All I'll Ever Need

by Mildred Riley

  A sudden kick in her abdomen made her gasp. I know, Ace Junior, you are part of my family, too! Just get here as fast as you can.

  * * *

  The wedding reception was a warm family affair. Aunt Ginny had prepared golden croissants filled with chicken salad. A lovely crudite platter of vegetables was offered to the guests. She had also prepared a creamy dip in the center of the large platter.

  After everyone was seated, Ace rose at the bridal table to make a toast to the bride and groom.

  “Relatives and friends, it is my very great pleasure to welcome into our family Holly and Branch. May their days be happy and fruitful, and may their troubles be few and far between. Every happiness to you both. To Holly and Branch!”

  “Hear, hear,” was the enthusiastic response from the group.

  The wedding cake was a chocolate raspberry torte, layers of white cake with robust raspberry preserves between each of three layers.

  Later that day Missy asked her mother, “Did I do good, Mommy?”

  “Couldn’t have done better, sweetheart,” Elyse told the child. She hugged her and again her thoughts turned to Barry.

  You would love her, I know, Barry, and I am so happy you left me this precious child.

  Ace had been watching his wife, hoping that she was not becoming weary. He rose from his seat at the head table, excused himself to the bridal couple, explaining, “Want to check on Elyse,” and joined her at the table she shared with her parents, Aunt Ginny and Branch’s dad, Arthur Adkins.

  He reached over to offer a firm handshake to the groom’s father.

  “Sir, you have a mighty fine son. You must be very proud of him.”

  “Indeed, I’m very proud. Couldn’t ask for better than my son Branch. Everything he’s done, he’s done on his own. Offered him money for schooling, but he told me, ‘No thanks. Do it on my own.’ And he did, too. And that daughter of yours, she’s a real treasure, no doubt about that. No sir, no doubt. Truly believe they belong together Just wish Branch’s mother had been here to see this.”

  “We’re sorry for your loss,” Ace said.

  As he looked around for an empty chair, Aunt Ginny noticed, got up from her seat beside Elyse saying, “Here, Ace, sit beside your wife. I must check the kitchen.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Gin.”

  He sat down, his arm around his wife’s shoulder, whispered in her ear, “Everything okay?”

  Elyse whispered back, “Couldn’t be better!”

  She knew all was well. She had somehow been able to bring Barry and his eldest daughter together, and she was proud that she had been able to do so. Now that that chapter was over, and as her child stirred vigorously beneath her heart, she was happy with her new beginning. She felt her husband’s concerned eyes searching her face for any signs of distress or discomfort. She gave him a bright, reassuring smile. He responded with a broad happy grin of his own.

  * * *

  The humid days of August had passed and everyone relished the cooler invigorating days of September, no one more than Elyse. Her due date was finally approaching, and she was ready.

  Missy had been registered for all-day sessions at a preschool daycare center, and each day Ace dropped her off in the morning on his way to his art store and picked her up again in the late afternoon.

  Emerald had made up her mind that it was not safe for Elyse to be driving into work, considering her advancing pregnancy, so she drove to Elyse’s South Shore home to pick her up. They both enjoyed the ride into the city and, as always, had plenty to talk about. Elyse wanted to hear about Emerald’s budding relationship with Omar, and Emerald was always anxious to assess her friend’s impending confinement.

  This crisp September morning she started out by teasing Elyse.

  “Didn’t need my help this time, eh, my friend? No more needles in your rear end?” she teased.

  “Yeah, right, I just know you were tickled pink when you were sticking those old needles into me!”

  “Only tried to be helpful,” Emerald smirked as she drove through the morning traffic.

  “Well,” Elyse said, “I really did appreciate your help, but I must tell you, girl, conception this time around was real, real nice! Hope you find yourself in the same situation real soon.” She laughed.

  Emerald made a quick sign of the cross over her chest. “God willing, Omar is coming over for Christmas, you know, and . . . well . . . I’m hoping. Elyse, I really love that man!”

  “I know, and both Ace and I want the best for you. We think Omar is just that . . . the best.”

  “Thanks, Elyse,” Emerald said as she pulled the car up in front of their store so that Elyse wouldn’t have to walk from the parking area behind the building.

  “Could be next year you’ll be hauling a fat, pregnant wife like me around! Wouldn’t that be a hoot!” she giggled.

  “It would be my pleasure, you know it would. See you in a few.”

  Slowly, Elyse climbed out of the front seat, taking her store key out of her bag. As she entered the store she could hear the phone ringing. She waddled back to her office as quickly as she could.

  “Hello?” she breathed, panting from the exertion she needed to reach her desk.

  “Honey? It’s Ace, are you sitting down? Now I don’t want you to worry, but there’s been an accident . . .”

  “Missy? What’s happened to Missy? It is Missy, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it’s Missy, hon, but we think she’s going to be fine.”

  “Tell me! What’s wrong with her?”

  Emerald came into the office at that moment, took one look at Elyse’s stricken face, immediately went into their small kitchen and quickly returned with a glass of water.

  “Drink!” she demanded. Then she picked up the phone on her desk and listened as Ace explained.

  “Seems that she ran out into the play yard, slid down the slide and landed on her backside. She said she was hurting, so she was taken by ambulance to Children’s Hospital. I’m calling from there. Now, don’t worry . . .”

  “Ace,” Emerald interrupted, “we’ll be right there. We’re on our way.”

  Emerald drove carefully, but still it took a good twenty-five minutes before they reached the hospital. Ace met them at the front desk, his face wreathed in smiles.

  Elyse almost collapsed in his arms.

  “How . . . how is she, Ace?”

  “She’s fine, just a bruised tailbone from where she struck the ground. X-rays are negative and all her vital signs are stable. I think maybe we’ll be able to take her home later today. Are you all right? Here, have a seat. Don’t want you to be a patient, too.”

  As he helped his wife sit down, he mouthed to Emerald, Thank you, my friend, to which she mouthed, De nada.

  The doctor met them at Missy’s bedside and explained that the little girl could be discharged later that day.

  “I think she may need to sit on a rubber ring for awhile, but her coccyx is not fractured. She just lost her footing at the end of the slide and sat down hard on her bum.”

  “Is she in a lot of pain?” Elyse asked.

  “Some, but I think she’s more frightened by what happened. If she can swallow pills, you may give her baby aspirin, or you can crush the pill in applesauce. Every four hours as needed.”

  “Thank you, thank you,” both Ace and Elyse said as Ace shook his hand.

  “My privilege,” the doctor said. “You have a bright, lovely daughter.”

  Elyse remained at her daughter’s bedside, reading some children’s books the hospital’s librarian had brought her. She also fed her a lunch of chicken broth, crackers, milk and Missy’s favorite, chocolate ice cream.

  Noticing Elyse’s advancing pregnancy, the head nurse of the unit had a lounge chair brought in so that Elyse could elevate her feet.

  “You’re very kind,” she told the nurse, who smiled and winked at her.

  “Been there, done that a few times myself. You are quite welcome. Girl or boy?”

  �
�A boy, and I can hardly wait.”

  Later that day Ace returned with a small bouquet of flowers for Missy.

  To the bravest little girl in the world. Love, Mummy and Daddy, the card read.

  Deep in her heart Elyse knew how fortunate she was to have a wonderful man like Ace in her life. He truly loved Missy as his own child, had been present at her birth and was the first person after Dr. Kellogg to hold her. She knew she would never forget the look on his face as he handed her Missy.

  “Meet your daughter, Elyse.”

  It was memories like those that made her love him more each day. She could hardly wait to see him with their son, who moved vigorously to let her know he was just about ready to make his appearance.

  Whether it was due to the worry over Missy’s accident, Elyse did not know, but that night after she and Ace settled Missy down for the night, her contractions began.

  “Call Emerald! No, call Dr. Kellogg first and tell him my labor has started.”

  “Right away, Elyse. Just try to stay calm.”

  From their bedside phone he made the calls, his troubled eyes fastened on his wife.

  “Are the pains close, honey?”

  “Four to five minutes,” she panted.

  “Em will be here in about fifteen minutes. Think you can hold on? The doctor said if your membranes have ruptured, you should come right in.”

  “Not yet, Ace. I think we have a little time before . . .” She clutched her abdomen as she breathed deeply to ride out the next pain.

  “I’m going to put your bag in the car and bring the car around front. Hang in there, hon, be right back.”

  As promised, within fifteen minutes Emerald was bounding up the stairs, Ace having left the front door unlocked for her.

  “Okay,” she bounced into the bedroom, “let’s get this show on the road! Ace,” she grinned at him, “you’re experienced in this birthing business, so I expect you to do a great job!”

  Together they helped Elyse down the stairs and into the car.

  Emerald kissed Elyse before she closed the car door. “Good luck.” Then she told Ace, “Drive carefully.”

  The grimace she saw on Elyse’s face told her that Ace Junior was in a hurry, so she waved them off, watching the twinkling tail lights of Ace’s car as it sped off into the night.

  After two hours of intense labor, Dr. Kellogg told Ace it was time to suit up and get ready to meet his son.

  As he scrubbed up this time and put on the blue scrubs, he recalled Missy’s birth. He prayed that this delivery would be easy for his wife. She had been through so much, he couldn’t bear to see her suffer.

  He breathed a quick prayer as he followed the nurse into the brightly lit delivery room.

  Elyse looked up at him with a crooked, tentative smile.

  “I’m ready, Ace. Are you?”

  “You betcha. Ready, willing and able!”

  Within ten minutes after Elyse gave several strong pushes, their nine-pound son was born.

  Tears streamed down Ace’s face as he held his baby. “Welcome, son, we’ve been waiting for you.”

  “He’s here, Elyse. Meet your beautiful son.”

  “Thanks, Ace.”

  She kissed the baby’s forehead. As she gazed at him, his eyes opened wide open and he stared back at her. “Thanks, Ace. Thanks for . . . for everything.”

  “Honey, it’s I who owe you. You’re wonderful and I love you.”

  Chapter 36

  Little Austin, as the baby was called, was a happy, placid baby. He seldom cried and delighted his doting parents with his charming smiles and sweet coos. He truly loved his big sister, and she claimed him as “her baby.”

  Holly and Branch were taken to him, too. They couldn’t wait to hold the chubby, bubbly little boy.

  “He’s just beautiful,” Holly told Elyse.

  Elyse thanked her stepdaughter and was inwardly pleased with the couple’s reaction to her son. She could tell by their responses to Little Austin that this pair were going to be good and loving parents.

  “How is everything going at your place?” she asked Branch.

  With his eyes on Holly as she cuddled the baby, he responded, “Everything’s coming along nicely. We’ve furnished the living room, bedroom and kitchen, but that’s about it for now. You’ll have to come visit soon.”

  “We will . . . love to see what you’ve done,” Elyse said to him.

  * * *

  At Thanksgiving it was Holly who prepared the Thanksgiving dinner. She asked Aunt Ginny to help her and found the gregarious woman delighted to participate in the food preparation. She gave plenty of advice and encouragement.

  “You’re taking to this like a duck to water,” she told Holly.

  “I did watch my gram sometimes, but I can’t cook like she did.”

  “You’ll do just fine, I know. It’s in your genes. Now, today I’m going to show you how to make sweet rolls.”

  Holly saw how Aunt Ginny mixed all the ingredients together until she had a mound of soft dough. She placed the dough into a lightly greased large bowl. “Now,” she said to Holly, “we cover this with wax paper and a clean towel and let the dough rise. Let’s sit down, have a nice cup of tea and some of those ginger cookies I brought.”

  When the feast day came, it was sunny, but with a brisk wind that blew in from the ocean. The house was warm and cozy, with a lively fire that Branch had going in the living room fireplace. The house smelled great from the roasting turkey and the other goodies that Aunt Ginny had helped Holly prepare.

  Besides Ace, Elyse and their children, Holly and Branch had invited Elyse’s parents, Aunt Ginny, and, of course, Branch’s father. Branch had already gone to Prime Care to fetch Mr. Harkins. There were ten at the table, with the baby in a carry-all seat on a chair near his mother.

  Everyone praised Holly for the meal. She accepted the compliments and acknowledged Aunt Ginny’s help.

  After the meal the men went out to the closed deck that faced the ocean and the women made quick work of the dishes and storing the leftover food, but not before “care packages” were made for each to take home.

  “This is much more than Branch and I could ever eat,” Holly said.

  Mr. Harkins only wanted “a piece of that wonderful sweet potato pie. And,” he continued, “I’ll chop the hand off anybody who tries to take it from me!”

  Kitchen duties completed, the women returned to the living room, but Holly took Elyse to one side.

  “I have something I want to show you, upstairs in our bedroom.”

  She led Elyse into the master bedroom. French doors opened onto a small balcony that faced the Atlantic Ocean. A queen-sized bed with a white bedspread and colorful pillows faced the balcony doors. A bentwood rocker, a tall floor lamp and a double chest of drawers completed the room. To Elyse it seemed serene and peaceful.

  Holly went to one of the nightstands and pointed to a photograph. “I wanted you to see this.”

  “Holly! Your father! Where did you get this?” Elyse gasped.

  “Emerald. She gave me the snapshot and asked me if I wanted it.”

  Elyse held in her hand an enlarged photograph of Barry Marshall wearing military fatigues, grinning at the camera as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Holly’s voice was tremulous when she spoke.

  “I know for a long time I hated the idea that I had a father who gave me away. When I found out from my granny what he’d done, I felt that he had thrown me away, like garbage. A bit of nothing that no one wanted.”

  Seeing the tears welling up in Holly’s eyes, Elyse moved to sit on the bed beside her. She took the girl’s hands in hers.

  “Holly, please, please don’t think like that. I could never have loved a cruel, heartless man. He was never like that. Perhaps he was scared of the frightening situation he found himself in . . . bringing a new life into the world, not knowing how to cope. His life had not been an easy one, raised by a single mother, struggling all his life to suc
ceed. Maybe he feared a similar life for you and wanted you to have better, Oh, Holly,” she begged, “please forgive him.”

  She put her arm around the trembling girl.

  “Because of Barry, I have two beautiful daughters, you and Missy, and I see in each of you the same drive and perseverance that I saw in him. His legacy will live on, and I’m happy about that! Besides, you both look very much like him and that makes me doubly happy. I have a part of the husband I loved and can’t ask for more. I love this picture of Barry, and I’m glad that you have it. He would have been so proud of you.”

  “I hope so. Thanks, Elyse.” She stood up. “Guess we’d better get back to the folks.”

  “I can hear the ladies chatting away. I don’t think they’ve even missed us.”

  * * *

  Springtime always comes to New England with a flourish of warm weather, budding trees and a profusion of color as the forsythia bushes burst into bloom, crocuses push through the moist soil and wintering birds return to nest and produce new offspring.

  Elyse began to feel a latent surge of activity stirring within her.

  Ajay, as little Austin was being called, was crawling around and occasionally tried to pull himself up to stand.

  Elyse had been doing some of her store’s work on her computer at home. Ordering new books, checking inventory and conferring daily with Emerald could be done easily when the baby was napping in the afternoon. And she was glad to be active.

  Emerald had hired an older woman, a retired school teacher, part time to help out at the checkout counter. A teenager helped out after school stacking books and attending to janitorial duties.

  “Girl, we’re doing just fine!” Emerald told her when Elyse asked about the place.

  “I know you are, but, Em, I want to come back soon. I miss the place.”

  “Talked it over with Ace?”

  “Not yet, but I intend to, soon.”

  “What about Ajay? I know Missy is in daycare.”

  “At the rate he’s going, he might be ready for daycare, too. I know Building Blocks does take infants, and Ajay is almost ready to walk. He’s already talking,” she added proudly. “Mama, Daddy, and even tries to say Missy. It comes out Mith-mith,” she laughed.