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CHAPTER 1 Great Expectations
Back to: Prolog Next: Chapter 2 NEW LIFE

I took Homer years to finish their farm house; it wasn’t fancy, but as the children kept coming, he kept adding rooms. The baby they were expecting when they first lived here had been joined by four more children.
Their “baby”, Mary, was now a level headed adult. She was friendly with the town folk, but didn’t have any patience for their petty gossip. The quiet routines of farm life were all she wanted.
Her sister Dixie was now a teenager, but nothing like Mary. Dixie was always a tom-boy, full of loud energy. She was the first child to jump off the porch roof, the first teen to stay out all night. Beulah said she wasn’t a BAD girl, she just was full of vinegar. If she was going to get to college, she better do it soon; maybe an athletic scollership would make it possible.
Then came Scot, a character in his own way. When Homer sent him out to weed the vegetables, Scot would get side-tracked by the interesting bugs. With his curiosity and sharp mind, he was a natural for college.
Homer and Beulah were surprised when, in their forties, Beulah found herself pregnant again – with twins! River and Delta were now children; they weren’t too happy that there were few other kids to play with.

In the spring of ’55 Homer put in a smaller vegetable garden, and planted young apple trees for Beulah.
Homer was felling another tree. One of the reasons he had bought this place was because of the trees. The lot was on the highway to Pine Crest, the mountain town where the college had been built. It had been covered in white aspen, birch, and spruce – all good lumber trees. Homer had cleared most of them, using the wood to build the house, and a lot of the furniture. As he worked, Beulah planted flowers and watched a pair of birds collecting dried grass.
“Leave this birch”, she said to Homer, “the birds are nesting again”.
“Yep”, he answered, “I’m about all in. Do you have any of that lemonade left?
Beulah had been making bread, and brushed some floor from her apron.
“Why don’t you sit on the porch, Homer, and I’ll get you some. I need to get the bread in the oven; Mrs. Mann is coming by this afternoon to buy a few loaves. Then I’ll make us some cheese sandwiches for lunch.”
“UMMM cheese sandwiches! I am a monster for cheese sandwiches!” Homer tickled his wife, who squealed and ran into the house, Homer in hot pursuit.



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Mary’s Dilemma
I’ve been having an affair with Valentine Hart. There, I’ve said it! I don’t think anyone knows. Not that I’m ASHAMED; I really love him! It didn’t happen overnight, either; he courted me for years before I slept with him. I know he sees other women. We had a long discussion about this before I let him get intimate. He says it’s just the way he IS; he just LOVES women! He doesn’t see “loving” them as a conquest, but as an honor. He is always a gentleman with me, always kind and giving. He says he would rather we NOT be lovers, than to lose me as a friend. But he will never marry again, and he will not change. The decision was mine; he was the first man I ever slept with, he will be the last.

I didn’t get pregnant on purpose. We were “careful”, but sometimes things just happen. I will keep the baby, of course. I always wanted to be a mother, I just figured marriage would come first! Even if I COULD make him marry me, I know nothing would change. Maybe I could suffer the indignities of a cheating husband, but everyone in town would know – and our child would be hurt. Besides, I know he drinks too much. I haven’t heard of him causing trouble (like his good-for-nothing son, Rhett), but I just couldn’t raise a child in that sort of home.
I don’t know what Momma and Poppa will say, or what sort of gossip will fly through this little town! But this isn’t the only place I could live in. So if my staying here will cause a problem for my family, why, I’ll just move away. But this little life has a right to be here, and I will love having a baby. All I ever wanted was a life like mom and pop have, just a big happy family.
The back door slammed. Beulah had come in from the garden and was washing vegetables in the kitchen sink. Mary decided she best confide in her mother.
“Mom, I have something to tell you. You know I’ve been seeing Valentine Hart...”
“I hear you’ve been doing more than ‘see’ him. You’re with child, aren’t you?”

Mary was startled; “I’m not even showing”. Her mother shrugged, drying her hands on her apron. “It wasn’t hard to figure out, dear. Getting up in the middle of the night to eat pancakes and pickles. Throwing up. Crying over dumb movies…”
“Oh, mother, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring shame to the family...do you want me to move away from here?”

“Laud, NO! You’re in trouble, your family is here for you – that’s what family is FOR. Besides, it will fun to have a baby in the house again. I just wish that man would marry you. Do you want your father to have a man-to-man talk with him?”
Mary gave Beulah a grateful hug. “No mam”, she said. She swept some stray hairs away from her face, tucking them behind an ear before she continued.
“Valentine has told me he’s not the marrying kind; he just loves women too much...”
Beulah interrupted her with a “Harrumph”
Mary continued: “I appreciate that he’s honest with me, but he’s a grown man and knows his own mind…”
Beulah couldn’t stop herself: “You mean he’s an OLD man, and set in his ways!”
Mary plugged on: “I HAVE thought about marrying him, I might even be able to shame him into it. But I’m not such a child that I think I could change him. Nobody would be happy; not him, not me, not our child”.
“And not ME either!” Beulah added. “I’ve heard rumors that he drinks all the time. But I must say this for him - I’ve never heard that he mistreats women like his son does. People respect and like him”.
Mary took a deep breath, thinking: I don’t know where this conversation is going, but all I can do is get this out. “What about YOU, mom, do you like him? He’s actually happy about the baby; he says he wants to be part of our child’s life. I know you would never be rude, but would you (and papa, too, of course) be OK with him coming over a lot?”
Beulah didn’t need to think about it: “As long as he treats you right, and never comes around when he’s been drinking, I think that would be fine”.



"I'm so lucky", Mary thought, waking from a nap. Stiff from falling asleep on the bench, she stretched. "Um, use the bathroom, or eat?", she wondered. She decided a crispy cold pickle sounded too good to wait. Then found some leftover pie. And yesterday's cold cheese sandwich. "Finally full" she smiled to herself; "Opps, TOO FULL!" She barely made it to the bathroom. As she passed her cool bedroom, she thought "I'll just lay down for a minute; that new bedspread Momma made looks so soft." As she drifted off to sleep, she smiled as she remembered Homer's favorite saying, 'It just don't get no better than this'. She dreamed of babies cooing and smelling of powder. And fluffy kittens. "Maybe tomorrow I'll find a kitten. I really want a kitty."

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