Chapter Eleven
It took nearly a minute for the reality of what Mary and Deena had just said to sink in. At that moment, Hank, Julie and their two children arrived. They apologized for arriving late but he had been called in for a very high-risk delivery. Both mother and child were fine although still in intensive care. Peter took the Hastings' aside and let them know what had just happened, as Annie gave them condensed versions of the meal - in reheatable trays.
Another minute passed by. Lucy was gently pressing against her tummy trying to get her now viable unborn child to settle down. Finally, Ruthie broke the silence.
"Mary and Robbie, I can understand you two," she said. "You got back together, oh, a year and a half ago, so I'm not surprised that you're expecting now. But Simon and Deena - what's your story? If you've been pregnant two months, that would mean you conceived your unborn baby the day you got back together or shortly after."
"Yeah, it would be something like that," conceded Simon.
"Don't you think you should've gotten reacquainted first?" asked Lucy, who had finally stopped grimacing in pain.
"What would there be to reacquaint about, Rev. Kinkirk?" asked Deena. "We picked up where we left off - or should have left off when we broke up four years ago."
"When did you find out you were expecting?" asked Matt.
"Two weeks ago, Matt," said Deena.
"And Simon, did you two get married because you wanted to make her an honest woman?" inquired Sarah.
"Actually, that's not the case, Sarah," replied Simon. "We knew we loved each other from before and we just got off on the wrong foot when we had broken up before. We found each other again and, after a couple of weeks, decided we couldn't be apart anymore. The fact we're expecting a baby is, well, like ice cream on the apple pie."
"It sped up our decision to tie the knot," added Deena, "but we did some checking and no state, as far as we know, makes a distinction between 'legitimate' and 'illegitimate' children anymore. Both groups have the same rights. We just felt it was better that, when it comes time to deliver my baby, the staff at the hospital refers to Simon as my 'husband' rather than just 'the father of my baby.' We want to spend the rest of our lives together, and we're not going to make the mistakes my parents made in their marriage."
"You mentioned that your parents were present at the wedding, Ms Stewart," pointed out Richard. "How did they react to the news you were two months pregnant? Or did you tell them after the ceremony?"
"That's a fair question, Rabbi Glass," said Deena. "They knew, of course. They were reluctant at first at the idea of my moving in with Simon in the first place, but they said I was an adult now and could make my own choices. They're really looking forward to becoming grandparents. So are their new spouses. They were there too for the wedding - I couldn't ask for better stepparents. It's kind of cool having two moms and two dads, even as an adult."
"Can you afford it?" asked Rosina. "Being parents while going to school?"
"It's going to be tough," said Simon, "but we'll manage. We talked to a couple of financial counselors and we've already prepared a budget. Between our part-time jobs and the money left over from our full scholarships, yes, we'll be okay."
"And Mary," said Annie, "what's your story? Forget the Pill?"
"Of course not," replied Mary. "I stopped taking it all together. Robbie and I decided we just wanted to have children now, even though we weren't married or ready to tie the knot. But when we made a layover in Vegas and ran into Simon and Deena entirely by chance, I understood their reasoning for wanting to have their nuptials and popped the question to Robbie. He accepted and ten minutes later Deena and I were over at a bridal shop buying gowns on consignment while Robbie and Simon went to a tuxedo rental store.
"Besides," she added, turning to Eric and Lucy, "I remembered that I have a father and sister as ministers and didn't want to embarrass either of you guys."
"So when's the honeymoon?" asked Ruthie finally.
"During the Christmas break," said Deena. "Simon and I are going to London ."
". and Robbie and I are going to the Bahamas," said Mary.
"Interesting choice of destinations," Peter said. "The Bahamas I can understand, it's just an hour off the Florida coast. But why did you and Deena choose London, Simon?"
"It's just a magical place at Christmas," said Simon. "Besides, nearly every newlywed couple goes to Hawaii or Fiji or on a cruise. Deena and I wanted to do something different." He turned to his wife and gave her a kiss. Mary and Robbie leaned on each other.
"Wow. You two really do love each other, Simon," said Ruthie. "I thought you were nuts when you told me you were back together. But I can see now that it's the real thing."
"Well, we can't wait until the day you two get married," said Sarah to Ruthie and Peter.
"We're not even thinking about that right now," said Peter. "We have enough on our plate, what with all that's going on - oops, sorry, but that's just the way it is. Well, thank you, Mrs. Camden and Rev. Kinkirk, for a great dinner. Mom and I just loved it."
"You really did yourselves proud," agreed Paris, as she rose from her place.
Peter turned to Ruthie, kissed her goodnight, and got up as well. "See you at school tomorrow." He winked. She winked back. Then Peter and Paris left for home.
It was another hour before Rabbi Glass left with his wife, their daughter and her husband to return to his home for the night. So did the Hastings' family. Eric was left to sort out the accommodations for the rest of the group; as Annie, Mary, Lucy and Ruthie finished washing the dishes.
"Okay, Sam and David can sleep with Annie and me tonight. Ginger, you can take the guest room. Mom, Dad, you can use Sam and David's room, if you don't mind sleeping in separate beds."
"Not at all, son," said the Colonel. Ruth agreed.
"Mary and Robbie, you can grab a couple of sleeping bags from the storage closet, and use Ruthie's bedroom in the attic. I'm sure you don't mind."
"Not at all," smiled Ruthie. "It'll be nice to have some company up there again . unless Robbie has a problem with it."
"Why would I have a problem, Snookie?" asked a surprised Robbie.
"Well, you and Mary . I would have thought that ."
"We can wait till we get back to the Fort to do that again - and Mary and I, we've got another fifty years ahead of us. Don't worry about it, Snookie. If it's a problem for you, we can sleep on the couch in the living room. There's a rollaway inside the loveseat, if I recall correctly?"
"It does," said Mary. "It's okay, Dad. We'll stay down here tonight."
"And we'll go down to the recreation room in the basement," said Simon, referring to Deena and himself. "We'll grab those sleeping bags and rest them on some air mattresses. We don't want to impose on Lucy and Kevin and their kids."
"Tell you what, Annie," Ginger told her stepdaughter. "I'll look after Sam and David tonight. I'll grab the cot from the garage and bunk with them in their bedroom. John, you and Ruth can have the guest room. Knowing you two, I'm sure you couldn't stand a night apart after all these years. I just wish Charles was here tonight - he would have been so happy for Mary and Simon, having finally gotten their lives back on track and finding their respective dream mates to carry on the family."
"He would have. He was a good man, and a good friend. Thanks, Ginger," said the Colonel. "We owe you."
"All right then," said Eric, as everyone departed to do his or her bidding.
A half-hour later, everyone had found their respective places. Annie and Eric, alone in their bedroom, thought it was nice that the family was gathered once more. But as they made love to each other, they couldn't stop thinking how weird it was that so many couples would be doing the same thing in different parts of the house that night, and at the same moment too. There was the Colonel and Ruth, Lucy and Kevin, Mary and Robbie, and Simon and Deena. If Peter and Ruthie hadn't called a moratorium on the more intimate nature of their courtship, they probably would have been in the attic doing the same thing as well.
A half hour later, the minister and his wife laid side-by-side, holding hands and kissing each other all over.
"It's just so wonderful, Eric," said Annie, perspiring from head to toe, "that we're going to be grandparents again. There aren't just one but three more little ones on the way."
"It's great, Annie," agreed Eric, who was sweating twice as much. "I just wish at this moment we could have been able to conceive another to make our happiness complete. Alas, that will never be."
"I'm fifty-three years old, honey. Even if I was still fertile, my body is in no condition to carry another. The risk of having a child with Down's syndrome or other birth defects is, like, one in five at my age; not to mention any of a number of complications I could have if I got pregnant again. Seven is enough, thank you very much. With Lucy and their soon to be three children plus Ruthie and the twins, we still have seven to take care of - either in fact or morally."
"But if you could get pregnant one more time, would you consider it, Annie?"
"Are you talking about a test-tube baby?" Annie sat up on the bed, inadvertently releasing the bed covers and exposing the top half of herself to her husband. Even at her advanced age, she still had the shape of a woman in her late thirties or early forties, the product of intense and regular exercise.
Eric was getting turned on once more but Annie quickly covered herself again - once was enough for tonight, she thought.
"Eric, I'm flattered you still think I have it in me," said Annie, "but wouldn't the deacons object to that?"
"What would their objection be?"
"They'd be upset if we conceived a child in other than the normal way."
"There are at least fifty kids in our church who are the products of science. No, I stand corrected, they are God's creation, but science gave Him a helping hand."
"That's not my point, Eric," said Annie. "If we had been infertile into our forties or so, it wouldn't be an issue with the deaconate. You're talking about extending my clock. At this rate, you'd be 73 and I 72 when our final son or daughter graduated. I'm sorry Eric. I know how much it means to you, but unless the doctors had me wrong on menopause and I could conceive one more child the natural way, I won't do it. The money we'd spend on treatments could better go to help the community - or help a barren couple in our church conceive a child or adopt one. I'll always love you for letting me be the mother of your seven children. However, I think we've more than done the Lord's bidding to 'be fruitful and multiply.' Good night, Eric."
Annie turned out the lights and turned to her side of the bed, facing away from her spouse. Eric did the same. He could understand his wife's apprehension but he felt so certain that he wanted just one more child - a daughter.
Annie, meanwhile, started drifting off to sleep. Eric had no idea that she had an appointment with Hank the next day over at the hospital. She had a weird feeling something was not right with her ever since a week or so after the sex scandal broke wide open. Glen Oak had been hit by a freak blackout, and she and her husband were in the kitchen at the time having a late evening tea. They wouldn't leave there until the next morning when the lights came back on at six am.
The next day, she showed up bright and early at eight am. Lucy had been deputized to cook breakfast for the gang back at the parsonage. Hank sat her on the examination table and turned on the ultrasound. In less than two minutes, she was rushed into the emergency room. The sonar showed she had an ectopic pregnancy and the unborn baby, a girl, was at six weeks but so badly malformed at that stage that it had no chance of surviving inside of Annie beyond a couple more weeks - and at that stage, a miscarriage might kill or seriously harm the mother.
Hank had no choice but to perform an abortion right there and then on his sister-in-law and in the process also removed the fallopian tube, which had effectively been destroyed by the fetus growing inside of it. Annie consented to the procedure, but she was devastated. Eric's dream had come true and had now been vanquished - her body had rejected the baby, just as she feared would happen. How she was going to explain this to her husband she did not know.
It took nearly a minute for the reality of what Mary and Deena had just said to sink in. At that moment, Hank, Julie and their two children arrived. They apologized for arriving late but he had been called in for a very high-risk delivery. Both mother and child were fine although still in intensive care. Peter took the Hastings' aside and let them know what had just happened, as Annie gave them condensed versions of the meal - in reheatable trays.
Another minute passed by. Lucy was gently pressing against her tummy trying to get her now viable unborn child to settle down. Finally, Ruthie broke the silence.
"Mary and Robbie, I can understand you two," she said. "You got back together, oh, a year and a half ago, so I'm not surprised that you're expecting now. But Simon and Deena - what's your story? If you've been pregnant two months, that would mean you conceived your unborn baby the day you got back together or shortly after."
"Yeah, it would be something like that," conceded Simon.
"Don't you think you should've gotten reacquainted first?" asked Lucy, who had finally stopped grimacing in pain.
"What would there be to reacquaint about, Rev. Kinkirk?" asked Deena. "We picked up where we left off - or should have left off when we broke up four years ago."
"When did you find out you were expecting?" asked Matt.
"Two weeks ago, Matt," said Deena.
"And Simon, did you two get married because you wanted to make her an honest woman?" inquired Sarah.
"Actually, that's not the case, Sarah," replied Simon. "We knew we loved each other from before and we just got off on the wrong foot when we had broken up before. We found each other again and, after a couple of weeks, decided we couldn't be apart anymore. The fact we're expecting a baby is, well, like ice cream on the apple pie."
"It sped up our decision to tie the knot," added Deena, "but we did some checking and no state, as far as we know, makes a distinction between 'legitimate' and 'illegitimate' children anymore. Both groups have the same rights. We just felt it was better that, when it comes time to deliver my baby, the staff at the hospital refers to Simon as my 'husband' rather than just 'the father of my baby.' We want to spend the rest of our lives together, and we're not going to make the mistakes my parents made in their marriage."
"You mentioned that your parents were present at the wedding, Ms Stewart," pointed out Richard. "How did they react to the news you were two months pregnant? Or did you tell them after the ceremony?"
"That's a fair question, Rabbi Glass," said Deena. "They knew, of course. They were reluctant at first at the idea of my moving in with Simon in the first place, but they said I was an adult now and could make my own choices. They're really looking forward to becoming grandparents. So are their new spouses. They were there too for the wedding - I couldn't ask for better stepparents. It's kind of cool having two moms and two dads, even as an adult."
"Can you afford it?" asked Rosina. "Being parents while going to school?"
"It's going to be tough," said Simon, "but we'll manage. We talked to a couple of financial counselors and we've already prepared a budget. Between our part-time jobs and the money left over from our full scholarships, yes, we'll be okay."
"And Mary," said Annie, "what's your story? Forget the Pill?"
"Of course not," replied Mary. "I stopped taking it all together. Robbie and I decided we just wanted to have children now, even though we weren't married or ready to tie the knot. But when we made a layover in Vegas and ran into Simon and Deena entirely by chance, I understood their reasoning for wanting to have their nuptials and popped the question to Robbie. He accepted and ten minutes later Deena and I were over at a bridal shop buying gowns on consignment while Robbie and Simon went to a tuxedo rental store.
"Besides," she added, turning to Eric and Lucy, "I remembered that I have a father and sister as ministers and didn't want to embarrass either of you guys."
"So when's the honeymoon?" asked Ruthie finally.
"During the Christmas break," said Deena. "Simon and I are going to London ."
". and Robbie and I are going to the Bahamas," said Mary.
"Interesting choice of destinations," Peter said. "The Bahamas I can understand, it's just an hour off the Florida coast. But why did you and Deena choose London, Simon?"
"It's just a magical place at Christmas," said Simon. "Besides, nearly every newlywed couple goes to Hawaii or Fiji or on a cruise. Deena and I wanted to do something different." He turned to his wife and gave her a kiss. Mary and Robbie leaned on each other.
"Wow. You two really do love each other, Simon," said Ruthie. "I thought you were nuts when you told me you were back together. But I can see now that it's the real thing."
"Well, we can't wait until the day you two get married," said Sarah to Ruthie and Peter.
"We're not even thinking about that right now," said Peter. "We have enough on our plate, what with all that's going on - oops, sorry, but that's just the way it is. Well, thank you, Mrs. Camden and Rev. Kinkirk, for a great dinner. Mom and I just loved it."
"You really did yourselves proud," agreed Paris, as she rose from her place.
Peter turned to Ruthie, kissed her goodnight, and got up as well. "See you at school tomorrow." He winked. She winked back. Then Peter and Paris left for home.
It was another hour before Rabbi Glass left with his wife, their daughter and her husband to return to his home for the night. So did the Hastings' family. Eric was left to sort out the accommodations for the rest of the group; as Annie, Mary, Lucy and Ruthie finished washing the dishes.
"Okay, Sam and David can sleep with Annie and me tonight. Ginger, you can take the guest room. Mom, Dad, you can use Sam and David's room, if you don't mind sleeping in separate beds."
"Not at all, son," said the Colonel. Ruth agreed.
"Mary and Robbie, you can grab a couple of sleeping bags from the storage closet, and use Ruthie's bedroom in the attic. I'm sure you don't mind."
"Not at all," smiled Ruthie. "It'll be nice to have some company up there again . unless Robbie has a problem with it."
"Why would I have a problem, Snookie?" asked a surprised Robbie.
"Well, you and Mary . I would have thought that ."
"We can wait till we get back to the Fort to do that again - and Mary and I, we've got another fifty years ahead of us. Don't worry about it, Snookie. If it's a problem for you, we can sleep on the couch in the living room. There's a rollaway inside the loveseat, if I recall correctly?"
"It does," said Mary. "It's okay, Dad. We'll stay down here tonight."
"And we'll go down to the recreation room in the basement," said Simon, referring to Deena and himself. "We'll grab those sleeping bags and rest them on some air mattresses. We don't want to impose on Lucy and Kevin and their kids."
"Tell you what, Annie," Ginger told her stepdaughter. "I'll look after Sam and David tonight. I'll grab the cot from the garage and bunk with them in their bedroom. John, you and Ruth can have the guest room. Knowing you two, I'm sure you couldn't stand a night apart after all these years. I just wish Charles was here tonight - he would have been so happy for Mary and Simon, having finally gotten their lives back on track and finding their respective dream mates to carry on the family."
"He would have. He was a good man, and a good friend. Thanks, Ginger," said the Colonel. "We owe you."
"All right then," said Eric, as everyone departed to do his or her bidding.
A half-hour later, everyone had found their respective places. Annie and Eric, alone in their bedroom, thought it was nice that the family was gathered once more. But as they made love to each other, they couldn't stop thinking how weird it was that so many couples would be doing the same thing in different parts of the house that night, and at the same moment too. There was the Colonel and Ruth, Lucy and Kevin, Mary and Robbie, and Simon and Deena. If Peter and Ruthie hadn't called a moratorium on the more intimate nature of their courtship, they probably would have been in the attic doing the same thing as well.
A half hour later, the minister and his wife laid side-by-side, holding hands and kissing each other all over.
"It's just so wonderful, Eric," said Annie, perspiring from head to toe, "that we're going to be grandparents again. There aren't just one but three more little ones on the way."
"It's great, Annie," agreed Eric, who was sweating twice as much. "I just wish at this moment we could have been able to conceive another to make our happiness complete. Alas, that will never be."
"I'm fifty-three years old, honey. Even if I was still fertile, my body is in no condition to carry another. The risk of having a child with Down's syndrome or other birth defects is, like, one in five at my age; not to mention any of a number of complications I could have if I got pregnant again. Seven is enough, thank you very much. With Lucy and their soon to be three children plus Ruthie and the twins, we still have seven to take care of - either in fact or morally."
"But if you could get pregnant one more time, would you consider it, Annie?"
"Are you talking about a test-tube baby?" Annie sat up on the bed, inadvertently releasing the bed covers and exposing the top half of herself to her husband. Even at her advanced age, she still had the shape of a woman in her late thirties or early forties, the product of intense and regular exercise.
Eric was getting turned on once more but Annie quickly covered herself again - once was enough for tonight, she thought.
"Eric, I'm flattered you still think I have it in me," said Annie, "but wouldn't the deacons object to that?"
"What would their objection be?"
"They'd be upset if we conceived a child in other than the normal way."
"There are at least fifty kids in our church who are the products of science. No, I stand corrected, they are God's creation, but science gave Him a helping hand."
"That's not my point, Eric," said Annie. "If we had been infertile into our forties or so, it wouldn't be an issue with the deaconate. You're talking about extending my clock. At this rate, you'd be 73 and I 72 when our final son or daughter graduated. I'm sorry Eric. I know how much it means to you, but unless the doctors had me wrong on menopause and I could conceive one more child the natural way, I won't do it. The money we'd spend on treatments could better go to help the community - or help a barren couple in our church conceive a child or adopt one. I'll always love you for letting me be the mother of your seven children. However, I think we've more than done the Lord's bidding to 'be fruitful and multiply.' Good night, Eric."
Annie turned out the lights and turned to her side of the bed, facing away from her spouse. Eric did the same. He could understand his wife's apprehension but he felt so certain that he wanted just one more child - a daughter.
Annie, meanwhile, started drifting off to sleep. Eric had no idea that she had an appointment with Hank the next day over at the hospital. She had a weird feeling something was not right with her ever since a week or so after the sex scandal broke wide open. Glen Oak had been hit by a freak blackout, and she and her husband were in the kitchen at the time having a late evening tea. They wouldn't leave there until the next morning when the lights came back on at six am.
The next day, she showed up bright and early at eight am. Lucy had been deputized to cook breakfast for the gang back at the parsonage. Hank sat her on the examination table and turned on the ultrasound. In less than two minutes, she was rushed into the emergency room. The sonar showed she had an ectopic pregnancy and the unborn baby, a girl, was at six weeks but so badly malformed at that stage that it had no chance of surviving inside of Annie beyond a couple more weeks - and at that stage, a miscarriage might kill or seriously harm the mother.
Hank had no choice but to perform an abortion right there and then on his sister-in-law and in the process also removed the fallopian tube, which had effectively been destroyed by the fetus growing inside of it. Annie consented to the procedure, but she was devastated. Eric's dream had come true and had now been vanquished - her body had rejected the baby, just as she feared would happen. How she was going to explain this to her husband she did not know.