Whitefern (Audrina 2)

“It won’t be your fault if he did. Did he?”

“I don’t remember,” she said. She smiled again. “I made you lunch. Egg salad. Is it time for lunch?”

“Oh, Sylvia,” I said, shaking my head. I glanced at her baby painting. “Yes, it’s time for lunch. I hope you’ll work on a prettier baby now.”

Looking at the image, she simply said, “If Papa tells me.”

Feeling exhausted again, I started out. She followed me, babbling about her egg salad, describing every step of the process the way I had taught her. I made myself some coffee and toast and actually ate the egg salad. It was delicious. She ate some, too, being as messy as ever.

Arden called a little while later to see how I was. “I tried to pick you up, but I wasn’t exactly in a steady enough condition myself,” he explained. “I figured you’d come up when you were ready. We had a good time, though. It’s been long in coming. Good to hear some laughter in our house, wouldn’t you say?”

“If I could remember it, yes,” I said.

He laughed. “That’s all right. You drank a little too much. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

“I don’t think I want to take another pill, Arden.”

“It did what it was supposed to, Audrina. Your sister was happy again. It felt good. Let’s try to keep our house pleasant now. This coming weekend, I’ll take both of you to Don’s Steak House. It’s a bit of a ride, but the food’s great.”

“You will?”

“Yes, I will. As long as you make an effort, too. Okay?”

I paused, thinking. Could he be right?

“Okay?”

“Yes, Arden, okay,” I said.

I continued with the pills. It wasn’t that they made me happy, exactly, but they kept me so subdued and calm that I didn’t do or say much to change the new atmosphere Arden wanted in our home. I found myself falling asleep faster and earlier and waking up confused. What was worst of all was that dream. It returned. One time, Arden was naked, and so was Sylvia in the rocking chair. I watched the whispering and then saw Papa’s face, and the dream ended.

I was afraid to mention it. I was beginning to believe that one of the side effects of the pill was nightmares. I did tell Arden that without going into detail.

“Okay,” he said. “Maybe you’ll do fine now without it. Put it aside for a while. Besides, I want you fully alert and hungry for our night out this weekend. Why don’t you take Sylvia to buy a new dress and buy yourself one, too?”

“Yes,” I said. “That sounds good. Oh, Arden, I’m sorry I’ve put you through so much.”

“I’m not upset. Ups and downs are part of marriage, part of life. If anyone should know that, it’s you, Audrina Lowe.”

He kissed me, and I felt happiness surging back. I did what he suggested, went shopping for new clothes for both Sylvia and myself. I got us matching shoes, too. Despite her poorer eating habits for a while after the incident with Mr. Price, I noticed she had gained weight. She didn’t look too heavy; it wasn’t anything like that. In fact, she looked like she was blossoming, filling out. Even her breasts looked somewhat larger.

On our way home, Sylvia talked more than usual. She asked many questions about the stores, the other houses we saw, and people on the street. Her curiosity was never sharper. I laughed about it, and she laughed, too. We were all getting better, I thought. Arden was right about everything. But when Sylvia mentioned her picture of the baby again and asked me what name it would have, I decided I had better be firmer about it. There was too much dreaming going on at Whitefern. It was something I remembered Momma saying from time to time.

“I am not pregnant yet, Sylvia. I don’t know if I will be, and unless you adopt a baby, go to an orphanage and choose one, you can’t get a baby. I’m afraid the stork doesn’t really bring them.” I smiled. “Understand?”

She shook her head. “Baby’s coming,” she insisted.

Rather than upset her after such a pleasant day of shopping, I decided to drop the subject.

But to my surprise, she wouldn’t. As soon as we entered the house, she turned to me and said, “Baby’s inside me. He’s coming.”

I grabbed her shoulder. “What? Sylvia, what did you say?”

She turned, her arms full of her packages. “Baby is coming.”

I thought for a moment. When was the last time I had checked on her period? Although she was good at taking care of herself once a month, I usually followed up, especially if she complained about cramps. I realized that she hadn’t complained about anything.

I hurried to her as she started away and grabbed her arm so hard to turn her that she dropped her boxes. “Oh, look at what you made me do.”