Torn

By Lori (mngirlno)

“Mom!  We’re gonna be late,” groaned seven-year-old Jamie.

“We won’t be late, Jamie.  We’ll be…right on time.  Now, buckle up while I get your sister into her car seat,” Trixie said as she strapped in her three-year-old daughter.  It was the last game of the season for the Sleepyside Raiders – the town’s little league touch football team.  Trixie’s brother, Mart, was the coach.  Both Jamie and his cousin, Peter, Mart’s oldest son, played on the team. 

“What if they start the game without me?  Is Dad going to be there?  What about Uncle Dan and Uncle Bob?”  The little boy with the big blue eyes and blonde curls looked worried.  Trixie’s eyes met his in the rearview mirror.  “Uncle Mart won’t start the game without his star running back. “  She winked at Jamie.  “Dad had to go up to Ten Acres and take care of a few things this morning.  He’ll meet us at the park.”  Jim Frayne had built Ten Acres School with money he had inherited from his great-uncle.  When he’d been adopted by the Wheelers, Matthew Wheeler had made sure that Jim’s inheritance was wisely invested.  By the time he’d graduated from college, Jim’s modest inheritance had grown into millions.  “Uncle Dan is helping Mr. Maypenny at the game preserve and Uncle Bob had to stay at school this weekend.”  Bob, Trixie’s youngest brother, was getting his master’s at Columbia University.

Fifteen minutes later, Trixie was pulling into the parking lot at the field.  Jamie grabbed his football helmet and ran toward the team…with ten minutes to spare.  Trixie and Kaitlyn followed behind – the toddler struggling to keep up with the big brother she adored.

“Land sakes, you’re in a hurry,” a voice called to the mother and daughter.  Trixie smiled and slowed when she saw Mrs. Vanderpoel hurrying toward them.  Growing up, Mrs. Vanderpoel was the closest thing to a grandparent the Belden children knew.  With her plump, rosy cheeks, twinkling blue eyes and crisp, white hair, she looked exactly how Trixie had always pictured Mrs. Santa Claus.  In all the years she’d been baking windmill cookies, she never seemed to age.  “How’s the family?” Mrs. Vanderpoel asked, tucking her hand in the nook of Trixie’s arm.  “Everyone is really good,” Trixie answered, then looked around when she heard her name being called.

“Trix – we’re here!”  Mart’s wife, Diana, was waving from the far side of the field.  She and Mart had already set up enough folding chairs for the whole family.  In fact, except for Jim, Trixie was the last to arrive.  Diana and Honey were sitting in chairs and surrounded by children.  Honey and Brian’s son, Bryn, was four.  He had Brian’s lush black hair and Honey’s warm hazel eyes.  Di and Mart’s twins, Danielle and Billy, were born a month before Kaitlyn.

“I just can’t get over how much those twins look like you and Mart when you were that age,” Mrs. Vanderpoel waved over at Trixie’s extended family.  “Oh, look,” she went on, “there’s Mr. Lytell.  He’s saving a seat for me.”  The sweet little old lady had the grace to blush as she patted Kaitlyn’s curls and went off to join her friend.

Kaitlyn squealed with delight when she saw her cousins and pulled her hand out of Trixie’s grip as she ran towards them.  If there was anyone Kaitlyn loved more than her big brother, it was her cousin, Bryn.  Diana and Honey had spread a blanket on the ground for the kids to sit on and Kaitlyn tumbled down next to Bryn.  She threw her chubby arms around him, smacking a big, wet, sloppy kiss on the little boy’s cheek.  Bryn was a kind-hearted, sensitive boy – like his parents - and was happy to be idolized by his pretty little cousin.

“Too bad it’s the last game.  This is perfect football weather,” Trixie said as she took a seat between her two best friends and sisters-in-law.  “Where’s Brian?” she asked Honey.

“Getting his pregnant wife a hot chocolate,” Brian answered, coming up behind the women and handing the steaming drink to his wife.  He rubbed her belly.  With her green sweater, it looked like she had a huge unripe pumpkin on her lap.

“There’s Jim,” Brian waved at the tall redhead as he strode toward the group.  Trixie caught her breath as she watched her handsome husband come towards them.  Sometimes she couldn’t believe how lucky she was to marry the man she had fallen in love with the very first time she saw him sleeping on the mattress in the old mansion…even if he had pointed a shotgun at her.

Jim scooped up Kaitlyn and made her giggle as he buried his face in the crook of her neck.  Putting Kaitlyn back on the blanket, Jim kissed Trixie and took the last free chair behind his wife. 

Because Sleepyside and White Plains were so close, it was an evenly split crowd.  The rivalry between the towns was both intense and good-natured.  Purple and gold clad Raiders fans intermingled with the blue and white dressed Bluejacket fans.  Danielle and Kaitlyn jumped around, yelling along with the little Raider cheerleaders from Jamie and Peter’s class as they taunted the White Plains’ fans “We’ve got spirit!  Yes, we do!  We’ve got spirit!  How ‘bout you?” 

Between nachos and hotdogs, the family cheered Peter, Jamie and the rest of the Raiders.  Because the kids were so young, points were scored only by touchdowns.  It looked like the game might end in a tie, when Jamie scored a touchdown on the very last play.  The younger kids swarmed around Mart and the two older boys, all the kids jumping up and down in the excitement of the win.

******

The next day was bright and crisp.  Jim and the kids were in the yard, raking leaves.  Jamie insisted on a Daddy-size rake and was doing his best to gather the colorful leaves into a pile.  Kaitlyn was in charge of the trash bags.  Mostly, she pointed out leaves that had “scaped” from the piles and licked on a red Tootsie Pop. 

In the house, Trixie was talking to herself.  “Not bad for an amateur.  I love a bright kitchen,” she said, admiring her handiwork.  The unfinished pine pantry they’d picked up last weekend was unfinished no longer and complimented the “pineapple soda” walls perfectly.  Washing the color “vintage orange” from her hands, she peeked out the window, laughing in spite of herself when the too-long rake handle hit Jamie in the head.  Feeling something brush against her leg, she bent to stroke the family’s big gray and white cat.  The tom lay down and presented his tummy for rubbing.  “Hey there, Hercules, looks like I need to think about starting lunch.  No time for lovin’.”

Trixie had just dumped her homemade noodles into some chicken stock when she heard the kitchen door slam and the sound of a three-year-old crying as if her heart was broken.  She turned around to see what was wrong with Kaitlyn and had to stop herself from laughing out loud.  The little girl had leaves of every color caught in her curls, red sucker smeared around her mouth and a bunch of leaves on a stick clutched in her little fist.  Huge tears rolled down her cheeks and she sobbed.

“What happened, baby?” Trixie asked getting down on her knees and gathering Kaitlyn into a hug.  Kaitlyn took a deep breath, shoved the leaf on a stick in her mom’s face and sobbed, “My sucker getted yucky!”  Trixie took the stick from her daughter.  Apparently, it wasn’t a leaf on a stick – exactly.  Jim and Jamie chose that moment to come into the kitchen.  Jamie’s face was stern as he glared at his little sister.  “She wasn’t a helper, Mom.  She ruined my leaf pile!”  Trixie looked up at Jim, who smiled.  “I guess she got bored.  It was just like Linus – she took a running leap into Jamie’s pile of leaves and came out with a “yucky” sucker.”

“Will you get them cleaned up while I put lunch on the table?”  Trixie handed the sobbing little girl to her husband as the soup on the stove started bubbling.  While the soup bubbled happily away on the stove, Trixie set four bowls on the antique oak table.  She smiled remembering how she and Jim had made two trips to the antique store in Saugerties because all the chairs wouldn’t fit in the Jeep.

When Jim and the kids came back into the kitchen, Kaitlyn was much improved – her hair was combed and free of leaves and she was wearing a brand new sweater.  Just as they finished their lunch of soup and sandwiches, the phone rang.  Jim answered it.  “Hi, Moms.  No, we just finished lunch.  Yes, Trixie’s here.  Is everything all right?”  Trixie turned from the sink when Jim said this, a worried look on her face.  Jim caught her expression and shrugged to let her know he didn’t know anything.  “Okay, we’ll be right down.”  He hung up the phone and turned to Trixie.  “Something’s going on.  Your mom wants us all down at Crabapple Farm right away.”

At the farmhouse, all the BWGs, except Dan, pulled into the driveway at about the same time.  Trixie, Brian and Mart had all received the mysterious phone call from their parents and none knew any more than the others.  Marge Trask, who was Honey’s governess when she was younger and now managed the staff at Manor House, had also been called.  Once all the grandchildren had hugged and kissed Peter and Helen Belden, Marge took charge of them.  She ushered them upstairs to play while the adults talked.  The grown Belden children and their spouses gathered in the comfortable living room where Helen and Peter were sitting with a pretty, dark-haired woman.  Trixie guessed the woman to be in her early 40s.  She looked vaguely familiar, but Trixie was sure they’d never met.

Peter and Helen sat next to each other on a love seat.  Peter held his wife’s hand.  He looked flustered.  Helen was pale and her eyes were red as if she’d been crying.  Peter cleared his throat and addressed the group.  “This is Petra,” he said indicating their guest.  Petra looked around the room.  Six pairs of eyes regarded her curiously and then turned expectantly back to Peter.

He cleared his throat and continued, “I knew Petra’s mother, Donna, when I was much younger.  Donna’s family moved to Sleepyside about halfway through our senior year.   We dated for about six months.  Then, at the end of the summer, I went away to school.  Donna and I wrote a few times, but we were young and far apart.  After a couple months, I never heard from Donna, again.  Then, I met your mother and we fell in love.  Donna’s family had moved away from Sleepyside and I didn’t know what had happened to them.  Until recently.  A couple months ago, I got a letter from Donna.  We agreed we wouldn’t tell you about that letter until we were sure.”  

“Sure about what, Dad?”  Brian spoke for the group.

“Donna’s family left Sleepyside because Donna was pregnant.  Things were so much different then.  I never knew.” 

 Suddenly, Trixie knew why Petra looked familiar.  Petra looked like Brian.  Brian looked like Peter. Trixie stood suddenly, then sank back down clutching at Jim for support, disbelief written all over her face.  “Daddy, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”   

Peter cleared his throat and looked around the room at his family.  “Yes, Trixie, I am.  Petra is my daughter.”