21. Louise and Co. (March 2013)
Louise is coming to town…Louise is coming to
town… Kate hummed to the tune of "the Farmer in the Dell.” It was 8 o’clock
in the morning on a Saturday, and Kate was up, dressed and (mostly) cheerful.
If anything could get her out of bed that early on a Saturday, it would be the
arrival of her best friend, Louise. She could only stay for four days, but Kate
was glad to see her and her boys at all! They were to meet at a park in Maryland , since they were coming from Louise’s in-laws’
house in Delaware , and had to stop at the Baltimore airport to drop
her husband off. Kate checked the map for the fifth time. An out-of-the-way
park was not an ideal place for a rendezvous, but she figured there was a reason,
and tried not to be too apprehensive. After
all, Kate thought optimistically, if
we’re both trying to get together and we’re both going to the same spot, how
complicated can it be?
An hour
later, she was on the phone with Mister. She identified her road, “I’m going
west,” she said. “Is that right?” She said the names of the roads as she passed
them.
“Uhm.”
Mister hesitated. “I’m not sure. Are you going South?”
“No. I’m going west. It’s an
east-west road.”
“Well where you are, it’s going
north-south. Maybe you should turn around.”
“Phooey!” She
had already turned around twice. No one believes
in straight roads anymore, she grumbled unreasonably. Normally, she
preferred windy roads. Just not today.
“Who picked
this place to meet?” Mister asked in that tone of voice which indicated that if
said person were present, he would get a piece of Mister’s mind.
Kate
laughed. “I don’t know. But I didn’t,
so don’t blame me. A few minutes passed. Sooo,” she said hesitantly, “I’m not
seeing any of those roads you mentioned. Here are my cross streets again,” and
she gave Mister her new position.
“Oh!” he
said, surprised. “You’re going the wrong way. Turn around. You’re probably
about a mile away.”
“You mean I
was going the right way to start
with?” she growled.
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| Hank (at a different park than the one where we met up) |
“I guess
so. Well, you should be good to go now. Good luck and give me a call if you
need more help!” And Mister hastily hung up.
A few
minutes later saw Kate safely at the park. She hopped out of the car, curvy
roads all forgot. She and Louise hugged fondly and chatted as they watched 2-year-old Hank
zoom around the playground. It was obvious now why the park had been chosen.
Louise was half African-American, and she had married a handsome, pale blonde
young man. The resulting effect in Hank (and baby Ike too) was a round,
tanned-looking, full lipped face, with tightly curled honey colored hair. Hank
was fiercely enthusiastic about everything he loved. “TRAIN!!!” he would roar,
and then run around chug-chugging and tooting his horn. Kate couldn’t help
thinking that he would have made a perfect model for Normal Rockwell—if he
could sit still long enough.
That night,
when Kate and Bettina were preparing dinner, Jack spotted 6 month old Ike in
the living room, and instantly went over to play with him. He cooed and cuddled
and bounced and tickled, and Kate thought, with admiration, that the Miller
family produced very good uncles (Mister already having proved himself one of
the best.) She would look forward to Jack and Bettina playing with her own
baby…will we have a boy or girl? she
wondered once again. Kate sighed contentedly. She loved having a full house.
And even though the children were loud, and up early, and their things somehow
always got scattered all over the house; Louise’s boys were very fun and cute,
and Kate wished they could stay longer and looked forward to her own baby coming.
Boy or girl? she mused in her journal. Older brothers are the best, not that I’m partial…but we both come from families with oldest boys. I
think I would like that. A little friend for Hank and Ike and cousin Thomas.
But girls are wonderful too. I love little girl clothes, and tea parties, and
dress-up. But boys are awfully fun too, with wrestling, and building forts, and
sports—I don’t even care at this point. I just CAN’T WAIT to find out! Only two
weeks to go…
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| "Louise" and baby Ike at Easter lunch |
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| Dimples! |
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| One last trip to the playground |
This makes me miss you...
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