Mary and Alvin Ch. 26

“Here I am,” Charlotte sniffed, “A grown woman going off to be a partner in a law firm, and when I feel stressed, my first thought is that I need my Daddy.”

“Sweetheart, you’ll always need your Daddy.”

“You lost yours.”

“And you lost your Mom. But here we are. Carrying on.”

“I’m afraid to tell him.”

“Yeah, well I was thinking. His first reaction won’t be good. But that will last for about ten seconds. Then his how-do-I-make-this-work thing will kick in. So, why don’t I tell him, so you don’t have to hear that first ten seconds?”

“That sounds like a plan.”

Mary stroked Charlotte’s hair. “Let’s go in, I’ve got coffee on, and I’ll go talk to your father. We’ll come down in a little bit and have breakfast.”

“That sounds good, but I have been swilling shitty coffee since four o’clock. I’ll just get some water.”

They went inside and Charlotte went to the kitchen while Mary made her way upstairs to the bedroom.

Alvin woke up, feeling the mattress move. He saw Mary leaning over him and smiled. “Come to wake me up with one of your special morning surprises, honey?”

Mary laughed. “Well, not in the way you think, love.”

He stretched and groaned. “What do you mean?”

“Are you all the way awake?”

“Mary, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong. Charlotte is downstairs.”

Alvin sat upright. “Charlotte? Is she alright?”

Mary put her hand on his chest. “She’s fine, sweetheart. She came up to talk to you.”

He swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Well, I best go talk to her then.”

“No, Alvin,” she said, taking hold of his shoulders, “Talk to me first.”

“Alright,” he said, turning back to face her.

“Alvin, she has something to tell you, and it’s very important how you respond. So I want you to listen to me, okay?”

“Is she pregnant?”

“No, she’s not pregnant,” Mary frowned. “Why would you ask that?”

“Because I’ve been waiting for her to come tell me that she’s pregnant for fifteen years.”

Mary rolled her eyes. “No. She’s been offered a great opportunity. She can be a founding partner of a new law firm.”

“That’s fantastic.”

“But, it’s out of state. It’s in Pittsburgh.”

She watched a look of pain cross his face. “See, honey, your expression right now is what I didn’t her to see.”

“I hate the thought of one of my girls moving far away,” he said, staring at the floor.

“I know, love, but you raised them to go out and be what they wanted to be, and this is what she wants. Apparently, she wants it enough to break up with Seth over it.”

“Aw, Jeezum, that’s too bad. I really thought she’d finally found the right fella.”

“Well, maybe they can work it out. But the thing is, Alvin, she’s going to go whether Seth likes it or not. She might not go if she thinks that you don’t.”

Alvin picked up her hand and kissed it. “I get it, honey, don’t worry.”

“You’ve hidden worse pain than this, Alvin.”

“That’s true. I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

“Good. I’m going to get Hannah up, then make breakfast.”

Charlotte was at the counter, stirring pancake batter, when Mary came downstairs with Hannah in her arms.

“Look who’s here, baby,” she said. Hannah looked around the room, saw her sister and began calling, “Ar-ott! Ar-ott!”

Charlotte held out her arms and took the baby, squeezing her to her chest. Mary turned on the burner under the griddle and began making pancakes while Charlotte carried Hannah to the table and sat down.

“Mary, just tell me,” she asked, “Would you go, even if it meant losing your man.”

“Honey, I walked away from one husband. And I found a better one.”

Alvin came into the kitchen, kissed Hannah on the head, then put his hand on Charlotte’s shoulder and squeezed it. “Hello, sweetheart,” he said, bending down to kiss her cheek.

Charlotte immediately felt her eyes grow damp. “Hi, Daddy,” she said, “I’m sorry I made you get up early.”

“No, it’s fine, I was about to get up anyway.” He sat next to her. Mary brought over a platter of pancakes and set it on the table. She took Hannah from Charlotte.

“I think Hannah would like to go see the new alpaca baby,” she said.

“Henrietta had her baby?” Alvin asked. “A male or female?”

“A male,” Mary said, “She’s naming it Felix.”

“Isn’t that a cat name?”

“No,” Mary and Charlotte answered in unison.

Mary left the room and Alvin and Charlotte ate in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Alvin spoke.

“So, Pittsburgh, huh?”

“Yes. You know, I never intended to move away. I thought maybe someday I would come back up here and hang out a shingle. But I can’t turn down something like this.”

“I understand that, honey.”

“But you don’t like it. You don’t like change much at all.”

“Well,” he said, sitting back and crossing his arms, “There’s good change and there is bad change.”

“But what do you do when good change for one person is bad change for the other?”

Alvin stared at the floor for a minute, then raised his eyes to look at her. “When it’s your child, you make the sacrifice,” he said.

Charlotte frowned. She didn’t want him to think that he was making a sacrifice, but she understood why he saw it that way. He’d made so many sacrifices for his family.

“Daddy,” she said, “there is another reason I came home.”

“What’s that, dear?”

She looked down at her plate and said, in a very low voice, “The night terrors. They’re back.”

“Aw Jeezum,” Alvin said, his shoulders sagging. He moved his chair closer to hers and took her in his arms. Charlotte buried her face in his chest and sobbed, as she had years before, “Daddy, make them go away.”

Alvin rested his head on hers. “Oh, my sweet girl, you are safe. Everything will be alright.”

“They come when things change,” she said, sniffling.

“Listen sweetheart, if it doesn’t work out in Pittsburgh, you’ll just come back. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“It’s not just that. it’s Seth, too.”

“Well, I don’t know what to do about that. Except that if he doesn’t do whatever it takes to keep you, then he don’t deserve you.”

They held each other for a while, then Charlotte said, “I am so tired.”

“Well, why don’t you go upstairs and get some sleep. And you can stay here as long as you want.”

“I think I’ll just sleep on the couch, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it is,” Alvin said, realizing that she didn’t want to sleep where the terrors had visited her before.

Charlotte stood up and hugged him, then went to the living room. She pulled the afghan off the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself as she laid down. She fell asleep within minutes and did not see her father come into the room and sit down in the rocking chair by the fireplace, so she did not know when she awoke two hours later, that he had been there the whole time.

***

Mary stood on the porch and watched the car roll to a stop in the dooryard. She felt a tug of sympathy for Seth as he stepped out of the car, but she crossed her arms over her chest and spoke as firmly as she could.

“I don’t know if she wants to see you, Seth.”

“Can you ask her at least? I have called a dozen times in the past two days and she hasn’t answered.”

“Of course I will, honey, but if she says no, I’m going to ask you to turn right around and leave, okay?”

“Mary, if she doesn’t want to see me, I will go. But I think I deserve a chance to talk to her.”

“Wait here.” Mary went into the house. Charlotte was standing in the living room, hugging Angus to her chest. She looked like she was fighting back tears.

“I should go talk to him. I can’t believe he drove all the way up here.”

Mary chuckled. “I can, sweetie.”

Charlotte dropped the cat into the rocking chair and started toward the door, but Mary put a hand on her shoulder. “Let him wait a few minutes,” she said. She went back to the porch. Seth was leaning on the hood of his car, his head hanging low. Mary walked down the steps to him. He looked up at her and spoke in a low voice.

“Mary, I love her, I don’t want to lose her.”

“I know you do, Seth. She’ll be out in a minute.”

“Thank you, Mary.”

“How did you know she was here?”

Seth shrugged. “Where else would she go?”

Charlotte stepped on to the porch. Mary patted Seth’s arm, then mounted the steps. “I’ll be here if you need me,” she told Charlotte, and went inside.

Charlotte and Seth each waited for the other to speak. After a minute of awkward silence, Charlotte came down the steps. “Let’s walk,” she said.

Seth followed, a step or two behind her, as she strolled down the driveway toward the road. He started to speak several times, but each time, he stopped himself. At the foot of the driveway, Charlotte turned and walked a dozen steps along the old stone wall that separated the field from the road. She stopped at an even, flat section and sat down under the shade of a tall maple tree. Seth sat beside her, and after a moments hesitation, put his hand on hers. She took it, then looked him in the eyes before turning her head and gazing across the knee high rows of corn.

“You see that pond down by Jen’s house?” she asked. “One time, when I was about ten, I got off the school bus and there was a big flock of ducks all around the pond. Mallards or whatever, I don’t know kinds of ducks. But, right in with all the others, there was one white duck. And I was sitting here, watching all these ducks, and my father came out of the house and he came over and we watched them together for a little bit, and I asked him why there was that one white duck. He told me it was a farm duck, that there are no wild white ducks. He said that some farm ducks want to be free, so they fly off and join a flock of wild ducks. I told him that I liked that, and he said, honey, be the white duck, always be the white duck.”

She looked back at Seth with tears in her eyes. “I’ve lived in Maine my whole life. I love living here. And I love you. But, I am going to fly away.”

Seth took his phone from his pocket. “Something I want to show you,” he said. After a few taps on the screen, he handed it to her.

“What am I looking at?” she asked him, “My fucking eyes are bleary.”

“It’s the website for the Pennsylvania Municipal Association. That’s the organization of all the towns and cities in the state.”

She blinked hard and realized that she was looking at a list of job openings.

“Char, there are at least three communities near Pittsburgh that have openings for city planners.”

Charlotte began to weep and Seth wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest. Stroking her hair, Seth said, “You hardly ever see a duck flying alone, not even a white one.”

“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked, sitting back and looking in his eyes.

“Sweetheart, I don’t care where I live, I want to be with you.”

They kissed and then Charlotte rested her head on his shoulder.

“If this were a movie,” Seth said, “a big flock of ducks would land on the pond right now.”

“If this were a movie,” Charlotte replied, “The next scene would be us getting married.”

“So why don’t we?”

She looked at him closely, and realized that he was entirely earnest. “Well,” she said, “I don’t want to have kids someday and have them ask how you proposed and I say ‘it was just a joke, but he took it seriously’.”

Seth slipped down off the wall and knelt in the grass in front of her, taking her hand.

“Charlotte, I love you, will you marry me?”

“Yes, I will, Seth.” She leaned down, took his head in her hands and kissed him. He stood and helped her hop down off the wall.

“Do you want a big wedding?” Seth asked.

“Fuck, no,” Charlotte shook her head, “and even if I did, we are going to be moving and starting new jobs, who would have time for something like that?”

“So, we’ll just go to city hall?”

“Fine with me.”

“So, let’s just go do it.”

“You have to get the license in the town where you live, so we need to do it in Portland.”

As they walked back toward the house, Seth asked, “How did I do? Good proposal?”

“I guess so, nobody ever proposed to me before, so I don’t have a strong frame of reference.”

“Really, not Jake or Scott or any of those guys?”

“Honey, all my previous boyfriends were free milk guys.”

“Free milk?”

“Yeah, you know that thing about why buy a cow when you can get the milk for free.”

Seth laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Well, I got the cream.”

Charlotte chuckled and shook her head. “Sometimes you remind me of my father.”

***

“This place looks like friggin’ Shawshank,” Alvin said, standing on the granite steps of Portland City Hall. Mary was watching Stanley Pierce playing with Hannah at the bottom of the steps and ignored his nervous complaint.

“I’m so glad you thought to ask Stanley to come,” she said.

“He ain’t looking well,” Alvin sighed.

“But look how happy he is, playing with the baby.”

Jennifer and Danni came around the corner, holding Bonita’s hands as she toddled between them. When they got to the steps, Danni hoisted her into her arms and carried her up.

“I just talked to Charlotte,” Jennifer said, “They are looking for a place to park.”

Stanley carried Hannah up and took Bonita in his other arm.

“Quite a load you got there, Stan,” Alvin said.

Stanley smiled, “Just wish Bonnie could be here to see them,” he said, “and Charlotte’s big day.” He glanced at Mary and lowered his eyes. “No disrespect meant,” he muttered.

“None taken,” Mary said. She took Hannah from him and kissed his cheek.

“Here they come,” Alvin said. Seth and Charlotte, along with Seth’s parents, were on the other side of Congress Street, waiting for the traffic light to change. Alvin watched his daughter step off the curb and cross the street. She was wearing a light blue dress and a white knit shawl that he recognized as one her mother had made for her when she was a girl. His breath caught in his throat when she began to climb the steps and their eyes met. Since they had been young, he had dreaded the day when one of his girls would move far away, and now the time had come. But he knew that it was right,that she needed to go out into a bigger world to be all that she was meant to be. At least, he thought, she is going with a man beside her who would be the kind of loving and supportive partner she needed and deserved. He hadn’t been sure that would ever happen.

Charlotte and Seth stepped into a flurry of hugs and kisses. When she turned to her father, Alvin took Charlotte into his arms and held her tight.

“I’m so proud of you, sweetheart,” he whispered to her.

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I’m glad you waited for the right one.”

“I’m glad that you did, too.”

They all went into the building and found the city clerk’s office. Charlotte and Seth filled out their paperwork, and Alvin and Jennifer signed as witnesses. When they finished, the clerk asked everyone to move to a nearby conference room.

“So, the clerk can marry you?” Stanley asked Charlotte.

“Any notary can marry you,” she explained. “But they are calling upstairs to see if the mayor is in her office.”

“Married by the mayor of Portland, that would be something,” he nodded with an impressed expression.

“Hey, Mary and I were married by the mayor of Londonderry,” Alvin said.

“Yeah,” Jennifer pointed out, “and then we named a donkey after him.”

The clerk came into the room, followed by the mayor. She was a tall slender woman, wearing a brown pant suit. That must be some kind of uniform for female politicians, Alvin thought.

The mayor went around the room and shook hands with everyone. She oohed over the babies and was amused to learn that they were not cousins, but aunt and niece. She guided Charlotte and Seth forward, and began the ceremony.

“No power of my office gives me more pleasure than the privilege of conducting marriage ceremonies,” she began, “and yet, there is none I take more seriously. Seth, Charlotte, this is a day in your lives which is like no other. But as special as this day is, it is only a marker on your journey together. What is important is the world you will built together.”

Mary began to sniffle and Alvin handed her his handkerchief. The mayor turned to Seth. She glanced down at the marriage license, then raised her hand. Seth followed her lead.

“Seth Patrick O’Reilly, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Charlotte in marriage? If so, answer ‘I do’.”

Seth smiled broadly as he said “I do.”

“And do you, Charlotte Jane Faulkner, come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Seth in marriage?”

“Oh, I do,” Charlotte sighed.

“By the power invested in me by the state of Maine, I do declare Seth and Charlotte to be husband and wife.”

The family applauded as the newlyweds kissed. Jennifer let out an ear piercing whistle. Even Hannah and Bonita tried to mimic the grownups’ clapping.

They all filed out of city hall and gathered on the steps.

“So, everybody meet us at Bao Bao,” Charlotte said, “We are going to eat dumplings until we burst.”

Mary smiled and squeezed Alvin’s hand, remembering that he had taken her there for her first birthday they had spent together.

“I won’t know what to order,” Stanley said.

“Don’t worry, Grandpa,” Jennifer said, wrapping her arm around his and leading him down the steps, “we will take care of you.”

Alvin carried Hannah to the car and strapped her into her seat. “Mary,” he said, “I’m wondering if you’d mind driving to the restaurant.”

“No, love, of course not. Are you alright?”

He nodded as he got into the passenger seat. “Yes, just feeling a little, I don’t know, lost in my thoughts.”

They drove in silence through the city traffic to the restaurant.

“You want to talk, honey?” Mary asked, as she pulled into the parking lot.

He looked out the window for a few minutes, then responded. “I guess I took it for granted that my girls would always be close by.”

“Imagine how my Mom felt when I moved all the way across the country. We can drive to Pittsburgh in a day.”

“Those are both good points, honey.”

Alvin became quiet again.

“You need to teach me how to snipe.”

“Snipe? You want to shoot somebody, honey?”

“Whatever you call it, the thing where you can see each other on the computer.”

“Skype. I’d be happy to.”

They went into the restaurant and joined the rest of the family. The waiters brought plate after plate of dumplings; pork and scallion, chicken and cashew, shiitake mushroom. Even Stanley agreed that everything was delicious.

Charlotte went to the ladies’ room,and when she returned, she stepped behind her father’s chair and rested her hand on his shoulder. “Daddy,” she said, “Let’s go outside.”

Alvin rose and followed her out of the restaurant. She walked a dozen steps down Spring Street and turned to face him.

“Daddy, I need to know that you are happy for me. I know how good you are at looking like everything is alright when it’s not. Just accepting this isn’t good enough.”

Alvin stood and looked at the pavement for a minute, then laced his arm with hers and began to walk.

“I won’t pretend that I don’t have some fears and some worries,” he told her. “You know, I remember how anxious Mary’s mother was about her moving to Maine. I felt sympathy for her, but I know now that I didn’t really understand how she felt.”

“But, Daddy, this is...”

“Let me finish, baby.”

Charlotte nodded and squeezed his arm tighter.

“You’ve heard about when my father died,” Alvin said. She nodded and he continued. “I was crewing a yacht down to Key West. My plan was that I would sign on for the winter with a boat out of Jamaica. That was my dream. Jamaica, the Bahamas, all the ports of call. But my Dad died, and I came home.”

He stopped and turned to his daughter, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“Don’t think for a minute that I’m not glad that I did. If I hadn’t I’d have not met your mother. I’d have never been blessed with you and Jen. Nor with Mary and Hannah. But I can’t lie to you, Charlotte. Deep down inside, there is a little voice that tells me I should have done my mourning and sailed away again.”