Chapter 3

Renee did not expect there to be others present, when she arrived for dinner at the farm ... not people other than the Daltons. There were, though. Apparently this was a Christmas party, though Christmas was still almost a month away. There were half a dozen women there.

Two of them she recognized as Jill and Christy, the women she and Bobby had fixed the drain for. Others, she had never seen before. All of them had brought something to contribute to the meal. Most of them brought children too. Four of the girls, daughters of women named Virginia and Mable, were sixteen or seventeen, the same ages as Mirriam’s younger daughters. One of the women was one of Mirriam’s daughters - her oldest - and two of the children were hers - one a year and a half old, the other still at her breast.

Jill had her son, Steven, with her, who was the same age as Mary’s older boy. Christy had a little girl with her, who was 14 months old. These, apparently, were “the kids” that had been mentioned, though Renee still had no idea why they wanted Bobby to spend time with them.

A woman with the unlikely name of Tilly had two children with her - a 5 year old boy, and an 18 month old girl. A woman named Rhonda had a baby, also still at the breast. There was a woman about Mirriam’s age, who had twins that were just over two years old. And, of course, Mirriam’s own baby was there, as were the daughters Renee had already met.

None of that seemed odd, really. Renee already knew what a wonderful woman ... and friend ... Mirriam could be, so it wasn’t odd that she had so many friends. What was puzzling was that, while all her friends looked so different from each other, most of the children looked like they were from the same family. The boys, with one exception, were invariably black-haired bundles of energy with similar smiles. There were more blue eyes than brown ones, among the boys. The little girls, on the other hand, looked like smaller copies of Mirriam’s daughters, with light brown hair, though some was straight, and some was curly. The older girls also looked like sisters to Linda, Suzie and the twins.

It looked a little like a family reunion, and that kind of atmosphere was there too. Renee worked hard at remembering names, concentrating on the women, instead of the children, because she couldn’t remember both. That didn’t seem to matter. She had never felt so welcome, by so many strangers. Where, before, she might have shrunk away from some of them, based on their obvious lack of education, she couldn’t do that now. They were so homey, like sisters she hadn’t known she had, but who had now been found. They talked about their troubles, and joys, their successes and failures, both to each other, and to her, as if she had known them for years.

At one point there were three women with a breast bare, all feeding youngsters who slurped happily and noisily at a nipple. Mirriam had asked if that was acceptable to Renee, before. None of the others did. They just fed their babies, without a shred of embarrassment, even though Bobby was in the room. At one point, his older sister even called him over to ask him something, while she was feeding her baby. Neither of them seemed to find it odd or embarrassing that his sister’s breast was on display while they talked.

Mirriam didn’t spill the beans. It was inevitable, though, that one of these other women would ask the dreaded question: “So, honey, tell me about your man.”

She wished, at that moment, that she’d already taken off her wedding rings. She couldn’t though. Despite what the priest had said, while she might not be married at some future point, she still felt married, even though she couldn’t accept Daniel as being the man she was married to any more. It was both confusing and frustrating.

“He’s not with me ... at the moment,” she replied, unable to think of anything else to say. She saw Mirriam look away from her, and start talking to another woman about what recipe she had used for the pie she’d brought.

“Awww,” said the woman, whose name was Virginia, “Several of us here know what that’s like. My own husband went off to war in Korea and never came back.”

“That’s horrible!” said Renee.

“Things like that happen,” said the woman. “It hurt though. It surely did that. I just couldn’t deal with trying to find another husband.” Just then her younger daughter came up and said that she and the other older girls were going out to the barn to jump into piles of hay. Her mother nodded, and continued to talk to Renee.

It wasn’t until the woman went off to talk to someone else that Renee did the math in her head. The girl, Virginia’s daughter, was sixteen, which meant she was born around 1957 ... long after the Korean War was over, and Virginia’s husband had been killed. Who was that girl’s father? And Virginia’s older daughter was still in high school, so she had been born after Virginia’s husband was killed as well. Two children, with no husband?

She looked around. Virginia was about Mirriam’s age. The only other women that age were Prudence and Mable. Mable wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, but had two daughters who looked like Virginia’s ... and also looked like Mirriam’s, now that she thought about it. How odd.

She was curious enough to ask Mirriam about Mable and Prudence. In a moment of quiet, in the kitchen, she found out Mable had divorced after the war, and had never remarried, and Prudence’s husband had died in 1954. She, too, had never remarried. Mirriam didn’t make a big deal about it; she just gave Renee the information, and said that both women had been through sad times. Renee also found out Mirriam was a widow, then, and had been for almost twenty years.

That established the fact that, between the three older women at the party, they had given birth to a total of fourteen children ... while they were single.

Renee was flabbergasted. Grown women just didn’t do that kind of thing! Young girls made those kinds of “mistakes” ... not women who knew better.

Yet, as Renee was enveloped in a swirl of welcome, she was astonished even further when she decided that it just didn’t matter. She liked these women, and they appeared to like her. She’d never had friends like them before, but that didn’t matter either. She wasn’t alone any more. That, by itself, made her feel better than she had since moving to this town.

Dinner was bedlam. The women all fit at the dining room table, but the children were set up on card tables, and the coffee table. There were two high chairs present, but three children who needed one. Renee found herself holding Mirriam’s son, Theodore, on her lap, while Mirriam tended the meal. At the same time, there were children on almost everybody’s laps, at one time or another. The older girls seemed to be used to taking care of little ones, and helped there, but it was still a cacophony of noise as the women tried to talk and the children demanded attention.

Renee held Theodore in one arm, and ate with the other. She stared down at the little boy, who was cooing happily, as if he didn’t care who held him, as long as somebody did. His hands went to her breast, and he wiggled.

“Mirriam!” she yelped. “I think he’s hungry!”

“I just fed him an hour ago,” snorted Mirriam. “That boy is all man, if you ask me.”

There were giggles and laughter around the table.

Renee was staring into the baby’s blue eyes, as his mouth opened and closed right next to her breast, when strong hands swooped in to remove him from her arm. She felt the back of Bobby’s hand press her breast as he picked up the little boy, and looked up to see identical blue eyes, and an identical head of hair, right down to the forelock on the forehead.

“You’re a guest,” he said. “You shouldn’t have to put up with that.”

He tossed the baby up into the air and Renee gasped, until, on the way back down, the laughing little boy was caught by those strong hands.

“Behave yourself!” he said, putting his face right in the baby’s face.

“Like that will ever happen,” said Mary, laughing. “He’s male.” There was a chorus of agreement from the assembled women.

Something tugged at Renee’s subconscious ... something about the baby and the man now holding him. But the tide of noise and conversation kept her from concentrating, and she began to eat again.

It was during dinner that the story of how Renee came to be there finally came out. The story of her hitting Bobby’s car was glossed over by Bobby, who said it was a simple accident. No mention was made of her hospital stay, or the condition she was in when she was brought to this house for the first time. The way Bobby told it, it was just a humorous incident that was no big deal. Jill complained.

“She hit my car?”

“It’s not your car anymore,” said Bobby. “You gave it to me, remember?”

“Well, yeah,” said the young woman. “But I still have feelings for it.”

That got a laugh, around the table.

Somehow, the subject of her husband came up again. This time it was Jill who brought it up.

“So, what does your husband do for a living?”

The conversation seemed to drift to a halt, and Renee found eyes looking at her, curiously.

“It’s ... embarrassing,” she said weakly, and felt her face flush hotly.

“She’s got some troubles,” said Mirriam. “She might not feel comfortable talking about it.”

“What man isn’t trouble?” asked Mable, trying to lighten the mood.

Renee thought about what Bobby had said. She couldn’t keep it a secret forever ... and these women had been so nice to her ... so far. She took a deep breath, as her heart hammered in her chest.

“He’s in prison,” she said, her voice almost a sigh.

A chorus of “Ooooo”s came back at her, but no one looked outraged, or even shocked.

“We were only married for two months, when I found out I didn’t know him very well,” she added.

Mirriam’s continued attempts to get them to leave her be fell on deaf ears, and, little by little, it all came out. Not one of them accused her of knowing what was going on ... or being involved. All of them expressed horror for her position, and pledged to help her, whatever she needed.

That shook Renee to her very core. There was no judgment. No one said it must be her fault, or that she was stupid for choosing such a man. She felt a huge load lift from her shoulders, and that brought to mind what she hadn’t had time, or opportunity, to share with Mirriam. Now, she shared it with all of her new friends.

“I talked to the priest today ... in town. He said that, in the church’s eyes, I was never married at all.” She got blank looks. None of the other women were Catholic. “It means I can apply for an annulment. It’s kind of like getting divorced, except the church will treat it as if I never got married at all.”

“They can do that?” asked Christy, who looked fascinated.

“Yes,” said Renee.

“Well that’s wonderful, then!” said Mable. “You’ll get to start fresh!”

“I’m not so sure I want to start again at all,” sighed Renee. “This has all been pretty hard on me.”

Again, there were comments of agreement and support. Virginia said men were basically worthless. Christy agreed, and then casually added, “Except for Bobby, of course.”

Eyes left Renee, and swiveled to Bobby, who had his fork halfway to his mouth, and was frozen, wide-eyed.

“Of course,” said three women at once. The stark tableau of Bobby being in the spotlight ended. He blinked, his face turned just a bit darker, and he put some meat loaf in his mouth. There was, perhaps, another ten or fifteen seconds of silence, and then Mary asked Renee what her immediate plans were.

“I don’t know,” said Renee. “I only found out about Daniel recently. I have a degree in early childhood education, but I don’t know if there are any positions open in schools around here or not.”

“I know what you could do,” said Jill. “This town needs a good child care center in the worst possible way. I love my little bundle of joy, but there are times when I need to get some work done, and I’d love to be able to take Steven to someone I could trust.”

There were excited comments in agreement with her.

Renee blinked. She hadn’t even thought of using her education that way. She had a big house. She liked children. All the children in this house made it seem like the place was alive and growing.

“I’ll have to think about that,” she said softly.

“It’s a great idea,” said Rhonda. “I know you could do well at that. Right now, there are just grandmas, who watch kids from time to time, and maybe one or two other women who do it for hire. None of them have more than one or two children, though, and won’t take more.”

“How many children do you think would need that kind of thing?” asked Renee.

There were estimates from fifteen to thirty.

“I couldn’t watch that many children by myself,” gasped Renee. “I’d have to have employees.”

“I need a job!” said one of Mable’s daughters, who was standing in the doorway between the dining room and living room. One of Virginia’s daughters was with her, and chimed in, “Me too!”

“I suspect there are at least six or seven girls and young women around who would do fine, as long as they had good supervision,” said Prudence. “That might just give you something to do, too, to take your mind off your troubles.”

“There’s nothing like having a handful of children around to make you forget your troubles,” laughed Mirriam, obviously joking.

“Yes,” said Renee, thoughtfully. “But those troubles, in my case, would go home at night, and leave me in peace.”

“Amen, sister,” said Virginia, smiling.

The talk moved on to other things as people began to get full, and dinner eased to a halt. The young people organized games with the even younger people, or played with them, if they weren’t old enough to participate in such games. The older women were left to chat and relax. Renee watched as Tilly seemed to end up beside Bobby, almost by accident, and leaned down to whisper in his ear. He got up, and they left the room together.

Suddenly curious, Renee moved herself, to where she could see them standing by the back door. Tilly opened it, took Bobby’s hand, and pulled him outside. Neither of them put on a jacket.

Outside, Tilly faced Bobby and took his other hand in hers, holding both of them.

“Jake and I are ready for another one,” she said, somewhat shyly.

Bobby grinned. “I thought you were going to stop with two. You have no idea how happy that makes me,” he said.

She didn’t blush. She had spent too many hours with this man, naked, straining under him as he made love to her, to be embarrassed. His eagerness made her want to start right now.

“This will be our last,” she said. “Jake says I can kiss you, if I have to ... to convince you to help us again,” she added softly.

“Oh really?” asked Bobby.

She had kissed him exactly twice, during their relationship of five years. The first time was when she cut him off, saying that Jake could make love to her from then on. Then they had found out that Jake couldn’t father children because of his accident. They were so happy with the first child Bobby had fathered in her that they asked him to make her pregnant again. She had kissed him again, when she told him she was pregnant that time ... and cut him off again. In truth, there had been special times, when Bobby was invited to the house, between pregnancies, and she spread her legs for him then. But she never kissed him, other than those two times.

“Gee, I don’t know if I really want to get you pregnant again or not.” He grinned. “Can I have some time to think about it?”

Renee maneuvered herself out of the dining room. No one was in the kitchen, and the entry way was dark, so she slipped in there. She peeked through the gap between the curtain and the window in the back door. She could see Bobby and the woman standing in the light of the yard light.

“No, you can’t,” said Tilly, pulling him toward her.

His arms went around her, and her arms slid up his back, to his shoulders. Her lips reached up, and she stood on tiptoes, to press her lips against his. It was a lover’s kiss. Anyone could see that, and Renee was no exception. She had seen girls kiss boys like that at parties, and, as she now saw, she had seen those boys’ hands slide down to cup the girls’ bottoms and pull the girls against them.

Renee’s stomach felt funny. This reminded her of the way Christy had kissed him, at her house, though she hadn’t been quite as sensual about it as Tilly was being. Tilly loved this kiss, and it was obvious. Jill’s mournful, “I need to get laid bad, Bobby,” popped into her mind. But this woman was married. She had mentioned her husband ... or one of the other women had asked her about him, one of the two. She couldn’t remember now.

What was going on?

Bobby was handsome. She knew that, in the way any woman notices a handsome man. And he was friendly. But this?

She felt someone behind her, and turned to see it was Bobby’s older sister, Mary. Mary leaned toward the window and looked out. She sighed.

“I don’t think you were supposed to see that,” she said softly.

“What’s going on?” asked Renee helplessly.

“It’s complicated,” said Mary. “It would take longer than we have now to explain it to you, and even then, you might not understand. Anyway, it’s too soon for you to delve into that. You have enough problems without trying to figure Bobby out too.”

“I don’t understand,” moaned Renee.

“Bobby helped Tilly and Jake,” said Mary, recognizing that Renee needed to know something ... maybe just a little. “They were in a terrible way, and he helped them both. She’s just very appreciative of that. That’s really all I can tell you. It’s not what it looks like.”

“How can it be not what it looks like?” gasped Renee. She glanced out the window again. “They’re still kissing!”

“All I can tell you is that, if Jake were here, he would not be unhappy about this, okay? You have to understand that there are complicated things going on. They may not make sense to you, but I know there is nothing wrong or hurtful going on out there.”

Mary sounded so sincere, and so calm about it, that Renee just chose to believe her. Then she paused. That’s what she’d done with Daniel - just believed him - and that had been a horrible mistake. It didn’t make sense ... but everything she had seen about this family told her they were good people. She wanted to believe they were good people. She wanted to believe Bobby was a good man. So, she just tried to believe that.

Marry tugged at her arm, and pulled her into the light of the kitchen.

Renee turned to face her. “Christy ... she kissed him too.”

Mary looked pained for a few seconds. “You may see other women kiss him like that,” she said, finally. She had a doubtful look on her face. “He’s helped a lot of people. He has a ... special kind of relationship with some women.”

“He has more than one girlfriend?” asked Renee, trying to fit this into a framework that she could understand, based on her own experience.

“They’re not his girlfriends,” said Mary, frowning. “I shouldn’t be telling you any of this!”

“Why not?” asked Renee. “I like you. I like your family. Bobby has been nice to me. I just want to understand.”

Mary tried again. “Have you ever broken up with a boyfriend, but still liked him?”

“No,” said Renee. If you broke up with a boy, it was because he wasn’t worthy of your love. If he broke up with you, it was because he was stupid ... and wasn’t worthy of your love. It was just the way she thought.