CHAPTER 10

To this day, nobody knows how Wednesday managed to get to the rooftop that day. At two years old, she wasn't crawling around anymore; she could now walk and run around the house. Besides, the simple phrases that she could pronounce when she was only a few months old had now been replaced with a wide range of extended vocabulary, which enabled her not only to form complex sentences, but also to read entire books. It all began when Tully gave Gomez a book for his birthday: "The Mystery Of The Bermuda Triangle". Gomez had already done a lot of research on the topic in the past and wasn't really interested in reading it, so he left it lying around. That was how his daughter found the book one day; she devoured it, and it left her hungry for more.

Apparently, that wasn't considered normal behavior for a two-year-old. Morticia had heard that bizarre opinion from Margaret, who was at least concerned about little Wednesday. She even indirectly criticized the young mother that she was pushing her daughter too much.

"Learning to read already! Why should she go through that so early?" she used to say, shaking her head with a disapproving look.

Morticia couldn't find a reason for Margaret's concern. She thought about herself when she was Wednesday's age; at two years old, little Morticia could also read and, in fact, she had a favorite book too; "Spells And Hexes For Trained Witches". She had found it among her mother's belongings and, by the time she turned three, she could almost recite it by heart.

Margaret, however, thought that a more suitable occupation for a little girl was playing with toys. That's why, when she turned up to the Addams mansion with her husband one day, she was holding a wrapped box. She gave it to Wednesday, who ripped up the wrapping paper and revealed a doll with long black hair and a bright yellow dress. She pouted.

"Look dear! I picked this doll because it has the same hair as you!" cheered Margaret.

"Her dress" said Wednesday with concealed disgust. "It's yellow."

"Of course it is!"

The girl grabbed the doll and ran to Grandmama's room. When she finally came out after quite some time, she had her hands hidden behind her back. She went up to her mother and proudly revealed to her the results of the doll makeover.

"Oh darling, it's wonderful" said Morticia.

The doll was now wearing a pitch black knee-length dress with a white collar, just like Wednesday's, and had its raven hair braided into two pigtails, exactly the same as one could notice on the girl's head.

"But I do think it's not complete yet" added her mother.

And, in front of Margaret's terrified eyes, she took it in her hands. Her long, pointy, red nails were shoved up the doll's throat. Slowly, she plucked out its little head, as the stuffing was overflowing. She pushed it back in with her delicate white fingers and handed the beheaded doll back to her daughter.

"Thank you, mother!" said Wednesday, delighted. She jumped on the couch and gave Morticia a hug. Then, she took the doll again and looked at it with bulging eyes.

"I will call her Marie Antoinette" she decided.

Maybe it would be needless to mention that Margaret didn't visit the Addamses for a few years after that.

But let's get back to that morning. How did little Wednesday manage to get to the rooftop that day, and how did she carry that anvil with her? It still remains a mystery, as well as an accomplishment that her parents are always secretly proud of. It appears that she had calculated everything in her head, and she was there right when Lurch was passing in front of the house with his duster, sprinkling dust in any clean corner he found. All of a sudden, the girl pushed the anvil, which howled in the air as it was falling. It landed forcefully on the butler's head, and Wednesday leaned forward to see if his skull had been crushed. However, much to her disappointment, she discovered that Lurch hadn't in fact noticed a thing. She leaned a little more forward to get a better view and she suddenly lost her balance. Her feet slipped and she fell into the void, just like the anvil had a while ago.

Gomez was sitting in the second floor living room, smoking one of his favorite vanilla scented cigars and watching his beautiful wife with adoration as she was knitting a tentacled toddler onesie with black and white stripes. He wanted to enjoy the gloomy weather outside and he opened the window. Quite unexpectedly, he saw his daughter passing in front of his eyes. Quickly, he opened his arms and she landed in them. He brought her in and turned to Morticia.

"Oh dear" she remarked.

As Wednesday was trying to explain why she had been found in that situation, her parents decided it was time for them to make an announcement.

"Wednesday darling, I know your wild instincts can't be held back" Morticia started to say.

"And, of course, Lurch is very resilient, but he is also very busy and you shouldn't keep him from doing his job" added Gomez.

"Taking your murderous attempts into consideration, your father and I made a decision" said Morticia.

Wednesday looked at them questioningly.

"We decided that you need someone else to torture. Someone new" said Gomez and winked.

"An octopus?" wondered the little girl.

"Oh no, better" remarked her mother.

"A lion?"

"Even better" continued Morticia.

"Then what?"

"A baby!" cheered Gomez.

Wednesday's expression remained indifferent.

"And where is that baby exactly?" she asked interrogatively.

"In here" he answered as he affectionately placed his hand on Morticia's belly. It was, indeed, noticeably swollen.

"And how did you get it in there?" asked Wednesday, raising her right eyebrow.

"We had sex" Morticia said naturally as she turned to the side and shared a kiss with her husband.

Wednesday grimaced.

Some weeks later, Tully Alford appeared in front of the Addams mansion for their regular exchanges. After the Gate played with him a little, it decided to let him in. As he came into the house, a rug made out of the skin of a polar bear suddenly came alive (or was alive already, who can tell?) and violently bit his ankle. Shocked, he started to jump up and down, until his ankle was released from the bear's jaws. In the process, however, he dropped the bottle of red wine that he was holding. The sound of crashing glass alarmed Gomez, who appeared after a couple of minutes with his wife.

"Tully! What happened, old man?" he asked as he was looking around. "Is that blood?"

"Your bear rug bit me!" Tully said in an upset tone.

"Bruno! Is it true?" asked Morticia as she looked at the bear rug rebukingly.

The bear's head growled remorsefully.

"It has a name?" Tully wondered in disgust.

"Of course!" said Gomez. "My father had brought Bruno from one of his trips when I was still a child. He…"

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry for the mess. By the way, it's not blood. I was holding a bottle of wine and I dropped it" said the lawyer.

"Wine? What for, old man?"

"To celebrate! My wife and I are expecting a child!"

Morticia smirked.

"Apparently it's a productive season. There must be something in the air. Ne pensez-vous pas, mon cher?" she asked her husband.

"My dear Tish… That's French" he whispered as he started to kiss her right hand, then her arm, her shoulder, her neck and then her left shoulder and her left arm all the way down to her left hand. Tully was standing there, watching in an awkward silence.

"Congratulations, Tully old man!" Gomez exclaimed when he finally satisfied his lust. "It is, indeed, a great coincidence, as we have recently found ourselves in the same condition."

He embraced Morticia from behind, laying his hands on her now clearly visible baby bump.

While Lurch was first vacuuming and then mopping the floor to clean it up from the wine, Tully and Gomez were discussing financial issues. Morticia wasn't interested, so she went to her little garden and began to prune her roses. Hidden among the plants, she found her daughter.

"Wednesday! What are you doing here, dear?"

"I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice I'm gone" she said.

"Why would you ever want to do that?"

"To see what would change if you didn't have me."

"But why…"

Wednesday didn't stay to listen. She quickly ran downstairs and left her mother in confusion.

Morticia wondered what was wrong with her child. Had she or Gomez said or done anything that hurt her? She knew Wednesday had excellent control over her feelings, which almost made her look like she didn't have any feelings at all. And now she was acting strangely… or well, at least relatively strangely.

That night, she had gone to kiss her little girl goodnight and tuck her in. As she was sitting by the bedpost, Wednesday extended her arm and laid her hand on her mother's belly.

"Does the baby kick?" she asked.

"Oh no, I'm afraid this baby is too lazy to move around" answered Morticia.

"What was I doing when I was in your belly?"

"You were the naughtiest little girl. You would kick all the time. I was so proud of you."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. And when you were born… You suddenly decided to be quiet. You were lying there, with your little arms crossed on your chest… You scared the life out of that midwife. You should have seen her face!"

Wednesday smiled, with the same inconceivable smile as her mother.

"Mother", she said, "when will the baby be born?"

"In about four months. Granny says it must be a boy this time. A baby brother."

Wednesday decided to analyze her reasoning, which had been gnawing at her all those weeks.

"Do you and father love me?"

"More than words can describe."

"When there is one child, it gets a certain amount of love from the parents. Right?"

"A vast amount" said Morticia, wondering where this was going.

"So, if a second child arrives, will they have to share it?" she asked seriously.

"Share it?"

"The love. Do they have to take half of it?"

Morticia smiled. It all made sense now.

"Wednesday, love isn't like granny's soup. You don't divide it into shares and give each person their own bowl. Love is the only thing in the world that is truly unlimited. You can give, and give, and give all your love to one person, and you'll still have enough love to offer to a million others. It comes from inside you. You will always have my unlimited love, and so will the new baby."

The little girl kept a straight face, but her mother knew she had touched a chord.

"Goodnight Wednesday" she said and kissed her on the forehead.

"Goodnight mother" replied the little girl. She held her beheaded doll tightly, pulled the blanket over her face and, finally relieved, she immersed in a peaceful sleep.

Gomez was holding a black leather riding crop, fondling it with affection. When she entered the room, he proudly presented it to her.

"Remember this, querida? I thought we had lost it! I found it in the dungeon. I had missed it… I'd love to get a taste of it again" he said playfully.

"Not tonight, darling… I'm not in the mood."

She sat beside him on the bed.

"Not even a little bit?"

"No Gomez, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I understand. Tomorrow, perhaps."

"Perhaps."

She climbed under the sheets and lay her head on his chest. He leaned over and kissed her hair, her forehead, her cheek and finally her lips. She loved that ritual - he would always kiss different parts of her body before he ended up locking lips with her.

"Will you just hold me?" she whispered.

He answered by wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to himself. He fondled her hair, which spread on his chest like a waterfall.

"Did you drink your arsenic, Tish?"

"Oh no, I forgot."

"Cara mia, you're carrying a baby! You need to take care of yourself!"

He reached for the vial on the bedside table and he grabbed a silver spoon from the drawer. He poured a few drops in it and brought it to her mouth.

"That's better" he said with a smile as he placed the vial and the spoon on the table. Although he knew what a strong and decisive woman his wife was, he felt like he was taking care of an infant; she looked so fragile and vulnerable… He was filled with a desire to protect her, to hold her in his arms forever and hide her away from everything and everyone. He gently kissed the top of her head.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked as he observed the distracted look in her eyes.

"This time, I'm not scared" she mumbled.

"What do you mean, darling?"

"When I had Wednesday, I was scared. I concealed it, but it was frightening. I didn't believe I could be somebody's mother. The thought had crossed my mind several times, but when it became my reality, I wasn't sure I could handle it."

Gomez gasped. He would never have thought that she had hidden something like that from him.

"Cara mia… Why didn't you tell me?"

"It didn't last long. It all dissolved with the first breastfeeding. I don't know how, it just sort of happened. But it was overwhelming to think that you and I created an actual person and that we were responsible for her. It thrilled me, it scared me, it made me anxious…"

"You are the best mother any child could ever ask for" he assured her.

She didn't respond. She took his big, strong hand in her delicate palm, his olive skin creating a stark contrast against the milky white color of hers.

"I adore you" she mumbled.

"I adore you more" he replied.

"Wednesday is insecure about the new baby" she said after a while.

"How so?"

She described to him the conversation she had had with her daughter.

"Well, she takes after her mother. Wednesday never appeared to have such emotions so far. She can conceal it very well. That's a dangerous talent, Tish."

"Indeed. But I could sense it… I believe she is now reassured."

He studied her as she lay her head on the side, with her ear on his chest.

"What is it, my love?"

"I'm just… listening to your heart. It's like a lullaby. Gomez…"

"Cara mia?"

"I'm happy" she whispered and granted him a smile as her eyelids closed and she finally fell asleep.

He held her tighter. Outside of their window, an owl was howling, breaking the eerie silence of the night.

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