by Sharon Coady
“I think I remember Pop telling me about that years ago. If I’m not mistaken, I think my Aunt Kim took one of those kittens.”
“I sure hope I don’t have to deliver any of these.” Anne giggled. “Mavy is so funny. I swear she came in here to comfort me. She acted like she knew what I was talking about.”
“Was she watching you like she does Melanie all the time?” His hand rubbed in circles on her lower back,
“Yep.” Anne sighed as she felt some of the tension slowly melting away.
“Smart cat.”
Mavy purred louder.
Chapter Ten
Thanksgiving Day dawned cold and crisp. Anne and Kyle made their way to the kitchen to find Pop already sitting there waiting to help with the turkey.
“What are you doing up so early, Pop?” Kyle asked as he poured a cup of coffee for himself. “Anne, would you like me to start the water for your tea?”
Anne nodded. “Pop gets up early every Thanksgiving and Christmas to help with the turkey. He’s done it every year for Gram, and he did it for me last year.” Anne kissed his cheek as she moved over to her side of the table.
“Yep, it’s my job. Elma couldn’t lift the pan with the turkey in it.”
“Doesn’t hurt to have extra hands in the kitchen. What time did you tell Mom to be here?” Kyle finished filling the tea kettle and sat in on one of the burners.
“I told her about three. That’s okay, isn’t it?” Pop took a sip of his coffee. “I like to eat early. That way, if I want leftovers later, we have them.” He snickered.
“A man after my own heart, already thinking about the leftovers.” Kyle poured himself a bowl of cereal and one for Anne. “You need to eat before you start the stuffing, honey. We have plenty of time.”
“I have to get everything cut up to sauté.” She reached to lift one of the cast iron pans off its hook.
“I’ll get that.” He quickly lifted the heavy pan and put it on the stove. “I prepped all that last night. Everything is in the fridge in containers. I told you I would help. Pop told me what Gram put in the stuffing, so I cut it up for you after you went to bed.”
“Smart thinking. That will save a lot of time. See girl, you can sit down and eat.” Pop chuckled.
“Should I get Melanie up before we get started?” Anne was upset that the little girl was still not speaking to her. How long could a kid hold a grudge?
“No, I think we’ll let her sleep. She’s going to be all excited about her grandmother being here, and she’s still being cranky.” Kyle’s brow furrowed. “I wish she would stop acting like a brat.”
“Oh, come on, Kyle. She’s not a brat. She’s a six-year-old kid who got her feelings hurt. One thing you will learn about the fairer sex is they don’t forget things…ever.” Pop slapped his leg, laughing harder than Anne had heard him in a while.
“Thanks, Pop. I’m glad you find humor in the fact that my daughter is mad at me.” Anne sat down and picked up her tea, suddenly having no appetite.
“I told you, it’s going to take some time. She’ll see she’s wrong soon, mark my word.”
“I hope you’re right.” Anne sighed and placed her hand over her tummy, feeling her little boy kicking and squirming.
“Is he moving again?” Kyle asked as he leaned over and put his hand beside hers. His cute lopsided grin spread over his face when the baby kicked, so she knew he had felt him move. “He’s strong.”
“Maybe we have a soccer player.”
“Or a punter for a football team.” Pop grinned ear to ear. “I can’t wait to see him. If he’s half as cute as that little girl, he’s going to be a real looker.”
Kyle beamed. “With Anne as the mom, I don’t have any worries! I’ve noticed the pictures of her as a baby on the wall. Cute kid who grew up to be an incredibly beautiful woman.”
“Anne was the cutest little thing. She smiled all the time. Her gram loved to hold her. She is a beautiful woman.” He glanced at her. “She always said every time she touched your little hand, it was the closest she could get to heaven on earth. She loved you so much.”
Anne watched him get lost in a memory from long ago. Reaching across the table, she took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “I love her, too. I miss her so much, especially now.” A tear ran down her cheek.
“Aw girl, I didn’t mean to make you sad. Please, don’t cry.” Pop’s voice broke as a tear ran down his cheek as well.
“Pop, these aren’t sad tears. Remembering her makes me happy. Sometimes my memories just make me cry. All my thoughts of her are joyful ones.”
“She would be so in love with this little guy and with Melanie. She definitely wouldn’t have to put Melanie’s hair in rollers.”
Anne laughed when she saw Kyle’s eyebrow rise as he gave her the once over.
“What are you talking about?” Kyle glanced at Pop when he heard him chuckle along with her. “Would somebody care to explain?”
“When Anne was little, Gram would put her hair in curlers before she went to bed. She would roll them so tight, Anne’s eyes slanted and the poor little thing had trouble sleeping. But Gram would say, ‘think how pretty and curly your hair will be tomorrow.’ Anne would try to get me to say something, but it wouldn’t have done any good.” He chuckled.
“Why not?”
“Because she was determined for Anne to have curly hair, no matter what we said.”
“Well, she definitely wouldn’t have had to curl Melanie’s hair.”
“Nope, and boy she would have loved fixing that little girl’s hair.”
Just then, Melanie walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. “Morning, sweetie.” Kyle swooped her up into a big bear hug. “How’s my sweet little girl this morning?”
“I’m fine, Daddy. How are you?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss.
“I’m wonderful now that you’re up. Grandma will be here later today.” He kissed her cheek. “Are you excited?”
“Yes! I can’t wait. Does Grandma know Mavy is having kittens?”
“Hey! You said her name right! Look at you growing up so quick in front of my eyes.” He hugged her close before setting her down. “Go give Pop and Mommy a hug and kiss.”
Melanie ran to Pop. “Morning, Poppy, how are you?”
“I’m perfect, girl, how are you?”
“Great! Grandma is coming over. She’ll probably bring me something.”
“You think?”
She nodded her head before turning to her daddy. “I’m hungry. Can I have cereal now?”
“Sure. Aren’t you going to kiss Mommy?”
She shook her head. “She’s not my mommy. Can I have my cereal?”
Anne put her head down so Melanie wouldn’t see how upset she was. Oh Gram, is she ever going to see how much I love her? I wish you were here, you’d know how to fix this. She plastered a smile on her face and looked up at Kyle, shaking her head slightly so he wouldn’t say anything to Melanie.
He nodded as sadness flashed through his eyes. “What kind of cereal do you want?”
“The chocolate one.”
“Okay and when you are done eating, you can play for a while so I can help Pop and Mommy put the turkey in the oven.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and ate her cereal without once looking in Anne’s direction. Anne’s heart broke a little more as the minutes ticked by. She pushed the chair back from the table and excused herself, saying she needed to use the bathroom.
Kyle snagged her and kissed her cheek as he whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry, honey.”
“It’s fine. Please, just let it go.” She shrugged him off and waddled out of the kitchen. She heard Pop mumble under his breath and knew he wasn’t happy with Kyle’s daughter.
Anne washed her face and looked at herself in the mirror. How could she go in labor and leave Melanie while things were so wrong between them? Somehow, she had to get her to see how much she loved her. A deep shutter flowed through her body as
she exhaled and counted to ten. She would get through this Thanksgiving dinner without crying, if it was the last thing she did.
When she returned to the kitchen, Kyle was already sautéing the veggies for the dressing, and Pop was doing what he did best on the holidays, instructing the cook on the correct order to add the veggies and how long to sauté them. He reminded Kyle to add just a quarter pound of the sausage no more. “Gram didn’t like too much sausage in the dressing.”
“Thanks for starting this you two. I can take over now.”
“Anne, we have this. Why don’t you take a shower and get ready. Mom called and said she will be here in a bit. I know everything that is going on is upsetting for you. Pop and I have this. We’ll get the turkey in the oven and leave you to do all the important things like the gravy and sides.” Turning to look at her, Anne saw concern written all over his face. “I’m worried about you, honey. You didn’t sleep last night. Actually, you haven’t been sleeping well the last few nights.”
“Have I been keeping you up? I’m sorry. Between the baby and with this...” She nodded toward Melanie’s room. “I guess I haven’t been sleeping very well.”
“I’m worried about you, so no, I haven’t been sleeping very well either. Pop and I are still trying to work this out with her.”
“I know. I think I will go and get ready. Maybe a shower will make me feel better.”
****
Once everything was on the table, everyone sat down and Nancy asked if it was all right for her to say a prayer. Pop assured her it was fine. Melanie insisted on sitting between Nancy and Pop. She took both their hands and bowed her head as her grandmother said grace. Anne thought back to Thanksgiving last year. How afraid she had been of Kyle having a child, and that she wouldn’t be a good mom. Now, here she was a year later with so much love for Melanie and afraid that she had ruined their relationship. All she wanted was for the little one to throw her arms around her and call her mommy again.
The turkey was carved and all the sides passed as everyone made small talk and kept away from the elephant in the room. Anne saw Nancy pass a few knowing looks to Pop. He must have talked to her about what was going on. Anne didn’t know if she should be upset with him or grateful because Nancy certainly would have noticed Melanie wasn’t speaking to her. Anne sat picking at her food, not tasting anything she put in her mouth.
“Anne dear, did you hear me?”
Shaking her head, she realized Nancy had spoken to her. “I’m sorry, what did you ask?” She felt the heat of a blush spread over her face.
“I asked how you’re feeling? You look a bit tired. I hope my son is helping you as much as he can.”
“He is. He and Pop fixed the turkey and dressing. Pop peeled the potatoes like he does every holiday. Actually, the only thing I had to do was make the gravy.”
“Good! He is a wonderful cook, isn’t he?” She raised her brow as a smile crossed her face. “If there is anything I can do to help, please don’t hesitate to call me.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the offer, and I might take you up on it.”
“I hope you will. I love spending time with our little Melanie, and I can’t wait for her little brother to join us.”
All eyes went to Melanie, who promptly put her fork down and looked at her father. “May I be excused, Daddy? I’m not hungry anymore.”
“You haven’t eaten very much, and Grandma came to spend Thanksgiving with you.”
“I know but I just want to go see Mavy. Please.”
“Okay. We’ll call you when dessert is ready.” Kyle shook his head and mumbled. His hand flew up in the air motioning for her to go.
She jumped down from the table and ran into her room.
“I’m so sorry, Anne.” Nancy looked around the table. “I thought if I brought him up, she might get excited.”
“We’ve tried everything and can’t get through to her. I don’t know what to do, Mom.” Kyle threw his arms up, the frustration showing on his face.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m trying to get her to understand.” Pop patted Nancy’s hand. “Did you know Mavy is having kittens?” He chuckled at the look on her face. “I’m going to use it as a learning experience for her, you wait and see.”
“I hope so, Pop.” Anne sighed. “I really hope so.”
Chapter Eleven
Anne opened the front door as Kyle carried in the most beautiful Christmas tree. “How did you find the perfect one without me?” Anne giggled as she was met with that lopsided grin and raised brow.
“Because I know what you love in a tree, so I just looked for what I thought you would want. After all, we looked together last year, remember?” He gently kissed her lips as he carefully moved past her. “Watch out so I don’t bump you.”
“Wait until Melanie sees this one. She is going to be so excited. I hope we have it all done when Nancy brings her home. Maybe it will make her happy again.”
“She’s going to be fine. When the baby gets here, she’ll forget all about everything else. If that doesn’t do it, the pony sure should. I can’t believe we found one so quickly.” He slid the tree into the old cast iron stand. “Pop, can you hold this while I tighten the screws?”
“That’s my job, isn’t it?” Pop took hold of the tree and held it steady. “Tell me which way to move it, Anne.”
She waddled from one side of the room to the other, instructing him on which way to move the tree until it looked perfect to her. Feeling a twinge in her lower back, she pushed against it with her hands and arched her back.
Kyle scooted out from under the tree and stood up to check it out. “It looks perfect.”
“It sure does.” Pop shook his head. “Girl, are you okay? Something wrong?” He shuffled over and took her hand, studying her eyes.
“I’m fine. Just a little tired and my back is hurting a bit. I think I did too much today. I was fine until a few minutes ago.” She sat down and rubbed her lower back again. “Kyle, maybe I could sit and tell you where to put the ornaments?”
Kyle squatted down in front of her. “Does it hurt anywhere other than your back?”
“No, just my lower back. But I think I did too much. I was carrying baskets of laundry and maybe I carried too much.”
“Okay, but if the pain gets worse or it moves anywhere else, let me know, okay?” He scrutinized her.
“You don’t think I’m going into labor do you? He isn’t due for a few more weeks.” She stood and started to pace the floor, wringing her hands.
“If you are, there’s no problem. We’re close enough to the due date. Everything is fine. Just relax.” He held her hand and smiled, leaning in to give her a kiss. Tucking a piece of her hair behind her ear, he kissed her again. “It’s fine, really. Sit down and tell me where to put these ornaments. We need to get the tree done tonight, if we want Melanie to see it decorated when Mom brings her home tomorrow.”
“Okay. I just got scared for a moment.” She sat back down and smiled up at him.
“You’re a first time mother who doesn’t know what to expect with labor and delivery. It’s a normal feeling.”
Anne looked at him, her eyes wide. “How do you do that?” She touched his face. “You seem to know what I’m thinking.”
“I’m just observant.” He kissed her again and went back to decorating the tree.
“I think I remember your gram going through the same thing when she had your mom. To tell you the truth, I was a bit afraid myself having never been a father before.” He smiled and took the top off the ornament box. “Where do you want Kyle to put this one?”
“Hold it up for me to see which one it is.” Pop held up one of the old glass ornaments from one of his and Gram’s first trees. “Put that one toward the top, Kyle. I think there are about a dozen of those so we can spread them around the tree. When we get to Gram’s special ornament, I would like that one placed toward the top and in the front center of the tree. Do you see that space right there?” She pointed.
Kyle nodded.
“Good. What’s next, Pop?”
Each ornament was carefully unwrapped and placed where she directed. The tree grew more beautiful with each ornament Kyle placed. Anne loved the magic of the Christmas holiday, and the way the memories unfolded, as the tree welcomed each one in the form of a glass ball or even a plastic shape.
Anne pushed herself off the sofa. “I’ll be right back.” She waddled to her room and retrieved a bag from her closet before making her way back into the living room. “Here, I picked this up when Melanie and I were in town a while back. Can you find a special place for it?”
She waited for him to open the bag and remove the box. When he opened the lid and removed the brand new ornament, Kyle moved to her quickly, wrapping his arms around her. “Thank you. It’s beautiful and what a wonderful memory to add to the tree. Pop, look at this.” He held an ornament with five little bears, each one held a name. “See. Pop, Kyle, Anne, Melanie, and Walter.”
Pop’s eyes widened. “You’re naming him Walter?”
“Yes. We want him to have your name. His name is going to be Walter Kyle Shafer. Is that all right with you?” Anne saw the tears well up in his eyes.
“It’s fine with me. What an honor. My great-grandson named after us, Kyle. I’ll be darned. What a pistol he’s going to be.” He chuckled. “A real pistol.”
Anne felt tears spill onto her cheeks. “Kyle and I wanted to honor you and as soon as we knew we were having a boy, we couldn’t think of a better way to do it. Melanie helped me pick out the ornament.” She wiped the tears with the back of her hands. “Oh my gosh, I feel like all I do is cry anymore!”
Pop shuffled to her and wrapped her in his strong arms, holding her tightly. “Aw girl, it’s normal. Your gram was always crying when she was pregnant. I think it’s just part of it. Right, Kyle?”
