The door opened before we could knock. “Hello,” Mother gushed. She enveloped me into a long hug and winked at me as she turned to Will. “I’m Alice Lewis. It’s nice to meet you… Will?” She glanced back and forth between us.
Will laughed comfortably. “It’s so good to see you again, Mrs. Lewis.” He held out his hand for her to shake.
Mother ignored it and hugged him too. “When Betty told me she was bringing someone over, she didn’t tell me it was you! How are you doing?”
“ Alice , aren’t you going to let them come in?” my father called from inside the house.
“Oh, look at me. I’m all flustered and forgot my manners. Do, please, come inside.”
We followed Mother inside. The first thing I noticed was the wall-to-wall carpeting. “When did you get carpets?” I asked.
“Just recently.” Mother beamed. “Isn’t it wonderful?” She ushered us into the dining room. A large, impressive spread covered the table — spaghetti, her famous ravioli, her decadent garlic bread, and salad.
“Smells good, Mother.” I walked around to the head of the table and kissed Dad on the cheek. “Hi, Dad.”
“It’s been awhile, Betty,” he said disapprovingly, his eyes on Will.
“Dad, do you remember Will Walker?” I threaded my arm through my fiancée’s.
Will extended his hand. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Lewis.”
After an awkward moment, Dad seized Will’s hand and shook it. He probably tried to squeeze Will’s hand hard, to intimidate him-something Dad had been known to do over the years and one of the reason why I brought so few dates home. A smile graced my face as I realized I wouldn’t have any more men to bring home. Will was my one and only.
Mother ushered us into our seats and started to pass around the food. “So, Will, Betty, how did you two meet up again after all these years?”
“We work together,” Will addressed my mother.
Ignoring my dad might or might not be the smartest course. Only time would tell. But my dad’s face darkened. My being a working girl would always be a source of contention with him. “You a nurse too?” he grunted the insult.
“No.” Will laughed. “I’m a doctor.”
“Wow, that’s wonderful,” Mother gushed. “Isn’t it, dear?”
Dad made a growling sound but couldn’t completely hide his approval.
His double standard bothered me, and I picked at a ravioli shell, opening it to expose the meat contents inside. “We started dating again a week after Will joined us.”
“How lovely.” Mother clapped her hands, her eyes sparkling. “I knew you would find someone eventually.”
I blushed. My lack of a love life had been more embarrassing to Mother than my working. Will reached over and grasped my hand beneath the table. After a reassuring squeeze, he resumed eating.
“This is delicious. Especially the sauce,” he said.
“Thank you.” Mother beamed. “Howard prefers my homemade sauce to store bought.”
“Do you have the recipe?” Dad asked me. “If you plan on settling down any time soon, you’ll need to make him dinners.”
Take a deep breath. Relax. Don’t let him get to you. After all, here’s the perfect opportunity to mention it. I cleared my throat. “Actually, Dad, I… we’re engaged.”
“Engaged!” Mother shrieked. “Congratulations!” She leapt up and hugged Will and me at the same time.
Dad wasn’t as exuberant. His harsh gaze shifted back and forth between Will and me. “That’s good.”
“Have you picked a date?”
I glanced at Will and blushed. “We still need to talk to the priest, but we were thinking in a month or two.”
“So soon?” Dad muttered.
Mother sat back down and patted her hair to make certain it was still in place. “Now, Harold, you don’t have to worry. Betty will stay at home and raise their children.”
I choked on my drink. Children. The thought hadn’t even occurred to me. I loved my job. My work gave me a sense of purpose. But a child….
Sensing my distress, Will placed his hand high up on my leg, on my skirt, to relax me.
I managed to smile in return but the dinner continued its downward slide.
Dad stood up violently. “Take your hand off my daughter.”
Will complied hastily.
How had Dad seen Will’s hand? Before I could say anything to calm him down, with Mother’s hushed tones in the background, Dad continued, “Is that why you’re rushing into this?” He threw the words at me. “Are you… in a family way?” Dad’s glare screamed hatred and distrust.
I shook with anger. “No, Dad, I’m not…” Actually, I could very well be. I hadn’t even thought about that before. My love for Will had blinded me from common sense and the reality of sex.
Mother stood up and touched Dad’s arm. She whispered urgently into his ear. Whatever she said calmed him slightly, and he sat back down after a moment.
We continued eating. Poor Mother tried to keep a conversation going, but dinner was ruined. We left before dessert.
Bound By Love
Chapter Four
That night Will and I returned to my apartment. Helen was there, but she left almost immediately. “Going to the drive-through,” she called over her shoulder.
Her plain outfit and minimal make-up told me that she still hadn’t patched things up with George. My heart went out to her but guilty relief flooded through me. Will and I could talk alone.
“I’m sorry about my father,” I started. “He’s very protective and extremely old-fashioned.”
“Betty, you don’t have to apologize for him. He doesn’t like me. That’s fine. All that matters to me is you. And what you think about me.”
I kissed his cheek. “I love you. You know that.”
We clasped hands and were quiet for a moment. “It could have been worse.”
“How so?”
“Dad could have brought out his gun.”
“That’s not a funny joke. His death stare was scary enough as it was.”
“Who said I was joking?”
Will rubbed my back. “I’m sorry it didn’t go better. I know you were worried how they would take the news.”
His soft touch relaxed me slightly, and I closed my eyes. “Will, do you want children?”
His hand stopped its circular movement for a second. “Do you?”
“I asked you first,” I said stubbornly.
Will sighed. “I think so. Whether or not I have children is not going to prevent me from living a full and happy life with you by my side. I want you to know that.”
I breathed out slowly. His words comforted me.
“And you?”
“I don’t know. For so long, I never really thought having a family was a possibility. I didn’t even know if I would ever get married. Work was my whole life.”
“And having even just one child would change that?”
“Yes.” Career versus family. I glanced over at Will. So handsome with his strong, masculine features and straight nose. Yet I fought the impulse to grimace. After all, men didn’t have to worry about this choice. No one expected the man to stay at home and tend to the children. That was the wife’s job.
“There’s always that new pill,” he suggested. “The one recently FDA-approved.”
“Enovid?”
“That’s it.”
Known as the Pill, Enovid was used to treat severe menstrual disorders. It also prevented ovulation. Birth control in pill form.
“I would never push you one way or the other,” Will said softly.
His generous nature warmed me, and I greatly appreciated the sentiment. That the decision was mine to make didn’t make it any easier however.
~* * *~
For the next week, I did my best not to think about children and motherhood. Instead I focused on planning the wedding, talking to the priest, as well as the bank regarding the mortgage. But at work, it seemed like all o
f our young patients needed physicals and well-child visits.
I loved children. There was no doubting that fact. But were caring for my children patients enough for me?
On my lunch break, I headed to the bathroom where I discovered that I had my monthly bleeding. I wasn’t pregnant.
Surprisingly, swift disappointment coursed throughout me, like a punch to the stomach.
The natural outcome of making love was for that love to take physical form. A child. Half Will. Half me. A tangible, living presence born through our love.
I wanted a child. Not just any child — our child.
And despite Will’s proclamation that he didn’t care one way or the other, I knew he wanted to start a family with me. I wanted to as well.
But what about work?
~* * *~
Two weeks passed from the disastrous dinner. Mom called every day, but I refused to talk to her, and Helen soon ran out of excuses for me. Finally, she handed me the phone. “I’m tired of lying for you,” she snapped.
I meekly took the phone from her. She was going through a rough time herself. Who was I to give her added stress?
“Hi, Mom.”
“Avoiding your own mother.” She tsked with her tongue.
“I’m sorry.”
“As am I. Your father and I have had a long talk, and he’s sorry too. I think.”
I couldn’t help myself. I laughed.
“You just have to realize that he wants what he thinks is best for you.”
“Mother, don’t make excuses for him. He thinks I’m being selfish. That I’m putting myself before the needs of my family. Just like he thought I was being selfish when I moved out and became a nurse.”
Mother sighed. “He honestly doesn’t mean to hurt you.”
I smiled grimly. “I know that. He’s just too stubborn.”
“Like someone else I know.”
I laughed again.
“I know you have to work tomorrow, but could we get together sometime soon? Just the two of us?”
I blinked in surprise. I couldn’t recall the last time Mom and I had spent some alone time together. “Sure. I was going to ask you to come gown shopping with me.”
I could hear Mom’s smile in her voice. “That would be lovely.” She hesitated. “Will Helen be coming too?”
“Yes.” As my Maid of Honor, of course Helen would be there. “But just you and I could go to lunch afterward if you want.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
We finalized the time and location and hung up.
~* * *~
Dress shopping was an event, one that I enjoyed more than I would have thought. I tried on so many dresses-all of them traditional ankle length and with full skirts. One dress that Helen picked out had beautiful three-quarter length lace sleeves, but on my small frame, the sleeves were too long. With the wedding date approaching quickly, I didn’t want to risk having to have a dress altered.
Most of the dresses Mother picked out were too extravagant. So when she pulled another off the rack, I did my best to show some enthusiasm. But there was something about this one, simple yet elegant, lady-like. “Try this one,” Mother begged.
“Of course.” I ducked into the changing room. Helen helped me into it.
Stepping out in front of the three mirrors, I slowly exhaled. A happy bride smiled back at me from the mirror. With round thick straps, no sleeves, French lace, and an emphasized waist, I knew immediately that this dress was the one. “It’s perfect,” I breathed, twirling around.
Helen clapped her hands. “You could wear a hoopskirt if you want to make the skirt fuller. Then it would be even more beautiful.”
Even the length wasn’t too long. I carefully walked over to Mother and hugged her. “Thank you.”
She wiped tears from her eyes. “No. Thank you.”
Helen stood behind me and fussed with my hair. “Up or down?”
“Up.”
She nodded. “Good. Your coloring is so beautiful,” she said wistfully. “Mine’s too red, but your auburn is so much nicer.” She glanced at her watch. “I better get going. George wants to have lunch with me. I think this might be it.”
I hugged her. “Stop thinking the worst.”
“That’s easy enough for you to say,” she huffed. “You’re getting married! I still can’t believe it.” With a wave, she walked slowly out the door.
After I purchased the dress and lovingly draped it on the backseat of my car, Mother and I headed next door to the pizza shop. We ordered and sat down. “What did you want to talk about?” I asked. After blowing on my plain cheese slice, I attempted to bite it, but it was still much too hot.
Mother played with her straw. “I saw the look on your face when your father asked you if you were in a family way. He never should have asked. That was wrong. But you looked so shocked. Are you going to have children?”
“I’m not sure.” Will and I still hadn’t formally agreed to it, the wedding and the house taking up most of our conversations. “But I—”
Mother held up a hand. “I don’t understand why, but I know how important your work is to you.”
“It is,” I said miserably.
“You know, I wanted to have more children.” Mother said this so nonchalantly that I almost didn’t hear the undercurrent of pain.
“Then why didn’t you?” The thought of growing up with a sibling had never occurred to me. I had been more than Mother or Dad could handle all by myself.
“When you were one, I was expecting. But something went wrong and I lost the baby. Your father and I were so devastated that we never tried again.” A single tear rolled down Mother’s cheek.
“I had no idea.” I reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
Mother smiled. “Please don’t think I’m trying to pressure you into having children. That isn’t my intent at all. But, well, I was thinking…”
“Go on,” I pressed.
“Maybe you could still work at the office but cut back on your hours a little. Maybe two or three days a week instead of five. And on the days you work, I could help out.” More tears filled her eyes. “It would mean so much to me.” She blinked them away. “But only if you and Will decide that you want to have children.”
I grinned. “I think we do. It’s just with preparing for the wedding and the house…”
“House? You two bought a house?”
Whoops. “Hadn’t I mentioned that?”
Mother shook her head. “We really should talk more.”
“We will. I promise.” With a wide smile, I realized that somehow, Mother had started a new role — my friend.
Bound By Love
Chapter Five
We ate dinner in Will’s apartment that night. Decidedly masculine with its brown carpet, light colored walls, and few personal effects, Will’s place left no doubt in my mind that I would decorate our new house. We sat down on the sofa and relished the few brief moments of peace we could share. Tonight, the topic of discussion wouldn’t be our rapidly approaching wedding, but the future beyond. “I want to have a child with you.”
Will’s face broke out into a huge smile. “I was hoping you would say that.” He pulled me closer toward him and gave me a long, sweet kiss. Then he pulled back. “Just one?”
I blinked in surprise. “How many do you want?”
“I don’t know. But if you want to have one and see how things go, that’s fine with me.”
“Good.” That was exactly what I had been thinking. Then I told him about Mother’s offer.
He pursed his lips and furrowed his brow. “I don’t know.”
“Why not? It’s perfect. I can still work, and we’ll have someone to watch the baby. What’s not to like?” I shifted my weight so that I sat sideways. It was easier to fix a glare on him from that position.
“It’s just… your father,” Will said finally. “I don’t want him to poison our son.”
“Or our daughter,” I said coolly. “And Dad
would never do that.”
“I wouldn’t think so, but he does hate me.”
“That’s your fault! You practically groped me in front of him!”
“Groped you? I had my hand on your leg.”
My temper slowly faded. The hurt in his chocolate brown eyes was painful to see. “Groping was probably a little too strong a word.”
“Probably?”
“I’m sure that’s how Dad saw it,” I said stubbornly. “You have to fix this.”
“Why me?” he groaned.
“Because you want a happy bride, right? No one loves an unhappy bride.” I kissed his cheek and ushered him out the door.
~* * *~
Will refused to return to my parents’ house unless I was also there. The next weekend, four weeks before the wedding, Mother called me in near hysterics because Dad refused to say that he would come to the wedding. Now I was the furious one.
Will drove; I was much too upset. Mother opened the door. I gave her a terse smile and walked past her.
Dad sat in his favorite chair, smoking a pipe. He glanced over the newspaper to see who had entered and returned to his reading when he saw it was me.
With my hand, I lowered the paper. “Dad, we need to talk.”
He gnawed on his pipe but allowed me to remove the paper. His eyes turned dark when Will entered the room. “What’s he doing here?”
Enough was enough. I placed my hands on my hips and glared from one man to the other. “Stop it. You two are the most important men in my life, and I need you two to get along. I’m not even asking for you two to like each other. Now is that so hard? I mean, you both have something in common already — me.”
Dad glowered at Will, then turned his nearly venomous eyes on me. “Leave the room.”
I glanced from him to Will, not at all certain this was the best of ideas. “But—”
“I’ll be fine,” Will said reassuringly.
I wasn’t so certain. “Only if you promise not to bring out your shotgun, Dad.”
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