A Lovely Party

Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief as they pulled out of the church parking lot. Maisie snuggled into her arms and fell asleep, worn out from performing her part in the ceremony. Hal, his girlfriend Sharon, and Francine sat in the back seat. Butch had announced that he was driving back to Catherine's house with the Lenihans.

Prudence rode back with Tom and Bernice of course. She was grateful for the extra seat in the car, so that they wouldn't have to find a seat for Francine in another car. Needless to say, her mother had been omitted from the invitation. Francine quietly informed her that she was grateful. Once in the car, without thinking, Phoebe spoke her mind.

"Oh, how I wish that we could just go straight home and stay there!"

Her husband looked at her out of the corner of his eye and tried, but did not quite succeed, to extinguish a smile. She knew that in spite of her concerns, he was having a very amusing time watching the crazy antics of his brothers and her cousins.

"Honey, we've been over this often enough," he said patiently. "This is where we pay the piper. And you know your cousins better than I do. I am sure that their behavior is much more . . . controlled than it would have been at a wedding. And the girls looked very nice, didn't they?"

After his last remark, delivered with an almost childish pleasure, he turned his eyes to the road. She noticed that his shoulders were shaking as he tried to control his mirth. Despite all of the explanations and justifications made to her yesterday, she was still ticked off by their behavior. But she couldn't say anything after Rob had told her to let it go. He was the one who had final say. Francine broke into her thoughts.

"Wasn't it nice of your Uncle Bob to buy them all new dresses!" she commented. "That was very generous of him."

"Well, yesterday Uncle Ben and Uncle Bob came presents for all of us too," said Hal.

"Yes, I know," answered Francine. "Trelawney told me that they gave her more books."

Before Phoebe could say anything, Sharon made a remark of her own.

"I've never heard of so many people getting gifts at a christening that wasn't their own," she said, with less innocence in her voice than she was aiming for. "Is it a Protestant custom?"

"No!" said Phoebe forcefully. "What is the Catholic custom?"

"People give pretty cards and checks or savings bonds to start off the baby's college fund, at least that's what I have always seen done," she explained. "And if someone missed the baby shower they might give a small gift. But I've never seen this much fuss before."

"Me neither," said her husband definitively, as if trying to stop the conversation where it was.

Phoebe looked at him curiously.

"Of course, I haven't been to too many christenings," he admitted.

"Well, I have," she said. "And I really have never seen such fuss and bother. And certainly not so much money being thrown around."

"How did you celebrate christenings in the village, Mrs. Everett?" asked Francine.

"It was much simpler," she replied. "We would go to the church and have the baby baptized and then have a picnic on the green. Everyone would bring a hamper and share."

"Did the baby get presents?" she asked.

"Not really," she answered. "People in the village don't have things like college funds because if a child goes to university in England it's free. But it's a chance for family and friends to get together and socialize and fuss over the baby."

"Oh," she said. "Then why are you having this big party?"

"Ask my mother," said her husband Hal. "She wanted to get the family together to socialize too. It's just that everyone had to come from much farther away. She seems to have wanted to make sure that the trip was worth their while."

Phoebe saw her husband give her a sharp glance. She decided not to answer that remark. At this point, it didn't matter anyway. Everything that could be said, had been said, and more than once. And she really didn't want any bad blood between them. Rob had told her to cool it yesterday when she had complained about the shopping spree. At this point all she could do was grin and bear it.

When they arrived at his parents' house they discovered that several cars were already parked in front. Hal drove down to their driveway and they walked up. She could see that the party had already started. A group of her cousins and Hal's brothers was standing there in the yard drinking Mimosas. She clamped her mouth shut. She did not like the idea of drinking alcohol so early in the day.

But saying anything was futile. She had no doubt that it would be pointed out to her that technically, at 12:30, it was now afternoon. Bob came over and put his arm around her.

"Pretty swanky affair, huh sis?" he said cheerfully. "Mother always did know how to throw a good party."

"It's lovely," she said, calmly. "If you'll excuse me, I believe that the baby is hungry."

Bob was off like a shot. He knew what that meant and mere suggestion made him squeamish. Smiling to herself, she went inside with Auntie Anna following right behind. She sat beside her and gave her a sympathetic look.

"It'll all be over soon, lovey," she said softly. "You'll see. David and I never did see such a fuss. But he went over to the hotel last night and gave them what for. Threatened to let me loose on them if they didn't shape up."

"This was what I was trying to avoid with a wedding," she groused.

"Well, you did," she replied. "To a certain extent. Could you imagine what it would have been like if you had been married back in the village? Now remember all the good things that your Catherine has done for you over the past year. It won't hurt to let her have a bit of fun."

"I know," she sighed. "That's what Hal keeps reminding me. And of course, it's not that I'm ungrateful. I'm just a bit embarrassed by the unseemly display of wealth, not to mention the greed."

"Well," she said. "I do believe that Catherine is oblivious to all of that. I have to admit that I'm not very pleased with the behavior of my own children, especially young Mary. She's not as innocent as she's playing it. Liam told her ahead of time about the boys. I'm not too surprised this occurred. She is still really quite young and not to mention rather bit spoiled. And Emmeline and Sylvia were egging her on as well."

"Well," she said. "I discovered about a year ago that their uncles were famous for descending upon the family with 'loot.' Rob and Catherine used to do it too until they moved here. My husband referred to it as guilt giving."

"That's a little cynical," her Auntie commented. "But I suppose that's he's been living with it for most of their lives."

"That's what I can tell," she said. "Well, it looks like this one has decided that it's time for another nap. Wish I could take one."

"If you want," she offered. "I'll make your excuses."

"No," she said slowly. "I'll put her down and go out. Besides, I would really like to spend some time with my own friends. I've been so busy with the children and everything that I haven't had much time for myself lately."

Auntie Anna looked at her sympathetically.

"Are you sure that you'll be able to manage if we bring little Trelawney Rose home to you?" she asked gently.

"I miss her dreadfully," replied Phoebe. "And I won't feel completely settled until she's back. Now that we've found the proper school for her, she'll be no trouble at all."

Auntie Anna looked at her doubtfully.

"Where Trelawney Rose goes, trouble follows, as they say," she answered sagely. "If it's not one thing it's another. And she's at that age, you know."

"What age?" she asked carefully.

"Well, you know, she's having a little bit of a crush now on some lad that doesn't even see her," she said. "Her words, not mine. But it's normal. If you give her a little extra attention, she'll be over it in no time. But she's also missing her Mum and her Papa. She broke down when she saw me, you know."

"I didn't know," she said thoughtfully.

"Well, lovey," said her Auntie. "I'm not one to speak out of turn . . ."

"But you will."

"Of course," she replied with a smile. "Now don't take this the wrong way, but you've been so busy worrying about your cousins' bad behavior that you've missed your sister and her sadness."

"Uncle David won't hold it against me, will he?" she asked anxiously.

"Of course not," she assured her soothingly. "He and Rob have worked it all out. Lewis has the papers, or he will, once Emmeline returns his briefcase, and you all will go to court tomorrow. He will be making the announcement tonight when we go back down to your place after all the guests have left. She knows it but you know how these things work. David and Rob will call the family together and David will say his piece. Even if we're in the states we need to do these things proper. The little one will be home by Christmas."

Phoebe considered these two most recent developments. Of course, she had known that Trelawney had a crush on Topher. It was a little surprising that Auntie Anna knew about it. She had not realized that she was still mooning over him to the degree that she seemed to be. And of course it made sense for her to take one look at Auntie and be reminded of Mum. The resemblance was certainly apparent to her, but she supposed that she was so focused on the baby that it had not impacted her in the same way.

Having Trelawney home for Christmas would be a special treat. No one could give either of them a more precious gift. And once she was home, then it would be easier to watch over her and comfort her when she needed it. Catherine had filled so many of these emotional needs in her sister that she now realized that they would need to reconnect and rebuild some of their sisterly bonds that had frayed.

After she had put down Maisie for her nap in Trelawney's room, she went out into the backyard to greet her guests. Because she had spent time with her cousins yesterday, she was able to feel comfortable approaching her friends from the nursing home and ignoring them. She assumed that they would be relieved anyway.

They were seated with Uncle Charlie who it looked as if Jim had buttonholed into conversation, probably about World War I, Cornwall, or both. Of course knowing her uncle, she was sure that he didn't mind. And after his two hour chess game with Prudence yesterday, he was no doubt happy to have a good excuse to avoid her.

"Well, Phoebe," said Aunt Lottie. "The baby was certainly well-behaved this morning. Why there was scarcely a peep out of her!"

Mrs. Darmstadt nodded in approval.

"Yes," she agreed. "It seems that the infants can go two ways in these things, good as gold or hell on earth."

"Rosemary!" exclaimed Mrs. Kaufman. "How could you say something like that!"

"It's true and you know it, Matilda," replied Aunt Lottie, for once agreeing with her friend. "Infants are very unpredictable at that age. I suppose the little one is sleeping?"

"Yes, she is," answered Phoebe. "She'll be up in an hour or so and you'll all get to see her again."

"That was a lovely christening dress that she wore," said Mrs. Kaufman. "Now you say that your Grandmother made it?"

"Oh, yes," replied Uncle Charlie. "Mother made them for all of her grandchildren and little suits for the boys. You know, Phoebe, Clara has put Johnny's away for any of his boys. If you ever have a son, then we'll be pleased to let you borrow it."

"Thank you, Uncle Charlie," she said. "Aunt Anna has already offered to let us borrow hers. But I suppose that if one of her grandchildren needs it at the same time then it will be a good thing to have it in reserve."

"I can only hope that someday soon, that our Johnny will need it," he said. "He's more than old enough to have married by now and settled in the village as it is. And he should have no trouble finding a bride."

"I'm surprised that he was never betrothed," commented Phoebe.

"I have my wife to blame for that," he said. "No girl had ever been good enough for her Johnny. But after me, he will be paterfamilias someday. It would be a good thing if he were actually a pater himself."

"Well," said Mrs. Darmstadt. "I have a niece who might fit the bill nicely."

Uncle Charlie and Phoebe exchanged an amused look.

"That's very nice of you to offer, Rosemary," he said politely. "But our kind usually marry among our own. It'll be a village girl for him. Perhaps even one of young Mary's older sisters."

"Another family tie," said Phoebe without thinking. "My we do tangle ourselves up then, don't we?"

"Chenoweths are good people," he replied logically. "I was a bit surprised when Liam picked Mary over Gwyneth or Morag. All three are very pretty girls and come from the same good family. I suppose that he thought that the youngest would be the most pliable."

"Well, he was away from home too long if he thought that," said Phoebe laughing. "She's always been the one with the most ginger, and I don't mean the color of her hair."

"She's a pip, that one," he agreed. "But she'll keep the lad in line and give him a run for his money. Think that Trelawney's right about the nipper?"

"It's difficult to say," answered Phoebe. "It could have been one of her pronouncements, or she could have been teasing. It may even have been a little bit of both. Mary certainly her fair share of teasing her when they were in school together back home."

"Now what could she have teased her about?" asked Mrs. Kaufman with a note of concern in her voice. "I was under the impression that you were all very protective of her."

"Maybe teasing is too strong a word for it," amended Phoebe. "But when she was a little girl, Trelawney was full of even more fancies than she is now, if you can believe it. She was also very trusting back then. Mary would trick her into saying things that were likely to get her in trouble with the teachers. She's much less gullible now."

"But still very innocent," said Jim. "And it seems to me that she will always be that way. But her new school is a success, isn't it?"

"Of course, it is," interjected Aunt Lottie. "I could have told you that months ago. You can't go wrong turning your child over to the Sisters of Mercy. And more children today should go to all-girls and all-boys schools. It would keep their minds on their schoolwork."

"Yes, it would!" declared Mrs. Darmstadt. "Now back there in Brooklyn, I went to Our Lady of Wisdom. I would argue that the DW's ran a tighter ship."

"Well, since the DW's never came west, we'll never know if one of their schools would have been better for our Trelawney," replied Aunt Lottie.

"Now, girls," interrupted Mrs. Kaufman in exasperation. "Why don't we find a topic that we can agree on?"

"When pigs fly," muttered Jim to Uncle Charlie.

And so Phoebe's spirits were revived by the familiar and good-natured bickering of the two older women. Once Hal had referred to them as the comic relief in the drama of their lives. And tucked between their humorous repartee, were little gems of wisdom. Mostly, she found that they helped her to keep things in perspective whenever she got too caught up in the more narrow events of daily life with a house full of children.

Looking over, she noticed that Lois was sitting and chatting with Chris and Janet Tucker. Since these guests were also her friends, she excused herself to join them.

"Well, this is a lovely party," said Janet. "Your mother-in-law certainly went all out."

"Not as much as she would have liked to," replied Phoebe. "If she had had her way, it would have been the wedding reception that we never had."

"I'm guessing that coffee hour after the blessing last year didn't count?" asked Lois.

"Not by a long shot," said Phoebe. "This was the compromise. Although looking around it does seem a little silly. Especially since the guest of honor is blithely napping upstairs."

"Don't worry," said Chris. "These things have a tendency to diminish in size as you add more children. I believe that by the time Miriam came along, it was just cake with the grandparents."

"Yes, well, we'll see," said Phoebe, avoiding the issue of more children. "So Lois, tell me. How is Mike doing in New York? Is he coming home for Thanksgiving?"

"He's well," replied Lois. "And no, he won't be here for Thanksgiving. It's too expensive to fly in for the busiest holiday of the year. But he will be back for Christmas. He's looking forward to seeing Trelawney again."

"And she's looking forward to seeing him," said Phoebe. "I believe that they've been exchanging letters."

"Yes, that sounds right," she said. "Of course it's not the same. Last time I spoke with him on the phone he said that he couldn't wait to see his 'little sister' again. I don't think that he will ever be able to thank her enough."

"Well after what he did for her last summer," said Phoebe. "In fact what you both did for us, I would say that that debt has been paid in full."

"Well," she said. "That was a pretty dicey moment that we had there at the theatre trying to get her away from Mrs. Fowler, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I haven't heard much about the Princess these days."

"Neither have we and we don't miss her," answered Phoebe. "Of course she wouldn't be seen in a church if her life depended on it. And none of the relatives present are the least bit inclined to drop in for a visit."

"Can't say that I blame them," commented Lois. "How is Topher doing with the college process? Has he gotten all his applications in?"

"I wouldn't know," said Janet tensely. "He barely speaks to us."

"But don't you have to pay the application fees?" she asked.

"He's taking care of that himself," said Chris. "These days he's making more money than I am with that band of his. He manages his own finances. He even has his own checking account."

"He's going a little overboard, isn't he?" asked Lois. "He's very likely to get a scholarship. He's got five siblings, you're not exactly rolling in dough, he's a genius, and he's the first in his family to go to college. He should focus on his studies."

"Why don't you tell him that," replied Chris bitterly. "In addition to not listening to us, he won't listen to his guidance counselor either. And he hasn't gone near Pastor Jason in months. All he does, from what we can tell, is play with his band and hang out with his new girlfriend, Jeannie."

"Jeannie Jones?" asked Lois in amazement.

"The one and only," said Janet acidly.

"How did he get mixed up with that little tramp?" she asked bluntly.

"She is the new lead singer for the band, which has changed its name to 'Jeannie and the Jets,'" replied Janet tensely. "The twins tell us that she seems to have Topher pretty much under her thumb and he wants to be there."

Lois clearly had not known anything about this.

"I guess that I've lost track of all that sort of stuff now that Mike has graduated," she said. "That girl is bad news from the word go. Thankfully, she was never interested in Mike. Redheads aren't her type. Although from what I've heard, just about every living, breathing male is her type. I'm surprised that Topher would have fallen for her. I would have thought that he had better judgment than that . . . not to mention better taste."

"Well, he's never had a girlfriend before," said Chris. "Maybe it's some kind of belated puppy love. And I guess it's like him to stick with a girl once he took up with her. The mystery is why he took up with her in the first place."

Phoebe had been silent throughout this whole exchange. It suddenly occurred to her that there was another side to this situation that she hadn't fully considered. She had been so concerned with her sister that she had forgotten that Topher's parents might also be broken-hearted. Or that he might be throwing away his future. But if the latter were true, then surely her son Hal would know and have mentioned it.

"Hal says that he still sees him at science club and stage crew," she said slowly. "He won't give him the time of day, but I guess he's still involved in those activities."

"And I sincerely doubt that Jeannie goes to science club meetings," said Lois quickly. And as for stage crew, I'm sure that she is on stage rather than behind the scenes. How was his report card?"

"The usual," said Chris with a note of hope in his voice. "Straight A's. And he still is first in line for valedictorian. Of course, he's so far ahead that it would be nearly impossible for anyone to catch up with him, especially with the college courses that he's been taking. They get weighted more heavily into his average than the high school ones do."

"Well, there you are," said Phoebe with a cheeriness that she didn't feel. "He can't be too far off track. It's always possible that things are being exaggerated by the high school gossips."

"Well Rachel and Rebecca wouldn't gossip about something like this, even Rebecca who has always been jealous of him," replied Janet. "They know how upset we are. Maybe what's going on isn't quite as bad as we thought, but it's still pretty bad."

Phoebe agreed but didn't say so. Looking over at Lois, she could see that she didn't entirely buy it either. Once again she had to wonder if she hadn't pushed him into this. But what else could she have said? She had only told him the truth about her sister. Of course she had known that he was a very sensitive young man. And Catherine had said something earlier about boys being just as bad as girls with their first love.

Looking around, she could see that her cousins and brothers-in-law were engaging in a bit of their own injudicious behavior again. But suddenly, in light of everything that she had just realized about Topher, it didn't seem quite as bad. She quietly excused herself and returned to Auntie Anna's side. Her dear auntie gave her a sympathetic smile and gestured over to Aunt Justine who was approaching the young folk with determination in her step and thunder in her face. Phoebe realized that she did not have to say another word on the subject.

Turning around, she saw that Uncle Alfred was now the center of attention of the kids. Even Rachel and Rebecca were amused by his songs and antics. And naturally, he was eating it all up. When she had first told Hal about him coming, he had grumbled loudly. However, she had pointed out his entertainment value for the children, so he had closed his mouth. Considering everything that she was putting up with this weekend, Uncle Alfred seemed like a minor inconvenience. Besides, he and his ukulele were staying at the hotel at Bob's expense

She looked over at a corner of the yard and noticed that Trelawney, Francine, and Sarah were sitting with their heads close together. She imagined that Trelawney would be happy to be living next-door to Francine again. Elspeth was seated just in front of them, on guard as usual.

It was a reminder that they were about to become a "two dog" family. She would certainly have to have a word with Waldo about that. He had been friendly enough when Elspeth had come over from England, but this was different. And Elspeth had to be with Trelawney. Neither would bear the separation again. It was fortunate that Waldo was a very understanding animal.

Then she caught a glimpse of her husband Hal standing off to the side with Cousin Johnny. She knew that Johnny really hated leaving the village for any reason and his last two trips out were both under the orders of his mother. She could only assume that Uncle Charlie had wanted the company or perhaps was even trying to save him from a week alone with old Aunt Clara.

Watching them, she realized that they were talking about fishing and then remembered that one Johnny's few hobbies was fishing. Since Hal also liked to fish and he was on sabbatical, it was something that they might do together. After the first couple of times out with the kids, they had lost interest. Since he didn't like to go alone, he hadn't been out in over a year.

Tomorrow, he and Rob were golfing with David and Lewis in the late morning. The court papers would no doubt be filed earlier. She knew that she couldn't say anything else about it, but in her mind this was the kind of family bonding that built lasting relationships. But of course, everyone in the family was not like her. But at least the drinking was more low key today.

She was hoping that it would stay that way considering the fact that her friends were present, not to mention all of the children. Tonight if they all wanted to go back to the hotel and "tie one on" it was fine with her. In fact, now that Maisie was baptized, she was willing to just let Catherine have her party and be done with it. In fact, Janet had been very right. It was a lovely party. She might as well enjoy it.

To be continued . . .