Chapter 10: A Fresh Start

To see Tom together with my mother seemed as natural as if my father were still alive and their explosive separation had never happened. But it had happened and that thought was still in the back of my mind. I didn't think for a moment that my mother would ever repeat the mistake she made so many years ago. I had begun to understand that I might be prepared to forgive my mother, something I didn't believe I would ever be able to do.

I hadn't expressed these feelings to Ardele, at least not fully. She had encouraged me to let go of the past and accept that my mother was a different person than she was then and that she understood just how deeply she had hurt me and my father. She had punished herself for years over a single act of reckless stupidity and had somehow come to terms with it. Now, Ardele told me, it was my turn to make some emotional changes.

Our conversation took place the day before our wedding. We weren't superstitious or traditionalist, so we wouldn't be spending the night apart. We had been talking quietly over lunch at the kitchen table about marriage and the future and children and, of course, what to do about our charter business.

"I intend to work right up until the month before I'm due," Ardele said. "That will be the middle of June. After that, I'll be a stay-at-home mom for a while until I decide I can work again. As far as Campbell River, I'll be up there as soon as I can after the baby is born and I'll stay at the motel. You'll hardly miss me," she said with a smile.

"I'll miss you if you're gone for a day, much less a couple of weeks," I grumbled.

"You'll survive," she chuckled. "You just stay away from the cougars or I'll rearrange your reproductive organ and that will be the end of you making babies."

"Are you sure you'll be okay driving up there?"

"Of course I will. I'm not some weak-kneed frail little girl that can't take care of herself. Patrick Hamelin, if you have one major fault it's that you're a worrier. You worry about everything. You worry so much that it worries me! This might come as a shock, but women have been having babies for quite a while now and still are able to look after themselves and get around. I plan to have a nice, pleasant summer with our new son or daughter and enjoy the sun and spending some time with my husband, whom I still love in spite of his faults."

"Oh ... okay then, if you're sure." I expected she would be fine, knowing how confident and strong she was. I just wanted her to convince me.

"I've invited your mother to join us up there too," she said casually.

"You have? You didn't mention that."

"I just did. She volunteered to look after the baby to give me a break now and then and she also volunteered to be a deck hand once she got to know her way around the boat."

"She did?" That was a surprise. "I don't know about that ... the deckhand thing I mean."

"Why don't you wait and see. She told me she used to do quite a bit on your Dad's boat when she was out on it. She thinks she can still remember how to handle the lines and fenders and the radio. Maybe you should give her a lesson on the new boat and see how she works out. She'll appreciate the opportunity."

"Are you two conspiring behind my back?" I asked, not really upset.

"Not any more. You know all about it now," she laughed.

"Is our wedding tomorrow going to have the usual stuff about love, honour and obey? Especially, the obey part," I asked, trying to pull off a serious scowl.

"In your dreams," she chuckled. "We're a partnership, remember. I'll be an equal as your wife and you'll be a subservient husband."

"Figures," I mumbled, knowing full well that she was teasing.

Saturday morning dawned dark and rainy. I was hoping this wasn't an omen. I was doing my best to be upbeat and happy. After all, I was marrying the woman I loved and she was carrying our child. How could I not be in the best possible mood?

The civil ceremony was scheduled for 11am and Ardele chose the new grey suit for me today. A light blue dress shirt and a very nice silk tie with complementary colours and she was satisfied that I looked good. She had another new dress that she and my mother had chosen, and as I had come to expect, she looked spectacular. It was navy blue and moulded to her body in a way that highlighted her perfect figure.

"You look yummy," I grinned evilly. "I could eat you right up."

"Later, big boy, later," she said, throwing a tempting look at me.

Once again, Tom was our driver and mother was along for the ride.

"You look lovely, you two," she said. She looked a little teary-eyed this morning, undoubtedly because her only son was getting married.

Del and I were holding hands in the back seat and I was conscious of her grip being quite firm. I had the feeling she was more nervous than she was letting on. Considering this was her second marriage, I thought I would be the nervous one, but not so it appeared. Maybe I didn't understand that this was a huge step in my life. I thought I did. I had no doubts, no second thoughts. This was the logical extension of my love for Ardele.

Ardele's mother and sister arrived just as we entered the room where the wedding would take place. We had met a week earlier in Osoyoos when we drove up there so that I could formally ask for Audrey Quinton's permission to marry her daughter. She thought that was quite humorous considering Ardele was pregnant and the ceremony and reception were already planned. Nonetheless, I was welcomed into her family and told that I looked a good deal more likely as a husband and a father than her previous choice.

The ceremony was quick and efficient and was over before I was really prepared for it to be done. But the result was what mattered. I was now married to Ardele Roberta Quinton Hamelin, the love of my life. I held her in my arms at the end of the ceremony and I kissed her as I would always want to kiss her ... with passion.

I turned to my mother and saw tears. She was emotional and I could understand it. I was her only son and it was a big day for us. I went to her and hugged her and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, Mother. Thank you for coming back into my life. Thank you for being here today. Thank you for accepting Ardele as one of our family. I forgive you, Mother. The past is gone and we have a future before us. I am happy that you are in that future for us and our children."

I'm not sure what inspired me to say what I did at that particular moment. The result was a torrent of tears from my mother and a hug that displayed a strength I didn't know she had. She held me tightly for some time without letting go. When she finally did, she went to Ardele and embraced her, briefly whispering something to her. Then she excused herself and made for the washroom.

Tom looked a little worried but I gave him the thumb and forefinger okay sign and he relaxed. Ardele was a different matter. She now had tears in her eyes and she came to me and held me tightly to her.

"You did a wonderful thing," she sobbed. "I am so proud of you. You are a man. How did I ever get so lucky to find you?"

"You answered a want ad as I recall," I said glibly.

She snorted a laugh, then grabbed me tightly again. "We are going to have a wonderful life, Patrick."

"I know you're right, love. I know it."

By Saturday, we had recovered from the drama of the post ceremony event and were driving to our reception. Mother had rented one of the mid-sized conference rooms at her hotel and had arranged the catering for it. There would be about fifty people at most. I knew almost every one of them and Ardele knew the rest.

Ardele had invited her old boss, Hec Taylor and his wife, along with a couple of her old girlfriends from BCIT. Both her sisters and their families attended and I was surprised how little they had in common with my new wife. They were nothing like Ardele in physical appearance or personality. Del had told me that they had been raised to be the little angels, while she was the designated tomboy, since she failed to turn out to be a boy in the first place.

I would never call her sisters stuck up bitches in front of her, but that's what I thought they were. I could hear their muttered complaints. No church ceremony, no bridal gown, no maids of honour, no head table, a couple of toasts but no roasts for the bride and groom, and no live band. What kind of a wedding was this, they grumbled. I chose not to set them straight. I did notice, however, that they seemed fascinated with their younger sister and just how beautiful she looked. Perhaps it was because her older siblings were envious, both carrying thirty or forty extra pounds they didn't need.

I got some decidedly odd looks from some of the guests when I explained that I was a charter boat operator and spent my time taking people sightseeing or fishing. Even more odd looks when I explained that Ardele was my first mate and a very skilled deckhand. I think some of them must have had a small outboard in mind when I talked about the boat because when I explained it was over fifty feet long and slept eight, they looked positively startled.

Del sidled up to me later on and gave me another of her familiar hip bumps. She could do that anytime she liked as far as I was concerned.

"So, what do you think of my sisters?" she asked.

Oh oh ... danger Will Robinson. "Uhhm ... very ... nice," I finally stammered.

"You mean very nice for a couple of frumpy housewives?" she asked straight faced. "Or maybe, very nice for a pair of insufferable snobs."

I couldn't help it. I nearly snorted my drink out my nose, trying to suppress a laugh and prevent myself from choking at the same time.