Ten pancakes were stacked in a warm oven by the time she heard Ian’s chipper, “Hi, Tav’!” over the baby monitor.
With a quick glance to ensure nothing would burn while she was gone, Aggie rushed upstairs and greeted her little man. “Good morning, sunshine. Let’s go get dressed downstairs so Tavish doesn’t have to wait for us.”
“What’s for breakfast?”
“Pancakes and eggs.”
“Oh, be right there. Can we have orange juice?”
“If you make it.”
Tavish grinned. “Nice!”
Ian hadn’t soaked through his diaper for the first time in weeks. He giggled as the dryer bounced him while she changed and dressed him and tossed his sleeper in the washer. Tina’s idea of using it for a changing table was brilliant. A quick wipe over the pad and she was ready to go.
“Ok, guy. Let’s see how many pancakes we can get done before Tavish comes in.”
Content to suck his thumb and snuggle against her, Ian grew heavy quickly. The first pancake was sizzling on the griddle when Tavish burst into the kitchen. “Everyone is up. Thought you should know. Where’s the pitcher?”
“Where would you look if I wasn’t in here?”
The boy grinned. If he ever learned to look for things instead of asking for them, she’d consider herself a parenting success. “…to the feast, come for the table now is spread… famishing…thou shall be richly fed…”
“Aunt Aggie?”
“Hmm?”
“I hope my wife sings like you do.”
“I thought wives were gross and men shouldn’t bother with them,” she reminded him.
“Not wives like you. I could stand a wife like you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Or, maybe Ellie and me could be like the Lambs—only like in inventions or research or something. She could sing. You should teach her to sing when she’s working.”
Ellie stepped into the room. “Who could sing?”
“You. You should learn to sing while you work like Aunt Aggie. We could have a house when we’re older and invent things and you could sing.”
Sometimes, Aggie was astounded at the disparity in maturity between Tavish and Ellie. The girl smiled indulgently at her brother while reaching for Ian. “Do you want some juice? Tavish is making juice. Maybe we should sing about mixing juice for him.”
“Bottle of wine, fruit of the vine—”
Aggie interrupted him before he could continue. “Don’t even think about finishing that, Tavish. I think I know the next line.”
Without Ian wearing her out, Aggie was able to fry pancakes much swifter. As she waited for the bubbles to pop on the cakes, she began breaking eggs in a bowl. “Where’s the whisk? I just had it.”
A twang came from the direction of the highchair. “Sorry, I let Ian play with it.”
“That’s ok. I can use a fork.”
All through preparation, children filed into the kitchen looking reasonably well groomed and chipper. She slid plates across the island nearly as quickly as they arrived, and the noise in the room rose to what she hoped was a “dull roar.” It seemed like a mini-version of a school lunchroom, but something about it worked.
“What are we doing today?” Vannie asked.
“We have to get everything ready for you guys to take your work with you while I’m gone, so the rest of this week and next are for getting things ready.”
Laird stood with fork raised and shouted, “Let’s roll!”
~*~*~*~
School hadn’t run this smoothly since they’d started. She managed to get Kenzie, Tavish, and Ellie current on their core subjects—even taking into consideration the month lost to sickness. Vannie and Laird were each still over a week behind, but considering how many months they had left, she felt confident that they’d catch up in April or May.
The children worked quietly and diligently, and the little ones played until naptime without a hitch. Once the little children were down for naps, she hurried to clean the kitchen and get dinner into the oven. “Three meals without having to be reminded of time or defrost; it’s a record!”
As she opened a can of tomato juice to pour over the stew, the phone rang. She dove for it, hoping it wouldn’t wake the kids. “Hello?”
“Hey, Aggie.”
“William! Tina’s not here, remember? She went to visit her dad for the day.”
“No, I’m calling for you. Just thought you should know, we caught Josh. He’s in custody in Illinois. Someone saw the picture that they had of Luke and ‘recognized’ Josh as someone living in their motel.”
“You got him?”
“It’s completely over. From what the FBI guys say, he’s spilling everything.”
Relief washed over her. She put the lid on the stew and shoved it in the oven while listening as William explained what would happen next. Once he finished, she asked the question the kids would love to hear most. “What you’re saying is that the kids are safe to leave. They can ride up and down the street or to the library or to your house without anyone out there looking for them specifically.”
“Well, they could have before. The chances of him coming back after her getting caught were pretty much non-existent. He’s not going to bother if he didn’t get paid and he can’t get paid with her in jail—so to speak.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, and just so you know; it looks like he might have been blackmailed into doing it. We’re not sure about that, but he has no reason to say so, and he might have supporting evidence.”
“This is really over.” Aggie gripped the counter. “Over.”
“You ok? Is Luke there?”
“No, he’s working on that new house of his. They’re trying to get the roof on before we leave.”
“Want me to come over? Send Ellene?”
“I’m good. I think I’m going to make cookies. Feel free to stop by for some.”
“Snickerdoodles?”
She grinned. William loved his snickerdoodles. “If you are coming, definitely.”
“I’ll be there sometime after four.”
“I’ll save a few to bake then so you can have ‘em hot. I am grateful that Luke talked me into that double oven thing.”
Aggie pulled out mixing bowls, measuring spoons and cups, and the ingredients she could remember. As she worked, she prayed. Resolved, she left her work and hurried downstairs.
“Who is aching to go for a ride? I could use some things from the store.”
Laird stared at her. “What?”
“Do you want to run an errand? Vannie? Tavish? Ellie? Anyone?”
“But we’re not done with school yet.”
“How much do you have left?”
“Not much, but—” Laird stopped abruptly. “Are you feeling ok? Should I call Luke?”
Vannie spoke up before Aggie could answer. “Something happened, didn’t it?” Her eyes widened. “They caught him!”
“Yep! You guys are free to be kids again. Your wacky over-protective aunt is appeased. Now, get out of here and go buy stuff.”
“What! You didn’t tell us what to buy.”
“I don’t care. I just need a few things. I’ll know what they are when you get home with them.”
She turned and hurried up the stairs, grinning as she overheard Tavish say, “I think she’s losing it. Some people become Bridezillas; she becomes sugarbride or something.”
~*~*~*~
Luke was gone. He’d only had a few minutes to spend with her, not arriving until well after the children were in bed. Aggie reflected on how he laughed at William making her promise to teach Tina how to make perfect snickerdoodles and over Tavish’s decision that a wife might not be the end of the world as she dragged herself upstairs to go to bed. It was a good night.
No, it was a good day—perfect really. Nothing could have been better. The house is clean, the kids had good meals, a criminal is behind bars, and my family is safe. William is falling in love with my friend; Luke took th
e time to come see me. All is right with the world.
In her room, she grabbed a pair of pajamas and hurried to change. As she reached for the toothbrush in the cup on her sink, Aggie froze. Hair, disheveled and looking like she’d slept in it greeted her in the mirror. Her eyes traveled south to see her favorite pajama shirt spattered with catsup from the mishap with the bottle at lunch. “Grumpy sleeps here is right,” she muttered.
She didn’t want to do it, but Aggie couldn’t resist. A peek at her legs told her what her mind had already accused. She’d never gotten dressed, never brushed her hair… “Oh, ick! I didn’t brush my teeth!”
Her phone sat on her nightstand, blinking furiously from unanswered texts and voicemails. Tina had called five times and sent at least twenty-five texts. There were two calls from her mother, three from Luke, and one from Libby. William’s voice came on and she frowned. Why hadn’t he told her he’d tried the cell phone?
“Lord,” she whispered as she crawled beneath the sheets and snapped off the light, “did my perfect day have to end with proof that I can’t even dress myself? So much for finally getting my act together.” Seconds before she drifted off to sleep, Aggie added, “But thanks for the good parts. It was mostly perfect. Oh, and thanks for Luke showing up after the kids were in bed. He probably didn’t realize I’ve been dressed for bed all day…”
Friday, February 27th
There was a line at the county clerk’s office—something Aggie hadn’t expected. “I thought marriage was almost dead. It kind of surprises me that there are so many people here.”
Luke shrugged. “I suspect when people figure out that they can do a wedding for the fun of it without the commitment of a marriage, numbers will drop drastically.”
“Oh, that’s true. I’d never thought about that.”
“Well, and this state doesn’t recognize domestic partnerships or common law marriages, so for most health insurance and tax purposes, people will keep people getting married until that changes.”
The discussion was depressing. Suddenly, she felt panicked. “Luke, don’t do this if—”
“What? Don’t do what?”
“Marry me. Don’t do it if you have any doubts. I will fight for my marriage once it exists.”
“Good. That’s one of the reasons I’m marrying you.” His grin was a little too lopsided for her comfort.
“I’m serious, Luke. Have you heard how many people are talking about their second, third, fifth marriage? I get one shot.”
“Well, how about we agree that if we want to be done with this marriage, one of us will have the decency to die right about then.”
“Deal.”
At the clerk’s desk, they presented drivers’ licenses, birth certificates, and swore that their information was correct. It took less than ten minutes to walk out the door once they’d been called. “That was anticlimactic.”
Luke grinned. “I doubt signing it will be.”
“I’ll look forward to it. Well, what do we do now? We’ve got hours before your mom needs us home and no errands from Tina—yet.”
“I was thinking…”
“Oh, I like it when he thinks,” Aggie giggled. “Do tell.”
Luke led her to the parking lot, explaining his mission. “We have four different people taking care of our kids, right?”
The way Luke said “our kids” without hesitation sent strange flip-flops through her heart. “Right.”
“Well, I say we do a little shopping for thank-you gifts.”
“Oh! That’s a great idea. Let’s start with your mom. I’ve always wanted to really shop for her. Things were so busy at Christmas that I had to go with the first idea I had that I liked.”
“She loves that robe, Aggie. I see her in it nearly every day.”
Aggie’s face fell. “You’re going to miss that; she will too.”
“Aw, Mibs. It’s the way God planned things. Mom knows that. And, it’ll just be an excuse for her to be a doting grandmother all the more.”
“You know, when she gets to where she might need help—that’s years away I know—she could have the guest room. We could shrink the laundry room. We won’t need two washers and dryers anymore by then.”
Luke’s arms nearly crushed her as he stopped mid row, only feet away from the truck, and hugged her fiercely. “I can’t tell you how much it means that you love my mama.”
“I’ve never heard you call her mama.”
He opened the door and waited for her to get her legs inside as he said, “I can’t remember the last time I did—probably when she first met you. I was upset about something I think. She said something about it later.”
“Let’s go buy her a gift, eh?” Aggie frowned.
“Let’s go.”
They started at the mall, but little interested them. As they passed a gourmet cooking store on their way out, Luke paused. “You know, Mom’s mixer is dying. I’ve jury-rigged it so many times that I don’t know if it’ll come back from the dead next time or not.”
“Mixer?”
“Sure. Let’s try Target.”
There were three mixers on the appliance aisle that Luke liked. Luke read the boxes of each carefully. Aggie stared in sticker shock at each one, uncertain of how she’d afford to spend a thousand dollars or more in gifts. The wedding alone was killing the budget. She’d tried to economize in a hundred ways to make up for it, but guilt still plagued her. The money was meant for the children’s upkeep, not for elaborate parties.
“I think we want this one.”
She sagged in slight relief. At least it was the two-hundred fifty dollar jobbie. “If you think she’ll like it. It comes in red and white.”
“I’d better stick with white, although if I was buying for you, I’d definitely want red.”
“I want to say something like ‘is that because I’m a hot mama,’ but that just sounds all wrong.”
“I’ll answer that one any time after four o’clock next Saturday.”
Desperate to change the subject, Aggie nudged Luke with the cart and said, “Who’s next?”
“Willow? Tackle the hardest one now?”
Before she could answer, Luke’s phone rang. He listened for several seconds, a grin splitting his face and his eyes lighting with delight. “That is great. Thanks for calling. I’m so excited!”
“What?” Aggie asked as he slipped his phone back in his pocket.
“Guess who Corinne saw go into a bridal store just a little while ago?”
“Who?” Realization dawned before he could answer. “No, Willow?”
“Yep. Corinne called Mom who called Aunt Marianne to confirm. They were keeping it quiet until after the wedding. Chad wanted to make sure we had ‘our day’ without splitting attention.”
“That is both exciting and really cool that they thought of you like that!”
They paid for the mixer and stowed it behind Luke’s seat, but he seemed preoccupied with the news. After a full minute sitting and waiting to leave, Aggie nudged him. “I know you’re excited, but can we get this shopping done before Tina sends us on sixty errands herself?”
“Oh, sorry. I was just thinking… what if we used this as an excuse to leave the reception a tad early? We could make an announcement and turn it over to them as their engagement party. It’d be a great way for Willow to get to know everyone. People who don’t know Chad could leave, of course, but the rest…”
“And we get to go earlier? I’m all for it.” She winked and nudged him. “However, this isn’t reducing our gift list.”
For several minutes, they talked about the reception, Chad, Willow, and of course, Willow’s gift. Even after a dozen ideas were tossed into the pool, nothing seemed right for Willow. “Would Chad know?”
“If we ask Chad, he knows he’s getting something. That’s awkward, but…” Luke seemed lost in thought. “That does give me an idea. Chad made her that dulcimer for Christmas. I wonder if we could find a stand for it.”
Aggie whipp
ed out her phone and began searching music stores and calling. “Ok, there’s one two blocks off Washington on Crescent. He says they have a variety. Sounds like they deal in folk instruments.”
All the way there, she scolded herself for selfishness. The cost of paying someone for watching her children for two weeks would have run more than a thousand dollars. This was no different, and yet it felt different somehow. “How expensive are stands? I should have asked.” What if it was more?
“Shouldn’t be too bad—under a hundred I’m sure.”
“I don’t suppose there’d be enough sheet music to balance the costs…”
“Why balance them? It’s perfect for her. That’s all that matters.”
“Well, that’d be at least a hundred fifty dollar disparity. Don’t you think we’d want to find a way to bridge that a bit more?”
He turned onto Crescent a little while later, having seemingly ignored her question and said, “I guess I don’t understand. If the perfect gift for Mom was a five dollar potted plant, and the perfect gift for Willow was a five hundred dollar cow, why wouldn’t we buy the perfect one for each one without worrying about what we spent?”
“And you don’t think in that case your mom would feel a bit—” she searched for the right word and then settled. “Disrespected at such a gross discrepancy? I mean, I know the thought is what counts and I know that money doesn’t demonstrate how we feel about someone, but I’d be afraid of it looking glaringly preferential.”
“I think if it was the ‘perfect’ gift for Mom, she wouldn’t think a thing of it. It’s just kind of what we do in our family. It never occurred to me that you’d spend more just because you did on someone else.”
“Well, I wasn’t thinking of adding a cash difference, but sheet music or gift cards?”
“I don’t think Willow would understand that, Mibs. She’s kind of different. I think she’d tell you straight that she thought you’d gone overboard. There is a quantity idea in the other direction too. Would Mom maybe feel slighted because she got one gift and Willow got several?”
Here We Come (Aggie's Inheritance) Page 30
