Mary and Alvin Ch. 28

Mary stepped aside as Charlotte and Jennifer rushed to greet their aunt and their grandfather. Most of the family had gathered around the serving table, so she beckoned to Alvin, and the two of them went to fill their plates. Audrey had laid out a buffet of cold cuts and cheese, salads and pickles, veggie dip and shrimp on ice. At the end of the table there was a large white frosted sheet cake. Across the top, bright blue piping read "Happy 10th Anniversary, Alvin and Mary. The Best Is Yet To Come."

Mary looked around the clearing and caught Jessica's eye. She looked back at the cake then turned back to her and smiled. Jessica winked and blew her a kiss.

Alvin took her plate and carried it, along with his own, over to one of the picnic tables. Mary fished two cans of Diet Coke from the ice bucket and joined him. Robbie, Carmella and her mother sat across from them.

"So, you're going sailing tomorrow?" Jean asked Alvin.

""The three of us and Seth," he said, gesturing to Robbie and Carmella, "and my first mate."

"Who's that?" Carmella asked.

"Bonita."

"Really?"

Alvin nodded and swallowed his food. "Oh yes, she's a hell of a little sailor."

Mary laughed. "She's her grandpa's girl. Follows him around everywhere he goes."

"Well," Robbie asked, "you are more her less her father figure, aren't you, Alvin?"

"I suppose I am," he shrugged.

"Mom, Charlotte and Jen and I were talking about going down to Camden for shopping and lunch. I thought you'd like to go with us?"

"That sounds lovely."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud, sharp whistle. Charlotte was standing by the fire. She clapped her hands together twice. "Everybody! Can I have your attention?"

"Stand up when you're talking!" Tim shouted.

"I am standing up, wiseguy," she said, "Now shut up and let me talk."

There were a few chuckles, but everyone quieted down. Charlotte stared into the fire for a minute, then looked up at Alvin and Mary.

"About eleven years ago, right here in this grove, we threw a party for Jennifer and Danni coming home. But, as happy as I was to see my sisters," she looked over to Jennifer and Danni, "and I call them both my sisters, I was anxious when I arrived at that party, because I had heard that my father had a new girlfriend."

There were a few chuckles as Charlotte continued. "And I admit, I was, well, a little bit bitchy to her at first..."

"Just a little bit," Mary said, to more laughter.

Charlotte grinned. "But when I saw how happy my Dad was, and then when I got to know her, she won my heart, as she had won his. A year later, ten years ago this week, we gathered here again, and I had the honor of singing at their wedding."

She walked over to the picnic table and laid her hand on Alvin's shoulder. "Daddy," she said, "I love you more than ever." She raised her other hand towards Mary, who took it in her own. "Mary, I love you just as much."

Mary kissed her hand, and Alvin stood and wrapped his arms around her.

"So, somebody else say something," she sniffled.

"How about a toast," Tim said, holding up a bottle of beer, "Here's to Mary and Alvin!"

Everyone cheered and clapped, then quieted as Danni rose.

"Can you see that I'm standing up?" she asked Tim.

"Oh, yeah, no problem there," he laughed.

"Good. I just wanted to congratulate Mary and Alvin, but also, to thank them. Thank them because every day, they remind me, and I think all of us, of the power of love." She looked down at Jennifer. "Anything you want to say, honey?"

Jennifer shook her head. "I'll start blubbering. Just that I love you both so much."

"We all do," Diana said, and many voices rose in agreement.

"Speech!" Tim called, "Alvin, speech!"

Theo joined him. "Speech! Speech!"

Alvin looked at Mary and sighed. He stood up, stuffed his hands into his pockets and kicked the ground a few times. Mary stood up next to him and laced her arm through his.

She smiled at their guests. "You know, every time he's asked to speak at something like this, he acts like he's going to get a tooth pulled. So I'll go first."

She bowed her head toward Yusef. "Yusef said something earlier, about how a marriage is not just between the bride and groom, that it is a union of the families. I look around here this evening and I know that to be true."

"Alvin," she said, reaching to kiss his cheek, "I love you so much, and I love you more for bringing all these wonderful people into my life." She made a sweeping, inclusive gesture, "Thank you all for being here tonight, and for the past ten years."

After a round of applause, Alvin looked up to see all eyes on him. "Can I just say ditto?" he asked. He was met with shouts of "No!"

He rubbed his chin for a minute. "Well, if it's hard for me to find the right words, I think folks should understand. So, I'm going to do what Mary did. I'm going to quote our friend Yusef, who told me yesterday that I was one of the luckiest men alive."

Yusef stood and bowed, much to everyone's amusement.

"When he told me that," Alvin continued, "it sort of made me feel blue. Guilty, I guess. Why should I be so lucky? But tonight, looking around here, at all of you, at my beautiful daughters, and now at a new generation of little ones, I don't feel anything but happiness." He turned to Mary. "And when I look at my beautiful wife..."

He paused for a moment and frowned. "When I was young I went off on an adventure. It wasn't nothing like in one of Rachel's books, but it was an adventure. I was working a big luxury yacht bound for Key West. One morning I came up on deck just as the sun was breaking over the horizon. The light was on the water and the whole world seemed to glow. But then, out of nowhere, a school of flying fish broke the surface. They passed before the sun and every one of those fish, thousands of them, I'd venture, caught that light and turned into an arc of shining crystal."

He stood in silence for a moment. The only sound in the grove was the cracking of the fire.

"I don't know about God or the universe or any of that. But at that moment I felt a sense of wonder and awe that seemed like it took me right out of my body. I never thought I'd feel that again. But I do. I feel it every time I look at Mary."

Mary wrapped her arms around him, and they kissed, oblivious to the cheers and whistles that filled the grove.

The air grew chilly as the light faded, and everyone gathered close around the fire. Tim and Charlotte fetched their guitars and the grove filled with song and laughter. Before long, it grew too cold for the baby, and Charlotte and Seth left to take Little Alvin to their motel room in town. Soon, Jennifer gathered up Hannah and Bonita and the puppies and took them down to her house to go to bed, while Danni helped Sandy push Stanley's wheelchair back to her van. Eventually, Mary and Alvin were alone with just Mary's mother, Robbie and Carmella.

"I guess we ought to get to bed too," Robbie said, "We don't want to be too tired for sailing tomorrow."

As they got up to go, Jean stood as well. "Hold on, honey," she said, "I'm going with you." She turned to Mary and Alvin. "I'm going down to Jennifer and Danni's house as well. They've made a bed for me on the couch. You two should have your house to yourselves tonight."

"Oh Mom," Mary sighed. She stood and hugged her mother.

"That's very thoughtful, Jean," Alvin said. They all bid good night and then Mary and Alvin stood alone by the fire.

Mary leaned against Alvin and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Ten years," Alvin said, his voice wistful.

"It's gone by so fast," Mary murmured.

Alvin lifted her chin and kissed her. "Why don't you go on up to the house, while I put the fire out?" he asked.

"Alright, love." She kissed him and turned away. Alvin watched her as she walked toward the opening in the trees. When she reached it, there was one brief moment when she stopped and turned back to look at him. The moonlight silhouetted her for just a few seconds, and then she was gone.

By the time Alvin tamped the fire out and walked back to the house, Mary was already in bed, waiting for him.

"Well, you didn't waste no time," he said as he entered the room. He unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it in the hamper.

"You smell like smoke."

Alvin raised his t-shirt to his face and sniffed. "Jeezum, I do."

"That's okay," Mary chuckled, "it's a manly smell."

She watched him peel off the t-shirt and step out of his pants and undershorts. When he straightened up and faced her, she looked at him closely. He was a little thicker around the waist than he had been on their wedding night, and the few specks of gray in his hair had grown in number, but he was still the handsome man she fell in love with that day on his boat.

She threw the covers back, revealing her nakedness. Alvin smiled as he kneeled on the bed. He leaned down and kissed her. Mary wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down. He kissed the side of her neck and the hollow of her throat.

"I still think about our first time," she whispered.

"I mostly think about our next time," Alvin said as he lowered his face to her breasts. He kissed his way down across her belly, where only a few faints lines gave evidence of her motherhood. Mary tangled her fingers in his hair as he lowered his head between her thighs.

He kissed her mound and the inside of her thigh, then rose and shifted himself, sliding between her legs. Mary reached down and her fingertips traced the length of his rigid cock. He lowered himself and she guided him, letting out a loud sigh as he entered her.

"You can make all the noise you want tonight, honey," Alvin said. He moaned then, and they both laughed.

"Okay," Mary said. In a loud voice, she shouted, "Fuck me!"

Alvin laughed and began to move inside her with a slow steady motion. She raised her legs and hooked them around the back of his thighs, pulling him tighter. The bed springs began to squeak as they rocked together.

"Come on, baby," Mary gasped, "let's make some noise."

Alvin began to move with more urgency. The springs squeaked louder and the headboard thumped against the wall. Mary rose to meet each thrust, grasping the back of his shoulders. He was panting, drawing in deep ragged breaths. He slowed down, but he did not stop.

"You okay, love?" Mary panted.

"Yeah, just need to pace myself," he replied in short puffs of breath.

They settled into a gentle rocking rhythm. Mary laid her head back and closed her eyes. She felt an overwhelming love for Alvin, for all the good that had come into her life in their years together. It was that surge of emotion, more than any physical arousal, that brought her to orgasm. She whimpered and gasped as a warm electric sensation washed over her.

The sounds of her climax brought a sense of urgency to Alvin. He increased the tempo and force of his thrusts, and in a few moments, he felt himself drain into Mary's body in a great release of tension. He collapsed on top of her and rolled on to his side, gasping for air.

"Are you okay, baby?" Mary asked, stroking his face.

"Yeah, I'm alright," he said, "I think I do pretty good for a fifty seven year old man."

"You do just fine, love."

"I'm sorry that it takes me longer to finish than it used to."

"Oh sweetheart, that is not something you need to apologize for."

She rolled on her side and he spooned tightly behind her.

"Wait until you see how long it takes me when I'm sixty seven," he whispered in her ear.

She jabbed him with her elbow. "Just make sure you're still here, mister."

In a few minutes Mary heard his breathing slow into it's familiar sleeping rhythm. She listened to him for a few minutes, then drifted off herself.

***

Mary woke up when she felt Alvin leave the bed, but she rolled over, wishing to sleep a little more. She dozed lightly, but the sound of voices from downstairs kept waking her. She smelled coffee and bacon and gave up on the idea of sleeping in. She got up, put on her robe and went downstairs.

Her mother and her husband stood side by side at the stove. Robbie and Carmella were sitting at the table, each reading on their phones.

Alvin looked over his shoulder and smiled at her.

"We'll have french toast and bacon ready in just a minute or two," he said, "Good timing on your part."

"Sit down, sweetie," her mother said, "I'll get you some coffee."

As she took her coffee, Mary heard yipping from the dooryard, then pattering feet and the sound of scratching at the screen door. She looked up and saw the two puppies scurrying into the kitchen. They began exploring, no doubt searching for the source of the smell of bacon.

Hannah and Bonita followed their dogs.

"Good morning, babies," Mary said.

"Climb up, we have plenty for everyone," Alvin told them.

Hannah climbed into her grandmother's lap. Bonita pulled up a chair next to Alvin and began loading her plate.

Danni came into the house, dressed in her uniform. "You want something to eat?" Alvin asked her. 


"No thanks, I'll just grab some coffee," she said, but she reached over Bonita's shoulder and picked a strip of bacon from her plate. Bonita looked up and Danni kissed her forehead. "You be good for Papa," she said.

"She's always good on the boat," Alvin said, "She takes it damn seriously."

Danni filled her travel mug with coffee and said her goodbyes.

"You really like sailing, huh?" Carmella asked Bonita.

"Papa says I'm his second best first mate."

"Who is first?"

"Mama Mary."

Mary laughed. "Sweetie, you're seven years old and you already know more about sailing than I do."

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Alvin said, stroking Hannah's hair.

"Nope. Want to be with Grandma Jean."

"Well, alright then." He stretched and stood. "I suppose we ought to get a move on. Charlotte is going to drop Seth off at the wharf."

Alvin and Robbie cleared the dishes from the table. When they had finished gathering their gear, Alvin kissed Mary and Mary and led his little crew off for their day of sailing.

Hannah tugged on Mary's sleeve.

"Mama, can I go show Gramma Jean the loons?"

"Sure," Mary said. She turned to her mother. "There's a pair of loons nesting down on the beaver pond. The girls have been fascinated by them."

Hannah hopped out of her chair and began pulling at her grandmother's hand. Jean and Mary rose and the three of them stepped out on to the porch. Buster ran out under their feet and hopped down the stairs into the dooryard.

"Oh, honey, Buster should stay here," Mary told Hannah, "He will scare them."

"Buster won't hurt them," Hannah pouted.

"I know that, sweetie, but they don't." She squatted down, patted her thigh and called to the puppy. When he trotted to her, she scooped him up, went back to the front door and set him inside.

Jean held Hannah's hand as they walked across the pasture toward the path through the woods. Mary stood on the porch and watched them. The lilacs were in full bloom, and she drank in their aroma. She remembered when that smell had made her melancholy and wondered when she had begun to enjoy it again. Hannah stooped and picked a handful of violets from the side of the lane, and Mary realized when the change had occurred. It had been the spring after her daughter was born.

Hannah gave the flowers to her grandmother. Jean leaned down and tucked one purple blossom behind her granddaughter's ear.

Mary stepped off the porch and followed slowly behind them. This field would be left fallow this year, given the opportunity to replenish and renew itself. A few weeks ago, it had been covered in yellow dandelions, now it was spotted with violets and white trillium. In the month ahead, the columbine would come, and the the lupines and black eyed susans. As summer reached it's full glory, there would be Queen Anne's lace and day lilies, buttercups and asters. Goldenrod would come in a burst of bright color, then slowly fade, as would the daylight itself. The leaves would change and fall, the air would grow sharp, and another hard winter would take hold. But as she watched her mother and her daughter reach the trees and turn to await her, she felt comfort in knowing that there was still summer ahead.