‘I’ll jigger for you! Grandpa! Don’t you think she should?’
Father kept quiet. I repeated, ‘No, dear, no. Too risky.’
She answered, ‘Mama, if you’re scared to, here in the house, I certainly am not.
Grandpa knows I’m pregnant, don’t you, Grandpa? Or I wouldn’t be getting married.
And I know what Jonathan would say.’ She sat up straight and started to get off the
edge of the bed. ‘I’m going straight down and give Uncle Ted a soldier’s farewell.
And tomorrow I’ll tell Jonathan. And – Mama, I have a message for you from Jonathan.
But I’ll tell you when I come back upstairs.’
I said, weakly and hopelessly, ‘Don’t stay down too long. The boys get up at
four-thirty; don’t get caught by them.’
‘I’ll be careful. Bye.’
Father stopped her. ‘Nancy! Sit back down. You are crowding in on your mother’s
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prerogatives.’
‘But, Grandpa -‘
‘Pipe down! Maureen is going downstairs to finish what she started. As she should.
Daughter, I will stand jigger and Nancy can help me if she wishes. But take your own
advice; don’t stay down too long. If you aren’t upstairs by three, I’m coming down
to tap on the door.’
Nancy said eageriy, ‘Mama, why don’t we both go down? I bet Uncle Ted would like
that!’
‘I’ll bet Uncle Ted would like that, too,’ Father said grimly, ‘but he’s not going
to get it tonight. If you want to give him a soldier’s send off, that’s fine. But
not tonight, and not until after you have consulted Jonathan. Now git for bed,
dear… and you, Maureen, go downstairs and see Ted.’
I leaned over and kissed him and got quietly off the edge of the bed and started to
leave. Father said, ‘Get along, Nancy; I’ll take the first watch.’
She shoved out her lower lip. ‘No. Grandpa, I’m going to stay right here and bother
you.’
I left, via the sleeping porch and my own room, then went downstairs barefooted and
wearing just a wrapper, not stopping to see if Father threw Nancy out. If she had
managed to tame Father when I had not been able to manage it in twice her years, I
didn’t want to know it. Not then. I thought about Theodore instead… so
successfully that by the time I quietly opened the door to my sewing-room I was as
ready as a female animal can be.
Quiet as I was, he heard me and had me in his arms as I closed the door. I returned
his embrace, then let go and shrugged off my wrapper, and reached up to him again.
At last, at last I was naked in his arms.
Which led, inevitably, to my sitting with Theodore and Brian and Father in our
backyard glider swing after our picnic dinner on Wednesday, listening to a
discussion between Father and Theodore, while our young people played croquet around
us. At Briney’s request, Theodore had repeated his statements about when and how
female h. sapiens could and could not get pregnant.
The conversation drifted off from reproduction to obstetrics and they started using
ungrammatical Latin at each other – some difference of opinion about the best way to
handle a particular sort of birth complication. They became more and more polite to
each other the more they differed. I did not have any opinions as birth
complications are something 1 only know about from reading, since I have babies
about as easily as a hen lays eggs – one big ouch and it’s over.
Briney finally interrupted them, somewhat to my relief. I don’t even want to hear
about the horrible things that can happen if a birthing goes wrong. ‘This is all
very interesting,’
Brian said, ‘but, Ira, may I ask one question? Is Ted a medical doctor, or not?
Sorry, Ted.’
Not at all, Brian. My whole story sounds phoney, I know. That’s why I avoid telling
it.’
Father said, ‘Brian, haven’t you heard me addressing Ted as “Doctor” for the last
thirty minutes? The thing that makes me so angry – so gravelled, rather – is that
Ted knows more about the art of medicine than I could ever possibly learn. Yet his