Chapter 2
As soon as the breakfast dishes were done, the sisters went up to the attic with their grandmother. Grandma pointed to a pile of boxes in the corner. "You'll find lots of interesting things over there," she told them. "You're welcome to take home anything you like."
"Thanks, Grandma." Jill pulled the top carton off of the pile. Grandma went downstairs.
"Let's start with this one," Jill said. She carried the carton over to where Kris and Sal were and set it down on the floor. Jill opened it. Sal pulled a photo album out
of the box and opened it. "Look at this, you guys! It's mom and dad with both of you. Mom's pregnant!" She sat down on the floor with Kris next to her.
"Yeah, I remember that summer. Don't you, Jill?"
"Yeah, I do. " Jill didn't sound too happy.
"What's wrong?" asked Sal.
"Even though we knew you were coming, it wasn't exactly the best year," Kris told her.
"Why not?"
"Might as well start at the beginning," Jill told Kris.
Kris nodded and began.
Just after New Year's in 1963, Helen Munroe found out she was pregnant with her third child. The thought brought her mixed emotions. On the one hand, she was thrilled to be having another baby. On the other, she was worried how they were going to be able to feed another mouth. Money was very tight in their household. Her husband James was having a hard time holding a job. When he did have a job, he wasn't very careful about how his paycheck was spent. He often spent it on liquor before necessities. Helen wasn't sure how to tell him, but knew he had to be told sooner or later. She waited until after dinner. Jill and Kris cleared away and washed the dishes. James went into the living room and turned on the TV.
"James," Helen began.
"Quiet! I want to catch the news." "I have some news of my own. Please turn off the TV for a minute."
James grumbled, but got up to turn off the TV.
"James, I went to the doctor today." "How are we going to afford that?" "We're going to have to afford it, because I'm going to have to be going more often for the next few months."
"What are you trying to say, woman?"
"That I'm going to have another baby."
Jill and Kris came in from the kitchen and heard what their mother had said. They both squealed. Helen turned to them "Girls, have you finished the dishes?"
"Yes, Mom. " "Then go upstairs and do your homework." The girls knew it was useless to protest. They went up the stairs to their room. After the girls were gone, Helen and James continued their discussion.
"Another baby, huh? How about that!"
"How are we going to afford it?"
"We'll manage. I just started this new job. I think they like me there. I should be able to keep it." "I hope you can."
In the girls' room, Jill and Kris' minds were anywhere but on their homework. "Wow, another baby," Jill said.
"Yeah." Kris looked down at her school books.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, I've been the youngest for so long. Now someone else is going to take my place." "You'll still be part of the family. Mom and Dad will love you as much as ever. And having a baby will be like having a living doll. Mom will let you help take care of it. It'll be fun."
"If you say so."
"So what happened then?" Sal asked. "Obviously, I was born. Was it as much fun as you anticipated?"
"Well, yes and no, " Jill told her. "Dad lost another job or two, and Mom really needed our help. We helped her as much as we could after school and on weekends. Mom didn't always feel that well, especially the further she got in her pregnancy."
"I remember that," Kris said. "The morning sickness was murder on her. When she got into the third trimester, she had a really hard time. She was always uncomfortable. Her feet were swollen and it was hard for her to go anywhere. She spent a lot of time with her feet up. We did most of the housework and cooking so she could rest."
"Where was Dad?"
"He wasn't as much help," Jill responded. "You know he had a drinking problem."
"Yeah."
"It got out of hand," Kris added. "It started when he was down on his luck. He lost one job, and started to drink. He lost another, and drank some more. He ended up drinking alot. When he was sober, he was a great guy. When he was drunk, we stayed out of the way."
"He didn't hit you or Mom, did he?"
"No. But the drinking pretty much controlled his life. When he got drunk, he'd concentrate on getting his next drink and do what he could to get it. He had bottles stashed around the house. We always found them and emptied them out. We had to hide our money from him." Jill busied herself looking through more boxes.
"Remember the bike?" Kris asked.
"Don't remind me." Jill continued poking through boxes.
"What happened with the bike?" Sal asked.
"If you must know, we'll tell you." Jill plopped down next to Sal and began another story about growing up.
It was beautiful weather in the spring of 1963. Kids were busy playing outside. On any given afternoon, they could be found playing hopscotch, jumprope, jacks, and other outdoor games. They could also be found on bikes, skateboards, and roller skates. Jill and Kris rushed home from school one afternoon. They dropped their books in their room and ran down to the living room to find their mom. "Mom, we're home!" They called.
"In here, girls." The girls went into the living room and found their mom stretched out on the couch. "Hi, girls."
"Hi, Mom. Can we play for a little while before we start dinner?" Both girls asked eagerly.
Helen smiled tiredly at her daughters. "Go ahead," She told them. "Just for an hour or so." "Thanks, Mom." They both gave her a kiss on the cheek and rushed back outside. Helen watched them go. She didn't have the heart to tell them that their father had lost yet another job.
Outside, the girls headed for the garage. Jill wanted to ride her bike, and Kris wanted to roller skate. They opened the garage door. They found the roller skates, but no bike. "Where's my bike?" Jill enquired. "I know I left it right here."
"Maybe someone moved it."
"Or stole it. Come on. Let's go look."
The girls started to scour the neighborhood in search of the missing bike. They asked around. Jill spied a neighbor boy riding her bike. "HEY! TOMMY!!! THAT'S MY BIKE!" She took off after him. Tommy saw her coming. He pedaled faster. Jill ran back to the garage and grabbed Kris' roller skates. "Mind if I borrow these?" Kris shook her head. Jill strapped on the skates and took off after Tommy. She caught up to him and grabbed the bike. She pulled him off and started beating on him. "What are you doing on my bike?" She demanded. Tommy started to cry.
"STOP!" he yelled.
"Why do you have my bike???" Jill demanded.
"It's not yours ! It's mine!"
"No, it's not!"
"Your dad sold it to my folks. It's my bike now!"
"He. Did. What?" The look in Jill's eyes was murderous. "C'mon, Kris!" The two Munroe sisters headed for home as fast as they could, leaving Tommy to recover from the beating Jill had given him.
Jill got home first, took off the skates, and threw them into the garage as hard as she could. They hit some of her mother's ceramic pots, but she didn't care. She stormed into the house. Kris caught up to her and followed her in. "DAD!!!!!!" Jill yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Shhhh, honey. Your dad is sleeping right now." Helen came into the kitchen where the girls were.
"I don't care. He sold my bike!"
"He did what???"
"Dad sold Jill's bike to Tommy Jones. We just saw him riding it."
"I'll talk to your father when he wakes up. "
"I'm going to talk to him right now!" Jill stormed up the stairs to her parents' bedroom. Helen and Kris were right behind her. Jill flung open the door and marched into the bedroom. "Dad, I want to talk to you!" She went to her sleeping father and shook him roughly.
"Arrrrrg!!" Her dad sat up quickly and winced.
"What's the big idea? You sold my bike and you did it without asking me!"
"We needed the money. I lost my job again."
"So you sold my bike? You couldn't get money elsewhere? What did you do with the money?" Jill smelled her dad's breath and saw the bloodshot eyes. She left the room in disgust.
Dinner that night was a very quiet affair. No one was speaking. Plates and food were passed in silence. Finally James spoke up. "Jill, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have sold your bike, especially without asking you. I'll buy you a new one. "
Jill continued to look down at her plate. "Ok," She said faintly. She wasn't convinced.
"Was he always like that?" Sal asked. "I remember him being sober."
"He got help eventually. He went to AA and cleaned up his act, but he fell off the wagon a couple of times. " Kris told her.
"Yeah, those weren't pleasant memories," Jill responded. She flipped a couple of pages in the photo album. "Oh, look! Here's one of Mom coming home with Sal!"
"Oooooh, tell me about it!"
Helen went into labor just after midnight on August 4th. She had been sleeping, when all of sudden she felt her water break. She reached over to nudge her husband. "James, it's time."
James grunted and rolled over. He rolled into the wet spot. "Helen, what the---?"
"I'm having the baby, James. We've got to get to the hospital right away."
"I'll call the doctor and the hospital. You wake up the girls."
They both climbed out to the bed. Helen went down the hallway to the girls' room. She flipped on the light. "Girls, it's time! I'm going to have the baby!"
Both girls squealed and jumped out of bed. They grabbed their overnight bags that had been packed for weeks and put them by the front door. Then they ran upstairs and grabbed their mom's hospital bag and put it in the car. They helped their mom into the car. "Will you girls be alright?" She asked.
"Yes, Mom. We'll go next door to Mrs. Smith. Everything will be fine," Jill told her. Helen gave each of the girls a hug and a kiss.
"You're good girls." The girls smiled and waved as they backed away from the car. When their parents left the driveway, they returned to the house.
"Well, I guess we'd better go over to Mrs. Smith's, " Jill said.
Kris looked at the clock. "It's 1:00 in the morning. Why don't we go back to bed? And then go over after we wake up?"
"Because if Mom or Dad calls and we're not there, we'll get in trouble. Now, come on." Both girls picked up their bags and headed for Mrs. Smith's.
At the hospital, Helen was quickly checked in and rushed to the delivery room. James was sent to the waiting room. He nervously paced for awhile. Then he flipped through some magazines. About an hour passed. Finally, the doctor came out of the delivery room. "Mr. Munroe?"
"Yes."
"Another girl? How about that! Can I see my wife?"
"Congratulations! You have a daughter."
"She's being wheeled into recovery right now. You can see her in a few minutes."
The nurse came out of the delivery room with a small pink bundle in her arms. "Congratulations, Mr. Munroe. Would you like to see your daughter?" "You bet I would!" James rushed over to the nurse to admire the little baby in her arms.
"She is 7 pounds, 5 ounces. She has little whisps of blonde hair. We're not sure about her eyes yet, but they look like they could turn blue or green. Would you like to hold her?" James eagerly held out his arms and the nurse placed her bundle into them.
"Hello, little girl," he cooed. "I'm your daddy." The baby slept peacefully in his arms.
"Mr. Munroe? You can see your wife now." Another nurse came into the waiting room.
""Goodbye, little one. I'll be back to see you soon." James gave the baby back to the delivery nurse and followed the other nurse to the recovery room. Helen was dozing in the bed. James tiptoed over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Hi," he whispered.
Helen opened her eyes. "Hi," she whispered back. "Did you see her? Isn't she beautiful?"
"She is." "You're not disappointed that she's not a boy, are you?"
"No, I'm not."
"That's good," Helen murmured as she fell back asleep. James held her hand for a while, then put it down. He wanted to go celebrate, but talked himself out of it. His wife and daughters needed him. He made a vow right there to stop drinking. He left the room. He went down the hall to the pay phones. He picked up the phone, dropped in a dime, and dialed Mrs. Smith's number. "Hello, Mrs. Smith.............. It's James Munroe....... Sorry to be calling so late...............yes, everything is fine. It's a girl! It all went well. Helen is sleeping. Please tell the girls they have a new baby sister and that we love them............Thank you Mrs. Smith. I'll be by to see the girls in the morning............'Bye." He hung up the phone. He went back to his wife's room and sat in the chair next to her bed. Soon he was asleep.
A few days later, Helen came home from the hospital with the baby. Jill and Kris were watching for their parents. They saw the car turning into the driveway and ran out the front door. "MOM! MOM!" they yelled. They tried to throw their arms around their mother.
"Careful of the baby," she told them. The girls waited until their mom was inside and sitting in a chair. "Would you girls like to hold your sister?"
"YEAH!"
"Shhhhhhhhh. Jill, you first." Jill sat on the couch. Kris stuck her tongue out at Jill. She didn't think it was fair that Jill always got to do things first because she was older. She forgot her jealousy when her turn came and the baby was placed in her arms. She carefully sat down on the couch and held her little sister tenderly.
"Hello, little sister," she cooed. "I'm Kris, your big sister. I'm going to help Mom take care of you. Mom, what are we going to name her?"
Helen smiled. "Her name is Sarah Jeanine. I thought we would call her Sally."
"I hate the name Sally. I'm going to call her Sal." Kris declared.
"Sal it is," responded James. "All those in favor?"
The whole family raised their hands, except for Kris, who was busy bonding with her baby sister.
"How come no one ever told me that story before?" Sal demanded. Both of her sisters shrugged. "It's so sweet. Mom and Dad were tender towards each other, and I was the best baby ever born....it's amazing I never heard it before."
"I'm sorry no one has ever told you, Sal," Jill said, putting her arm around her little sister. "You know Mom and Dad had their problems, and Kris and I were so much older, I guess it never really came up."
"But you've heard it now," Kris told her.
"Girls! Lunchtime!" Their Grandma's voice came up the stairs.
"Great! I'm starved!" Jill exclaimed as she headed down the stairs.
"So what else is new?" Sal asked Kris. They laughed together as they went downstairs.