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Capt. R.E. and Mrs. Thalia Ludlow had been utterly bowled over by their seven grandchildren Eleanor (11), Andrew (10), George (9), Edwina (8), Amanda (7), Grayson (6), and Lil' Robert (5), and their grandchildren's friends Velma (11), Milton (9), and Gracie Trent (8) had also joined the pile because the Trents had walked down in support of their neighbor in inpatient therapy – the Ludlow grandfather was now a week through an eight-week course of treatment.
There had been a bunch of hugging and screaming and boo-hooing at the reunion along with the smiles – between grandfather and grandchildren there were the lost Ludlow children and actual grandmother. Mrs. Ludlow was the captain's second wife, and she knew how the born Ludlows all had serious separation anxiety, and so just held on to all of them without judging.
Col. H.F. and Mrs. Maggie Lee, the cousins who had been taking care of the Ludlow grandchildren, smiled as their temporary charges ran headlong to their actual parents by adoption, and sat down with the Trents and relaxed.
“Week 1 done,” Sgt. Vincent Trent said. “How do y'all Lees feel?”
“Tired, but happy,” both Lees said, and then cracked up at their synchronicity.
“It's good to be forgotten, because nobody has any complaints about us over there!” Col. Lee said.
“Yep!” Mrs. Lee said.
“Y'all have really done a great job with our little neighbors,” Mrs. Trent said. “We were really concerned and had been praying hard because we didn't know if they were going to adjust to not having their grandparents – but you have loved them through it.”
“We need to give you all kudos for being right there with us,” Mrs. Lee said, “and delaying your second honeymoon a week so they wouldn't have to go through too much change. Thank you so much.”
“Your husband is the reason we were even able to get into the Veteran's Lodge's large family program,” Sgt. Trent said, “and is the reason I got home alive. He and I don't talk about it that often, but anything we can do to back y'all up, we're here, because we have your back like you have ours.”
Mrs. Lee looked at her husband nervously, but his smile and nod reassured her.
“Those homes are going to be converted to rent-to-own for y'all and the Ludlows,” she said, “and when that happens, Harry and I are thinking of moving down – Harry as a trust member would become the head of the homeowner's association for the situation, and there is that third space on the cul-de-sac.”
“Oh, that would be wonderful, because I get a headache even thinking about having to move away from the Ludlows the way our kids are now,” Mrs. Trent said, “and I see how much all our kids have grown on both of you, and of course y'all's kids are going to grow on all of us!”
Mrs. Lee flinched ever so slightly in the effort not to look again at her husband. That matter was not yet for the Trents to know, and Col. Lee loved her even more for that, for keeping between them his decision to reconsider fatherhood.
It was not just the long, long Lee trouble with bipolar disorder that had been on his mind when he at 44 had gotten his vasectomy. It was the higher chances of having a child with Down syndrome at his age, compounded by what he had been exposed to in the military … and, as he had admitted to himself and the woman who would become his second wife, “I've lived for 28 years with the fact that my first wife became pregnant and died because of me. I cannot be free to love you the way I want without knowing you won't get pregnant, because I'm not over that. I'm willing to work toward that … but I can't ask you to wait on me.”
Mrs. Lee-to-be had gone that evening and considered it for 24 hours, and then came back.
“I love you, Harry. I want another child, but not more than I want you. Whether you ever change your mind or not, I still wish to be your wife.”
Eight months and one week of loving on their little cousins had gone by, and the anguish in the heart of Col. Lee that had caused his decision at age 44 had eased … just that morning, he had told Mrs. Lee that he had healed enough for them to consider their journey toward a family of their own. For him, this would involve testing of his sperm to see if they had been damaged in his military years, and then potentially reversing his vasectomy … or adoption … or both … but it was now all on the table. Mrs. Lee had been overjoyed.
“Gonna have some bonus Lees like Cousin Thalia has seven bonus Ludlows – I love you, and any children the Lord selects for us by natural birth or adoption are just bonuses!”
All things were not settled and it was still a private matter … but Col. Lee met his wife's flinch with a gentle touch of his hand … it was all right … in due time their friends would know.
In the meantime …
“Going to go pick up dinner, because what we don't need is Big Robert and Lil' Robert's stomachs doing growling harmony before too long,” he said. “See y'all in a bit.”
“Pick up some mud pies for the kids – you asked me to remind you, Harry,” Mrs. Lee said, “so we can help George stop trying to sample the mud!”
“Right – thank you, Maggie,” Col. Lee said.
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