I was back under the Chrysler the next day. Joanie had spent the night but I was a gentleman like I said I'd be. She had wandered over to Emma's house to visit with her for a spell and Al was in his office. I heard a noise next to the car and looked to see someone settling onto the floor of the shop. I rolled out to see Buck looking real serious at me. I glanced at the clock and decided it was a good time to knock off for lunch. Buck followed me to my apartment and sat down with a bottle of pop and a heavy sigh.
"So, what's up?" I asked.
He was quiet for a bit and I almost was beginning to think he hadn't heard me or wasn't going to answer.
"Carol's pregnant," he said at last and it seemed for a moment that the air had left the room. I guess they had been together a long enough time but something about Carol always made me think that they hadn't done it yet but there isn't any other way that babies are made so I guess I was wrong. I couldn't think of a single thing to say. Well, the first thought I had was to say I was sorry but I was able to stop myself. I just stayed quiet in case he had more to say. He didn't
"Are you going to marry her?" I asked finally.
"I want to," he said, "I wanted to before. I do love her, you know. But I think she's mad at me. I don't even know why but I'm pretty sure she is and I don't know if she'd say yes at this point."
"You could talk to her," I offered, "With Joanie, it seems every time I think there's something wrong or I've made her mad or something, we talk and everything is fine. Or maybe she's upset because you haven't asked her yet."
"You think that's what it might be?" he asked and I can't believe he hadn't thought of that before. He was usually a pretty perceptive guy.
"I think she was expecting a ring right around the end of school," I answered, "You've been dating, what…two years or something like that?"
He nodded.
"You're together that long, you love her, she loves you," I said, "We just watched Kid and Lou get married. She was probably thinking that she wouldn't have to worry about finding herself in this position, that she'd be hitched before she got knocked up."
He was quiet as he thought it over. He knew he should have picked up on all that himself and I think he felt bad. I think he may have said something dumb when she told him as well but that would just be a normal guy thing to do. Sometimes we're just not capable of saying the right or even intelligent thing. Most times women take pity on our stupidity but even the best girl will get mad once in a while, especially when she's scared herself.
"So," I started, "You're going to be a daddy?"
He sighed and looked like a deer caught in high beams. I felt for him. I knew I wanted to be with Joanie forever but we never even talked about someday having kids and we surely were working to avoid it at that time. I wasn't sure I could've handled it at that age. I think Buck was more mature than I was though so I think I was surprised by how scared he looked right then. I didn't understand until much later when my first child was on its way. Nothing ever really makes a man feel like he's really ready to be a father and especially for those of us who never really had one.
"I'm not sure I can do it, Jimmy," he said, "What do I know about being someone's dad? What if I'm like mine?"
"It's not in you to be like him," I said, "It's just not. Besides, I guess you'll just follow the same example we all will when the time comes for us-Al. I mean, look at Kid. He's raising Theresa like she's his own and he don't know nothing about being a parent but beating the crap out of someone, same as you. He's got all the patience in the world for that girl though."
"What if I can't do that?" he asked and he was really scared. I don't think I'd ever seen Buck scared like that.
"You won't be doing it alone," I tried to reassure him, "You got us and Lou and Emma and Al and well, the kid will have a mom too. I'll bet Carol's going to be a great mom."
It's funny, we'd all known Carol for a while and you'd think we would've really known her by then but she was a real elusive sort of person. But I did mean what I said. I could see her with a kid.
"Yeah?" he asked, "You think so?"
"Sure," I said, "We've never failed each other before."
We walked back down the stairs so I could get back under that damned Chrysler that had been giving me fits.
"You'd better get her to the church or something real fast though," I said before Buck walked off. "As it is, most folks can count to nine and unless that's a real small baby, you're going to have a hard time convincing people it came early."
Buck smiled and that felt good. He normally went to Ike with problems and I was sure he had already. Ike had been looking like he had a pretty heavy load to bear so I guessed that was it. I know something like this seems like a crisis at the time but there's lots worse things that could've happened. Really he'd have married her anyway; he was just scared of being as bad of a husband as his dad and was dragging his feet. He didn't need to worry, Buck had a gentle soul and I know there's probably some out there who watch their mom get beat and think that's how you ought to treat a woman. Most of us I think take the opposite view. I know I would have chopped off my own arms before I would lay a hand on a woman in anger. I've been mad and I know I've yelled at Joanie and other women too but I would never, ever strike one. No way Buck could turn into his dad, he just has too big of a heart.
I finally got that Chrysler up and running and was about to move onto a Ford that was needing some new brakes. It wouldn't be that hard a fix and I figured I might even get a chance to change the oil in Joanie's 'Vette before I quit for the day. She hadn't said anything but I noticed that it was nearing time and there's a lot of maintenance that's not as necessary on a car as long as you keep good oil in her. I couldn't chance that her engine would give out on her while she was driving home some night or something.
I had just set to work on the Ford when Ike walked in still looking like he was carting an elephant on his back.
"Hey Ike," I said smiling, "You just missed Buck."
He looked up at me with his eyebrows raised.
"Yeah," I said, "I think he's heading off to see about a wedding."
Ike looked so relieved I thought he might just pass out. I know he felt he couldn't betray a confidence but it had to have been hard to carry that alone.
"So when do I get an invite to your wedding?" I asked.
He looked down at his feet and I thought he still hadn't asked her.
"Next month," he said quietly. I think I was the first besides Ike and Annie themselves to get the news. This was turning into a happy day all around. Of course it would figure that Buck and Ike would get engaged on the same day. Like I said, they were like twins or something-but the kind that don't look alike.
Any thoughts I had of spending a quiet evening with just me and my girl died the second she heard there was two weddings coming up and a baby too. It's funny 'cause she spent so much time trying to prove she could hang with the men in school and someday a career and stuff like that but a wedding or a baby would set her squealing just like any girl. I loved it about her.
Buck brought Carol over to Emma's where we was all having dinner. I think poor Carol was scared of how we'd react. You know some girls will try to get pregnant to trap a guy into marrying her. That thought never crossed my mind about Carol. I might not've known a lot about the girl but she wasn't the type to do that. Besides, if she forced his hand it was just to get him to do what he really wanted to do but was too scared. Carol walked in so uncertain and I felt bad for her. Us guys weren't mad at her but I knew that was only part of her fear. She thought Emma and Joanie might judge her. Joanie coming from where she did sort of seemed to folks from the neighborhood like she might be a better person than we were. But Joanie was the one to rush to the door and throw her arms around Carol.
"Oh Carol," she said, "I am so happy for you! How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess," Carol answered like she wasn't sure what to do.
"That's good," Joanie just went on in that way she had of glossing over when people weren't sure about how to act until they were comfortable. "I've heard the first few months are the hardest so if you feel okay now it should be easier on you. You know between you and Buck, you're going to have the most beautiful baby ever."
Carol finally smiled and relaxed and the rest of us were able to congratulate her. I think Emma was a little unhappy with Buck for his lack of restraint where sex was concerned or maybe for having too much restraint where proposing had been concerned but she soon was in on the happy preparations.
Things was going pretty good for a while. Everyone was eating and talking about weddings and babies and things seemed happy until Carol just started crying out of nowhere. I know women get emotional when they're pregnant but this was really out of the blue.
Buck ran right over to her. I felt for him, seeing your girl cry is tough. It took a minute for her to stop crying enough to talk.
"I-I told m-my parents about th-the baby," she said trying to get words out between her tears. "I can't go home again."
The last words were barely a whisper.
"But we're getting married," Buck said and I knew he was kicking himself for not asking her sooner. "It's me they should be mad at and I'm making in right. I know I took too long but I'm going to make it right."
"They said that if you can get me pregnant," Carol choked out, "then you can take care of me."
No one knew exactly what to do right then but Joanie spoke up.
"Well," she said, "There's got to be a solution. Let's see…Buck, you were going to look at an apartment tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," he said, "But it's going to take some time to get the marriage license around."
"So we just need to find a place for Carol to be for another week or two at the most," Joanie said matter of factly. "That can't be too hard."
"I have plenty of space right here," Emma piped up, "If I can't use it to help out one of you kids then what good is it?"
Joanie hugged Carol.
"See, all settled," she said.
Carol only nodded. I know she had counted on more support from her folks but in that situation, they acted pretty normal. I don't agree with it in the slightest but that was how things was back then.
Joanie leaned in real close and talked soft so no one else would hear but I still did and I know Buck did too because he wasn't leaving Carol's side. "It's going to be okay, Carol," Joanie told her, "You'll see when you are a married woman rocking your beautiful baby to sleep in your own apartment with your husband nearby, you'll see that things worked out just fine."
I think that made Buck feel a whole lot better. The party sort of fell apart at that point. Kid and Lou had to get Theresa home so she could get to bed. Ike said he needed to be getting Annie home and I think Buck just wanted to sit quiet with Carol for a while and make sure she was alright. Billy hadn't even been there. He was on a date with Mary Lou.
Joanie and I walked back to the garage holding hands. I figured she'd be heading for home right away but she started inside.
"Won't your folks be getting worried?" I asked though I didn't ask out of a fear that they wouldn't let me see her. I really liked Mr. and Mrs. Cohen and I didn't want them upset. "You haven't been home since sometime yesterday."
"I told them I wouldn't be back for a while," she said, "They trust me not to do anything too stupid and I called and talked to mom this afternoon from Emma's. It's a beautiful night and I want to sit and have a beer with my boyfriend."
I wasn't going to argue with what she wanted because I couldn't think of anything that sounded better than sitting a spell with my girl and it was a nice night. We sat for a while and talked about what an eventful day it had been. I started thinking she was maybe a little sad that she had to wait so long for the things the other girls were getting in their lives.
"You know you'll be married someday too," I said, "And you'll have babies too if you want them."
She snuggled into my chest a little tighter and I knew I had understood what was beneath her words.
"I know," she said, "I guess I know that if I don't go to school first then I won't ever. It's so hard to do that with kids and a household. But it's hard to feel so behind everyone else too. Besides, it would be presumptuous of me to think I could just say the word and be married right now."
"Actually," I said, "You're running this whole show. I'd take a knee right now and ask you and have a ring on your finger as soon as the stores open tomorrow if that's what you wanted. Or I can wait. As long as I have you forever, I don't care about the other stuff so much."
"Well now I am certain I love you James," she said laughing and I knew she wasn't laughing at me but just because she was that happy. The night was cooler than it had been but summer gets like that in Michigan. You might have a week or two of ninety degree days and then all of a sudden it's getting into the fifties at night and fifty degrees feels really cold after not getting below seventy for a spell. Joanie was chilly and I knew that an afghan wasn't going to warm her up enough so we went to my place and she stayed the night there and I found out she had gotten over being freaked out about sex. She was some woman, my Joanie.
Well hello again dear, sweet, precious readers. So first of all, I don't think there's really anything in the chapter that needs footnoting except to say that I don't know how long it took to get a marriage license in 1960. I know it processes at a decent speed now but even once it's processed and approved, you have to wait 3 days from approval for the license to be valid and then you have like a month to use it. But I am thinking if a person went down in person (like you had to then because there was no internet) that it might go more quickly.
I felt a little bad for Buck because even though he's a sweet guy, he is just a guy and probably was scared out of his wits. But I think it's good that the happy couples are all getting hitched...that's how it usually went back then. Graduate and then marry almost that fast. And some people did get married because they had to although, like I said in the story, Buck really cares for carol and would have married her anyway. Oh and for my non-US readers, we are still on fahrenheit here so 90 is hot, yes but not deadly and 50 is in fact chilly when it hits in the summer. Although things being relative, 50 when it comes in the spring feels downright balmy.
So, as always my fine furry friends, let me know what you think...I have so much left to do within this little story before it is done and Oh the places it will go. Anyone have a guess the things that will happen? Anyone a 20th century history buff and want to inject something in that maybe I hadn't considered? I may or may not be able to fulfill requests like that as my muses sometimes have a mind of their own. As it is, the little devils have already written the final chapters for me but getting from point A to point B is still a journey to unfold. Kisses!-J