Chapter 1.13
By the time the boys graduated from high school, Tom was two years into full-time college himself at West Chester University. Wells had been reelected to the governorship and no reporter had yet discovered Max’s existence. Wells was sending Max Christmas and Birthday cards, and calling every three or four months to be fatherly. He asked Max if they could have a meeting about every other time, and Max always said no. Max was afraid that somehow it would ruin the family dynamics that suited him just fine.
Max was heading to Princeton next year to begin premed with the intention of eventually becoming a psychiatrist. Wells would pay for as much education as Max wanted, wherever he wanted it, and Max saw no ethical problem with spending lots and lots of Wells money. It all seemed fair to him. He knew that someday they would meet and probably become friends. Max just wasn’t ready yet.
Josh intended to go to Temple, mostly to play baseball. He still had no career plans other that a vague hope that he might become a professional ballplayer somehow, but on graduation day, Tom and Elaine found out that there was going to have to be a change in plans.
Juliet and Marvin sat with Tom and Elaine in the football field bleachers at the graduation ceremony. Juliet was forty pounds thinner that she was when they’d had the fight about Mitch. Mitch was released from prison at the beginning of the boys’ senior year with new contacts in the world of stolen goods and by Valentine’s Day he succeeded in getting himself killed in a fight over the proceeds from a stolen Winnebago. Strangely enough, after that Juliet settled down considerably and taught Winnie to knit, and took Josh fishing just like his mother used to do. At the age of eighteen, he had the patience to enjoy it. Marvin still spent every word as though it cost him a day of labor to produce it. Maybe it did, because he’d had two small strokes, and the next would probably be his last.
After the ceremony everyone, graduates, parents, and general well-wishers searched for each other in the field, and everywhere within a half-mile radius. Tom posted Elaine to stand guard over Juliet and Marvin by the football refreshment stand and ten minutes later came back with Josh in tow.
“Congratulations, Josh,” said Elaine. “I am so proud of you.” She gave him a big hug, and then so did Juliet. Marvin shook his hand and said, “Never take a wooden nickel.”
“Five words,” said Josh. “I really rate.”
“Couldn’t you find Max?” Elaine asked Tom.
“I looked everywhere,” he said. “I’ll have to go try again.”
“Wait a minute, Dad,” said Josh.
“How about Winnie?” Elaine said. “I guess she’s with her parents. I’d like to see her,” she added.
“She’s telling her parents the same thing that I’m about to tell you,” said Josh.
“What’s that?” said Tom.
Josh looked at the ground and shuffled his feet. “What?” said Tom again. “I’ve got to go looking for Max.”
“I saw him,” said Josh. “He was over by the fence talking to some guy.”
Elaine looked over where Josh pointed and was able to make out Max in the crowd. And then she saw that the guy he was talking to was David Wells.
She put her hand on Tom’s arm and showed him where to look. “It looks like Dave wanted to see his son graduate,” she whispered.
“Good,” said Tom. “One more hurdle crossed. I hope they get along.”
“So do I, actually,” said Elaine. “It’s time.”
“Should we go over there and shake hands, do you think?”
“No. I think this meeting should be only for the two of them.”
“OK, Josh what were you going to tell us?” Tom asked. Josh kicked the dirt at his feet, and cleared his throat several times.
Elaine got the sensation that something serious was on Josh’s mind. “What is it honey?” she asked kindly.
Josh took a deep breath and looked up at both of them, and said, “OK. Here’s the thing. Remember that box of condoms with the holes in them?”
Tom shook his head and then started to laugh. Elaine shook her head in unison. They were becoming as married people often do, moving in synch. Elaine said, “Does she want to marry you?”
“Yes,” he said.
“Yippee,” said Elaine. “I’m going to be a grandmother. I hope it’s a girl.”
“What about your schooling?” asked Juliet.
“I’m not going,” said Josh. “I’m going to have to get a job.”
“I’ve got you covered there,” said Elaine. “Excellent.”
“I wish your mother was here to see this,” said Tom.
“Me too,” said Josh. “No offense, Elaine.”
“None taken,” she said.
Josh and Winnie were married at the end of June. Winnie worked in the office of a medical practice until she prematurely went into labor in October. It was a beautiful breezy sunny day when Josh got the call at Webster’s Gardens, where he was rapidly learning the business, and enjoying it. He never would have been happy indoors all day anyway. He answered his cell phone on the back of a flatbed delivering balled Kousa Dogwoods and Japanese Maples.
“Josh,” said Winnie. “I’m at the doctor’s office.”
“Yes,” he said. “Isn’t that where you’re supposed to be?”
“No. I mean yes. My water broke. The baby’s coming.”
Goosebumps went up Josh’s spine and then all the way over his scalp. “Now? Where do I go?” He started talking faster and faster. “It’s not supposed to happen for another month. Is the baby going to be all right?”
“Come here to take me over to the hospital,” she said. “You don’t have to hurry.”
“On my way,” he said. He jumped off the truck and yelled, “We’re having a baby,” to the summer kids that were making room for the new stock. He ran as fast as he’d ever run to find Elaine in the greenhouses.
When he found her he said, “Winnie’s having the baby. I’m on my way to take her to the hospital. Tell Dad.”
“Wait. I’m coming with you,” Elaine said. “You’re too excited to drive.”
Winnie was calmly reading a magazine in the waiting room at her doctor’s office. Elaine lingered by the door and watched Josh go to her. “Come on. Are you all right? Does it hurt much yet? Oh my God, I can’t believe it’s happening already. It’s not good for the baby to be early, is it? Jesus,” he said all in a rush before she could respond to any of it.
“Hi Honey,” Winnie said, smiling. “We’re going to have a baby.”
A nurse came over and said, “Mr. Greenwood, Winifred needs to go to the hospital, but first babies usually don’t come quickly. Take your time. Easy does it.”
Josh helped Winnie get her swollen body out of the chair, and Elaine came over to help. “I can walk,” she said. “I’m not disabled. Just pregnant.”
“That’s it,” said the nurse. “Dr. March will be over in a while. You just get settled in.”
When Winnie was settled into a birthing room at the hospital a nurse came in to check her. Elaine went out into the hall to give her some privacy. When she went back into the room Winnie let out a loud groan. Her contractions were getting stronger. Josh said, “The nurse said that she’s already dilated six centimeters.”
Winnie said, “I called my parents. They’ll be here in two hours. They both take the train into Philly for work.”
Elaine sat on the bed with her and said, “I called Tom too. He’ll be here soon.”
“Did you call Max at school?” said Josh.
“I left a message on his voice mail.” Elaine said. “How are you doing sweetie?” she asked Winnie.
“Good,” said Winnie. “It’s not as bad as I was afraid of. At least not yet.”
“You were in labor for a while before your water broke, weren’t you?” asked Elaine.
“I don’t know. My stomach got hard and soft and hard and soft, but it wasn’t what I expe
cted labor pains to be.”
“You’re one of the lucky ones,” Elaine said. “I had a friend who went like that.”
“Did you have a hard time with Max?” Winnie asked. A contraction began and Elaine waited for it to pass before she answered.
“He was a C-section,” Elaine said. “He tried to get born feet first and it didn’t work.”
For an hour Elaine and Josh took turns letting Winnie squeeze their hands and rubbing her back when the contractions came. Josh paced the room a lot in between his turns. He stroked Winnie’s hair away from her forehead, and kissed the top of her head during every contraction. “Make noise if it helps,” he said. “Who cares if anyone hears you? You’re entitled.”
“I feel like I have to push,” Winnie said.
“I don’t think it’s time to push yet, sweetie,” said Elaine. Josh was already gone, looking for a nurse.
He was back with a nurse in a few minutes. Coming through the door, she was saying to him, “I’ll see, but it’s too soon.”
The nurse checked Winnie, and said to Josh, “Uh oh. I see the top of a head showing. The baby has blond hair. Take a look.” Then she was gone and within a minute a whole team of people in green scrubs came pouring into the room. The bed was converted into a delivery table in a flash and one of the women in green put her hand on Winnie’s cheek and said, “I’m Doctor Gibson. Dr. March seems to be on his way, but I guess your little one is going to beat him.”
Winnie made a noise that was indecipherable.
“Should I stay?” said Elaine.
“Are you grandma?” said Dr. Gibson.
“Yes,” said Elaine.
“Then you can stay if you want to. Do you want to stay with your wife up there, or watch the excitement down here,” she asked Josh.
He looked at Winnie to see if she had a preference but she was in her own world at that moment. She was starting to push.
An inch of the head emerged. “OK. Let’s wait for the next contraction and push into the middle of it,” said Dr. Gibson. “We’re going to have a baby in a few minutes.”
Winnie rested until the next contraction began and Dr. Gibson said, “OK, give me a good hard push.”
She grabbed the rails on the bed and two nurses leaned on her legs, and she pushed. Josh put his arm around her shoulders, but Elaine could see that Winnie wasn’t aware of him. Three-quarters of the head was out.
Elaine was thrilled. She’d had a baby once, but she had never seen one be born.
“Come here,” the doctor said to Josh. He obeyed and she positioned him beside her.
“OK. Another good push,” she told Winnie, who had only gotten about sixty seconds of rest.
And just like that the majority of the baby was born. Elaine could see the back of its head, and most of its back. Elaine watched, fascinated, as in one fluid continuous movement the doctor slid an arm under it as it emerged, pulled it the rest of the way out, and turned it over. “It’s a boy,” she said. “A little one.” A nurse, or maybe a female pediatrician, Elaine couldn’t tell, immediately took him.
Dr, Gibson guided Josh through cutting the cord in a rush. Elaine was so enthralled by what she was watching that it took her a minute to realize that there was a new noise in the room. The baby was crying. Another person had joined the universe, and he had a voice.
“Can I see him?” Winnie said, weakly.
“We need to take care of him some first, sweetie,” said Dr. Gibson.
The lady with the baby took him to a station by the back wall and said over her shoulder, “three pounds, twelve ounces.” A group of people did tests on him while Dr. Gibson relieved Winnie of the placenta. That part of the process was not romantic. When one of the green ladies brought the baby back, he was clean and dressed and wearing a blue stretchy hat. “He’s fine,” she said, “Just tiny. You can hold him for five minutes, but then we need to put him in an incubator.” By then Winnie was tucked nicely into bed, with her legs back together. Elaine was amazed by the efficiency of the whole operation.
Winnie held the baby with Josh leaning over her and they both soaked in every curve and wrinkle of his face. Elaine watched them getting acquainted with their new son. The new parents had forgotten about her, which was fine. She felt that it was a great privilege to be a forgotten witness.
“Does he have a name?” Dr. Gibson asked.
“He’s Jeremy Thomas Greenwood,” said Winnie with an ocean of pride. “Jeremy for my father, and Thomas for my husband’s father.”
“That’s lovely,” said the doctor, and then she left.
Josh said, “I didn’t know if I was going to feel like a father. I’m only nineteen. But I feel like a father already.”
“What does a father feel like?” said Winnie.
“Like,” he hesitated, “like a king.”
They took the baby away. Josh stayed with Winnie while she slept for a while and Elaine went downstairs to wait for Tom by the entrance.
She saw him coming across the parking lot. “How’s she holding up?” he asked when he got close. “You have a grandson old man,” she said.
He stopped dead in his tracks. “Really? We have a grandson, lady. Wow.”
Elaine kissed him and then hooked her arm through his. “Is the baby in any trouble?” he asked. “It came early.”
“No, he’s fine. Only three pounds, twelve ounces though. He’ll have to stay in the hospital for a couple of weeks. Winnie’s fine too.”
“Oh, good. That’s a relief,” he said. “Don’t you dare say that you are disappointed because you wanted a girl. Don’t you dare.”
“I’m not,” she said. “He’s already him. How could he be anything else? Wait until you see him.”
When Jeremy was released from the hospital, Josh wanted to take him to Bonnie’s grave so that his Mom could symbolically meet her grandson. He was afraid that Winnie would think that was too weird, but she didn’t. She understood.
Jeremy started to fuss as soon as they got there, so Winnie sat on a bench nursing the baby while Josh stood looking at the marker. Bonita Sheryl Greenwood, it said.
“I haven’t been here for a long time,” he said to Winnie. “I used to come but then I stopped.”
“You’re here now,” she said.
“Hi Mom. You have a grandson,” he said. “I miss you.”
He was quiet for a long time. After a while Winnie said, “I wish your Mom had lived to see how well you turned out. She’d be very excited about the baby.”
“I think she knows,” he said.
“Maybe she’s your guardian angel or something,” she said.
“More like, maybe she can’t do anything magic, but she’s always watching.” Josh turned to look at Winnie and smile. “Unless there’s a good football game going on somewhere. Then she might not be paying attention.”
Winnie laughed. She switched the baby to the other breast.
“I had a good mom,” he said. “I’ll always miss her, but I know she did the best she could for me while she was here, and that will always be with me.”
“Mrs. Greenwood,” Winnie said, “I’ll take care of both these guys for you. Have some fun wherever you are. I’ve got it covered.”
Josh and Winnie took Jeremy home. Between frequent nursing sessions and studying Jeremy’s every move and gurgle lovingly as he slept, they spent their first night as a family talking about what might have been different if Josh’s mother had lived.
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Read the full book to find out what happens in Book 2 (Tom is killed instead of Bonnie) and in Book 3 (Josh is killed instead of either of his parents.)
About the Author
Brenda J. Carlton lives in Collegeville, Pennsylvania with her husband Robert. She was born in Philadelphia in 1954, grew up between Coatesville, PA, and “Amish Country” and received a BS in Biology from Muhlenberg College in 1976. She has been at various times and in no partic
ular order, a laboratory technician, a pharmaceutical development manager and consultant, a statistician, a small craft business owner, a mother of two and stepmother of four, grandmother of six, a waitress, a mental hospital aide, a National Merit Scholar, an amateur painter, a home remodeling do-it-yourselfer, an avid reader, an occasional philosopher, now a fledgling author, and always throughout it all, an passionate gardener. She is also the author of DRUG MONEY.
Acknowledgements
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to my husband, Robert Carlton. Firstly, and very importantly, the original idea for this book –start with a freak accident involving three related people, have a different one die each time and compare the results—was his. As I worked on developing the premise from there, it became something very different from what he might have done, but he went with it and provided a wonderful sounding board for ideas. I know I stretched his patience to the limits when it took me six years to finish. I could not have done it without him. At many points, his faith in me was stronger than my faith in myself. I must also thank him profusely for picking up much of the slack around the house and in the gardens, especially in the last year of this journey we took together. Thank you, honey.
I must thank my daughter Megan, my mother-in-law Joan, and my friends Pat and Martha for all their help in providing feedback as test readers and for proofreading. I also thank my son David for his expert photography of my cover painting. I also could not have finished without lots of help in our extensive gardens, which my daughter-in-law Tina and my grandchildren Kalee, Sutton, Jasmine, George, Aubree and Gavin all provided, turning the kids into expert little gardeners in the process. And thanks to Frank Cacciutti for permission to use his restaurant and to the following people who answered various fact checking questions along the way: Jeff Brum, Robin Carlton, David Evans, Tina Evans, Pat Canfield, Brett Trego, and the White House Historical Society.
Thank you everyone.
Connect with me online at https://www.brendajcarlton.com/
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