1929 (38 page)

“Thank you, Maura. Whatever you said,
whatever you did, thank you so much,” Ava said, squeezing her
tight.

“I dint do a thing, Miss Ava. ‘Cept lose half
a day’s wages to come help ye bring yer things to me house. Yer
still movin’ in with me, are ye not?” she asked, breaking Ava’s
hold on her neck. Her face was stern but her eyes smiled, already
knowing. Ava closed the door and turned to Maura, smiling.

“No, Maura. I won’t be leaving, after
all.”

“Well, imagine that. Ye seemed pretty intent
on leavin’ last week. Twas it some Christmas miracle that changed
your mind perhaps?” she teased.

“Something like that. It was whatever you
said to him on the way to the church, Maura. It completely changed
his attitude and outlook, and last night he was so sweet, he was
more himself and he explained–”

“Hold on, Miss Ava,” she said, waving her
hand to hush her. “First of all, I don’t believe I had much to do
with it a’tall. Tis my belief that it was what happened before and
after my talking that brought about the change.”

“No, Maura–”

“I’m not finished,” she interrupted. “Lord
Almighty, yer manners, morals and schedule have gone to hell
without me around to look after ye! Now I want ye to tell me all
about it, but first, go get yerself dressed proper and wash yer
face. Ye look like ye just crawled out of bed what with the linen
lines all over your face, and it’s almost noon!” she scolded.

Ava touched her face self-consciously and
admitted she had, in fact, just woken up.

“Go. I’ll put on some coffee.”

Ava huffed her breath impatiently, wanting to
tell her all about the talk with Jonathan, the whole story about
Elyse and thank her a thousand times more. She went to dress
quickly, washed her face and ran a brush through her hair and
fairly ran back out to find Maura sitting at the table with two
mugs.

“How did you make that so fast?” Ava asked,
stunned at the fresh, steaming coffee waiting for her.

“Irish magic,” she said flatly. “Now sit down
and tell me everythin’. I know yer dying to,” she said with joyful
eyes and Ava began her long and animated narrative, including
details about the new building at the end. “Well, Miss Ava, I am
truly glad for ye. I was beginnin’ to worry about the two of ye,”
she said, shaking her head. “But I won’t be takin' any credit, so
stop thankin’ me. Now I need to go see yer friend, Miss Arianna.”
She lifted a bag from the floor that Ava hadn’t noticed her bring
in. “Point me in the right direction, would ye, darlin’?” Ava saw
Maura out, telling her Arianna’s apartment number and hugged her
twice more, making her promise to come back again soon.

A moment later, Arianna opened her door and
Maura held out the tapestry bag. “I dropped by to bring ye some
things, Miss Arianna.” Arianna welcomed her inside and invited her
to sit, curious as to what was in the bag.

∞∞∞

“Hey, Aryl, are we getting together for New
Year’s Eve?” Caleb asked, tearing into his sandwich. The three ate
lunch outside, standing in between a stack of boxes and the
building to block the icy wind.

“I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure there’s work
the next day, at least, I hope they don’t furlough it,” he said,
slightly worried. He looked around at the men who broke for lunch,
and their numbers seemed to be dwindling.

“Well, we always spend New Year’s Eve
together,” Caleb reminded him. “It’s no big deal to lose a little
sleep, is it?”

“Let’s do it at my place,” Jonathan
offered.

“Yeah?” Aryl asked, pleasantly surprised.

“Sure. Why not?” He shrugged. “It won’t be a
big ordeal, but we can have a few drinks, listen to the radio.”

“Are there any more drinks to be had?” Aryl
asked.

“I have a full bottle of brandy at home,”
Jonathan said and smiled. “I guess I hadn’t felt like celebrating
much these last few months.”

“You know what we could do?” Caleb asked
excitedly. “We could have a Charleston dance-off, and we could come
up with a prize for the winning couple.”

“Well, what prize do you want because you and
Arianna always win,” Aryl said sarcastically. “I stopped competing
with you guys a long time ago.”

“Who would judge?” Jonathan asked, liking the
idea even knowing he would lose.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe Shannon and Patrick
would want to come over, too,” Caleb suggested. “Or Ian and
Maura.”

“I don’t know, I only have the one bottle of
brandy and if Maura comes…” Jonathan teased.

“It’s about time to get back, fellas. We can
talk more about this on the way home,” Aryl said, tucking the cloth
that had wrapped his sandwich in his back pocket. “And don’t
forget,” he reminded, “we still need to get together to do an
official cash count. And we need to agree on a place to hide it.
I’m not so sure opening a bank account is the best idea at this
point.”

“Neither do I,” Jonathan added. “But we could
get a safe deposit box. And we could put it in one of the girl’s
names.”

“Good idea,” Aryl said, pointing at him.
“Would you mind looking into that? Hopefully it won’t cost too
much.”

“Well, it may cost a little, but what’s it
worth to protect what we’ve saved and what we want to do?” Jonathan
debated.

“He’s got a point.” Caleb turned to Aryl. “We
need to start protecting this now.”

“Okay. It’s agreed then. And you’ll take care
of that, Jon?” Aryl asked.

“Sure,” Jon said, content to have something
to do toward the venture.

They headed back to their separate work areas
just as a burst of freezing rain fell, lasting only long enough to
pelt their faces painfully and soak their work coats.

∞∞∞

“I brought you some baby items, Miss Arianna.
A few things from when Scottie was a babe, and after I told me
friends and family the happy news at the party, they all sent
something as well.” Maura situated herself on Arianna’s couch and
put the bag between them.

“That was very thoughtful of you, Maura,”
Arianna said as she watched Maura empty the bag. She laid out two
quilted blankets and several cotton swaddling cloths, a half-dozen
sleeping gowns, a pair of blue, handmade, knit booties with a
matching cap, and a dozen cloth diapers that, despite their
thickness, had obviously served their purpose for several babies in
their time. Maura added to the top of the pile two diaper pins.

“It’s not much, but it’s a start,” she said
confidently. “I’ve put the word out and I expect to be bringin’
more things over the next few months. And I know it's borderin’
tackless to do, I should be asked, after all, but I was wonderin’
if it’d be all right if I gave yer baby shower?”

“I would love that, Maura,” she said, moved
by her thoughtfulness. Arianna smiled at her appreciatively. It
hadn’t crossed her mind that she would even have a shower under the
circumstances nor had she begun to think about collecting needed
things for an infant. Arianna sat, staring at the pile on the couch
apprehensively. Maura stood and buttoned her coat.

“I best be leavin’, but I’ll be in touch. You
take care of yerself, Miss Arianna,” she said, smiled and reached
to hug her.

“Thank you, Maura. This is just so sweet of
you.”

“Tis nothin’. I don’t mind a’tall,” she
said.

Arianna closed the door behind her, walked
back to the couch, and stared for a long time at the pile. Despite
all her gratitude for Maura’s generosity, she couldn’t help but
feel sad looking at the pile of used baby clothes. She had never
spent any appreciable amount of time thinking about having a baby,
but she was sure that if she had, she wouldn’t have imagined
welcoming it into the world with so pitiful little to offer it. Her
eyes misted in spite of her efforts not to think about it, and she
felt irritated having promised herself that Caleb wouldn’t come
home to tears yet again. She left the pile of clothes where Maura
set them and went to the kitchen to start dinner.

∞∞∞

“Damn, it’s cold today,” Caleb said,
shivering as he turned up the collar of his coat and pulled his hat
down lower. It didn’t provide much relief; he was soaked through to
his shirt from the brief but heavy rain shower after lunch.

A few blocks from home, something caught his
attention out of the corner of his eye, and he stopped the others.
He stepped a few feet into an alley where transients stood around a
metal can, warming their hands by the fire inside.

“Hey, how’s it goin’?” Caleb nodded to one of
the transients, who grudgingly moved over to let Caleb hold his
hands over the glowing drum. Jonathan and Aryl eyed the scruffy men
warily.

“C’mon, Caleb. Let’s get going,” Jonathan
said, cold and hungry himself, wanting to see Ava and very
uncertain about intruding into the group uninvited.

“Just give me a minute, Jon, my fingers are
numb,” Caleb said, shivering.

“All right,” Jonathan replied, his eyes
flickering over to the destitute souls who lived in this alley.
They met his gaze straight on, and he looked away uncomfortably. He
wished Caleb would hurry. After all, they were close to home, a
place Jonathan was suddenly grateful to have to go to after
spending a few minutes standing near the alternative. He stepped up
to the fire next to Caleb, hoping to hurry him along and saw his
hands, swollen and red with cold.

“My gloves got wet earlier,” Caleb briefly
explained. Jon pulled his off.

“Here. Use mine.”

“No, you need those.” Caleb pushed them
away.

“My pockets are dry. I’ll be fine. We’re
close to home,” he insisted.

Caleb pulled them on, and the three started
for home again.

∞∞∞

“What’s all this?” Caleb asked, looking at
the pile of baby things. He hunched down next to the fire, still
trying to get warm. The hot bath had stopped the shaking, but
hadn’t relieved the cold he felt clear to his bones.

“Those are things Maura brought by today.
Baby things,” Arianna said with uneasiness.

“Really? Well, that was nice of her.” He
moved the blankets aside and held up one of the gowns. “It’s so
tiny. Have you looked at these?” he asked, amused at the miniature
outfits.

“Just when she was taking them out of the
bag,” she called from the kitchen. “Do me a favor and put it all in
the box in the closet, would you?”

He put them away and sat down to dinner.

“What are you smiling at?” she asked,
sounding slightly annoyed from across the table.

“You know, not touching the clothes won’t
make you any less pregnant,” he chuckled, seeing right through her
apprehension.

“Well, I know that,” she snapped. “I just
didn’t have time to put it away is all.”

He was still grinning as he tried to cut the
meat on his plate. The table shook while he sawed at the tough
chunk. Finally he stabbed at it with his fork and tried gnawing off
a bite.

“Sorry,” she said with a huff. Arianna sat
back and crossed her arms.

“No, it’s okay. The potatoes look good.”

“I’m still learning,” she reminded him,
insulted by the strained faces he was making as he struggled to
chew.

“I know. It’ll get better,” he reassured and
swallowed the lump of charred meat. “It’s tricky to get cheap beef
tender.”

She glared at him. “It’s pork.”

December 30th 1929

The following Monday, Arianna went downstairs
and knocked on Shannon’s door. She opened it with a smile and
invited Arianna in.

“What’s the occasion, Arianna?”

“Well, Shannon, several weeks ago you offered
to help teach us things that we never had to do until we came here.
Ava and Claire have caught on pretty well, but I was wondering if
you would help me. I promise to pay attention this time.”

“Why, I’d love to. What is it that yer havin’
a hard time with?”

“Well, laundry, cleaning in general, cooking,
making bread . . . um, everything, really.”

Shannon suppressed a laugh.

“Why don’t we just start at the beginning?”
Shannon suggested. “I’m gettin’ ready to start some bread and then
some laundry. You can help me a bit, then we'll go up to yer place,
and I’ll help you a bit. You’ll get the hang of it, don’t
worry.”

Arianna smiled gratefully and turned to the
bedroom when she heard a baby’s cry. “That’s Roan, up from his nap.
I'll just go get him and then make us some tea.”

She emerged a moment later with a tiny bundle
and laid him on the couch to change his diaper.

“How old is it?” Arianna asked over Roan’s
wailing.

“He’s three months now,” she replied as she
quickly changed him out of the wet diaper and rolled it up. “Would
you do me a favor and put this out on the fire escape? There’s a
bucket, just drop it in.”

Arianna hesitated, took it between her finger
and thumb, and ran it over to the window. “That’s a lot of stink
for something so small,” she commented as she tossed it out into
the bucket.

Roan settled down, and Arianna watched
Shannon as she slipped off the cotton sleeper and slipped another
clean, dry one on with hardly any effort.

“Can I see it?” Arianna asked, sitting down
on the couch by the baby’s head.

“See what?”

“The . . . your . . . it,” Arianna stammered,
pointing to the baby.

“His name is Roan, and yes, you can see
him.”

She swaddled him quickly and scooped him up.
Holding him out to Arianna, she could tell she had no idea how to
hold a baby. She positioned her arms and then put Roan in them.

“I guess I better practice this, too,”
Arianna said aloud to herself.

“Are you expectin’?” Shannon asked in a
neutral tone, knowing if she was, it would be a bittersweet event.
It always was in neighborhoods like this.