Mary and Alvin Ch. 20

When Lilacs Bloomed

It was only early January, but the snowbanks already rose like miniature mountain ranges along the roads, and had formed into long sharp edged drifts across the fields. Mary would smile and shake her head when she remembered how eager she had been to experience her first snow. But she prided herself in her adjustment to winter living. She had grown fairly adept at driving in bad conditions. When her mother had come to visit at Christmas, she had driven down to Portland to pick her up at the airport, and it had snowed all the way home. She took some guilty pleasure in her mother's unease, and some satisfaction in showing her how well she could handle the Maine winter. The biggest storm so far had moved in early in the day on New Year's Eve, but she and Alvin had still braved the roads to attend Miss Suzanne's New Years Dance at the American Legion Hall. They may not have remembered every move they had learned, but they remembered enough to have a good time without embarrassing themselves.

Now that the holidays had passed, and he was not spending all day at the wharf selling Christmas trees, Alvin was at home most days. He and Jennifer had laid the foundation for the new alpaca barn before the ground froze, and on days when the weather allowed, they had begun putting up the frame. Good days had been scarce though, and he spent most of his time at home, reading, relaxing, recharging from his season of hard work. On snowy days, however he would bundle up, trudge out to the truck, and spend hours running his snowplow.

***

The bedroom was dark, except for a thin shaft of light from down the hall.

"Alvin, what time is it?" Mary asked in a sleepy voice. She heard his footsteps, then saw his silhouette in the doorway.

"Its almost four, honey," he said.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Because it's been snowing all night and I have eight driveways, in addition to our own, to get plowed before folks need to get to work today."

She reached to her nightstand and turned on the lamp. Squinting at Alvin, she saw that he was still clad only in his boxer shorts.

"You aren't dressed yet," she said, "you ought to come back to bed for a while."

"Well, I'm good and awake now."

"Yeah, I know..." She pushed back the covers and crooked her finger, beckoning him.

"Oh." He scratched his chin. "I guess I have more than enough time to get to all those driveways." He slipped off his shorts and climbed into bed. Mary pulled the covers over them and leaned in for a kiss.

"I don't have morning breath, do I?" she asked.

"A bit, but I don't care." He pulled her head down and kissed her deeply, exploring her mouth with his tongue. As his hand slipped down her body, she parted her thighs. His fingers passed through her downy bush and lightly brushed over her mound.

Mary lifted her butt and wiggled out of her underpants. She pulled Alvin towards her. He moved between her legs and lowered himself down, returning his tongue to her mouth while she guided his cock inside her.

"Ow, a little too quick, babe," Mary winced, pulling back slightly.

"Sorry, sweetheart." He withdrew and rubbed the head of his cock up and down her slit.

"That feels good," she cooed, "Go ahead, baby."

He slowly pressed into her again, and this time, their merger was smooth. Mary raised her knees and gripped his shoulders."You're such a good fit," she sighed.

They fucked slowly, tenderly, barely moving. Mary closed her eyes and it was almost as if she had gone back to sleep and was having a delicious dream. She felt Alvin's lips on her throat, his hands on her breasts, his cock, filling her, connecting them.

"Let's start every morning like this," Alvin whispered.

"Yes, but let's start them later," she laughed.

Alvin felt the pressure building and increased the tempo of his motion. Mary responded, raising her hips to meet him. They quickly synchronized and her breathing increased as she neared a climax. She squeezed Alvin between her thighs and let it wash over her.

Alvin looked into Mary's half closed eyes as she came. The sight of her face awash in pleasure triggered his own orgasm, and he thrust into her until he was spent. He went limp, sagging on to her body, then rolled off, pulling her against him. She draped her arm over him and kissed his chest.

"I need to get ready to go, sweetheart," he said after a few minutes.

"Mmmm, okay," she moaned, "I can make you some breakfast."

"No baby, go back to sleep, I'll grab something." He kissed her, then untangled himself from her arms and rose from the bed. She watched him walk out of the room, then reached over and turned off the lamp. She listened to the sounds of him washing and dressing, then his footsteps down the stairs. She heard the door shut and his truck start up. He didn't get any breakfast, she thought, he's going to buy doughnuts. She pulled the blankets up higher over herself. She always enjoyed the afterglow of sex, but it seemed especially warm this morning. She closed her eyes, and seemed to melt into the bed. I think we did it this time, she thought, as sleep overcame her.

***

She almost didn't notice the tiny spot of blood at first, but somehow it caught her eye as she was about to toss the tissue in the toilet bowl. She stared at it for a minute. Her period was a few days late, but she had been trying not to get anxious about it. She flushed the toilet and went back to her desk, took her phone from her purse and texted Kelly, asking her to come see her when she had a free moment.

Kelly came over just a few minutes later.

"What's up, hon?" she asked, leaning on the desk.

'So, uh, I'm a couple of days late, but I just peed and there was a little bit of blood. It was a different color, more brown than red.."

Kelly raised her eyebrows. "Oh, well, you know what that could mean?"

"Yeah, I guess I do. But I'm trying not to get too worked up until I'm sure."

"Well, get a test kit and find out."

"I've got some at home, I bought them as soon as I stopped taking the pill."

Kelly smiled and held out her arms. "Come here, girl," she said.

Mary stood and they hugged. "I've been through it four times, honey, I'm here for you, any time."

"Thank you, Kel."

Mary had a hard time concentrating on her work the rest of the day. She kept imagining Alvin's reaction if the test proved positive. She hoped he would be thrilled, but he'd gone through two pregnancies with Bonnie. Maybe it wouldn't seem quite so special and exciting to him. A small voice reminded her that they had not talked about children before he proposed and that she had told him that they were a condition of her saying yes. But then she thought of what he had said to her in Boston, on their honeymoon, when he had talked about it as if having a child together was the greatest thing they could do. Jesus, she told herself, you don't even know if you are really pregnant yet, and already your emotions are all over the fucking place.

Alvin was preparing supper when she got home. He had baked potatoes in the oven and was chopping a head of broccoli. Mary hung up her coat in the mudroom and kicked off her boots, then walked over to him and kissed his cheek.

"How was your day, sweetie?" he asked.

"It was good, love..."

"How many lamb chops do you want?" he asked before she could continue, "They aren't very big. I thought I'd saute some mushrooms with them."

"That sounds great. Two chops are plenty for me. But can you hold off on that for right now, I want to talk to you about something."

"Sure, sweetie." He put down his knife.

"Let's go in the living room."

"Alright." He followed her to the couch. "Hey, Jennifer says she is going to grow shiitake mushrooms next year, what do you think of that?"

"Honey, shush about the mushrooms."

He realized that she had something important to say. "I'm sorry, baby, please, what is it?"

Mary took his hand and held it in her lap.

"Alvin, my period should have started by now, and it hasn't. But today, I went to the bathroom and I saw some spotting."

He sat forward. "Spotting? You mean blood?"

She nodded her head. "I think I might be pregnant, honey."

"Jeezum crow," he muttered and the look on his face told Mary that she had no worries about whether or not he welcomed the possibility. He looked like a little boy peeking under the tree on Christmas morning.

"We need to get a test. I can go to the store after supper."

"Oh honey, I bought test kits a couple months ago."

He jumped from the couch, "Well, come on, let's check."

"Sweetie, I can't just pee on command. I wish I could."

"Alright, well, why don't I get you a big glass of water?"

"Why don't we have supper, honey?"

Together, they finished preparing their meal. Mary steamed the broccoli and dressed the potatoes while Alvin sauteed the lamb and mushrooms.

"I'm thinking, "Alvin said as they ate, "We ought to make a nursery from Jen's old room and keep Charlotte's room to be a guest room."

"Well, since it would be mostly Charlotte using it, that's a good idea, but let's not get ahead of ourselves."

"But if this time didn't take, the next one will," he shrugged, "I can tell you for sure that I don't mind the trying."

Mary laughed. "I don't mind either, love."

When she had finished eating, Mary stood up, "Okay, I'm ready to go test."

Alvin rose as well.

"You don't have to come watch, Alvin. I'll bring it downstairs and we will check it together."

He went to the living room and sat on the couch while Mary went upstairs to the bathroom. His foot tapped the floor and his fingers drummed on his thighs while he waited.

Mary came down and sat beside him, the tester in her hand. She set in on the end table. "We have to wait about a minute," she said. She sat down and touched Alvin's face, gazing into his eager eyes. She kissed him, then said, "I love you so much, Alvin," and took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

He put his hand on her back and kissed her. "I love you too, Miss Mary." He looked deep into her eyes and nodded. "I am very ready."

Mary reached for the test strip and held it before them. For a long minute, they sat and stared at the positive sign.

"Alvin," Mary said at last, "we are going to have a baby."

"It seems so," he said, grinning.

"You need to say it."

"Say what, sweetie?"

"You're supposed to say 'Well, alright then', like you always do."

"I don't always say that."

Mary laughed, kissed him, then jumped up to get her phone and call her mother.

***

It was only a little more than a week until Alvin's birthday, so they decided that they would keep the news secret from his daughters until then. Charlotte and Seth came up and joined them, along with Jennifer and Danni, for dinner at Carlino's.

When they had all ordered, Mary dinged on her wine glass with her wedding ring.

"Listen, everybody, we have something to tell you."

The table grew silent. Mary looked at Alvin. "Do you want to tell them?"

He put his hand on her back. "No, honey, why don't you?"

Mary turned back to face the rest of the group, and smiling broadly, said, "We are going to have a baby."

The shrieks were deafening. Jennifer leaned over and hugged Mary, then stood and came around to hug her father. Charlotte peppered Mary with questions. When are you due? Will you do natural childbirth? A midwife? Do you want a boy or a girl?

Mary waved her hands, warding off the bombardment. "Honestly, we haven't decided on anything yet. We are still getting used to the idea."

"Okay, but I am sure you've thought about whether you want a boy or a girl?" Jennifer asked.

"Of course," Mary responded. "I'll be happy either way, but with two daughters, I think it would be nice for Alvin to have a son."

"What do you think, Dad?" Charlotte asked.

"I don't care. I just want it to be a healthy baby. I've been blessed so far, I hope to be again."

Danni had been quiet, but when she cleared her throat, everyone turned to look at her. She raised her glass in a toast.

"To the first of this family's next generation."

Mary looked from Danni to Jennifer as she sipped from her soda. She noticed the way they were looking at each other, and wondered how long it might be before there would be another announcement.

***

Mary felt a bit of disappointment that so little seemed to be changing. She experienced some morning sickness, and her breasts were a bit tender, but it was all so low key, so lacking in drama. She consigned herself to the long wait. Alvin, on the other hand, went into a frenzy of activity. He cleared the last of Jennifer's things from her bedroom, hauling the bed and a stack of boxes down to her house. When the room was empty, he scrubbed the walls, floors, window, door and ceiling. They had decided that they did not want to learn the baby's sex in advance, so they were at a quandary on the subject of painting the room. Mary liked the sea green Jennifer had painted her dining room, so they settled on that. Once he had painted the walls, Alvin stenciled a parade of animal silhouettes, elephants and giraffes, camels and lions, around the top of the walls.

One windy day in late February, Alvin greeted Mary at the door when she came home from work.

"Something I want to show you upstairs,' he said before she even had her coat off.

"Alright, love, just give me a minute." She peeled out of her coat and slipped off her boots, then followed him upstairs, into the nursery. In the middle of the room stood a beautiful oak crib. The headboard was decorated with faded decals of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket.

"Oh, Alvin," Mary said, running her hands over the smooth wooden rail, "where did this come from?"

"Tim brought it by. It's been stored out to their house since Theo was a pup."

She looked closely at the crib. It exhibited the kind of loving workmanship you rarely saw in modern furniture. "How old is it?" she asked.

"Well, my Dad slept in it. He'd be seventy eight now."

Mary stared at Alvin. "You slept in it?"

"Of course I did. All three of us. And my girls. Rachel, Theo. Only one didn't get to sleep in it was Andy, because Charlotte had it then."

"And now, our baby."

"Don't see any reason not," he said. He ran his finger over Pinocchio. "Maybe I ought to sand these fellas off, give it a fresh coat of varnish?"

"Don't you dare," Mary laughed.

There were other surprises as well. Alvin rummaged though the cellar and came up with the bassinet he had bought when Charlotte was born, and a box of baby toys. As they looked through them, Mary found a photo album underneath the rattles and felt animals.

"Jeezum, I've not seen that in years," Alvin said.

They sat at the kitchen table and flipped through the album. It held page after page of pictures of Charlotte and Jennifer from newborns until Jennifer looked to be about four. Bonnie must have taken most of them, Mary assumed, as Alvin was in many of them and she was not. He was so handsome then, she thought. She looked up at him. He still was. She leaned over and kissed him, then went back to laughing at the silly pictures and oohing over the tender ones.

Later, while Alvin was out working on the alpaca barn with Jennifer, Mary returned to the photo album. There was one particular picture that drew her back. It was one of the few that included Bonnie. She and Alvin were sitting on a set of porch steps. Mary assumed it was their house on Oak Street. Each of them held one of their daughters on their lap. The girls were probably two and four. They were both smiling at the camera. Alvin and Bonnie were not. They were looking at each other, and Mary gazed at them, shifting her focus from face to face. She saw in Alvin's eyes and on his slightly smiling lips an expression of joyful pride. Bonnie had the same look on her face, as she looked at Alvin. They seemed to be sharing the same thought. Look what we did, look at the beauty we created together. Mary felt a deep longing as she stared at the picture. To share such a moment with Alvin was her heart's deepest desire. Unconsciously, she rubbed her still flat belly. Soon, she told herself, soon.

Winter began to loosen it's hold. As the days grew longer, the cellar yielded yet another bounty. As she was washing dishes one day, Mary heard a metallic clatter coming from the cellar. She opened the door to see Alvin mounting the stairs behind a stack of metal buckets nearly as tall as himself. He set them on the kitchen floor, then turned and started back down the stairs.

"Alvin, what are these?" she called after him.

"Pails," he shouted over his shoulder. 


"Well, yes, I knew that."

He came back up, lugging a wooden crate, holding his phone to his ear with his shoulder.

"Jen, yeah, I found them...alright, see you in a few minutes."

He put the crate on the table and Mary looked into it. "You have a whole box of faucets?"

"They're tree taps," Alvin replied, picking one up. "Bang it into a maple, hang one of those pails off it, and collect the sap."

"To make maple syrup?"

"Syrup, maple sugar, all that, yes. This is the time to do it, because the days are getting warmer while the nights are still frigid. That gets the sap flowing."

Alvin and Jennifer tapped all the maples along the edge of the woods, and began collecting sap every morning. They produced a huge metal pot from somewhere, and set it on the back burner of the stove. Mary was excited about trying the syrup until they informed her that it would have to cook down for days. It took forty gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup. The sweet smell began to permeate the house. After two days of it, it was making Mary nauseous, so the operation was moved down to Jennifer's house and plans were laid for building a sugar house before the next season. Nonetheless, when the syrup was ready, and the whole family gathered around the dining room for a feast of pancakes and sausage, Mary wolfed down more than her share, drenched with the delicious amber syrup. She had, of course, been eating more than her share for awhile.

Snow season turned to mud season and finally to spring. When the fields were dry enough, Jennifer plowed the area between the houses and planted rows and rows of corn. On the far side of the pond, she laid out pumpkin and squash patches. Her mother's vegetable garden was expanded all the way to the edge of the woods. Jennifer used her tractor to haul a dozen large stones to the spot where Bonnie had died, and built a graceful cairn in her memory. Mary had felt uneasy at the idea of it, but when it was built, she was moved by it and welcomed its presence. Everywhere Jennifer did not turn the earth, it exploded into a yellow carpet of dandelions.

Mary was conscientious about getting enough exercise, and had gotten in the habit of walking in the woods. On one walk, she came across a family of otters, playing in the stream. On another, she took a picture of a set of tracks in the mud. Alvin showed it to Jennifer, and from that point on the chickens were kept under closer watch. The tracks were that of a bobcat. "Big bastard, too," Alvin said. And on every walk, there were birds. She grew accustomed to seeing woodcocks scurrying from her footsteps, and ospreys soaring over the water. She learned to recognize grosbeaks and grouse and a half dozen species of ducks.

In the evening, the peepers had begun their songs and the cries of the loons floated through the night. Mary felt enveloped by life, from within and without.

***

Mary woke up because she had to pee. It was early, not yet six, but the spring sun was bright in the eastern sky. When she finished in the bathroom, she returned to the bedroom and pushed open the window. The air was cool and heavily laden with the scent of freshly bloomed lilacs. They seemed to be bursting out everywhere, purple, pink and white. She thought of something Alvin had told her; that in the early days, farmers had planted lilacs all around their houses, because their sweet heavy scent masked the smells of the barnyard and the outhouse. "A little bit of something beautiful to hide all the foulness of the world," he had said.