Almost As Much (The Cherished Memories Book 3)

by Linda Ellen

  “I called Jack. He and Liz are drivin’ to Florida, and he said Tim’s wife always insists they go to her people.”

  Hesitating for only a moment, Louise continued, “Oh, well…still, Al and Goldie can come… Jack and Liz’s house isn’t too far from here, so that will work out. Mama and I can cook everything…” she paused and turned her head to meet her mother’s eyes. Lilly nodded in answer.

  Vic smiled and when his wife turned back to him, he sent her a loving wink and nod. “I think they’d like that just fine.”

  *

  Over the next several days, Louise and Lilly worked on the house to get it ship shape for the coming event. Doing what amounted to a Spring Cleaning on the rooms, they rearranged the furniture, scrubbed the floors, dusted every square inch, cleaned and put away anything and everything, and even washed the windows. No amount of fussing from Vic, who was worried about his very pregnant wife over-exerting herself, accomplished the least bit of good. As the holiday neared, both women wore themselves to a frazzle.

  The closer the day came, the more fretting Louise did. The family tried their best to remember that part of her crankiness came from being so far into her pregnancy, but it was difficult for little boys to play and exist in a house without creating a mess. Louise wanted everything to be perfect for the holiday, and was on pins and needles trying to ensure that nothing went wrong.

  On Monday before the big day, however, details unfortunately started to unravel.

  Little boys will be little boys, and that morning as Buddy and Jimmy were getting ready for school, a tussle started in the bathroom. Hearing the bickering from the kitchen, Louise and Lilly’s eyes met as if to say, “Are you going, or should I?”

  Since it was more difficult for Louise to disengage herself from the chair she was sitting in, Lilly opted to go. “Hey, gimme that!” she heard Jimmy squawk, followed seconds later by the distinct sound of the toilet flushing just as she made it to the door of the bathroom.

  “What’d you shove me for? Now look at what you’ve done!” Buddy hollered as Lilly stepped into the room just in time to see something indefinable disappear down into the porcelain never-never land.

  “James Alan, Victor Herbert, what are you two doing in here?” Lilly demanded as two guilty faces stood staring down into the empty receptacle.

  Immediately, they began talking over one another. “He started it!” “He swiped my…” “He kept on…” “I did not, you made me laugh!” “I didn’t make you do nothin’…”

  Lilly put up a hand to stop the tirades. “Enough.” She reached down and flushed the commode again, checking to make sure the water would go down fine. “What was it?”

  Both boys’ eyes opened largely and they exchanged glances, simultaneously sputtering, “N…nothing…”

  “Nothing?” Lilly asked suspiciously, folding her arms across her chest and giving them The Eye.

  “It’s time for the bus!” Louise called from the other room.

  Before Lilly could break into a fuss, Buddy injected, “We gotta go or we’ll miss our bus.”

  “But my…umph,” Jimmy began, stopping short as he was elbowed by his brother.

  Lilly stepped between them and ushered them on out into the hall. “Whatever it was, we’ll worry about it later. Go on, now.”

  Once the boys were out the door, Lilly returned to the kitchen to find her daughter standing near the sink, leaning forward and resting her back.

  One hand on her belly and one on her lower back, she asked, “What was all that about?” as Lilly went to the table, shaking her head and gathering the last few dishes.

  “Those boys, they got to squabbling and something of Jimmy’s ended up going down the commode before I could get in there.”

  Louise’s eyes widened. “Oh no…I hope it doesn’t cause a back up…maybe we should call Vic…”

  Lilly shook her head again as she brought the dishes over to the sink. “It seemed to be clear. I’m sure it will be fine.”

  But, that set the dominoes in motion…

  *

  “Here you go, Mom,” Tommy greeted his mother as he put down the last of the bags of groceries he had purchased at the store on Tuesday evening.

  “Did you get everything on the list?” Louise asked as she moved to the kitchen table and began going through the sacks.

  “Yep. Well, mostly.”

  “Mostly?” she turned to him, brows raised.

  He began removing his jacket, shrugging his shoulders at her question as if it were no big deal. “They didn’t have any cranberry sauce left, or cans of pumpkin, or oregano, but I got everything else.”

  “What? Oh no!” she cried, urgently searching through the bags as if she could make his off-handed declaration false. “It’s not Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce! And the pumpkin pies! How can I make pumpkin pies without pumpkin!” She grabbed another bag and began frantically taking out every item.

  Tommy watched her for a moment, thinking he should have figured she would blow a gasket at the news since she had been getting her dander up at the slightest thing lately. “I guess I can try another store…but I heard some other customers saying they were having trouble finding those items, too…”

  This was just what Louise didn’t need. “And the oregano…I’ve got to have fresh oregano…ours is old and the dressing will taste like soap if I use it. Oh, why did they have to be out? I should have bought it last week…” she grumbled with her head in the last sack.

  Lilly turned from checking that night’s dinner at the stove and watched her daughter for a moment. “Louise, it’s just one dinner. Everything will be all right. Don’t let yourself get upset…”

  Just then, Vic walked in the door and placed his lunch box on the counter. “Get upset about what?” he asked the group, noticing his wife seemed frantic. He was immediately concerned.

  Louise glanced at him, her eyes snapping with frustration. “It looks like we won’t have cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, OR dressing with the turkey on Thanksgiving – and both the toilet and the kitchen sink are stopped up, to name a few things,” she added sarcastically.

  He walked over and stopped her actions, turning her into his embrace. He held her for a moment, gently rocking back and forth as he met Tommy and Lilly’s eyes. “Try to calm down, Babe. Al and Goldie won’t care if there’s no cranberry sauce or pum’kin pie…”

  “But I’ll care,” Louise whined against the front of his jacket as she relented a bit and allowed her arms to encircle his waist. “I wanted everything to be perfect…”

  He reached up and touched her chin with a gentle finger, tipping her head back so he could look into her eyes. “The most important thing is for you not to overdo…”

  “Hah,” Lilly mumbled as she began putting the groceries away. “I’ve told her and told her that. Maybe she’ll listen to you.”

  Vic gave Louise one of his heart-melting smiles and leaned down to brush her lips with a sweet kiss. “We’ll figure something out. Okay Babe?” He waited until she nodded in acquiescence, and then gave her a gentle squeeze and stepped back. “Now, what’s this about something stopped up?”

  Having forgotten the bathroom incident with the boys, Lilly began explaining how the toilet and the sink had begun to work sluggishly, growing progressively worse as the day wore on.

  “I’ll try to plunge it,” Vic murmured as he shucked out of his jacket and hung it on the coat tree by the door before heading down the hall, hoping he could fix it so they wouldn’t have to call a plumber.

  The next morning, the phone rang as Vic was working, for the fourth time, on the kitchen sink. Nothing he tried seemed to do any good, and he was beginning to think the obstruction was further down the pipe, maybe even in the ground. However, he dreaded trying to get a plumber out to the house on Thanksgiving Eve, as he knew they would charge an arm and a leg.

  “You’ve just got to get this fixed,” Louise fussed as she moved aside dirty dishes to try and get some breakfast on the
table. “Oh, that phone!” she griped as she wiped her hands and crossed to the incessantly ringing object on the wall. “Hello!” she answered, with more force than she intended.

  “L…Louise?” Goldie’s voice stammered on the other end of the line.

  Louise took a deep breath and raised the palm of one hand to her forehead as she tried to calm herself. “Oh, yes, hello, Goldie. So you made it,” she managed, meeting Vic’s glance over his shoulder.

  “Yes, we had a good trip. Got in last night and had a good sleep. How are things going? I bet you’re just about ready to have that baby by now, aren’t you?”

  “Um, yes…about two weeks. My due date is December 11.”

  Goldie hesitated, and then asked, “Is everything all right? Did I call at a bad time?”

  “Oh no,” Louise quickly assured her. “Just trying to get everything ready for tomorrow and I guess I’m a little out of breath,” she hedged, turning her head from Vic’s incredulous look.

  “Well, all right, then…” Goldie returned, obviously feeling that there was something going on that Louise wasn’t telling her. “What can we bring tomorrow, and what time should we come?”

  The two talked for a couple of minutes about specifics, and then Goldie rang off with a cheerful, “See you tomorrow, and tell that handsome brother-in-law of mine that I can’t wait for my hug.”

  Louise smiled at that and returned the sentiment as the two hung up.

  Just then, Vic stood up straight and reached for a rag to wipe his hands. Turning to face her, he leaned back against the edge of the cabinet. “I can’t get the dang thing unstopped; the clog’s too far in. I think it’s time to call the plumber.”

  *

  Vic was right, the plumber did charge time and a half because it was coming up on a holiday and he was backed up on calls. When the boys got home from school and found out a plumber had been called; the guilty looks on their faces couldn’t be mistaken.

  “Boys…?” Vic inquired of his two rambunctious sons as he stood towering over them, hands on his hips.

  “Yeah, Daddy?” Jimmy offered, raising contrite eyes to his father’s face, only to quickly avert his gaze back down to the floor.

  “What went down the drain when you two were roughhousing Monday morning?” Vic asked pointedly.

  Buddy bit his lip, and then huffed out a sigh, knowing the jig was up. “Jimmy’s toothbrush,” he mumbled.

  “What? B…but… How in the world?” Vic sputtered as the plumber threw him an amused look while he readied his industrial plumber’s snake to go into the pipe he had taken apart in the kitchen. Vic figured the man had seen much worse over his years on the job, but still…

  “It wasn’t my fault!” Buddy protested.

  “It was, too!” Jimmy reacted. “You took it away from me…”

  “You were spitting toothpaste at me!”

  “Only cause you made me laugh,” Jimmy countered.

  “All right, all right. What’s done is done,” Vic interrupted. “From now on, when you guys are in the bathroom at the same time – shut the lid on the commode. Got it?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” they both answered sheepishly.

  “I know it was an accident, so I’m not gonna punish you. Just don’t do it again, okay?”

  “No, Daddy,” they echoed.

  Gazing down at them, Vic fought hard not to laugh at the whole situation. Controlling his levity, however, he ordered, “Go on to your rooms and wait for supper – and stay outta trouble.”

  They made tracks down the hall without a backward glance.

  Vic shook his head, wondering what else could go wrong for one little holiday.

  He didn’t have long to wonder, as just then, he heard a woman’s voice holler out in pain. What now?

  He hurried through the kitchen and out onto the porch, only to look through the screen and see Lilly lying on the ground beside the door.

  “Lilly!” he called as he rushed to her aid.

  “What happened?” Louise hollered, her emotions immediately escalating.

  “What happened Grandma?” Buddy and Jimmy echoed as they came skidding to a halt on the porch.

  “I…I don’t know…I was coming back from using the restroom over at Fleet’s…I tripped on something…” she paused, wincing as Vic tried to gently take her arm and help her up. “I think my arm is broken.”

  “What in the Sam Hill is gonna happen next?” Louise shrieked, causing everyone to cringe.

  “What’s going on?” Tommy’s voice asked as he came through the back door, having just arrived home from school.

  “Come help me get your grandma up. She thinks she’s broke her right arm,” Vic called to him. Tommy rushed as he was bid, both of them carefully helping the older woman to her feet as she clamped her teeth and tried not to cry out.

  “I’ll call Dr. Denton’s office and see if they’re open,” Louise offered as she quickly made her way back inside, mumbling about what else could go wrong.

  The four males of the house helped Lilly onto the back porch and eased her down into a chair.

  Buddy and Jimmy both knelt at her feet. “How’d you do that, Grandma?” “Does it hurt much, Grandma?”

  “My lands, yes,” Lilly whispered. She pressed her lips together tightly and glanced at Vic, striving to control the sharp discomfort. It was the first time she’d ever broken a bone and she was surprised at the amount of pain it was causing. Vic hunkered down next to her and tried to comfort her the best he could. “Back up a little, boys…don’t crowd,” he murmured, more than a little concerned about his mother-in-law, as he knew first hand just how much broken bones hurt.

  In just a few minutes, Louise stuck her head out the door to tell them the doctor could see Lilly if they brought her right over. Vic nodded, already rising to his feet.

  “Tommy, you go with us. We’ll take her over to the doc’s office in the car,” Vic decided as he helped a stoic Lilly to her feet again. He reached into his pocket and retrieved the keys, tossing them to the teen. “Go start the car, let it be warming up.”

  Looking over at his wife, who stood in the doorway with her arms folded across her belly, he sent her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Babe. Everything’ll be all right. We’ll be back in a little while.” Then directing his gaze at his two youngest, he admonished, “Help your mother with whatever she needs.” With that, he began to carefully assist his wife’s mother out to the car.

  Louise sighed and shut the door, turning to meet the plumber’s amused gaze.

  “When it rains, it pours, huh?”

  Louise wondered if she would someday find it all the least bit funny.

  *

  “Come in, come in,” Vic encouraged as he stepped back from opening the front door at the sound of his brother’s knock the next day. “Welcome to our home,” he added as he closed the door behind his sister-in-law and held still for her hug.

  “Nice, little brother,” Al complimented as he looked around, in the act of taking his coat off. The weather had taken a chilly turn.

  “Oh, I love this room,” Goldie complimented as Vic stepped near to take her coat while she transferred a covered dish from one hand to the other.

  “Thanks,” Vic replied, smiling proudly. He took a good look at his brother and his wife, whom he hadn’t seen in several years. They hadn’t aged too much, in his opinion. Al had gone nearly bald, and what little hair he had around the back of his head was sprinkled with gray now, but he still resembled Vic quite a bit. Goldie was still a pretty woman, her blonde hair fixed in a neat hairstyle. She was wearing a nice pants suit in the latest style. He noticed they were both wearing glasses now, and wondered when that change had taken place.

  Everyone else came into the living room, then, including Lilly, who was sporting a large cast on her right arm to stabilize the two fractures caused by her fall – one in her forearm and one above her elbow. As a result, she hadn’t been able to help Louise with the meal at all, much to her chagrin.
/>   “Uncle Al, Aunt Goldie,” Tommy greeted, hugging his aunt and shaking hands with his uncle. Buddy and Jimmy followed suit.

  “Where’s Louise?” Goldie asked, looking toward the kitchen doorway as the lady of the house stuck her head around.

  “I’m in here, finishing up. Come on in, Goldie.”

  She met Louise at the doorway and uncovered the object in her hand – a homemade pecan pie. “I made this at home and brought it…I hope that’s okay.”

  Louise smiled in relief and gave the woman a hug. “That’s perfect, since we won’t be having pumpkin pie and all we were able to make for dessert was banana pudding.”

  After greetings and a little bit of catching up, Goldie insisted she help Louise get the meal on the table as Vic and the others visited in the living room.

  Goldie paused next to Louise, reaching out a hand and feeling of her tight-as-a-basketball baby belly. “Goodness, that’s rock hard. Gonna be a big baby boy, I bet. I’m so jealous,” she added, meaning it, but not in a malicious way. Louise knew that the couple had never been able to have children, and it had been a source of sadness for them both, especially Goldie – although she had made peace with it long ago. She’d had two devastating miscarriages, and then never got pregnant again. Still, every now and then, a bit of wondering what it would have been like would hit her – like when faced with a pregnant woman.

  “Yes, it’s a big baby, I think…baby girl.”

  Goldie grinned at her, knowing that Vic had told his brother that he figured it was a boy.

  “Oh I know, I know. Vic thinks it’s another boy – but he’s wrong. I just know it.” Then, with a hand on her overly tight belly, she whispered, “It just has to be my girl…”

  “Well woman – now tell me you haven’t cooked this whole meal by yourself, in your condition,” Goldie fussed, thinking if she had, she would give Vic a piece of her mind.

  “No, Vic and the boys helped all they could…” Louise admitted, and then leaned toward the other woman and joked, “So don’t blame me for any booboos. I had wanted everything to be perfect for your visit – but it seemed like everything that could go wrong did! I couldn’t get some of the things I wanted to serve, the sink and the toilet stopped up, and then Mama broke her arm!” she added, shaking her head.