Welcome to Newtonberg
Page 6
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A few months ago, Cap’s mother talked him into driving her over to Lewiston to visit his sister, Emily, who’d just had her first baby, making Cap an uncle for the first time. This made Cap pleased as Punch, and he told everyone in town they were going to see the baby. He would show off the wallet-size picture Emily had sent, telling everyone: “That’s him. That’s my nephew, Philip. They named him after me.” Most people didn’t know that: they’d called him Cap for so long, they’d forgotten his real name.
So the big day arrived, and Cap and his mother climbed into their 1987 Mercury (his mother’s car – “Better for road trips”, she said) and headed out to Lewiston. The back seat and trunk were packed full; his mother planned to stay about two or three days. Cap wasn’t too happy about that (too much time away from his schedule and his friends), but since he’d get to see his nephew and brother-in-law, he decided he would do it.
Once they got to Lewiston (after a flat tire that Cap changed himself, even marking the hole in the flat tire with his mother’s nail polish like Rick had shown him), they left everything in the car while they went in to see the baby. Cap would unload it later before he took the tire into town to be fixed.
His sister greeted them at the door with the baby in her arms. Mrs. Blakeney took it from her arms, making cooing noises and faces at it as she went inside. Cap giggled.
“Hello, Philip.” She hugged him and kissed his cheek.
“Hi, Emily.”
“I’ve missed you. What have you been up to?”
“Just making my usual rounds.”
“Are you still working for Rick Murchison?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good. Tell him I said ‘hi’, okay?”
“I will. How’s the baby?”
“He’s fine. We’re all doing good. Mark’s at work, but he’ll be home later. How’s mom?”
Cap sighed. “She’s okay. Some days she’s real tired. Doesn’t want to get out of bed.”
“Has she been to the doctor?”
He nodded. “Three of them.”
“Three of them?”
“Yeah. The doctor in Newtonberg sent us to Koval. The doctor in Koval sent us to see this doctor here. That’s why we came. Well, that and to see the baby.”
Emily sighed. “She didn’t say anything to me about that.”
Cap nodded. “She doesn’t say much to anybody when she’s sick. But I figured it out.”
Emily looked at him. “You always were good at that. Figuring things out.”
“Yeah, I’ve always been good at that, haven’t I?” He smiled.
She smiled back. “Do you know what the doctor here is for?”
“Uh huh. Cancer.” He said it softly, thoughtfully.
Her smile dropped. She tried to find something to distract him, so she could talk to her mother. “Do you want to hold your nephew?”
His face brightened. “Can I?”
“You most certainly can. And you should. It wouldn’t be right for you not to. He does have your name, after all.”
They went inside, where their mother was sitting on the couch with little Philip in her arms. “Mom, I need to talk to you for a few minutes, so will you give Big Philip the baby?”
Cap brightened. He’d never been called “Big Philip” before. Big Philip and Little Philip. Like Big Tom at the lumber mill and his son Little Tommy, he thought.
Mrs. Blakeney gave the baby to Cap, showing him how to support the baby’s head. “If he starts crying or fussing, just call for us, okay?”
“Okay, mama.” He looked at the baby, just staring back at the little face staring up at him.
Emily and her mother went into the next room and sat down at the dining table.
Emily sighed. “Philip told me about the doctors.”
Mrs. Blakeney looked down. “Oh.”
“Three doctors?”
“Yes. Well, two so far.”
“When do you see the one here?”
“We go tomorrow afternoon. They’ll run some more tests, but it will probably come back the same.”
“Cancer?”
“Yes.”
“Is it treatable?”
Mrs. Blakeney swallowed. “No,” she whispered.
Emily blinked back tears. “How long?”
Mrs. Blakeney shrugged, on the verge of tears herself. “One year. Maybe two.”
Emily glanced toward the other room. “Does Philip know?”
“Yes. He’s known since the first test. Says he ‘figured it out.’ How, I’ll never know. The doctors didn’t even know.”
Emily took a breath. “What do we do with Philip?”
Mrs. Blakeney looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“After you’re....gone. Do you want him to move in with us here?”
Mrs. Blakeney stared at her. “You mean...”
“Yes, after the one year or two years is over, do you want him to live here?”
“Oh, honey.” The tears came now, fast and uncontrollable. “It’s not me that has cancer. It’s him.”
Emily sat, dumbfounded. “Oh my. Then why did he tell me...?”
“Probably because he didn’t want you to worry about him. He’s so considerate that way. And so smart. Did he tell you he changed the tire on the way over here today?” She broke down, sobbing.
Emily got up and walked over to her. She knelt on the floor in front of her mother’s chair and hugged her. They stayed like that for a few minutes, just holding each other.
When they broke the embrace, they wiped their faces. Emily was the first to speak. “Well, if he doesn’t want me to know, then I can’t act like I do.”
Mrs. Blakeney agreed. “That would probably be best.” They heard the baby fussing from the other room. “We’d better go back in there.”
They both took deep breaths. They stood in the doorway together, watching him for a moment. He looked up and saw them.
“Look at him,” he said. “Isn’t he just the most beautiful thing you every saw?”
A tear slid down his mother’s cheek. Emily put her arm around her. “Yes, he is, Philip. He’s just about the most beautiful thing in the world.”