A May-September Wedding (8 page)

The driver
behind Cal honked as if to ask if he was waiting for a particular
shade of green. He drove on, thinking about the latest exchange.
Phyl had been flirting with him. And he liked it. One part of his
brain said that she wouldn't flirt with him if she wasn't
interested in him. Another part said that maybe she was finally
looking ahead to a life beyond Harry and using him for practice. He
let the two factions fight it out for a while as the 'she's too
young for you' impulse refereed.

He drove to
the church listening to the warring voices in his head but coming
no nearer to a different conclusion than that she was too young for
him. With a sigh he forced himself to remember what he could about
Civil Engineering 100 so that he could provide some rational
advice.

Felicity
opened the door at the soft knock. "Mum?"

"Yes,
Felicity, it's me."

Felicity threw
open the door and then threw herself on the bed. She was dressed in
her pyjamas and her face was splotchy.

Phyl sat in
the chair at the study desk. "How was your day?"

"Just awful,
thanks."

"Do you want
to tell me about it or should I ask Lydia?"

Felicity
looked up in surprise. "You mean Lydia didn't tell you what
happened?"

"Should she
have?"

"Well, I did
ask her not to."

"Well, she
kept her word. So, do you want to tell me or do you want me to tell
you what your father guessed?"

Felicity
buried her head in her hands. "Dad's guess?" She sighed. "Okay,
what did he think happened?"

Phyl smirked
and said, "Well, he knew you weren't kidnapped by aliens because
they only do that between midnight and one a.m., so he thinks that
you got surprised by your period."

Felicity
allowed herself to slump on the bed and bury her face in the duvet.
"How did he guess?"

Phyl
suppressed a full smile. "I think you're forgetting that he lived
with your mother for most of her childbearing years and he was
around when Elaine started her cycles, too."

Phyl got up to
sit next to Felicity and stroke her back.

"I know it's a
bit scary the first time, and if there were any blood spots on your
skirt you probably got some weird looks and maybe some teasing from
a couple of the ignorant boys in the class. But Felicity, it's
perfectly natural. It one of the first signals that your body is
changing from a girl to a woman. Next thing you know, we'll have to
go shopping for prom gowns." She felt Felicity stiffen.

Felicity
rolled over to look up at Phyl. "But how can I face the boys
tomorrow? Especially Tyler. He was pretty awful about it until the
teacher told him to be quiet. I'm sure I ruined my best yellow
skirt. The nurse showed me how to put on a pad, but I had to get a
pair of underwear from the office and put on my stinky sweats so I
could get home. It was so embarrassing."

Phyl smiled
sympathetically. "I'll bet my first time was worse."

"No way."

"I'll tell you
and let you decide." Phyl leaned forward like she used to when
gossiping with her school friends. "You know I like to swim,
right?"

"Well, yeah."
Felicity's tone implied that Phyl was mistaking her for an
idiot.

"Well, I had
gone about six laps when the lifeguard starts to yell at me to get
out of the pool. So I look behind me and there's this thin cloud of
blood in the water like I'd cut myself. Then I look down between my
legs and my nice white Speedo isn't very white." Phyl could feel
herself blushing as she remembered. "Then to top it all off, a
couple of the boys started pointing at me as the lifeguard kicked
everyone out of the pool while he went to kick the filters up to
high for the next hour."

"What did you
do?"

"I tried to
get my mother to take me to a different pool for the rest of the
summer, but she refused."

"Did you stop
going?"

"No, I was
back two days later. And it was like nothing happened but I
expected someone to say something for weeks. I can't guarantee that
people at school won't say anything, though. So, who's story is
worse?"

Felicity, who
had been groaning and gasping in sympathy at the right places in
the story, said, "I think your story beats mine, but not by
much."

"I agree.
Yours is pretty bad." Phyl leaned forward to kiss Felicity on the
forehead. "So, are you up to coming over for a while? I have some
Haagen-Daaz chocolate mint ice cream I've been saving for a bad
day."

"Okay. Give me
a minute to change."

"How are you
fixed for feminine supplies?"

"I found a
couple of leftover pads in Mom's bathroom cabinet."

"That should
do you for today. I'll call your dad to buy some on the way
home."

"I couldn't
ask him to do that."

"He was
married for over thirty years, little beast. He's won't be
embarrassed to do that for you. And if he is, just count it as him
sharing in your pain." Phyl grinned. "See you downstairs in a
couple of minutes."

Cal was
measuring the window openings to test for square when his cell
phone rang. "You want me to do what?"

Cal rolled his
eyes. "All right. What kind?" Father Gary looked over with a
puzzled look on his face.

"Look, I'm
almost finished, I'll call you back when I get to the drug store.
Talk to you soon...Bye."

At Gary's
unspoken question he said, in a low voice, "Felicity needs feminine
hygiene supplies."

Gary clapped
his hand on Cal's shoulder in sympathy. "Well, at least you've been
through it with Elaine and you won't have four teenage daughters at
the same time."

Cal looked at
Gary in appreciation. "You have my condolences. Elaine was bad
enough."

"Four at once,
with synchronized PMS? And their mother going through menopause?
You have no idea."

"No I just had
great piles of stinking boots in the front hall when all the boys'
buddies came over to watch Hockey Night in Canada or Sunday
football. We had the biggest TV screen in the neighbourhood. And
the most snacks." He remembered Brenda's fond exasperation with the
crowded house and emptied fridge and her pleasure at spending that
time with Elaine when Elaine was between boyfriends.

Cal dutifully picked up three different varieties of pads for
Felicity and Lydia along with a small list of needed staples. He
walked in to Phyl's house to see the girls face down in front of
the television watching
Twilight
for the fiftieth time. Felicity waved but returned her
attention immediately to the screen.

Phyl came up
behind Cal and said, "There's about forty minutes left in the
movie. Do you want to stay for coffee?"

Cal turned
around to find himself standing very close to Phyl. He looked into
her lovely blues eyes and forgot all about the internal arguments
for a while. He put his whole self into returning her smile and
said, "I'd love to, thanks."

In the end, it
was Felicity who had to drag her father home.

"What were you
and Phyl talking about, Dad?"

"Oh, nothing
much. Plans for Christmas, that sort thing. I brought up the idea
of maybe taking a vacation with all of us at March break. I know
that they used to do that with Harry every year."

Felicity said,
"You really like Phyl, don't you? I mean Edward and Bella or Harry
and Ginny kind of like."

Cal stiffened.
"I don't see that it's really any of your business."

"Okay, that
answers my question, so where do you want to go for March
break?"

Cal looked at
his too perceptive thirteen year old in appreciation. "I was
thinking that you and Lydia are real history buffs but all the good
Canadian history places are locked up tight in March, so maybe we
could spend a week down in Virginia. You know, Colonial
Williamsburg, maybe some of the Civil War battlegrounds, the
Smithsonian in Washington. I'd like to visit the naval museums at
Newport News, but that's optional."

"Virginia's
far enough south that it should feel like spring when we're there,
right?"

"Yeah. I took
the older kids when Jeremy was in grade three. Mark thought the
aerospace museum was the best and Elaine loved all the quilts at
Williamsburg."

"And David was
bored out of his mind and Jeremy asked six million questions and
Mom lost it twenty times because you weren't keeping on schedule."
Felicity smirked.

Cal studied
his observant daughter again. "And you will love reading all the
plaques and irritating all of the Yankees with your Tory
views."

"Oh, yeah."
Felicity hugged her father tight. "I hope you can convince Phyl, it
sounds great...And Dad..."

"Yes,
beastly?"

"I'm sorry I
was such a pain tonight."

"You're
forgiven. I'm having a hard time thinking about you not being my
little girl anymore. Not that I want you to stay that way. As your
Mom said many times, we didn't want to raise children, we wanted to
raise grown ups. Now, I don't want you to grow up any faster than
you need to, but I don't want you to be a kid forever either."

Felicity
tiptoed up to give her father a peck on the cheek. "You're sweet.
Good night, Dad."

"Thanks for
helping me with Christmas dinner." Cal gave Phyl yet another
relieved look as she arranged canapes and hors d'oeuvres on the
platters.

"Thanks for
inviting us. Harry's parents are in Florida this year. They came
for St Nicholas day to give the kids presents before they went
south. Anyway, I always helped Brenda decorate. You know that. She
was great at making sure everything was there, but her decorations
were ...hmm... a bit too methodical." Phyl shook her head at her
late best friend's foibles.

"She did have
a great way with people, though, making certain everyone was
comfortable." Cal was staying out of Phyl's way while making sure
the drinks were set up properly.

"Yes. She did.
But you aren't bad at that yourself." Phyl caught Cal's glance and
held it until she began to blush.

Cal carried
the punch bowl into the dining room. Felicity asked, "Are you sure
you don't need our help?"

Cal looked at
the girls, dressed in complementary red and green dresses and said,
"There's not enough room in the kitchen for more than two of us."
Then he winked at his daughter. "Besides, pretty girls in party
dresses shouldn't have to work."

Lydia, in her
emerald green dress, said, in a low tone after he left, "They're at
it again. Could you hear them laughing?"

Felicity
rolled her eyes. "And the way they look at each other when they
think no one can see it? It's just like that Bonnie Raitt song that
Mom use to play all the time."

The girls were
giggling as the doorbell rang. Felicity answered, "Elaine! Come
in."

A visibly
pregnant Elaine, Brian and a red wiggly snowsuit that had to be
Emily came in the door and stomped the snow from their boots.
Elaine looked into the living room and said, "I told you we'd be
the first ones here."

Brian smirked,
"Emily won't mind at all. She'll have her Grampa and her two
favourite aunts all to herself for a little bit."

Cal came in to
help extricate his granddaughter from her snowsuit and collect a
hug from Elaine before scooping Emily up and taking her into the
living room.

Elaine
wandered into the kitchen to help. "How are you, Phyl?" Elaine's
tone was warm, which aroused Phyl's curiosity.

"It's a bit
strange to be setting this up without your mum on the other side of
the table fussing and not hearing Harry and Cal argue over which
football game they're going to watch. But other than that..."

Elaine stepped
closer, and asked, a bit nervously, "Is there something going on
between you and Dad?" Then seeing Phyl's shuttered reaction, she
continued, "I'm sorry Phyl. I've got pregnant head going and I'm
blurting things again. Can I start over?"

Phyl was torn
between amusement and annoyance but said, with a hint of a smirk,
"Merry Christmas, Elaine, how have you been?"

Elaine
returned the smirk and said, "Merry Christmas to you, Phyl. I've
been mostly fine now that I'm past the morning sickness. I want to
thank you for all of the support you've given Dad since Mom died.
And I've noticed that he seems to think you're pretty special. And
now that I've gotten to know you better I understand why Mom and
Dad wanted to spend time with you guys." Elaine took a deep breath.
"So, if there is anything going on between you, I understand and
approve."

Phyl stood
still for a bit and responded, "Well, as fond as I am of Cal, he's
said nothing to me. We certainly haven't got anything going on
between us."
Yet.

Elaine sat
down at a chair with a sigh and started folding napkins. She sighed
again and said, "That's too bad. Dad needs someone and you'd be
perfect for him, but he's probably hung up on the age difference
thing." Elaine snorted. "Well, that's part of why I was so wary of
you. I didn't know where to slot you in because all of my parents
friends were like, old, and you and Harry weren't. And then I
married a younger man..."

Phyl rolled
her eyes and interrupted, "Five years younger isn't anything."

"You wouldn't
think so, but I only know two other couples where the husband is
more than a year younger than the wife. I know lots of couples
where the husband is older."

"Twenty-one
years?" Phyl was curious.

"Three or four
actually. And if you were looking for someone, Dad would make a
good choice. Brian says it makes a difference if the man is
divorced or widowed the second time around. Widowers usually make
really good husbands if they remarry because they actually want to
be married. The divorced guys are often looking to recapture their
youth. Kind of like the difference between wanting a cat and
wanting a kitten."