Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (15 page)

From the Beginning

Saturday, March 23
^rd

Aggie
’
s bed lacked the comfort of previous nights. She struggled restlessly with the covers, trying to settle down for a good night
’
s rest. The house seemed loud with the quiet noise of nighttime. She could hear a gate slam shut across the street, and a car zoomed down the road until it melded into the other sounds of the dark. A faint snore from Tavish
’
s room felt somehow reassuring. The children were, as the famous Christmas poem describes,
“
All
snug in their beds,
”
but Aggie wondered if they dreamt of sugarplums, or if their dreams were tormented by the loss of something precious.

She resisted the intrusion of Geraldine into her thoughts. Like the invasion of her carefully planned party, every instinct fought her presence. Relentlessly, with predictable aggressiveness, the intimidating grandmother assaulted her mind, forcing her to relive painful memories.

As the children slept, Aggie reflected on her first real encounter with Geraldine Stuart. The memories were still raw, and Aggie didn
’
t want to remember, but somehow she found herself reliving those first terrible days after Allie and Doug
’
s deaths. The more she remembered, the more vivid the images in her mind seemed to grow until eventually, she felt like the present
was
the past.

Friday, February 15
^th

Aggie trailed behind her parents up the steps to Allie
’
s home. She looked at the immaculate, snow-covered lawn, the valentine wreath on the beautiful oak front door, and the tall evergreens that stood like stalwart soldiers protecting the castle. Somehow, Aggie had never been to Allie
’
s house. They always seemed to meet at the Milliken home a few hours north of Allie
’
s home in Rockland. The house was immense
--
and extravagantly beautiful.

“
Ronald, Martha, Aggie, how thoughtful of you to come.
”
Geraldine Stuart was the epitome of elegance. Wearing a suit in the style of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, the woman was perfectly poised and in control of the situation.
“
I
’
ll call the children in. They are watching home movies and looking at Alanna
’
s scrapbooks.
”

It was thoughtful of them to come? To Aggie, this sounded so morose. Was the woman trying to devote some kind of shrine to Allie and Doug?
“
That
’
s all right, Mrs. Stuart, why don
’
t I go see them and talk to them in there? Mom needs to rest a moment. The trip was hard, and with the loss…
”

Geraldine nodded and led Aggie to the family room. The children all sat together, huddled in the middle of the room, surrounding a scrapbook and listlessly turning the pages.
“
Children, your Aunt Agathena is here to sit with you for a while. Now you must be very strong for her. If you give way to tears and emotion, you will bring disgrace on your parents, and I know you don
’
t want to do that.
”

With those terrible words, Mrs. Stuart walked from the room, nearly floating to the front door to welcome yet another visitor. Aggie
’
s shocked face wasn
’
t lost on Vannie, the oldest.
“
Hello, Aunt Aggie. Would you like to sit down?
”
Aggie
’
s heart broke as the girl wiped a tear from her already red eyes.

Aggie started to take the next chair when she heard a baby
’
s cry.
“
Is that Ian? Where is he?
”
Aggie looked around the room but saw no evidence of the child.

“
He
’
s up in
--
in
--
”
Vannie choked up and willed herself not to cry.

“
He
’
s in Momma
’
s room.
”
Laird stood and led Aggie out of the room. Walking through the living room, the boy answered his grandmother
’
s inquiry with,
“
We heard Ian; he
’
s probably hungry. I
’
ll get him a bottle after I show Aunt Aggie how to find him.
”

Geraldine nodded proudly at the boy and patted his back.
“
That is very thoughtful, Laird. You are behaving like quite a gentleman. I
’
m proud of you.
”

Aggie noticed that Laird didn
’
t smile with pleasure at the compliment. The boy almost seemed bothered by it. Shrugging off a feeling that something terrible was happening, Aggie climbed the stairs. The baby
’
s wails grew louder as Aggie and Laird stood over the crib.
“
Aunt Aggie?
”

“
Yeah?
”
Aggie was distracted with the baby. Looking at Ian
’
s chubby little baby cheeks, and thinking about Allie never holding this sweet little bundle of baby was tearing her up. She blinked back tears for Laird
’
s sake, but they still continued to fall.

“
I
’
m going to go get his bottle. Grandmother hasn
’
t said that you can
’
t cry, but I think she
’
d prefer not to see it. I hope you understand.
”
The boy didn
’
t wait for an answer.

Aggie felt the baby
’
s diaper grow warm and looked around for changing supplies. Seeing nothing in sight, she tried the bathroom and then the closet.
“
Eureka!
”
she whispered to the downy little head.
“
Wow! What a closet! No wonder the changing table and your little dresser and everything are in here! I had no idea that Allie lived in such a mansion.
”

“
It
’
s been in our family for three generations. We gave this house to Douglas and Alanna for a wedding gift. Do you remember?
”
Geraldine
’
s voice was sad but deliberately strong.

Aggie, startled by the sudden appearance of Mrs. Stuart tried to change the baby
’
s diaper, as she listened to Geraldine talk about the people who had lived in the home, and how Allie had been such a good housekeeper. It seemed that Allie had even restored the home
’
s woodwork all by herself before having her first child. Aggie wondered how her sister had managed to do it. Her first child was born exactly ten months and five days after her wedding day.

Aggie peeled the soggy diaper off of the now cooing baby and chucked him under the chin in the process. She found a diaper pail next to the table and dropped the five-pound, super soaked diaper inside.
“
Don
’
t forget to wipe him thoroughly, dear. Too many mothers don
’
t wash their babies with just a wet diaper, but I insist on it. They must be clean.
”

Aggie nodded at the woman and reached for the wipe container. Allie had always been so organized. A little rack of clean clothes hung in front of her, along with the wipes, powder, rash ointment, and every other thing a mother could want for changing or dressing her baby there. As Aggie disposed of the used wipe, she reached for a fresh diaper. Before she could get the diaper under the baby, he sprayed the front of Aggie
’
s dress.

“
Uggh! I forgot that little boys were supposed to do this!
”
Aggie laughed and finished fastening the diaper before grabbing a few wipes and trying to mop up her dress with one hand.
“
I
’
ll have to get Dad to go out to the car and get me my suitcase, so I can grab a change of clothes. I can
’
t wear this thing.
”
Aggie tried to be lighthearted about the whole situation, hoping that Geraldine wouldn
’
t think she was too flighty.

“
Were you and your parents planning to stay here?
”
Geraldine
’
s tone was not one of approval, and Aggie hastened to reassure her.

“
We would never presume. Mom needs the quiet that a good hotel offers anyway. She
’
s already overdone. We
’
ll stay with the children until they
’
re in bed, and then we
’
ll go. We wouldn
’
t dream of leaving the care of all of them to you and Mr. Stuart. We
’
re just here to help where we can.
”
She paused to gain some self-control.
“
I
’
m sorry, Mrs. Stuart. It
’
s just hard. Allie and I were very close. We spoke on messenger or by phone almost every day.
”

“
I understand, my dear. You are much more mature than I had imagined. You are in your last year of college I understand?
”

Aggie picked up Ian and gestured towards the stairs while speaking.
“
Actually, I graduated mid-term. I had mono the fall that I was supposed to start college, so it set me behind a semester. I could have taken it easy and graduated with the rest of the kids this year, but I just wanted to finish, take a few extra classes and relax before I began teaching.
”