The Black Rose Legacy Ch. 04

I was starting to lose my grip on the fury inside me. Seeing how upset I was, Anna-Marie jumped in and pleaded with me, "Daisy, please don't be upset. We may be opposed to you marrying our son, but we're still very grateful to you for saving his life. We'd like to show you in other ways." Then she slid a check across the table. I saw the amount, $15,000; this was more than enough to buy a house! But it held no sway for me. None.

I didn't deign to speak now to the arrogant Bernard, but instead addressed Anna-Marie. "Mrs. Rhodes, I truly love my parents, and while they may not have as much money as you do, they're hardly paupers." Then I added, "I also know for a fact they're better people than you and your husband. As Jack's mother and a married woman, I'm sure you can understand my strong feelings for him. It shouldn't surprise you that no amount of money will ever change the way I feel."

I tore the check in half and slid the pieces back towards her. "You can keep your money, Mrs. Rhodes. I'm never going to stop loving Jack, but I'm sure as hell not going to be a part of a family as horrible as yours." To make clear this conversation was now over, I insincerely added, "Good evening to you both!"

At that point I was done, and I stood up, all 4'6" of me. Hardly an imposing figure, true enough, but if Bernard dared to try shaking my hand, I'd break his fingers. Wisely, he didn't offer. I turned my back to them and began to walk out.

I was still managing to stay in control of my simmering anger, but my heart was beating hard and fast as I reached the door. Bernard, being a pompous ass, just had to have the last word and called after me, "Such proud words from such a little circus freak. Go on and leave. Someday you'll wish you'd taken the money."

That's when I released the fury I'd been holding back. Grabbing the battle axe from the suit of armor, I turned and threw it, letting out a rage-fueled roar as it left my hand. The axe ended up in the portrait with Bernard's forehead as the bullseye, the axe blade splitting the thin canvas and burying itself deeply into the wall behind it.

The weapon having been thrown just a couple of feet over their heads, both Jack's parents' eyes were wide with fear and shock. Big-talker Bernard sure wasn't talking now! I growled, "Next time, I'll be aiming for the real thing," and walked out.

Eric must have heard the commotion; when I reached the entryway he was waiting, a look of concern on his face. I told him, "Eric, dinner's been cancelled, can you please take me back to my apartment?"

"Yes, Ma'am," he responded, and walked me to the Bentley, opening the rear door for me.

As he drove me home, I saw Eric looking at me quizzically in the rearview mirror. Finally I told him, "When Jack gets back from Anaheim, if he happens to ask about me, tell him to check out the family painting in the library. His parents are horrible people, and can shove their money straight up their ass. I refuse to simply be bought and sold."

My eyes suddenly filled with the tears I'd been holding back, and the dam burst as I began to cry. In between sobs, I told Eric, "I love Jack more than anything, but if loving him means I have to tolerate his parents, I have too much self-respect to submit myself to that."

It had started raining -- a rarity in Southern California - by the time Eric dropped me off, so he held an umbrella to keep me dry as he walked me to my door. Then he shook my hand saying, "Miss Haggerty, you're a lovely young woman who deserves far better than to be treated poorly by the likes of Mr. Rhodes. I wish you only the best."

There's an old superstition that bad things happen in threes. Me being insulted by Jacks' parents and ejected from his life was the first. The second bad thing came the following Monday. Plant management called an all-hands meeting on the factory floor and announced that NASA had made the decision to use the Mercury-Atlas booster for the remainder of the program's flights. As a result, the Mercury-Redstone A-7 engine we manufactured was being phased out and the factory was closing down for a year for conversion to another Rocketdyne product.

Since the Atlas missile program had been up and running for years, the Rocketdyne MA-2 factory in St. Louis, Missouri was already fully staffed. This being the case, we were all being furloughed immediately; we'd be called back when the new factory line in Canoga Park was ready in a year or so. We were the instructed to go to the Personnel office to surrender our badges, and pick up our final checks.

By this point, I was lonely and sad and had no desire to look for another job. Plus, if I got a position with another local defense contractor, because Jack's knowledge was in high demand there was a chance I might very well see him again. My heart was broken enough, I wasn't going to risk it. I realized it was time to go home; I needed to be with my family. I packed my bags, gave my landlord notice on my apartment, and took the train back to Issaquah.

March 1962 -- Issaquah, Washington

The third bit of bad news wasn't bad in the traditional sense, it was bad as in 'I wasn't expecting or even ready for this' bad. I'd made the 30+ hour trip back to Issaquah, and when I walked in my dad was out for this bi-weekly shave and haircut at the local barber. (He'd gotten into the habit when my mother asked him to shave his face right before their wedding, and he really liked it.) My mother, however, was there to greet me. She ran up and hugged me. I hadn't realized how much I missed her, and I started crying in her arms. She held me for a while, then took me in the kitchen, sat me down and made me some tea, and I told her all about falling in love with Jack and then being rejected by his parents.

After I had finished my tea and dried my tears, I went to talk to my grandparents. Although no longer a child, since he was sitting on their couch, I crawled up into Grandpa Julius's lap and snuggled into his massive chest. He responded by wrapping one of his enormous arm around me. It felt good to be home. Or at least it did until my grandparents discovered my secret, one I didn't even know I had.

As I sat in Grandpas' lap on their couch, Grandma Daffodil reached over and stroked my face soothingly, then bent down and sniffed at my hair. Her eyes got wide, and she sniffed a little more, then Grandpa did the same, then grunted at my grandmother.

Grandma Daffodil asked me, "Daisy Rose, where's your mate?"

I explained, "I don't have a mate right now. I had a boyfriend that I loved very much, but his parents hated me, so it didn't work out."

Then she asked me the big question, "What about your baby? Does your boyfriend know about it?"

My eyes went wide, and I blurted out, "BABY? What baby?"

"The one you're carrying, dear girl. Your grandfather and I both noticed the change in your scent; you're pregnant." I was in disbelief. This could have been a very unfunny joke, except my grandparents never joked about anything. This, then was the third bad news item, and my mind began spinning.

"But I'm a Sasquatch, Grandpa said so! And you told me Sasquatch females weren't very fertile!" I suddenly got a sinking feeling remembering all those times Jack and I had sex unprotected, with me assuming as a Sasquatch female that I wouldn't get pregnant.

She smiled and shrugged. "Oops! I guess I was wrong. Blame your mother, she's the fertile one."

My parents cried with happiness when I told them what Grandma had said. They assured me I could stay with them as long as I wanted; they had plenty of money enough to pay the bills for my prenatal appointments during my pregnancy and the hospital when the baby was born. In addition to their carnival earnings and book royalties, they'd inherited a great deal of money from my great-grandfather Adam. He used to pan for gold in a secret spot high in the Cascade mountains, and apparently had been very successful at it.

Now that I was home, life settled into a slower pace. When not helping my mother around the house, I'd go for long walks with my grandparents. After a month or so, my belly began to get rounder. I loved knowing there was a baby in there, but sometimes I'd slip into a melancholy funk from missing Jack. I still loved him, and longed to have him with me in bed again. Sometimes I'd dream of his hands on me, kissing me while I was trapped against the insides of a rocket. It also made me sad he'd never see his child, that was the worst.

When I was about 15 weeks along, my baby was a little larger than a grapefruit and my small frame made my baby bump look even bigger. I was gaining a little weight, and experiencing some lower back pain. Even surrounded by my family, at times I felt terribly alone. One such time I was sitting on the front porch when I heard the crunch of gravel as someone was coming up the driveway. Looking up, I saw it was a 1962 fire-engine red Plymouth Sport Fury: Jack's car!

As much as I wanted to see him, I was overcome with insecurity. It could have been my hormones talking, but I thought if he saw me pregnant, he might think I'd cheated and leave! Unsure of what to do, I panicked and ran inside to find my father. "Daddy, Jack's here, but I'm afraid to talk to him. Can you go see what he wants?"

"Jack, the man whose parents insulted you?"

"Well, yes, but he's also the father of my baby."

"Ah. Well then, I have several reasons to go meet him, don't I? Go inside, sit next to an open window and eavesdrop. I'll handle him."

I grabbed a kitchen chair and put it just to the side of our living room window where I wouldn't be seen, but could hear everything.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello, I'm Jack Rhodes. You must be Gus Haggerty, I recognize you from the wedding pictures Daisy Rose showed me."

"That's me, but I was a lot younger then. Excuse me if I don't shake your hand. From what I heard, I'm not worthy because my family is beneath yours. If it makes you feel better, I do remember you. You're the young man who wrote my wife and I a letter about our daughter saving your life. That was a very nice letter. Too bad your parents didn't feel that way."

"Ah, yes, well, about that; I'm here to see your daughter sir. While I was away on business, my parents treated her horribly, but I love her, and I've come to win her back." Then he added, "I promised Daisy Rose that I'd always love her, and I meant it." I peeked through a hole in the curtains -- he'd opened the trunk of his car and pulled out the battle axe, now buried in a 12-inch section of 4" x 6" lumber. He showed it to my father.

"When my parents insulted Daisy Rose, she threw this axe at them. The axe ended up stuck so deep in the stud that the whole section had to be replaced before the wall could be properly repaired. How could I not love a woman who both saved my life and loved me so much that she seriously damaged a load-bearing wall?"

My father chuckled. "Well, that's impressive, but also disappointing. I would have hoped my daughter had better aim. Based on what Daisy Rose told me about him, she should have buried that axe in your father's chest." Then Daddy leaned over Jack, his demeanor now threatening.

"Your parents thanked my daughter for saving your life by telling her she wasn't good enough for you and breaking her heart. As if that wasn't enough, they offered her money as if she were a common prostitute. I'll be honest, Jack, that makes me angry. Trust me, you do NOT want to deal with an angry Sasquatch."

Jack did his best to respond bravely, "With all due respect to you as Daisy's father, sir, you may be tall, but you don't intimidate me."

My father chuckled. "Ah, yes, Jack, it's true, I've gotten soft since I retired, what with my reading glasses and my city clothes. These days I look more like a college professor than the Missing Link Giant, but then again, I'm not the angry Sasquatch you need to worry about."

At that moment, a roar unlike anything I'd ever heard came from behind the clump of trees to the west of the house; Grandpa Julius emerged, not looking happy at all. From where I was sitting, Jack's body language indicated he was now scared shitless.

Like old carny that he was, father went on. "Allow me to introduce you to my father Julius, who the Shoshone tribe once dubbed "Nightmare That Walks". In case you were wondering, he's well over 10 feet tall and weighs over 700 pounds! Pretty impressive, huh?"

Grandpa Julius threw back his head and let loose another roar, even more ferocious than the first. I was pretty sure my showman father had coached him on his technique at some point, but it was impressive regardless. Jack's bold talk disappeared, and he just stood there unmoving, his eyes wide with fear.

Daddy told him, "Daisy Rose and her grandfather are very close, and when he heard how your parents hurt his granddaughter, he was more than a little upset. My father may be old and blind, but he can still hunt you down by smell and tear you into little pieces. Since your parents consider us lowly circus performers, I think I'll let him. Kind of ironic, isn't it? My daughter saves your life and gets insulted by your parents, then my father ends your life, and we send the pieces back to Hollywood in a box. Poetic justice, right?"

Grandpa Julius snorted, then took a few steps closer. My father said, "Nice of you to drop by, Jack, but I'm afraid you have to leave now." I was horrified! Now that I knew he still loved me, I didn't want Jack to leave! My father put his arm around Jack and steered him back towards his Plymouth. Jack took a couple of steps with his head hung low in defeat, and my heart sank.

Suddenly, his head lifted up, as if he'd found some hidden reservoir of determination. He stiffened, digging his heels into the dirt. He turned to my father and said, "I'm not leaving without her, sir. I touched her face, and I meant it!"

My heart soared. The man I loved was fighting for me, and there was no greater sign of love to a Sasquatch female!

Daddy frowned. "You realize you're making a grave mistake, right? The old man and I are about to put you into some serious pain. Do you really want to submit yourself to a combined half-ton of pissed off Sasquatch?"

Jack literally gulped -- I saw his Adam's apple bobbing in his neck -- and repeated, "I'm not leaving without her, sir. I touched her face, and I meant it."

My father sighed and said, "Suit yourself. Dad, would you do the honors?" I got out of my chair and ran outside. Grandpa Julius had grabbed Jack and hoisted my love high above his head, shaking him like a twig as he roared again. This wasn't good; my grandfather's fury was coming out, and now I truly feared for Jack's safety.

I ran up and pleaded, "Grandpa! Please don't hurt him, I LOVE HIM!" At the same time, my mother and Grandma Daffodil ran out from the tree grove where they'd apparently been watching the whole thing.

Grandma shouted, "That's enough, Julius! You boys made your point, put him down, the show's over!"

Hearing this, the anger in Grandpa's face transformed into a broad grin, as did my father's, and Grandpa lowered Jack gently to the ground. Both of them began laughing loudly. Grandpa tousled Jack's hair, and in between his paroxysms of laughter, Daddy said to Jack, "Oh, man, you...should have seen...your face!"

Wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes, he walked up to Jack and slapped him on the back. "I got to hand it to you, Jack, you're tougher than you look! My old man could have made ground beef out of you, but you were still willing to put up a fight for my baby. You're all right!"

Jack was still in a state of shock when Momma walked up to him and looked him up and down. "Hmph. I can see why Daisy Rose likes you, you're not bad looking for a human," she said, "with that blonde hair you're even kind of cute. But I prefer my men a little hairier. As a matter of fact..." she said, taking my father's hand, "I'm in the mood for a dose of Vitamin Gus right now. Sasquatch males get all worked up after a fight, so I'm not wasting the opportunity. Come along, Augustus."

Jack watched incredulously as my tiny mother led her big Sasquatch husband obediently back into the house, and I was willing to bet in a minute their bedroom door would be locked.

Then we heard some snuffling and grunting, and turned to see a large pile of clothes at the edge of the grove. "My grandparents like coupling amongst the trees," I explained to Jack, "like they used to when they were first married. We'd better get inside, it's going to get loud out here in a minute."

I took him into the kitchen, and it didn't take my Sasquatch hearing to catch the moans and groans coming from inside the tree grove. Since my parents had their door shut, the groans weren't so loud, but the squeak of the bedsprings were clearly evident. Sitting at the kitchen table, Jack just kept looking around and shaking his head, trying to process everything that happened in the past quarter hour.

I sat in his lap, put my arms around his neck and kissed him. That seemed to be the catalyst he needed to snap back into reality, and he kissed me back like his life depended on it. "I missed you so much," he kept whispering between kisses, and finally explained, "I'm so sorry for what my parents did, how badly they treated you. When I got back from Anaheim and found you gone, I went crazy. Eric set me straight and gave me your message. I blew up and confronted my parents, but my father lied and said you tried to extort money from them. I kept pressing them for the truth, and my mother finally cracked. She confessed that they'd tried to buy you off, so you'd go away. My father denied it, but Mom gave me the pieces of the torn-up check as proof."

He stopped for a calming breath, then continued. "Mother told me all about how you persisted in sticking up for me when my father was criticizing me; she also said you were the loving wife I deserved, social class be damned. My father, on the other hand, was furious; he told me if I planned on marrying some carnival freak's daughter, I could plan on being disowned." He gave me a light kiss. "So here I am, disowned and in love."

Overwhelmed with emotion, I began to cry tears of joy. "I missed you too, Jack so much that it hurt. I'm so happy you came," I told him as placed his left hand on my baby bump, "but I've got some news for you." His eyes got wide as he realized he was feeling more than just little Daisy Rose beneath his fingertips. "By September there's going to be three of us."

For the second time within the hour, Jack was stunned. He began to stammer, "But you said...I thought you couldn't...that's why we never used..."

I cut him off. "I know, Jack, I know. My Grandma Daffodil was wrong about my fertility. Apparently, the Sasquatch parts I inherited didn't include my ovaries. They work just fine." I undid the top three buttons of his shirt and kissed his chest, then snuggled up against it. "I used to daydream about having a baby with you, but never thought it was possible. I'm so happy, Jack, I really am. Are you?"

He squeezed me gently and replied, "You better believe it. And while we're at it, I have some news for you, too. When I got back from Anaheim, I applied to NASA and they offered me a job down in Cape Canaveral, Florida."

"NASA? What do they want you for?"

"They want me be on the ground instrumentation systems team in the central instrumentation facility. They told me my guidance systems experience made me a natural, and want me to relocate there as quickly as possible."

I could barely breathe; with our baby on the way, I couldn't stand to be apart from him again! "What did you tell them?"

He kissed the top of my head. "I told them I'd accept, if my wife was OK with relocating."

My heart was beating so hard it was about to burst out of my chest, but I tried to control my excitement and softly pointed out, "But Jack, you don't have a wife."