Breeding Like Rabbits by Ardyce C. Whalen

Author:Ardyce C. Whalen [Whalen, Ardyce C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781532024160
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2017-07-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

16

The Hughes family stayed in their hometown for a week, making their headquarters out at the Anderson farm. It was inconvenient to be so far out of town, but that disadvantage was overridden by the advantages—Britt’s parents and her twin brothers were so taken with Sara and Daniel that Britt and Andy could visit relatives and friends and not worry about looking for a babysitter. Andy’s parents weren’t too happy about this, but they had to admit that the Andersons had more room both inside their house and outside. A large backyard enclosed a swing set and a teeter-totter, and bordering the play area, a grove of trees beckoned to little explorers.

The first thing Britt and Andy did was to clean up the “playpen” backseat of their car. The playpen had turned into a pigpen—apple cores and potato chip pieces, along with soggy graham crackers, covered the quilt that was the playpen’s floor. It smelled of sour milk and something worse. They hauled out the quilt, folded all the icky stuff inside it, and dumped the food leavings into the burn barrel. The quilt, sturdily sewn in the around-the-world pattern, in Britt’s favorite colors—turquoise, sage green, Chinese red, and camel—came out of the washer almost as good as new.

Britt hadn’t been to a doctor, but she knew she was pregnant—a fact she wasn’t about to share with her mother; she didn’t want to spoil her visit with her parents by starting a birth control or a religious discussion. They’d be leaving for Minneapolis soon, and she wanted their goodbyes to be as kissy and huggy as the hellos.

Using the GI Bill, Andy would attend Lee’s Barber College early the next year. In the meantime, he’d try to find work. As a veteran of the Korean War, he would not receive unemployment compensation until after a waiting period ended, determined by the amount and disbursement date of his mustering out pay. Then he would be able to receive both state and federal benefits. But a family man like Andy needed money now, which meant as soon as they reached St. Paul and found a place to live, he would have to start looking for a job. He also planned to put them on the list for low-income housing while he attended school. With all this in mind, they packed up the old gray Ford for yet another trip—this one a bit over three hundred and fifty miles. They reinstalled the playpen for Sara and Daniel’s comfort.

Saying goodbye was still hard, even though this time they weren’t going to be as far away. The warm kisses and hugs left Britt’s mother in tears. Britt was almost afraid she wouldn’t hand over little Daniel. Are those tears real? Is she really sad? Or does she think she’s supposed to cry at goodbyes? But she cries for the least little things, even when she’s happy. Dad—my father, the stoic—has always hated that.

They stopped in town to say goodbye to Andy’s folks. Andy’s mother served coffee and cookies (Britt nibbled on a cookie and asked for water).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.