Mary and Alvin Ch. 24

***

Alvin and Mary sat, hip to hip, squeezed on Diana's couch alongside Jennifer and Danni. I guess the family's growing, Alvin thought, used to be enough room in here for all of us. He looked around the family room. The two babies didn't take much space, side by side on the floor in their bouncy seats. Rachel had a boyfriend now, Brendon or Brandon; Alvin couldn't keep it in his head, though he seemed like a nice enough kid. The two of them sat with Charlotte and Seth on the bench seat in front of the big bay window. It wouldn't be long before Theo would be bringing someone along, and then Laura's kids. He looked down at Hannah and Bonita, and wondered if he'd see them at some future family gathering with their own little ones.

Mary nudged him with her elbow. "Are you done eating, love?" she asked.

"Oh yes," he said, handing her his plate. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Mary rose to took their plates to the kitchen. Tim was sitting on the floor in front of Molly's chair and she had to step over his outstretched legs.

"If I trip and drop these plates, I know where I'll make sure they land," she told him.

Tim laughed. "Damn, Mary, I remember when you were such a sweet, quiet girl, now it's like your running the show."

Mary looked up and saw Diana scowl at him. What's got into her, she thought. She's standing right under a Welcome Home banner for her own son, and she's been a sourpuss all day.

She entered the kitchen and put the plates in the sink. Andy was sitting at the table with his father and Uncle Harry. Mary was struck again at how much he looked like a younger version of Alvin.

"Mary," Bob called, "Why don't you sit down and have a beer with us?"

"No, thanks. Not while I'm nursing. But I'll sit with you a bit."

"Oh right," he said, "Well, you've sure got a beautiful baby. Congratulations."

"Ayuh," said Uncle Harry, "Hope the girl grows up to have some of your...features."

Andy looked at Harry with a puzzled expression.

"He's talking about my butt," Mary said.

"That's pretty rude, Harry," Bob said.

"It's okay," Mary said, waving nonchalantly, "I have made sure he understands not to touch. I don't think there's any way to stop his comments."

"Just being appreciative," Harry shrugged.

"So, have you found a place yet?" Mary asked Andy. He had been staying with his parents since he'd arrived, but it was more than an hour drive to the Rockland station.

"I am expecting a call on Monday about a place in Lincolnville, just up the road from the beach."

Mary touched the pendant of sea glass that hung around her neck. "I found this on Lincolnville Beach, right after Alvin and I met. He had it polished and made into a necklace for me."

Andy smiled. "You know, Mary, one of the reasons I am so happy about being home, besides being near family," he touched his father's shoulder, "Is that I never felt settled down in California, so I never really sought serious relationships. Now that I'm where I belong, I hope I can find someone the way you and Alvin found each other."

Harry snorted and Bob patted his son's arm.

"I think it will happen for you, Andy," Mary said.

"Never happened for me," Harry muttered.

"Well, don't give up, dear," Mary said as she got up from the table.

"But maybe set your sights a little lower," Bob added.

Mary returned to the family room. Alvin was holding both babies. When she sat down next to him, she looked across the room and saw Charlotte smile at her and raise her hand, holding up two fingers. She silently mouthed something that Mary could not make out. Charlotte repeated herself, raising her hand higher, and Mary understood what she had said.

"Two Angels."

Mary smiled and nodded. She looked at Alvin, cradling the two little girls in his arms. Their eyes met and he looked at her with a puzzled expression. He'd seen the exchange between Mary and Charlotte, but not understood it.

Bonita began to fuss. Mary took her from Alvin and handed her over to Jennifer.

"Yeah, I think she's hungry," Jennifer said, "I'll go out to the kitchen to feed her with a little privacy."

"I expect Hannah to start up any minute now, so I might as well come with you," Mary replied. Alvin gave the baby to her, and she and Jennifer stood and took their girls to the kitchen.

Uncle Harry was sitting by himself at the table, spearing pickle slices from a jar with his jackknife. Mary and Jennifer sat down across from him.

"We're going to feed the babies,' Jennifer told him.

Harry nodded, grunted and speared another pickle. Jennifer glanced at Mary, shrugged and began to unbutton her blouse. Harry looked up, gulped his pickle and stood up.

"See you later, Uncle Harry," Jennifer called as he fled the kitchen.

They had just begun nursing the babies when Diana came into the room. She stood with her back against the refrigerator, her hands on her hips.

"So, would you like to let me in on the plan?" she asked.

"Plan?" Mary asked.

"I was talking to her," Diana snapped, waving her hand at Jennifer. "I'd like to know about this plan she was talking to Andy about."

Jennifer shrugged, "It's not a plan, Aunt Di, it's just some ideas about what I'd like to do with the farm."

"Right. An idea that you are going to just buy everyone out?"

"Not necessarily, but we are going to have to figure out something."

"Jennifer, I have been handling family business since before you were born." She glared at Mary, "Even without a college degree."

"There's no need to get nasty," Mary said.

"This is a family matter, Mary, not your concern."

"I'm not family?"

"Not in a way that counts. Don't take it personal."

"Don't take it personally?" Mary nodded toward Hannah. "Is my daughter family?"

Diana's voice rose. "That's not the issue. The issue is being squeezed out of a business I've worked hard at for thirty years."

"And what did you do with the farm all that time?" Jennifer asked, her own voice getting louder. "It never brought in one fucking penny until I started running it."

"That doesn't make it yours." Diana snapped.

"My mother fucking died on that land," Jennifer shouted, "Maybe you want to tell me that she wasn't family either."

Alvin rushed to the kitchen at the sound of raised voices, with Danni right beside him. Bob and Andy followed close behind, and the rest of the family after them.

"...that has nothing to do with it..." Diana was saying when they entered.

"What's all the ruckus?" Alvin interrupted her, trying to keep his own voice calm.

"I suppose you knew all about this, didn't you?" Diana barked at him.

"About what?"

"About Jennifer's ideas about buying the farm," Mary told him.

"Oh, that," he said. Should have known this was going to blow up before long, he thought.

"So, you did know?" Diana said, with a smug nod.

"Well, Mary told me that..."

Diana threw her hands up in the air. "Right, Mary told you."

"I don't appreciate your tone," Mary said.

Diana looked at Alvin with a pleading expression. "Alvin, it's our family home."

"It still will be," Alvin said.

"It's not the same."

"So I guess I'm not family, either," Danni said.

"That's not what I'm saying, Danni, don't even go there."

"I was right around the corner, I heard what you said," Danni replied.

"You don't get what I'm saying."

"I don't think anyone gets what you're saying," Tim interjected.

"So Alvin's kid gets the farm, what do my kids get? " Diana replied, What does your kid get, Tim?"

"I don't want anything," Rachel said quietly. Everyone turned to look at her. "Except that everybody chill out and start talking to each other like people who love each other," she added.

Diana deflated. She sat down at the table and put her head in her hands. Bob and Andy went to her side.

"Let's leave them be," Tim said, and the family began to retreat from the kitchen. Alvin held out his hand to Mary and she stood to leave. As they stepped from the table, Rachel leaned over and kissed Mary's cheek, then sat down at the table and reached across it to take her mother's hand.

"Well, this party is over," Charlotte said as everyone reentered the family room, "Who's up for a beer at the High Tide?"

"I'm in," Tim nodded.

"You buying, Timmy?" Uncle Harry asked.

"I'll get the first round."

"Well, then, I'll stay for at least one," Harry responded.

Mary gathered up their things, and she and Alvin were the last to leave the house. As they exited, Alvin lingered in the doorway. Mary turned from the bottom of the porch steps and looked up at him.

"You want to go back and talk to her, don't you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I reckon I do," he shrugged.

"Go ahead, love, we will wait in the car."

Alvin went back into the house. Rachel's boyfriend was sitting alone in the family room, looking very uncomfortable.

"Hey, bub," Alvin said.

The young man looked up.

"It'll all be alright." Alvin told him. Brendan or Brandon nodded, but Alvin had the bad feeling that this guy was not coming back.

Diana was still at the kitchen table, her head hanging low. Bob sat beside her, rubbing her shoulder. Rachel and Andy were across from her, looking on with concern. Alvin took a seat at the end of the table.

"Diana," he said in a soft voice, "Talk to me. What's going on?"

She sat up and looked at him. Her eyes were wet with tears. She shook her head, but did not speak.

Alvin took her hand. "Diana, you and me been through good times and bad together, there has never been anything we couldn't talk about."

In a voice barely above a whisper, Diana said, "You don't need me anymore."

Alvin frowned. "What do you mean, Di, of course I do."

"No," she shook her head, "Mary could do a better job running the business than me. It's just a matter of time before you realize that."

"Mary doesn't know anything about running a wharf."

"Neither did I."

Alvin sighed. "Di, from the time I come back and took Dad's place, people have told me what a great thing I done, like I was some kind of hero for it. But I couldn't have done a thing without you. You and me have been partners from the minute I stepped off the bus from Florida. That ain't going to change. Not ever."

Diana sniffed, then blew her nose into a napkin. "Thank you, Alvin. I love you."

Alvin leaned forward and hugged her. "You're my big sister and I love you." He sat back and held her shoulders. "look at me, Diana."

She looked into his eyes.

"I love you, but don't ever disrespect my wife again. Alright?"

"I'm sorry. I'll apologize." She looked across the table. "And Andy, I'm sorry I ruined your party."

"That's okay, Mom. And don't ever think we don't need you anymore."

Rachel nodded in agreement.

"Well, alright then," Alvin said, standing up. He kissed the top of his sister's head.

"I'll call Mary tomorrow, when I've got my shit together a little bit more, okay?"

"Good, and you and me and Tim will sit down and hash out the whole farm thing, alright?"

Diana nodded and Alvin went out to join Mary and Hannah in the car.

"Everything okay?" Mary asked as they pulled out of the driveway.

Alvin nodded. "She said that she will call you tomorrow and apologize."

"Alvin, what did I do to make her not like me? I've always been nice to her."

"I wouldn't say she doesn't like you."

"Then what is it?"

"I guess she feels like you come between us."

Mary sighed and sat back. She wanted to discuss it further, but she could tell that Alvin didn't want to talk about it. They drove in silence for several minutes, then Mary turned in her seat.

"You want to make me feel better, baby?" she asked.

"You forget we got the baby in the back seat?" he laughed.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, that's not what I was talking about."

Well, alright, Miss Mary, how can I make you feel better?"

"Take me to Dairy Queen."

"Ice cream don't just make everything right, you know."

"No," Mary said, "but it helps."

They got their ice cream, then drove home. Jennifer was sitting, on the porch steps, holding Bonita, when they arrived.

"Everything alright, baby girl?" Alvin asked as he got out of the car.

Jennifer shrugged. "You tell me."

Alvin sat down next to his daughter and draped his arm over her shoulder. "Honey, your Aunt Di is just scared that things are changing and maybe she's being left behind."

Mary came over with Hannah and sat on Jennifer's other side.

"Daddy, if I thought for a minute that Aunt Di wanted to help me with the farm, I'd be thrilled."

"You ought to tell her that," Alvin said.

"When did Andy join the Coast Guard?" Mary asked.

"Right out of high school," Alvin told her.

"So, he left home a boy and has come home a man. And Rachel's in college now, and has a serious boyfriend..."

"I hope she still does," Alvin muttered.

"Yeah, I'd be running for the hills if I was him," Jennifer chuckled.

"Is his name Brendan or Brandon?" Alvin asked.

"Brandon," Jennifer said.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

"Anyway," Mary said, shaking her head at them, "I look at my baby and I can't imagine there will come a time that she doesn't need me anymore. And that scares the hell out of me."

"I get that," Jennifer said, "I totally do." She stood up and gave them each a kiss. "I'll give Aunt Di a call tomorrow."

Alvin and Mary remained on the porch after Jennifer took Bonita home. Alvin took the baby from Mary and held her in his arms.

"You know," he said, "a while back I told Laura that I felt like everything was changing all around me while I just seemed stuck in place. She laughed at me and said I couldn't see how much I have changed."

"You see yourself as stuck in place? Alvin, you are in motion more than anyone I've ever known. It's just that you never go very far in any one direction. That's why I don't even have to ask what you said to Diana when you went back in the house. I knew that whatever you said, it would be the right thing."

Alvin sat in silence. looking out over the cornfield.

"What are you thinking, sweetheart?" Mary asked.

"I was thinking that I'd really like to make love to you."

"That's better than ice cream." She kissed his cheek. "Meet me upstairs."

Alvin carried Hannah to the nursery and laid her in her crib. When he entered the bedroom, Mary was sitting on the bed, naked. He stood before her, and she turned her face up to him. He put his hand on her cheek and stared into her eyes. A smile crossed her face.

"I keep thinking I couldn't love you more," he said, "but then I do."

He leaned down and kissed her, then knelt and put his hands on her hips. He kissed his way across her breasts and down her side to her waist. She laid back and he lifted her leg, kissing the side of her knee. He began to softly kiss the side of her leg and was halfway up her thigh when Hannah began to cry.

***

Alvin walked into Hurley's and saw Diana and Bob sitting side by side in a booth. He stopped at the bar and bought a pint of Guinness, then joined them.

"Listen, Alvin," Bob said as soon as he had sat down, "I just came along in case there are questions regarding real estate, I have no intention of giving an opinion or anything like that."

"That's alright," Alvin nodded. "Tim ain't here yet?"

"He's in the bathroom," Diana told him, "He'll be right back."

They sat in awkward silence until Tim returned. Alvin slid over in the booth and made room for his brother. Still, they sat, each waiting for one of the others to begin the conversation. Finally, Alvin cleared his throat and spoke.

"Look, Jennifer started talking about the farm when she was in about eighth grade. I think we all thought it was cute, but she was dead serious. And when it became clear that she was really going to do it, we all patted her on the back. So, what are we doing now? This ain't no game, she ain't playing Old McDonald, she's created a real business. And yes, Di, she asked Mary for advice..."

"Alvin, I..."

Alvin held up his hand. "Let me finish, honey, then you can say whatever is on your mind. I want you to know that Mary told her that it would be a conflict of interest for them to discuss it until after we settled out an arrangement with her."

"I didn't know that," Diana said, "I got the impression from what Jennifer told Andy, that the two of them were making all kinds of plans."

"Probably Jen is making plans and figuring Mary into them," Tim interjected.

Alvin shrugged. "And Di, the reason I knew about it is because Mary came straight to me and told me, just to avoid the kind of situation that happened."

Diana looked down at the table. "I don't like feeling like such a bitch."

"You ain't a bitch," Alvin said, rubbing her arm, "The worst I can say about you is that you had the wrong idea of what was right for your family."

Diana sighed. "Okay, so what is right for our family? Our whole family?"

"I'm fine with Jen buying the farm, if she can swing it, "Tim said, "I mean, as I understand Di, her concern is that Jen, if she succeeds, will be making money off property that Andy and Rachel and Theo and, don't forget, Charlotte, have just as much claim to as she does. That ain't nothing against Jen, but I agree it doesn't seem right. So, if she buys it, then the money from that, which goes to us would eventually be their's when we croak. So, that all sounds good to me."

Diana looked at Bob. "But would Andy and Rachel and Charlotte have to agree with that? They are adults now."

Bob looked pleased to be included in the conversation. "No, they are only presumptive heirs, they have no legal right to assume they would inherit. The three of you own the land. You can sell it to Jennifer, or anyone else who comes along.

Alvin rubbed his chin and said, "Well, I've given it a lot of thought. One thing Mary did say was that we should stop thinking of the land as the farm. The farm is the business, the land is, I don't know, something else. Help me out, Bob."

"She's right, and that's another point. She should register the farm as an independent entity, not a part of Faulkner Family Enterprises." Bob nodded, "But I'm not sure of the relevance of that right now."

"Well, here is my concern," Alvin replied, "If she goes and takes out a big loan from the bank to buy us out, that's pretty risky, ain't it? If she doesn't succeed, the land will be gone, from her, from us, just gone to the bank."

"Well, there is always that risk."

"So, isn't there some kind of way that we sell it to her and she makes the payments to us instead of the bank."

"Yes, it's called a land contract."

"And how would that work?" Diana asked.

"Ordinarily, you agree to a price and a payment plan with a balloon payment at the end. Ten years is standard."

"So, let me see if I have this right," Diana said, "We sell her the farm for x amount, and she makes payment for ten years, but at the end of the ten years, she has to pay off the remainder of the sale price."

"That it, exactly. And if she doesn't instead of the land going to the bank, it reverts to the sellers."

"Us," Tim said.

"That's right," Bob said, "and if that happens, you reevaluate what to do then."

"If we are still here," Alvin muttered.

"Well, I intend to be here," Bob said, shrugging his shoulders, "So if none of you are, Mary and Molly and I will reevaluate."

Tim laughed and shook his finger at him. "It's old Bob that's plotting against us."

Alvin looked at Diana. "Are you good with this?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I think it's a great plan." She hesitated and added, "And tell Mary if she'd like to get together and discuss ways we could improve things at the wharf, I'd be happy to."

***

Mary was at the door when Alvin arrived home. She'd been anxious about the meeting, and sprang out of her chair as soon as she heard his tires on the gravel driveway.