Kin

by Lesley Crewe

  “What about your brothers?”

  “They finally found an apartment in Sydney. They’re moving out soon. One of them has been hired to drive a bus and the other one works at a grocer’s.”

  “So you’re going to run the farm by yourself?” Lila said.

  “I’ll be fine. I’ve got a man who buys my milk and eggs and all the potatoes I can give him. I don’t want for much.”

  “You’ll be lonely down there by yourself.”

  “I’m used to being alone.”

  “Then you’ll have to come up here more often,” Aunt Eunie said. “Come for Sunday dinner. Joe brought home an enormous pork roast yesterday. We can’t possibly eat it all.”

  “Thank you. That would be nice.”

  Aunt Eunie went out to the kitchen and came back into the dining room with another pile of pancakes for Ewan. “Have some pancakes. They’re delicious.”

  Ewan was too polite to point out he already had a full plate. He took it from her and said, “These look good.”

  “There’s lots of ketchup, so help yourself.”

  Lila knew her aunt meant maple syrup, that she was just upset about the dog. Uncle Joe was very quiet too.

  Cricket picked up a piece of her pancake and yelled, “Fweddy! Fweddy!”

  “I hate 1949 already,” Lila said.

  * * *

  Annie had been keeping her pregnancy a secret from Henry until she passed the three-month mark. She’d seen too many sad faces of young mothers at the hospital. No sense in getting everyone riled up until she knew it was going to happen. She made one last doctor’s appointment to be absolutely sure.

  As she lay on the examining table, the doctor had his brow furrowed. “Are you sure of your dates?”

  “Pretty sure. Why? What’s the matter? You’re making me nervous.”

  He took off his rubber gloves and poked around her belly again. “I can’t say with total certainty at this stage of the game, but I have a hunch you’re having twins.”

  Annie sat up. “Twins? Twins don’t even run in my family.”

  “Look at it this way, Annie. You get two babies with only one labour.”

  “You’re a genius.”

  Annie made Henry’s favourite, spaghetti and meatballs, for dinner. She lit a few candles, put on some music, and dolled herself up a little. Then she lounged in the chair closest to the table, so Henry would see the entire vignette all at once. She even crossed her legs to the side, like she’d seen Kay do.

  She heard the car pull up into the driveway rather quickly and only moments later he burst in the door.

  “You’re having twins?!”

  Annie jumped out of the chair. “Why did he tell you? I wanted it to be a surprise!”

  Henry came over and tried to take her in his arms, but she kept slapping him away. “Don’t blame him. Blame me. I accidentally saw you go into his office today and I choked him until he spilled the beans.”

  “There was no accident about it. You’ve been spying on me! Did you already know I was pregnant?”

  “Yes! Don’t hate me!”

  She kept trying to push him away. “How did you know?”

  “You’ve been eating four bunches of bananas a week. You polished off a whole carrot cake by yourself and made me fry cheese in a frying pan.”

  They both burst out laughing and started to jump up and down with glee. He took her in his arms and held her close.

  “You are precious to me, Annie Pratfall. You are my world. I wouldn’t be able to live without you.”

  “Sure you would. It just wouldn’t be as much fun.”

  They filled up on the spaghetti and meatballs before venturing forth to tell the grandparents.

  They went to Annie’s house first in case Henry’s mom had a seizure and had to go to the hospital.

  They knocked on the back door and found her parents having tuna noodle casserole at the kitchen table.

  “Hi, guys,” Annie said.

  Her mother jumped up. “You’re pregnant!!”

  “Oh my god! Did you choke my doctor too?”

  “No! I’m looking at Henry’s face!”

  Mom hugged her. Dad hugged her. Then Mom hugged Henry and Henry hugged Dad. Then Mom hugged her again.

  “Wait for it…” Annie said.

  “…we’re having twins!” Henry shouted.

  “I wanted to tell them!”

  Mom squealed and Dad chuckled before they got on the phone and called David, who shouted congratulations and passed the phone to Kay, who squealed just like Mom.

  Then they called Lila.

  She told them about Freddy before Annie had a chance to tell her about the babies, so when she did find out Lila was upset that she’d ruined such happy news with her sad news.

  When they walked into Henry’s mother’s house, Joy jumped up to greet them and immediately fell to the floor in a dead faint.

  “Okay, this is ridiculous! How on earth does she know?”

  Henry rushed over to his mother’s side and gently tapped the side of her face. “Mom. Mom. Are you okay?”

  She started to come around. “Oh my, what happened?”

  “Is your blood sugar low again?”

  “Maybe.”

  “I’m sorry.” Annie knelt by her as well. “I thought you’d heard we’re having twins.”

  Joy’s face radiated joy before she lost consciousness.

  * * *

  It was only a month later that Annie and David’s cousin Dorothy was killed in a car accident. She was a passenger in a vehicle that left the road. The man who was driving lived, but she was thrown from the car.

  Dorothy had wanted to be a stewardess. She was fun and pretty and Aunt Muriel’s only daughter.

  When David heard the news, he immediately left Halifax to come home. Kay wanted to come with him, but he said he’d rather go alone. She understood.

  The wake at the funeral home was terrible. He and Annie had never been to a wake before. They’d lost three of their grandparents when they were young and hadn’t been allowed to go. How Dorothy’s parents and older brother stood there by her open coffin and shook hands with a seemingly endless line of people, David didn’t know. Annie became very emotional, and Henry asked Lila to take her into the ladies’ room, as her parents were standing beside the family.

  When the girls finally re-emerged, Henry and David were waiting close by.

  “Maybe we should go home,” Henry said.

  “No.” Annie wiped her red and swollen eyes with a wet paper towel. “She was my cousin and I’ll do this, but I swear to God, if anything ever happens to me, don’t put me in an open casket. I’ll come back and haunt you.”

  Somehow the family made it through the wake and the funeral. Then everyone was asked to come back to the church hall for tea, sandwiches, and sweets. David marvelled at how these small elderly church women had the entire place completely organized for over a hundred people. They even catered to the immediate family, so they wouldn’t have to stand in the lineup.

  Annie was still visibly upset. “Why don’t these people go home? You’d think they were at a wedding reception. Do you see that guy over there? He’s gone back for thirds.”

  Henry patted her knee. “But look at all the people going up to her parents and brother. They’re telling them how special their daughter was. They’ll appreciate that in the lonely days ahead, when people stop talking about her for fear of hurting them.”

  When it was time to leave they went back to their parents’ house; Annie and David felt they should be there for their mother, who was so upset. But Mom said she needed to lie down and Henry said he should take Annie home too. Dad asked David to take Lila back to Round Island. The Johnsons were taking care of Caroline.

  Without saying a word to each other, they got in his
car. The tension was palpable, and David knew he was going to lose it if he didn’t stop and have it out with her.

  He pulled over to the side of the road on the outskirts of Glace Bay.

  “Why are we stopping?”

  David left the engine running and turned to face her. “I want to know why you felt it was necessary to show up with Caroline the night I brought Kay home to meet my family.”

  “You want to do this now? After the horrible day we’ve gone through?”

  “I’m not going to get many chances to speak to you alone in the future.”

  “No, you won’t, will you? You’ll be a married man.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because she’s rich?”

  David resisted the urge to shake her. “I’m marrying someone else because you told me I wasn’t the father of my own child. I told you I loved you and wanted to marry you, but you threw me out.”

  “It didn’t take you long to find a replacement.”

  “Don’t bring Kay into it. This is your fault, Lila.”

  Lila stared straight ahead. “It’s my fault that you had your way with me outside, on the ground, the minute you came home from overseas.”

  “Jesus! You make it sound like I raped you. You enjoyed it, as I remember, or have I got that wrong too?”

  “Do you think I wanted to be there the night you brought Kay home? Annie asked me to come and since I’m still pretending to be your little sister, it would’ve looked odd if I didn’t go.”

  They stopped talking, as if letting the words settle in. David looked out his car window.

  “You can’t truly love me, David, if you’re marrying someone else.”

  He turned back to her. “That’s where you’re wrong. What if I call the wedding off? Would you marry me then? Would you let me raise that beautiful little girl? You’re the one who holds all the cards here.”

  Lila gave him a shocked look. “You’d do that to someone who obviously adores you?”

  “You did.”

  She didn’t respond.

  “Since you find it distasteful to even contemplate marrying me sometime in the future, I have no choice. I want to be married. I want a family. Is that wrong? Isn’t that what everyone wants? You’re not prepared to give it to me, so I’ve gone elsewhere. But in your eyes it will still be my fault.”

  She kept her face turned away. David knew the conversation was over. He put the car in gear and turned the wheels back on the road. They were silent the rest of the drive. When he pulled into the yard, Lila got out of the car and shut the door before he could say anything else. Not that he was going to. He’d said enough already.

  * * *

  The wedding took place at Saint George’s Round Anglican Church and the reception was at the Lord Nelson hotel. There was a suite of rooms available at the hotel for David and his family, who were driving up the day before the wedding. He paced back and forth waiting for them to arrive.

  The hotel room door finally opened and only a round bump could be seen protruding from the side.

  “Guess who!”

  “Annie!”

  Annie appeared, with Henry, Mom, and Dad behind her, as well as his grandmother, Cynthia. David was happy to see them.

  “Look at you.” He took his sister in his arms and gave her a big hug. “Hi, everyone!”

  As they greeted each other, Annie rubbed her belly. “Are you sure Kay still wants me in this wedding? I’ll look like a fat cow beside her.”

  “She said she didn’t care if you were as big as a house.”

  “Can you believe someone that beautiful and that rich is so nice?” Annie said. “You must be the happiest guy alive.”

  His mom and grandmother approached him with what looked like new cookie tins. “I made some Danish wedding cookies…” his mother said.

  “…and I made a light fruitcake. Do you think we should give them to Kay’s mom in case she wants them for the reception?”

  David loved these two women more at that moment than ever in his life. “Let me handle it. I’ll make sure she gets them.”

  “Your Aunt Muriel and Uncle Howard were going to come, but Muriel didn’t feel up to it at the last minute,” Dad said. “But everyone else is here. Are we all expected at the rehearsal dinner tonight?”

  “No, just the wedding party, and Grandma, of course.”

  “Is it in this hotel?” Henry asked.

  “No, another restaurant downtown.”

  His tiny grandmother reached up and patted his cheek. “If you don’t mind, honey, I won’t be going this evening. The drive tuckered me out.”

  “That’s fine, Grandma. Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure to order room service before we go.”

  “What’s that?”

  “It’s great; they make your meal and bring it right to your door.”

  “What’s so great about that? I’ve been doing that for you fellas for fifty years.”

  David introduced his family to the Hanovers in the lobby of the Lord Nelson. Louis made a big show of welcoming them to the city, as if they were refugees from another country. Kay’s mom kept her cigarette holder glued to her mouth and only nodded at everyone. Kay was happy introducing her brother, Louis, who seemed genuinely pleased to meet them.

  Then David introduced his best man, Scott, to his family, along with another school chum who was a groomsman. Kay’s maid of honour was her cousin Marion. Marion and Annie became fast friends, both of them giggling over Annie’s girth.

  They departed for the church and the minister went over the ceremony. It seemed pretty straightforward, so they piled in their cars and hit the restaurant, which was ready and waiting for them. David and his dad walked in together, but when Louis came through the door, Dad asked to speak to him.

  Louis stood there with a cigar in his mouth, looking like Winston Churchill.

  “What can I do for you, Mr. Macdonald?”

  “I’d like to pay for everyone this evening, in accordance with the tradition that the groom’s family hosts the rehearsal dinner.”

  David’s stomach started acting up there and then.

  “That’s extremely generous and kind of you, sir. I will certainly abide by your wishes. Thank you very much.”

  Louis walked off, but David held his father back. “Dad, you don’t understand…”

  “I don’t understand what?”

  “These people don’t care what things cost and they drink. It’s going to be more than you can afford.”

  “I have my pride, David. I want to do this for you. You’re my only son now and your mother and I want to do our part.”

  David hung his head. Dad put his arm over his shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”

  It wasn’t.

  Dad might have been paying for it, but Louis presided over the wine list. “We want three bottles of your best champagne. Nothing’s too good for my girl.”

  David sat next to Annie and whispered, “Dad’s paying for this.” Annie then whispered to Henry.

  The waiter came back with the champagne.

  “We’d also like three bottles of your best white wine.” Louis turned to Dad. “This restaurant is known for its seafood. White wine goes better with fish, but if you like, we can get red too?”

  Dad held up his hand. “We’re good.”

  “Let’s have appetizers first,” Louis boomed.

  “Is this all on one bill?” the waiter asked.

  “Yes, it is,” Dad said.

  Everyone had appetizers except for Henry, Annie, David, and his parents.

  Then Louis encouraged everyone to get the lobster, which they did, except for Henry, Annie, David, and his parents, who didn’t have the dessert or specialty coffee either.

  At one point Dad stood up and cleared his throat. Virginia kept talking until
Kay spoke to her under her breath.

  Virginia put up her hands in surrender, one of them holding onto a glass of rye and ginger. “No offense meant.”

  “I’d like to thank everyone for coming this evening. David’s mother and I are very proud and happy to welcome Kay into our family. She is obviously a wonderful girl and a credit to her parents. David is a good man, and I know he will take care of your daughter in the years ahead. We wish them all the best.”

  “Hear, hear!” Louis roared.

  Dad held up his glass. “To David and Kay.”

  Everyone followed suit. “To David and Kay.”

  David, Annie, Henry, and Mom sat still as the waiter handed Dad the bill. To his everlasting credit, he didn’t flinch.

  “Excuse me. I’ll take care of this at the counter.” Dad stood up and walked away. Henry got to his feet and said “Nature calls,” before hurrying after Dad. David watched them confer in the corner. He knew that Henry was offering to pay with a cheque and that Dad would have no choice but to accept. He also knew his father would insist on paying him back as soon as he got to a bank.

  David was aware that it wouldn’t occur to Kay to wonder if there was a problem. She was happy and laughing with her cousin, who was flirting with the best man and the groomsman. Louis Sr. and Louis Jr. were discussing business. Mom stared at her lap, and Annie looked at Henry with such love in her eyes that David had to look away.

  There was only one person who noticed everything, and that was Virginia. David saw her sit back in her chair and stare at him with a satisfied look. She even held up her glass and nodded to him.

  David had never hated anyone so much in his life.

  The first thing David did the morning of his wedding was go downstairs with the cookie tins and speak to the man in charge of the reception.

  “I’d like these cookies and this fruitcake to be front and centre on the dessert table. Put them on your best pedestal cake plates, please, and then return the tins to my room.”

  “Certainly. I’ll make sure it happens.”

  “Thank you.”

  The rest of the day was a blur. It seemed to be endless waiting, and people running back and forth and cars being arranged and everyone asking him questions, most of which he couldn’t answer, since he hadn’t planned any of the wedding. He wanted it to be over.