What Family Means Part 23

"Hi, Daddy."

"Hey, baby."

He shrugged out of his coat. "I'll bet you're wondering why I need to talk to you so badly."

"Not really. I imagine it has something to do with me and Jesse?"

"You got it. Where's your mother?"

Dad could never be away from Mom for very long.

"In her studio."

"Let me go say h.e.l.lo and then we'll sit down. Do you mind making us some tea?"

"Not at all, Daddy."

Angie measured out the jasmine tea that was her father's favorite. Will came back into the room just as she was pouring the boiling water over the infusers.

He sat at the kitchen counter. Angie walked around and sat next to him.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Angie, your life is yours. You know how I feel about that. And I like Jesse-he's a good man." Will paused and took a sip of the hot tea. "But I also know that you two will work it out. This is what marriage is all about."

"Dad, please." First Mom, now Dad. She'd had enough of this. She was thirty-five, not fifteen.

"Hear me out, baby girl. Your mother and I were in somewhat similar circ.u.mstances, oh-" he looked up at the wall and stroked his chin "-about thirty-six years ago."

"I know, Mom told me. She's never really hidden it from us-the boys and I noticed years ago that your anniversary date and my birthday are awfully close. I just never put it together until Mom told me the whole story at the cafe."

"Yes, they are." Will smiled at Angie, and she felt the intensity of his love in every word. "I've never held this against your mother, Angie, or I've tried not to, but the fact that I didn't get to share the pregnancy with her, or be there for your birth, well..." He shook his head. "I wish I'd been given a choice. That's all."

"You would've married Mom right away?"

"Of course. And I would've been there for her. With With her. What if she'd died? Or you hadn't made it? How would I have felt then, after the fact?" her. What if she'd died? Or you hadn't made it? How would I have felt then, after the fact?"

Angie stared at her father. He'd never talked to her about this before and she felt uneasy. It seemed too personal, too private.

"Dad, all's well that ends well. You and Mom got married. You raised us. I never knew any differently until I was an adult, and then I could handle it. The most important thing is that you two stayed together."

"Honey, I'm not complaining. I'm just saying it would've been nice if I'd been given an option to be a partic.i.p.ant in your life from the get-go. For me, for you and for your mom."

"But Mom knows you love her. You always have."

"Of course she does. But love isn't just about knowing, Angie. It's about doing."

Her father drank more of his tea and drummed his fingers on the table. "If you love or have ever loved Jesse, if you love the baby growing inside you, you have to give it all a chance. And that starts with telling Jesse. Now. Now."

Angie blinked. "I'm supposed to meet him in Paris. I'll tell him there."

"You handle it how you want, sweetheart, but handle it. Don't put it off. If you're not going to Paris in the next few days, you have to tell him now."

Angie didn't agree with her father. She thought it was best to tell Jesse in person. But this wasn't the time to argue about it.

She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, Dad. I know this wasn't easy for you."

He nodded and stared down at his mug. "I just want you to give it all all a chance, Angie." a chance, Angie."

Present Day Buffalo, New York Debra THE NEXT MORNING came too quickly. Will insisted on going to work, even though he'd barely made it home the night before.

After Will left, I spent most of the morning working in the studio.

Until Angie called me from her cell. But she was here in the house, wasn't she?

"Mom! Grandma's having a hard time breathing."

Angie had obviously gone back to the cottage to see Vi.

I threw down the phone and ran out the back kitchen door toward the cottage.

I took the shortest route across the lawn.

It wasn't shoveled like the pathway. I had to lift my knees high to get through the deep snow.

My slippers weren't meant for snowshoeing but there wasn't time to change into boots.

Rose barked wildly, running ahead to get to the cottage. Her barks spiked my alarm as she always seemed to sense when Vi wasn't doing well.

Once I reached the cottage and opened the door, I saw that Vi was hunched over on the couch, gasping for air. Angie was ma.s.saging her back, cooing to her.

"It's okay, Grandma. Help's coming. Mom's here."

"Hey, Vi. What's going on?"

I knelt beside her but she only spared me a glance. She needed all her energy to get oxygen.

"Tight...chest...hurts."

"Hang on."

I went into her kitchen and got her emergency meds, then grabbed the oxygen tank from the pantry.

"Let's get you hooked up."

Angie continued to stroke Vi's back while I got her on the oxygen and gave her the drugs I'd been instructed to.

"You'll feel better soon."

Even as I said it, Vi's complexion pinked up.

She always refused any outside help except for me and Will. A permanent care facility could've been an option but not for Will's mother. Or for us. Not as long as we could take care of her.

When her breathing evened out and she was more relaxed, leaning back on the couch, I spoke.

"Vi, this is why it's important to use the oxygen and take your meds each day. It'll prevent these crises."

She waved her hand in front of her face.

"It doesn't matter. I'm going to die sooner than later."

"Grandma!" Angie hated Vi's talk of death. But Vi had claimed she'd be joining her dear departed husband "soon" for the past thirty-six years, since his death.

"Vi, we're all going to die. But there's no need to go out before we have to or with this kind of suffering."

Her gaze locked on mine. I saw her pain, her frustration. She'd always been the maestro, orchestrating her own life-or at least thought she was. Now even the illusion of control was gone.

"Just let me lie here. If the good Lord wants me, He can take me now."

Gently I lifted her feet and swung her around so she could lie full-length on the couch. I reached over her and tugged down the afghan I'd knitted her, placing it around her. The shades of browns and purples accented her pallor but also brought out the amber flecks in her brown eyes.

"The good Lord isn't taking you anywhere right now," I said briskly as I tucked the edge of the blanket under the sofa cus.h.i.+ons.

"You don't know that."

"No, I don't. But you're looking a heck of a lot better than you did fifteen minutes ago."

Vi sniffed and rolled onto her side. "Where's the remote? It's time for my show."

Yes, she was definitely feeling better.

"Here, Grandma."

"I'll make you some tea," I said.

I went into her kitchen and made enough tea for all three of us. Vi needed to come over to our house and stay there. But she'd fight me on it. I decided to wait and have Will tell her instead.

Vi's days were numbered, and I tried to remind myself that it was no different for any of us. But I couldn't lie. Her doctor had told us a year ago that this time would come, when the congestive heart failure she'd suffered for so long would attack with a vengeance.

And her eighty-five-year-old body wouldn't be able to fend it off.

As we sat there and sipped tea and tried to help Vi get some down, I mused that my own mother was the same age but appeared twenty years younger. Yet my mother never spent much time with us. Her interest in her grandchildren was fleeting at best.

And here Vi, who'd fought tooth and nail to keep Will and me apart, had become an integral part of our family.

Once I felt she'd come through the worst of her episode, I left Angie with Vi and went back to the house to call Will.

"Your mother had a spell, honey."

"How bad was it?"

"She's okay now, but it was scary for all of us. Thank G.o.d Angie was over there."

I heard his sigh, felt the heaviness in his heart.

"We're lucky we've had her this long," he said.

"Yes, we are. But it doesn't make this any easier."

"Do you think we should take her to the doctor?"

"I'm going to call him now. He said he'd be willing to come out here if we ever need him, but honestly, I'm pretty sure we're okay. He's not going to tell us anything different, and I followed all his instructions."

"Yeah, well, thanks for doing this, honey. Do you want me to come home now?"

What he was really asking me was, "Will my mother still be alive when I get there?"

"No, I think she's fine now. You may want to call her in a bit." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"What aren't you telling me, babe?"

"Will, she needs to come live with us. Even the cottage is too far away. If Angie hadn't been there, she could have died."

The act of uttering those words made my heart beat faster. In some ways, I thought I was detached from Vi, despite our years of mending fences. But she was Will's mother. And she'd been more of a mother to me than my own.

"Can you and Angie get her to the house now?"

"Honey, you know your mama. She's not going to come over here unless you're the one calling the shots. It's not a problem. Angie and I will sit with her through the day, and you can bring her over tonight."

"All right." His business tone was back in place. The news had scared him, but we'd both known for a while that this time was coming.

"See you later, honey."

"Bye."

What I didn't want to talk about over the phone was the obvious. Anytime in the past when Vi had a spell like this, she'd called the house or my cell phone immediately.

She hadn't this time. If Angie hadn't walked over to watch the soap with Vi, it could have been a different day altogether.

My fingers itched to knit. I needed the rhythm of the needles and yarn between my fingers to soothe my racing mind. If I wasn't calm, I wouldn't be able to keep Violet comfortable and at ease.

And Angie had to be kept calm, too.

I changed my wet socks and sweatpants and put on my favorite comfort socks with jeans. I'd knitted the socks several years back, and the cashmere yarn was soft against my feet. It was not politically correct to buy cashmere these days, because of the dust clouds caused by those huge herds of goats in China. So I was glad I made the socks guilt-free when I did.

With Will's sweater and more yarn stuffed into my tote bag, along with some tuna sandwiches I'd quickly made, I headed back to Vi's.

The snow sparkled under the sun. As bright as the sun looked, it didn't warm up the temperature, which had stayed well below freezing for over a week. We were having a rough end of winter.