9
Thunder clouds fill the sky over the beach house when they arrive and the air is so thick and sticky, even Bart has no interest in running around. As soon as Alex lets him out of the car, he pees on the wheel of the Volvo and flops on to the driveway with a huff.
“Where’s mom?” Ben asks, looking around with fear already rising in his eyes.
“Probably inside with the air-con, which is where I’d like to be.” Alex hands him a bag. “Come on, let’s get inside before this damned storm breaks and we get caught out here.”
The door opens as they get to the top step and Polly greets them.
“I thought I heard the car.” She tiptoes to kiss Ben. “Child, are you growing still?”
“I don’t think so old lady. You must be shrinking,” he says but Alex can hear the strain in his voice. “Where’s mom?”
“You know your mother, insists on having food ready for you two.” Polly is already reaching for Alex. “She’s in the kitchen.”
Alex tugs Bart’s lead and they go indoors, dropping the bags at the bottom of the stairs on the way. The soft hum of the air-con floats through the house and the cooler air is a welcome relief. Polly pushes the kitchen door open but instead of following her, Ben hesitates.
“Come on,” Alex says with what he hopes is a reassuring smile. Ben blows out a deep breath and follows Alex into the kitchen.
Allie is seated at the table, sprinkling cheese over a large pan of lasagna. Her head is bare and she’s wearing a long-sleeved cotton blouse over a long skirt and if she still had her long silver hair, Alex thinks, she would look quite a lot like Stevie Nicks. She looks up when they enter and Ben’s fingers tighten on Alex’s. There are large dark circles around her eyes and her cheekbones are sharp protrusions beneath the yellow skin of her face; she looks like a cruel caricature of herself from some twisted cartoon artist. Then she smiles and love and life flood back into her eyes.
“Hey kids.” The brittle sound of her voice is less shocking than her appearance since they talk every day on the phone but Allie hasn’t wanted to use Skype, saying it messes with her computer settings. Now, Alex suspects she wants to spare Ben the reminder of how little time is left. “Lasagna will be ready in about forty minutes, I thought we could eat early tonight. There’s cold beer in the fridge.”
Ben nods and kneels next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head against her; the sight pierces Alex and he looks away.
“Hi mom,” Ben whispers, “you look good.”
“Liar,” she retorts, kissing his head and stroking his hair, “but thank you anyway.”
She puts her arms up to Alex to be hugged and he stoops, taking her in a ginger embrace, aware of how paper thin the skin of her cheek feels against his.
“Want me to put that in the oven for you?” he asks, taking the pan.
“Please. Now where’s that puppy? We have something for you Bart. Come on, good boy.”
There’s no sound when she tries to click her fingers but Bart follows her to the fridge anyway. Allie opens the fridge and takes out a large bone; her hands shake with its weight and she looks grateful when Ben takes it from her.
“I got Andy to put gates on the courtyard entrances so you can let him out there and not have to worry,” she says. Eyes sparkling, she turns to Alex. “Of course, they won’t be very effective against tarantulas but they should keep a Labrador or a toddler confined if needs be.”
Alex shudders at the mention of spiders and drops a kiss on Allie’s cheek.
“Thank you.”
Ben comes back inside and pushes the door shut. They can see Bart by the fire-pit, gnawing on the treat.
“Now did you want a beer or a cocktail?” Allie asks.
“I was kind of hoping you might teach me to finally make a decent Gibson tomorrow,” Alex says, “so I’ll go for a beer.”
“Good idea, we can play scrabble.” Polly hands both men a bottle. Hands Allie a smaller bottle with a similar label.
“Mom? Should you be drinking?” Ben watches her, his beer unopened.
“It’s alcohol free, kid. Tastes like shit but at least it feels like I’m having a drink with my boys. Impossible to open the damned things though.”
She holds the bottle out to him and he looks to Alex. Alex smile and nods. Ben opens the bottle and pours it into a glass. Just as he’s about to hand it to her, he takes a sip and wrinkles his nose.
“You’re right, it does taste like shit,” he says, smile finally surfacing as he puts it on the table in front of her.
“You used to do that when you were little. I’d ask you to hand me my drink and you’d take a mouthful before you gave it to me. Never bothered you what I is drinking either.”
“Explains so much.” Alex sits down next to her and bumps his shoulder to hers, careful to not knock her over. “I don’t suppose you have an egg sandwich around here somewhere? Someone, who shall remain nameless, had fried chicken on the way but I’m not convinced it is chicken so I’m starving.”
He knows perfectly well where the sandwiches are, he saw them when she opened the fridge for the bone. She bumps him back and laughs.
“I’m surprised you can still function. In the fridge. Go on, get your sandwich.
For the next few hours they catch up over beer and sandwiche and when the oven timer dings, he and Polly serve the lasagna while Ben opens a bottle of wine. Allie eats one or two forkfuls and when Ben leads her to the living room refuses any more.
“How about a glass of port, young man?” Polly asks Alex when they’ve finished stacking the dishwasher.
“Please, but you have to come and sit down because I have a surprise for you both.”
◆◆◆
He holds the door open for her, then lets her pour port while he gets his laptop and a long cable from his bag. Humming to himself and ignoring questions from Ben and Allie, he attaches the cable to the television screen and turns the laptop on. After a couple of minutes of swearing he manages to get the laptop screen to show on the bigger screen and sets the laptop on the coffee table. Polly joins them, handing each of them a glass of port, even Allie, and settles down next to Alex on the couch, curiosity radiating from her in waves. He adjusts the position of the laptop until they’re all in the frame.
“Okay,” he turns to them, “so yesterday Claire had a scan and we were there. And we have the disc for you to look at but first I wanted you to see something.”
He turns back to the keyboard and brings Skype up on the screen. Clicks on Claire’s name. They wait while the system dials, then her bright smile and blue eyes fill the screen.
“Hey brat, how are you?” she waves at the screen. “Hey Ben. Hi Allie, hi Polly.”
“What are you two up to?” Ben throws Alex a frustrated look.
“Claire, can you move back a bit?” Alex asks. She does as he asks until they have a clear view of her bump protruding from beneath a loose crop top and a low-slung skirt.
Ben leans forward so he can see Alex and raises his hands in confusion – what’s happening?
“Are we good to go?” Alex asks.
“Yeah, you can tell them in a second. Been tap-dancing in there for the past five – oh, here we go.”
On the screen, they see a clear ripple move over Claire’s stomach, followed by another one. Just as Ben is about to say something, they see a small but obvious protrusion appear just below her rib cage.
“Pretty sure that’s a foot, so you might not be far off with the soccer idea Ben,” Claire says.
Excited, Alex turns to look at Polly and Allie. They both have wide grins, watching the screen.
“Allie,” he says and she turns to look at him with wide eyes, “I’d like you to meet your granddaughter, Alison Claire Larsen.”
Polly grasps his hand and asks him to repeat what he just says.
“Polly you’re going to have a great granddaughter. And her name is Alison Claire.”
On the screen, Claire claps her hands and Alex remembers that he and Ben are the only people who know the name and he turns back to face her.
“I know you just want to be Aunt Claire but we wanted to do something more."
“Oh guys, it’s beautiful, thank you.” She stops and strokes her stomach as another movement ripples over it. “I think she likes it too. Do you like your name, Alison Claire?”
Allie stands and goes to the television, reaches a trembling hand toward the screen until she is touching the image of Claire’s belly.
“Hello baby girl,” she whispers.
◆◆◆
Alex digs in his pocket for his cell phone as Ben joins his mother in front of the television. Snaps a photo of the two looking at the screen and tosses the device on the coffee table, next to the forgotten garlic bread.
“Guys, I hate to break up the party but I have to pee. Again.” Claire laughs. “I swear your daughter is sitting right on my bladder. I’m up and down all night, I’m just about ready to move my damned bed in there.”
“I remember that stage from when I was carrying Ben,” Allie says returning to the couch. “I would get up and by the time I got back to bed I needed to go again. This has meant more than you or Alex can ever know, Claire. Thank you.”
Claire smiles and puts her fingertips on the screen, Allie mimics the action, and they sit for a moment screen fingertips touching.
“It’s my pleasure, Allie, truly. I can’t think of two people who would make better parents than these two,” Claire says. “Just, you know, don’t tell them I said that.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Allie replies over the laughter in the room. “Thank you. Now go pee before you have an accident.”
Once the goodbyes are said and the laptop is returned to its bag, Alex asks Allie how she’s feeling, if she needs anything. The night nurse won’t be coming while they're here since he can handle the medications and he wants to be sure Allie’s not trying to hide anything.
“I’m fine, thank you Alex. I probably won’t stay awake much longer but I feel better than I have in days,” she tells him.
“If you want to go to bed mom, you can,” Ben say and picks up his glass.
“I will soon, but first I want to talk about tomorrow and see if you two could do me a favor.”
“Sure, what do you need?”
Ben’s voice seems steady but Alex hears the wariness in it.
“Well, first,” Allie says, “I’d like someone to take Polly to the village so she can get her hair done.”
They all look at Polly who flaps her hands at them, protesting her hair is fine. Alex is saddened to see, now that he’s paying attention, just how much white is showing through the blue.
“Nonsense, you’re starting to look like some sort of punk rock bald eagle with all that white showing,” Allie says. “You’re going to see Sue and get your hair done, mom, and that’s all there is to it. I’ve already called her and she’s expecting you at ten.”
Alex doesn’t think he’s ever heard Allie refer to Polly as mom before and it bothers him.
“Then, if you wouldn’t mind, I was wondering if you two could help me move some of my things down to the guest room.” Her voice is light but she’s paying close attention to scratching Bart’s ears, not looking at anyone, especially Ben. “The stairs are becoming a problem and I don’t think it’s fair on the nurses either.”
Polly stops protesting the hair salon appointment and Ben shuts his eyes.
“Why don’t I take Polly into the village tomorrow morning while you and Ben have breakfast?” Alex offers. “When I get back we can do what needs to be done with the rooms and then one of us can pick Polly up when she’s finished. Would that work?”
“That would be perfect, thank you.” Allie smiles. "On that note, I think I might take one of those horrid little pain pills and tackle those stairs.”
“How bad, Allie? On a scale of one to ten?” Alex asks as he stands up, glancing at his watch.
“About a six, but it was only a five a minute or so ago.”
Alex nods and asks when she last had a pill, then goes to the kitchen. When he comes back, Polly has folded up the blanket and returned it to the back of the couch. He hands Allie the tablet and a glass of water with a smile.
“Still a six?” he asks, knowing how fast the pain level can increase with this type of cancer, and is pleased when she nods yes. “Okay, think it’s time you were in bed young lady.”
“Yes, I agree.” She nods. “Would one of you mind locking up?”
“We’re big kids, we’ve got it covered,” Ben says. “Now, let’s get you to bed.”
With that he scoops Allie up in his arms, ignoring her squeal and demand to be put down.
“Mom, you just said the stairs are a problem,” he stops at the bottom stair, “I’m solving the problem.”
Polly leads the way up the stairs and Alex smiles, listening to them discussing Ben’s control issues as he locks the front door, calls to Bart, and follows them up. He flicks the lights off with the upstairs controller and goes to say goodnight to Allie.
On her bedside table is the photo of Ben and Alex that Alex gave her, his first Christmas at the beach house, and a photo of the four of them from the wedding. In front of them is a small photo of Ben as a toddler playing on a rocking horse. He picks this one up with a smile.
“You were a cutie,” he says.
“I’m still a cutie.” Ben rubs his back.
“Mmm, says you. Allie, anything else you need help with?”
“No, I’m fine, thank you honey. And thank you for tonight, that is such a wonderful gift.”
Alex bends to kiss her cheek, holds her for a moment, then kisses Polly and tells them to sleep well, and gathers up Bart. Touches his fingers to Ben’s hair and closes the door behind him as he leave the room.
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