"A braid would be easiest, I think. You'll have to do it until the IV comes out."
Cal gathered her now silky hair in his hands and began to gently braid his lovely woman's hair. "Loose enough?" Phyl nodded and Cal fastened the elastic. "When will the IV come out?"
"They took some more blood this morning, but the doctor likes how fast my colour has returned. Unless the tests show something serious, the IV comes out the day after tomorrow and I go home the day after that." Phyl shifted to put her back against the raised mattress.
After a couple of minutes just watching each other, Phyl said, "You are allowed to kiss me, you know. I'm pretty sure that I'm not allergic to you."
Cal leaned forward and gave her a brief kiss. "Phyl, I have a serious question I want to ask you, but I need to know where you want me to ask it."
Phyl raised her head to examine Cal's face, her eyes filled with hope. "If you think I need some sort of romantic setting to be convinced to say 'yes' you'd be very wrong."
"Okay." Cal swallowed. "What's your full name? I know that Phyllida's your middle name and your first initial is H, for Heddy."
"Why do you want to know, John Calvin Bliss Richardson?" Phyl's eyes were sparking with mischief.
"How?" Cal stammered.
"I saw your passport when we drove the girls to the pair of U-16 games in Boston." She smiled impishly and waited until he was about to say something. Then she sighed. "Okay, my full name, which only really really close family know and you'll only hear it this one time from me, is Hedwig Phyllida Bente Erickssen Schuyler. That's why I was Heddy Erickssen when I was at Brookfield."
Cal blinked. "Really?"
"Would I make up a name like that?"
"No, I suppose not." Cal pulled a small blue box from his pocket. "So, Mrs. Hedwig Phyllida Bente Erickssen Schuyler, will you, despite my obvious failings and shortcomings, make me the happiest man in the world and marry me?"
"Considering that you've somehow convinced all of the nursing staff that I'm the luckiest woman in the world to have such a kind and considerate fiancee, even if you are older than dirt, I suppose I should make it official." She paused long enough to see him start to squirm. Then she looked at him tenderly and said, "Yes, Cal. I will marry you."
He opened the Birks box and asked, "Is this ring okay? I can buy you a different one if you don't like it."
Phyl took a look at the sapphire and diamond ring and her eyes began to glisten. She pulled Cal into a hug and murmured into his ear, "It's beautiful".
"So are you, dearest, so are you." After a moment, Cal sat up. "May I put it on you?"
"It fits perfectly," she said in wonder. "You can't have gotten the size from my old rings, they were a bit small."
Cal said, embarrassed, "I measured your finger the day I got back from San Diego, while you were still in the coma. I knew by then that I was a complete idiot for not recognizing how important you were to me. You were right, you know. Just because I'm twenty-one years older than you doesn't mean that you're going to be at my funeral. I was almost at yours and that scared me."
Phyl took Cal's hand. "Well, things seem to have turned out right in the end." She paused. "You know that I'm going to want more children."
"We can afford them. I will admit that it isn't a very comfortable thought for me because I might not have enough energy to keep up with them and I might not live to see them marry, but if it's what you want, then we'll certainly try."
Phyl drew Cal into a kiss. "That sounds like fun."
"What does?"
"The trying part, mister lucky number two."
Cal blushed and said, "If I'm number two, I guess I'll have to try harder."
Phyl rolled her eyes then gave her for-real fiancee another long passionate kiss aware that there was no heart monitor to summon the nurse this time.
Cal was checking in with the nurse at the station when he heard a pair of excited squeals coming from Phyl's room. Noticing the stern look on the nurse's face, Cal quickly reassured her. "I finally got around to giving Phyl her engagement ring this morning. I don't think our daughters really believed we were engaged."
The nurse lost a bit of her crustiness. "Well, I suppose it's okay. But tell them to try to keep it down."
Cal entered to an interesting tableau. Felicity must have suspected something was up and called people because Aunt Rosalind, Elaine and Judy had all dropped by for a visit. All six women were looking at him indulgently as he entered. Aunt Ros spoke first. "Well, dear boy, I see you finally came to your senses. I was afraid she was going to have to do something drastic."
Phyl stifled a smirk. "Well, the coma was pretty effective."
"I know, dear heart, but I would have tried something less personally damaging first."
Elaine got up to give her father a hug. "Congratulations, Dad. When's the wedding?"
"I'm going to leave that up to Phyl because I'm just as happy to get married at city hall the day they release her from the hospital."
Phyl spoke. "No you don't Mr. Richardson. We are going to have a quiet but proper church ceremony. Only family and anyone from the congregation who wants to come. And no real presents and just a family meal at a good restaurant. We have two houses full of stuff we'll have to sort through. And I want to have a new house ready to move into after we're married. But that's negotiable, sort of. So I'm thinking the second Saturday in December will be the earliest I'll be ready." Phyl looked her man in the eye. "And don't look so disappointed. You can wait."
The girls were a bit puzzled, but the older women all snickered. Cal faked a hang dog look and said, "Yes, ma'am."
Elaine raised an eyebrow and said, "I can look after the kids for a few days after the wedding. You won't want a long honeymoon with Christmas just around the corner."
"That would be a wonderful gift, Elaine." Phyl smiled sunnily from her bed. "Now, my dear man, you owe me several weeks worth of kisses."
Cal blushed under the knowing gaze of his widowed aunt. "Probably a years' worth or more if you expect punitive damages," he whispered.
Phyl whispered, "Keep that up and I'll damage you, old man."
"I thought you wanted children," he whispered back before he kissed her in a suitably restrained way.
"I was thinking that if I broke your leg you wouldn't be able to run away again." She smoothed the hair away from his forehead and said, so the others could hear, "I love you Cal Richardson."
"And I love you Phyllida Erickssen Schuyler." Tim rolled his eyes as all the women sighed in unison.
Chapter Nineteen - November
"I'm sorry to interrupt the house hunting but David and I would like to meet with you and Phyl. It's pretty urgent." Judy sounded worried.
Cal looked across the kitchen to Phyl who was sitting at the table finishing her morning coffee while rechecking her list of house requirements against the listings the agent had printed off. "Phyl, sweetheart? Judy and David want to meet with us as soon as possible."
Phyl looked curious. "Any particular reason?"
Cal mouthed "I'll ask" as he took his hand off the microphone. "What's up, Judy?"
"It's about Erica. David and I need some help sorting things out."
"I hope it's nothing too serious. Where do you want to meet?"
"Well, you were looking at houses in the west end, right?"
"We were hoping to get something closer to either Redeemer or OCS so we could cut down on the commuting."
"How about we meet at the Rose Bowl on Carling for lunch? We can get a booth so we can talk."
Phyl was standing next to Cal. "Okay, the Rose Bowl for lunch. Eleven-thirty okay?"
"Fine, we'll see you there."
Phyl snuggled into Cal and asked, "What was that about?"
"I'm not really sure. Something's come up with Erica and they want our help sorting it out. But that's all she said."
"I hope David's not after more money."
"I don't think that's it this time. Judy wouldn't have call
ed. She was pretty adamant that the next time David asks me for money she walks."
"Oh. I didn't know that." Phyl reached up to get a kiss. "How's the counselling going?"
"David's still pretty change resistant, but he is keeping up with the sessions. It's a double edged gift but he got a full measure of stubbornness from both Brenda and I. It means he finishes what he starts every time, but it also means he holds grudges forever." Cal dropped a kiss on Phyl's forehead. "As we both know very well."
"Well, I guess this means we don't have time to look more than one house this morning, so I should call the agent."
David and Judy were already sitting in a booth with coffee in front of them when Phyl and Cal arrived at the restaurant. After some polite greetings, including a wary smile from David to Phyl, Judy got to the point.
"Grace Humbolt called last night and let us know that she's not going to be able to look after Erica any more. She's had Parkinson's for a while and it's been getting progressively worse – bad enough that she's on the wait list for a nursing home. But there isn't a home that would let her keep Erica with her."
David continued. "She called Jeanine and told her what was happening and Jeanine said that her career was too important to jeopardize by doing the single mom thing again. Jeanine called me and gave me an ultimatum, either give her enough support to hire full time caregivers or have Erica come live with me."
Judy looked torn. "Cal, I know this is a huge imposition on you, well on both of you, but as nice as Erica is I don't think I can have her living with me. It took me until the last day of her visit with you to be able to even look at her without crying. I'm working on it with the counsellor, but she doesn't deserve to live with someone who can't love her. She's only six and it's not fair to her. So will you take her?"
Everyone fell silent while they thought through all the implications. Cal looked questioningly at Phyl and she took his hand.
The server interrupted everyone and took their order. After another moment of silence, Phyl spoke. "I guess it's really down to me. I know that both David and Cal would do anything for Erica and I really understand your reluctance to take her in, Judy. In your shoes I wouldn't even have attempted a reconciliation with David and I admire that you've been able to do that much." Phyl took a deep breath and looked at Cal for reassurance.
"I was an only child and I always wanted a big family. I didn't get that with Harry. He was an only child, too and we never did get along with our few cousins all that well." Cal squeezed her hand to let her know he was listening.
"So, now I'm marrying into a pretty big family and I feel really good about it. Cal has agreed that we'll have as many babies as we can before I get too old to have any more, so one more beautiful little girl won't be very much extra work." She looked at Cal who was smiling broadly then at the relieved looks on David and Judy's faces.
"However, I want David to continue paying support to Mrs. Humbolt so that she can afford to see her granddaughter when she wants to and so she can have as much comfort as she can while she deals with her illness. Jeanine can chase her career dreams and we'll make sure that Erica won't be a stranger to her mother, but we won't go out of our way to make it easy for her."
David spoke in a thankful tone. "I don't know what to say, Phyl. I mean, I was pretty awful to you for so many years."
"A thank you will do. I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for Erica, Cal and Judy, in that order. Believe me, it's going to take a few years before I'll even think of putting you back in my good books."
Judy took Phyl's hands and said, "Thank you, Phyl. I expect that things will get better between Erica and me but..."
"I understand, completely. She's not your daughter. But she will be my granddaughter."
Cal said, "I guess we need to talk logistics and custody arrangements then. If we're taking her, I don't want either you or Jeanine second guessing our decisions."
Judy put her hand on David to prevent any outburst of temper. David took a deep breath after giving Judy a reassuring look and said, "That's totally fair, Dad. I didn't do a very good job handling this and you did a pretty good job raising the bunch of us. What are you talking about then?"
"I'll need both you and Jeanine to assign sole custody to me and Phyl with visitation rights to be negotiated but not less than fifteen days each per year for each of you. Of course, you'll probably see her a bit more often than Jeanine but I'm serious about offering Jeanine the chance to stay in her daughter's life. We'll raise her as ours and we won't be asking either of you for support. But as Phyl said, though, you'll have to help Grace out."
David said, "I think that's better than I was expecting, Dad. What do you think Judy?"
"I think you've got the best Dad in the world, David, and you still owe Phyl a whole bunch of apologies."
David looked at his wife and then at Phyl. "Heddy, I'm sorry I caused you so much grief over the years. It was stupid and childish and wrong. Maybe someday I'll figure out a way to earn your forgiveness."
Looking David in the eye she replied, "I will forgive you in time, David, if you can truly accept that Cal and I love each other and will be married soon. As for the rest, until the Christmas party last year, I had forgiven you. You were only a small part of the bad girl reputation I had earned at Brookfield and moving to Kanata was the best thing that happened to me. Mum and Dad got back together, I found Harry and I became a Christian. I wouldn't be the person I am today if those things hadn't happened. So, I accept your apology but I reserve the right to yell at you if you screw up again."
Cal snickered at the echo of Brenda in Phyl's words. David looked very thoughtful and Judy looked at David with pride.
Then the server came with their lunch and they talked about the kids and the wedding and house hunting and all of the normal life things that make up family dinners.
"Grace? It's Cal Richardson calling."
A quavering voice on the speakerphone replied. "Good evening, Cal. Would you like to speak with Erica?"
"Maybe a bit later, but right now I'd like to speak about what we're going to do about our granddaughter." Cal tried to sound a friendly as possible.
"I guess David told y'all that my Parkinson's has gotten worse."
"He did. And he told me about Jeanine's conditions for taking Erica back."
"You know, Cal, I thought I raised that girl better."
"I thought we'd done a better job with David, too."
"Well, all you can do is your best. Sometimes it doesn't work out."
"David and Judy asked me to help them out."
"So are you going to give Jeanine what she wants?"
"No. Now before I make my offer, is there another aunt or uncle on your side that Erica wants to go live with?"
"Jeanine's brother is almost as old as you and his wife doesn't want a youngster around. They just got their last one through high school and they want to travel."
"I thought the same until we had Felicity when I was forty-two." Cal paused. "I want Erica to come live with me and my new bride in Ottawa. David's wife says she couldn't accept Erica because it would remind her too much of David's infidelity. So my fiancee, Phyl, said that we'd take Erica. I agreed, but only if we get sole custody. David talked to Jeanine and they both agreed to do it that way."
Grace clapped her hands and said "Lord be praised. That sets my mind at rest, Cal. You have no idea how worried I was."
"There's more. I told David that he's to keep paying support to you for as long as you're with us. It should make the difference between a bad home and a good one, and it will give you enough left over to visit us a few times a year."
Cal could hear the sniffles starting. "Just looking after my Erica would be enough."
"Not for me. Or for Phyl. And David can and should afford it. So, how about you get you and Erica ready to celebrate your Thanksgiving with us? Either Phyl or I will drive down to get you and you can visit for a while before we put you on a plane back home. I warn you that you might
get conned into helping with the wedding plans."
Cal heard a piping voice ask, "Nana, why are you crying?"
"Because I got the best news, child. Your Grandpa Richardson wants you to live with him."
"I want to live with you, Nana."
"Now, Erica, we talked about this a bunch. You know Nana's got a disease, right?"
"Yeah. It's that shaky disease, Parkington's."
"Yes. Parkinson's. Well, soon I won't be able to do any cooking or cleaning for us because my hands will be shaking too bad."
"I can help."
"Y'all can help a bit, but sweetie, I'm going to need lots more help than even you can give me. They won't let you stay with me at the nursing home. So I asked your mother and your father what they wanted to do."
"I don't want to live with Mommy. She's always working and the nanny was mean. And Daddy explained that I was his special secret so I couldn't go live with him."
"Well, you remember when your grandfather came to visit and took you to his house?"
"Yeah. He was nice." Cal smiled.
"Well, the reason he came to see you is that you weren't a secret anymore."
"I'm not? Does that mean I can go live with Daddy?"
"No, sweetie. Your Daddy's wife is still very mad at your Mommy for trying to steal her husband from her. So she didn't think it was a good idea for y'all to live with her and your Daddy cause she wasn't sure she could love you."
"Oh." Cal wished he'd flown down to do this in person.
"But your grandfather loves you a whole bunch and so does your Aunt Felicity. Your Grandpa has a good idea. He wants you to live with him so that y'all can see your Daddy every week. Would you like to speak with him?"
Cal held his breath. After a pause, Erica said, "Okay."
Cal said, "Hi, Erica..."
"Dad, are you sure this is a good idea?" Felicity was biting her lip like she did when she was nervous.
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