A Mother in the Making

by Gabrielle Meyer

  John offered her a reassuring smile and put his hand on her head. “Don’t worry about what I’m going to do. You’re only eight, and you don’t need to be concerned about grown-up things.”

  Lilly put her hands over John’s, and pulled his fingers off her head. She grasped John’s hand and held it tight. “Don’t get married again. Please.”

  The front door suddenly opened and John’s mother-in-law entered the house. She blinked several times at seeing them all standing in the foyer. “What do we have here?”

  Dora walked in just behind Mother Scott, her sweet smile already in place.

  “Aunt Dora!” The three older children stepped out of line and rushed to their aunt.

  “Hello, children.” Dora hugged each one. “Charlie, you need a haircut,” she laughed as she ruffled his hair. “And, Lilly, I love the way your bow matches your eyes.” She reached down and picked up Petey. “And look at you! Is that a new toy?”

  Petey held up a toy airplane, a grin on his face. “I can fly it!”

  Where had Petey gotten a toy airplane?

  “I would love to see.”

  Petey arched the plane high over his head, making the appropriate airplane sounds.

  Dora tickled his ribs and the two of them giggled. She finally glanced at John. “Hello.”

  It was a mystery to John how Anna and Dora could be raised by Mother Scott and turn out so kind. “Hello, Dora.”

  “Papa is getting married,” Lilly said to Dora with a scowl.

  “Lilly.” John said her name quickly and with force.

  Lilly took a step closer to her aunt.

  “What’s this?” Mother Scott asked.

  Dora blinked several times, but didn’t say a word.

  “It’s nothing.” John wanted to crawl into his office and disappear. “Mrs. Jensen is coming over for supper and the children made assumptions.”

  Mother Scott’s blue eyes narrowed. “Winifred Jensen?” She said the name as if Winnie were a leper. “Why would you marry her? I’ve never cared for that woman.”

  “Mother, please,” Dora said. “Mrs. Jensen was Anna’s friend.”

  “I’m not marrying anyone,” John said evenly. “I’m simply having her over for supper.”

  The hall clock chimed the hour. Winnie would arrive at any moment. The last thing John wanted was for Mother Scott to be present.

  “Is there something I can do for you?” John asked.

  “I was just coming to check on the children.” Mother Scott sent Miss Maren a withering look. “I’ve been worried sick about them since she arrived.”

  Miss Maren opened her mouth to speak, but John cut off her retort. “You needn’t worry. Miss Maren has been doing a splendid job.”

  Miss Maren looked at John for the first time since he had entered the foyer, a bit of surprise in her eyes. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” John cleared his throat and took a step toward the door, hoping his mother-in-law would get the hint to leave. “You don’t need to trouble yourself with checking on the children anymore—”

  “I’ll be keeping a close eye on this place,” Mother Scott said, still looking at Miss Maren. “Don’t think I won’t.”

  Miss Maren hardly acknowledged Mother Scott, and John didn’t blame her.

  Over Dora’s shoulder, through the open front door, Winnie appeared on the sidewalk carrying her twin girls, while the boys trailed behind.

  John nearly groaned. This was not how he pictured this evening unfolding.

  “Here’s the woman now,” Mother Scott said, crossing her arms over her bosom.

  Dora touched her sleeve. “Mother, we should take our leave.”

  “Nonsense. If the woman is going to be the mother of my grandchildren, she’ll need to get used to me now.”

  John looked to Miss Maren, hoping she would somehow help, but her gaze was on Winnie as she walked up the front steps.

  Winnie glanced up and found eight people staring at her. She faltered on the top step, her eyes sweeping the room until her gaze landed on John.

  Poor Winnie. She was about to enter the inferno.

  John took two giant steps to the door and met Winnie and her children there. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  Winnie looked at Mother Scott, Dora and then Miss Maren. “Is everyone joining us for supper tonight?”

  “No.” John lifted his hand and indicated that she should enter the house. “My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were just leaving.”

  “Yes,” Dora said, coming to John’s rescue. “We were on our way out when we saw you coming.” She took her mother’s elbow and walked her over to the door. “It’s so nice to see you again, Mrs. Jensen. Do have a nice meal.”

  “But, Dora.” Mother Scott yanked her arm away. “This woman could very well take your place. Won’t you stay and fight for John?”

  Dora’s cheeks turned pink and she glanced at John quickly. “Mother, please hold your tongue.”

  “Why am I the only one who speaks her mind?” Mother Scott asked. “I’m simply saying what you’re thinking.”

  “I’m thinking no such thing.” Dora took her mother’s arm again and managed to get her outside. “Goodbye, John. Children. Miss Maren. Goodbye, Mrs. Jensen.”

  John could have kissed Dora right then and there for removing Mother Scott from the house. “Goodbye.”

  “You’re making another mistake,” Mother Scott said over her shoulder. “First hiring Miss Maren and now dining with Mrs. Jensen.”

  John closed the door tight against the woman’s words. “I’m sorry,” he said to Winnie and Miss Maren.

  Winnie stood in the middle of the foyer, her brown eyes filled with apprehension. She looked pretty this evening with her hair styled carefully. All four children had been cleaned, their hair still slick with water.

  “Winnie, this is my governess, Miss Maren.” John indicated Miss Maren.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Winnie said.

  “Two sets of twins?” Miss Maren shook her head in amazement. “How do you do it?”

  “I don’t have much choice, now, do I?” Winnie asked with a smile, though her words were underlined with exhaustion and irritation.

  Miss Maren closed her mouth and didn’t respond.

  John quickly intervened. “Miss Maren will take the children up to the day nursery, where they will eat a meal and be entertained.”

  “How nice.” Winnie passed a toddler into Marjorie’s available arm and then set the other girl on her feet. “I’m ready for a bit of a break.”

  Miss Maren jostled Laura in one arm and one of the twins in the other. Her gown was splotchy from Laura’s drool, and her hair was pulled out of its pins in various places from Laura’s curious hands.

  She looked like a mother—a very pretty mother.

  “The two older boys are Isaac and Isaiah, and the girls are Daphne and Delphine,” Winnie said. “The boys will tell you who is who.”

  Miss Maren looked at each of Winnie’s children, her brow tilted in curiosity. “Come with me children,” she finally instructed. “Lilly, please take the other little girl’s hand, and, Charlie, make sure Petey and the Jensen boys follow.”

  Miss Maren confidently walked up the stairs looking like the Pied Piper with all the children following her. She glanced back at John, her green eyes probing. But for what, he didn’t know.

  The foyer was now silent, save the ticking of the grandfather clock, and it was just the two of them. “You look beautiful, Winnie.”

  Winnie touched her brown hair a bit self-consciously. “Do you think so?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Thank you.”

  They stood for a moment, the air feeling awkward around them. The last time Winnie ha
d been in his house, Anna had been the hostess and John hadn’t considered that one day he would be interviewing Winnie to be his wife.

  “Would you like to go into the dining room? Mrs. Gohl has dinner prepared.”

  Winnie sighed. “It will be a treat to eat a meal I haven’t cooked with my own hands.”

  She was much thinner than he recalled, and her skin had a pale tone he didn’t like. She had taken Calvin’s death hard, which didn’t surprise him, and the grief had not been kind to her.

  John held out a chair for her, the one directly to the left of his chair, and she took a seat. She smelled of rosewater and something else, maybe bread.

  After she sat, John took his seat. “Again, I’m sorry for my mother-in-law’s comments. She’s grieving her own loss, in her own way.” He had stood up to her once after Anna’s death, and the woman had retreated in tears for almost a week. John had been very careful around her since, which meant she got away with much more than he would normally allow.

  Winnie set her clasped hands on the table. “Have you given any more thought to my proposal?”

  He had, a great deal, but now wasn’t the time to talk about it. “Shall we enjoy a nice meal before we talk business?”

  She nodded, though she looked anxious to get on with their conversation.

  For now, they would try to have a normal meal and get to know each other better.

  They had plenty of time to talk about marriage later.

  * * *

  The third-floor nursery had become one of Marjorie’s favorite rooms in the house. Large and airy, with pine plank floors and a steep ceiling, it had little alcoves where the dormer windows looked out in three directions around town. To the south and east were the rooftops and trees of neighborhood homes, with a glimpse of the children’s yellow brick school, and to the west, the beautiful downtown buildings and Mississippi River. Petey and Charlie’s room was behind the north wall, with one more dormer window.

  “One of those boys took Petey’s airplane,” Lilly said with her hands on her hips.

  “Which one?” Marjorie asked, looking at the identical Jensen boys. They both had their hands behind their backs.

  One of the little girls began to cry—but which one was it? Daphne or Delphine? “What happened to her?” Marjorie asked Charlie, who was standing near the stairway door, watching the whole circus.

  “I don’t know.”

  The other little girl began to cry, too, her head tipped back, her face red, and tears seeping out of her eyes.

  Petey put his hands over his ears and tucked his knees up to his chest. He closed his eyes tight and rocked back and forth on his bottom.

  “Petey.” Marjorie took a step to the little boy, but Laura began to fuss from the basinet near the south window.

  “Lilly, could you please pick up Laura?”

  “But what about Petey’s airplane? That Jensen boy still has it and won’t give it back.” Lilly pointed to the little boy who clutched the airplane to his chest now.

  The other Jensen boy walked up to Marjorie and tugged on her dress. “I have to go.”

  Marjorie wanted to put her hands over her ears and join Petey on the floor. Instead, she looked at Charlie. “Could you please take him down to the water closet for me?”

  Charlie sighed and nodded. “Come on.” He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Which one are you?”

  “Isaac.”

  They left the nursery, but the crying prevailed. Marjorie bent over and touched the first Jensen girl who had begun to cry. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

  “I want Mama!” she wailed.

  “Me, too,” cried the other one.

  “Laura needs her diaper changed,” Lilly said loudly from the south side of the room. “It leaked through and now her dress is spoiled.”

  It wasn’t right to ask Lilly to change Laura’s diaper—but it didn’t seem right to ask her to stay with the crying children, either.

  “Can you please get a new diaper and a change of clothing? I’ll have to change her up here.”

  Lilly set Laura down in the basinet again and left the nursery.

  Petey suddenly stood up, his face red. He raced across the nursery on his way to the stairway door.

  Marjorie caught him a moment before his hand touched the doorknob, swinging him up into her arms. “Where are you going?”

  Petey tried to wiggle out of her hold. “I want Papa.”

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t go to your papa right now.”

  Petey’s lower lip began to tremble and he crossed his arms, but he didn’t try to get away again.

  Marjorie set him on his feet and looked at the boy holding Petey’s airplane—Isaiah. Should she tell Petey he must share, or should she insist that Isaiah return the item, since he took it without permission? How did you deal with a situation like this?

  “Petey, Isaiah is a guest. Let’s let him play with the airplane for a few minutes and then we’ll ask for it back.”

  Petey’s bottom lip quivered. He ran across the room and raced into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

  Laura and the Jensen girls continued to cry, and nothing Marjorie could do would convince the twins to settle down. She tried pointing out toys in the room, and then items outside the window, but nothing distracted them from their tears.

  Finally Lilly and Charlie returned to the nursery with Isaac, and Marjorie was able to change Laura.

  “Is this what it would always be like?” Charlie asked, his face sullen. “If Papa marries Mrs. Jensen?”

  “No,” Lilly said. “Because if Papa marries Mrs. Jensen, Miss Maren would have to leave.”

  “Mama says we’re going to live here,” Isaac said to Charlie.

  Charlie glanced at Lilly with a look of horror.

  Isaac looked up at Lilly. “Mama said you are old enough to take care of us and she can have a break.”

  Lilly’s mouth fell open and she stared at Marjorie. “Does she think I’m going to take care of her children?”

  “Shh.” Marjorie put her arm around Lilly’s shoulder. “Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding.”

  “I don’t want to have four more babies in this house,” Charlie said.

  “Mama’s having another baby,” Isaac offered. “Maybe twins again.”

  “More babies?” Lilly squeaked.

  The thought of another set of twins gave Marjorie the shivers—but she squeezed Lilly’s shoulders. “Don’t worry.”

  Charlie looked around the nursery. “Where’s Petey?”

  Marjorie pointed to their bedroom door. “He’s in there.”

  “Because Isaiah wouldn’t give him his airplane back,” Lilly said as she glared at the other boy. “Am I right?”

  “Papa doesn’t even realize how crazy it is up here,” Charlie said. “If he could see how miserable we are, then he wouldn’t marry Mrs. Jensen.”

  The stairway door opened and Miss Ernst appeared in her black gown and white apron. Today her red hair was tamed behind her cap, but just barely. “Are the children ready for me to bring up their meal?”

  Suddenly Marjorie had an idea.

  “Children.” She held up her hands. “I know what we will do.”

  Charlie was right. Dr. Orton couldn’t marry Mrs. Jensen. It would be a madhouse with all these children, especially if Mrs. Jensen expected Charlie and Lilly to take care of them. Both adults were downstairs, enjoying a quiet meal together, but they needed to see what it would be like to combine their two families.

  “Miss Ernst, I will bring the children down to the dining room to eat with Dr. Orton and Mrs. Jensen.”

  “I was told to serve them up here.”

  “I’m changing the plans.”

  “But—” Miss Ernst
stuttered. “Dr. Orton will be angry.”

  “Leave Dr. Orton to me,” Marjorie said. “Come, children.”

  Charlie grinned, but Lilly looked uncertain.

  “I’ll get Petey,” Charlie said.

  The Jensen girls were still crying for their mother. “Miss Ernst, can you carry Laura downstairs? I will bring the twins.”

  Miss Ernst looked at Marjorie with apprehension, but she picked up Laura.

  Marjorie took the twin girls in her arms and Charlie came from the room with Petey.

  “Papa?” Petey smiled, despite the large tears dripping down his cheeks.

  “Yes. Now come along.”

  The ten of them descended the stairs, with Marjorie at the lead. They marched through the second-floor hall and then walked down the grand stairway into the front foyer. The twin girls were still crying, and Isaiah was still clutching Petey’s airplane.

  Dr. Orton appeared under the dining room archway, a napkin in his hand. He frowned at the scene. “What’s all this noise? Is there trouble, Miss Maren?”

  Marjorie strode right past him and into the dining room where Mrs. Jensen sat. “The girls won’t be consoled.”

  Both girls reached for their mother at the same moment, nearly sending Marjorie head over heels.

  “Children, find a seat.” Marjorie deposited the girls onto Mrs. Jensen’s lap, barely looking at the stunned woman’s face. Both toddlers stopped crying the moment they touched their mother.

  “What are you doing?” Dr. Orton asked Marjorie. His dark eyes were filled with storm clouds. “I told you to feed the children upstairs.”

  Marjorie helped Petey into his seat and then put her hand on the backrest and faced Dr. Orton. “The girls would not stop crying until I brought them to their mother, and Petey wanted to see you.”

  The children found a seat at the large table, talking all at once, but Miss Ernst stood motionless with Laura in her arms.

  “I thought it best for you and Mrs. Jensen to realize what life would be like with eight or more children, day in and day out.”

  Dr. Orton took a step toward Marjorie, his face red. He spoke through his clenched teeth. “I will have a word with you in my office.”