. I’ll be fine.” She smiled at his protest and shook her head. “I’ve got to get used to it anyway. Your mother assures me I won’t get a decent night’s sleep for the first year.”
Reluctantly, Chad climbed the stairs and crawled under the covers. Now awake, he lit the oil lamp beside their bed and reached for her journal. He hadn’t read it in a week. As busy as they were, it was a nice way to make sure he was in tune with his wife’s thoughts.
February-
Time flies. I never understood that concept as a child or even when Mother was alive. Before the strangeness with the Solaris, not much had changed around here, and I rarely looked back, wondering where the time had gone, but the longer I’m married and the closer these babies get to birth, the faster the days seem to fall from the calendar.
Dr. Kline is very happy with how our little tykes are growing, how I’m stretching, and how I don’t seem to be gaining too much. I’m finding it impossible to keep food down now. If I accidentally overeat— just one extra bite will send me running for a bucket, so I now carefully planning every single bite to ensure I don’t eat too much or too little. It is a nuisance of epic proportions, but I’ll survive. I told Chad the first thing he must do after the babies are born is go get me something, anything, that I can fill my stomach with.
Past Forward- A Serial Novel: Volume 4 Page 27