Mary adopted a cat with unusual coloring. She was as green as grass, paws that looked permanently muddy, and a pretty sunflower face and little red spots like flowers. “Flower!” Mary thought, “That’s a perfect name.”



Mary had gotten huge. And irritable. She asked Dixie to do some chores, but when Dixie said she had to do homework “…so I can get into college”, Mary accused her of being lazy.
Homer had bought a bee-hive to pollinate the fruit trees and provide honey. But they could be dangerous; he tried to teach Mary how to take honey, but couldn’t get her attention.

Mary insisted on going clothes shopping. Beulah tried to talk her out of it; “Land sakes, Mary, the only stores like that are almost an hour away up the mountain to Pine Crest!” But Mary insisted, so Beulah went with her.

The weather up the mountains was cooler, flurries of snow swirled in the cold air. Mary hurried inside, but a nice young man greeted Beulah: “Hello, we’re new in town. My name is David Ottomas”. “Pleased to meet you”, she said, thinking, “What a nice looking man”. Inside, Mary was admiring a wedding dress, muttering and waving a hand around. “Oh, dear”, thought Beulah, as she took Mary’s arm. “I want you to meet Peter Sims, he’s ‘somebody’” - not that she knew what THAT ment.




But Mary had noticed Candy Hart. They didn’t like each other, but Mary always avoided problems. Like her father, she hated angry words and bad behavior. She called Candy a few choice words, before Mary could steer her outside to catch their taxi. By the time they got home, Mary was feeling badly.


That night Mary tossed and groaned, getting up to use the bathroom and pacing around. With her bed in the same big (and cold!) room, Beulah didn’t get much sleep either. But Homer, snuggled under the warm quilt that Beulah made, slept through everything.


In the early hours of morning, Mary clutched her belly and cried out to her mother. “I’m bleeding, mom! Something’s wrong!”

Hearing her anguish, Homer was out of bed and down the stairs to the phone, before he was even awake. As he called a taxi ..”and HURRY, God damn it!” Mary slipped on a dress, and Beulah helped her down the stairs.



HOMER: “As the women-folk took off for the hospital in Pine Crest, I stood on the porch in my bare feet, feeling like a fool. I shouldn’t have sweared in front of them. I should have a car of my own. I shouldn’t have kept my family so separated from everything and everyone. I’m just a coward. I heard tell that snooty Daytona Beech carries her son’s balls around in her handbag. Hell, at least he HAS balls! I need to grow some.
My folks died some years back and left me some money, but I just stuck it in the bank. I guess I was still mad at them. But I’m gonna stop thinking about myself. Beulah told me she wanted to buy some more land so we can dig a better well. She says there’s a spring in the next few acres, where we could make a fishing hole. She’s making bread for folks round here. If I put a little stand by the road, she could sell baked goods, and I could sell vegetables and fruit. Why, I bet there would even be enough money to send Delta to college. Scot said he could get a scholarship, but I bet he still needs money. Seems like everything just takes MONEY! Ouch! My toes are blue. Guess I better get in a hot bath. Then some grilled cheese for breakfast! Bet the kids will like that!”
Beulah did not come back that day. But the following night, after a heavy snow-fall, she pulled up in a taxi. Homer met her on the porch, but she just handed him a little bundle, told him to feed it a bottle, and went back to the taxi. Homer did as instructed. When she came into the kitchen, she was carrying a SECOND BABY!

“Good thing we had that baby formula on hand”, Homer said. “What about Mary, is she OK? Where is she!?”.
“Everything is fine”, Beulah assured him, “just let me put Sue Ellen down and go to the bathroom, I’m bout to pop”.
“Sue Ellen, is it”, Homer said, noticing Beulah had found a box to put the unexpected twin down in. “And who is THIS?” he thought, putting the drooling baby in the crib he had made. “Guess I need to get to work on another crib”.

Beulah put her arm around his waist as he looked at the baby. “That’s Clovis” she smiled “Aren’t they just the prettiest things you ever saw?”
“Just about”, Homer agreed.
As Beulah sat at the dining table, she told him about their wild ride to the hospital. “Mary wasn’t bleeding bad, but when they examined her and said she had twins, and THEY were in trouble, they did emergency surgery. Mary won’t be able to have more children, but she’ll be OK. She has to stay in the hospital till next week, and she won’t be able to nurse. But everything will be just fine. I’m glad we both are retired, and with Dixie and Scot around we’ll have plenty of help.”
Homer had made coffee for them both; lots of milk for him, lots of sugar for his sweet Beulah. “Well, I think we still remember how to take care of babies. What would you think about Dixie and Scot going to college?”