The group, arriving in a chartered bus, had traveled nearly three hours to see his work with bees, his flowers, and his hives. He went to the door wearing a stained shirt, a toddler in his arms, another crying at his knee, and a sad, pouting little girl following him to the porch. The smoke alarm continued its high pitched squeal. Momentary confusion and disbelief that he had forgotten their appointment made for an awkward silence as the men and women congregated around his porch.
The smoke alarm had gotten Sara out of bed. She opened the back door to clear smoke as soon as she turned off the oven. Eli followed her to the front door.
?Bizzy, come with me, sweetie.? She held out a hand. ?Ava, let go of Daddy and come with me.? She smiled at the strangers on the porch. ?Welcome to the Grissom circus. He?ll be with you as soon as he changes his shirt and turns off the smoke alarm.? Everyone laughed.
Calm and quiet settled around Sara and the four children when she stretched across the floor of the playroom. ?Eli, get us a favorite book?one everyone will like.?
Grissom stood in the doorway with a clean shirt. ?I?I forgot.? He shrugged and looked embarrassed.
She laughed and waved her hand. ?Go. We?ll be fine.?
By the time the visitors left, Lilly had returned, children were fed, and Sara had called their neighbors?
?You should have called us immediately,? the older nun said after Sara had explained her state from a prone position on the sofa.
This woman had known Sara longer than anyone in the room. Years ago, Sister Deborah had arranged for Laura Sidle to live at the community farm, had welcomed Sara as a daughter, and, when Grissom wanted to buy the neighboring house, she had played a major role in making it happen.
?You, Gil, these children are family to us?tell us?let us help you.? The nun looked at the two parents?exhaustion, frustration, and fear apparent on their faces. ?Are either of you getting any rest?? She laughed quietly. ?We?ll take the children for the day?you two rest and plan. This is a serious complication but we can help.? She turned to the second woman who had arrived with her. ?Let?s take everyone back to our place and let these two get some rest.?
Within minutes, the house was quiet. Grissom remained in the chair he had pulled next to the sofa. ?We can get through this, honey.?
?I?ll go nuts, Gil. I can?t stand the thought of staying inside for a day much less for weeks. I have to get my mind around this?Eli starts kindergarten in a month.? She wiped her eyes. ?You have a seminar next week. Annie and Ave want to be picked up. Bizzy is just lost?even going with Sister Deborah?she looks so sad.?
He stood, extending his hand. ?Come with me. We rest, and then we?ll think of what we are going to do.?
The following week was one of daily adjustments.
One of the nuns arrived early each morning with eggs and muffins for breakfast. She left after breakfast taking at least one child with her.
The housekeeper managed to keep clothes clean, shopped and prepared food for lunch and dinner, cleaned, and attempted to keep one child with her.
Grissom wandered from room to room, worried, anxious, asking a hundred times a day if Sara needed anything. Eli or Bizzy followed him until his agitation sent them to hide in another room or crawl in bed with their mother.
Sara rested?or said she rested. She usually had one or two children in bed with her. She read every book in the playroom bookcase to whoever was in bed?often reading the same story several times a day. She counted minutes until she could get up to shower or to eat or to move to the sofa. By mid-week, she ordered Grissom out of the house. He was gone for fifteen minutes and she was bored to tears.
The second week, the Grissom household had turned into confused turmoil. The novelty of visiting the neighboring women was gone. The children resisted, squabbled, and cried from the time each one woke. Grissom was baffled, feeling helpless and frustrated. His family had always been one of laughter, harmony, and playful children.
No longer. His children were unhappy, on the verge of tears all day. His wife was miserable, almost in tears. He was unhappy and miserable pretending to be otherwise. On a beautiful day, they should be outside playing in the sun and he would be working in his garden. Instead, Sara and the four children were sleeping in their bed?the only time anyone was happy. As soon as everyone woke up, as soon as he heated dinner, the peace and quiet would end.
He needed control; his children needed supervision and guidance. His wife needed rest. His hand wiped across his face. Sara made it look easy. He pulse pounded at his temple and he knew his blood pressure was up. He did not want to think about Sara?s blood pressure as she stayed in bed hearing the cries of her babies.
In five years, he had not given much thought to running a house, and even less thought to the care of four young children. Everything was done; everyone was happy. An occasional disagreement, a scraped knee, a lost toy happened, but no one cried for long, no one moped beside the bed, no one refused to eat. No one threw a temper tantrum?as he had witnessed this morning?when Ava?s blood curdling screams had gotten Sara out of bed and sent Hank into the corner.
And always foremost in his thoughts was Sara?s condition. This was serious. He had read a dozen medical reports and it terrified him.
He walked to the bedroom. The kids were curled around their mother; one hugging her back, another snuggled against her belly. Eli and Bizzy were stretched across the head of the bed, a closed book under one arm, Eli?s hand on Sara?s face. Bizzy?s face lay next to her mother?s; seeing both asleep, he realized again how similar the two faces were.
With a sudden realization, Grissom knew the solution to their dilemma?or at least part of a solution. He headed back to his office, taking out pencil and paper and drawing a simple diagram. He made several phone calls. His gloominess lifted and by the time he reheated dinner, he was smiling and planning a surprise. He found a picnic tablecloth and spread it across the floor of the play room. By the time his wife and children woke, he had arranged pillows on the floor and placed plates and food for an unexpected indoor picnic on the cloth.
He had an audience as he put finishing touches around?extra pillows for Sara, kitchen towels as napkins, and a cookie in the center of each plate.
?Find your place,? he announced as he helped Sara to the floor. ?Mom can eat lying down and so can we.? He stretched beside Sara, on his stomach, using his elbow as a prop. Eli giggled first and positioned himself exactly as Grissom had done. The three girls begin to giggle with their brother and tumbled over pillows, to find a place. It was the first laughter Grissom had heard in days. In minutes, Sara was laughing as she spooned macaroni on a plate.
?How much?? She asked.
?Lots!? Eli said. She heard a cascading chime of voices saying the same thing.
For the first time in nearly two weeks, everyone ate without the sad look of bewilderment on faces.
