You'll Wish You Hadn't Done It, and Yet...

July 25, 1962

Fairbanks, Alaska

Dearest Lois & Kids:

Well honey, by now you know I’ve got another job and I like it better than the other one. The guy I work for is a pretty nice guy and so far, I guess I’ve been doing O.K. I hope. You know it’s been a long time since I worked in a filling station. The main thing though, at least it’s steady.

Sweetheart, when you come, I don’t care what you bring as long as you and the kids get here alright. Honey, go ahead and buy Billy a few clothes if you want to but I’m planning on starting him in kindergarten up here. So, if you want to why don’t you start shopping around and see what you can get for the trailer. Don’t know what you’ve got planned for the car. Do you think you’d like to undertake a trip like that with the kids? It’d sure be rough. If you decide to drive up, the thing to do would be take a couple of weeks or more to make it.

Am sending some more money and it will be regular now, every week. Don’t let anybody change your mind if you really decide you want to make the drive. It’s a long rough trip and you’ll probably wish you hadn’t done it and yet be glad you did. 

...to be continued

And That Was It, Part IV

Conclusion:

“Lois?” Bill said.

“Hmm?”

She’s the one, he thought as his eyes searched her face. She looks so much like Eloisa, but is so different in every other way. 

Taking a deep breath, he said, “I knew from the moment we met that life with you would be challenging.  I know you’ll give me grief and you’ll be bull-headed and stubborn, but dammit, I’m ready to be a husband and someday soon, I hope, a dad.  And as feisty, difficult, and dramatic as you can be, you’re also the sweetest woman I’ve ever met and I’m in love with you.”

He took her hands in his. 

Lois’s big eyes grew even bigger and her face glowed in the dappled sunlight.

“Sweetheart?”  His heart thudded and his guts shook, but he soldiered on.  “I love you.  Will you marry me?”

Time seemed to stand still in their little bubble.  No sounds, no movement of air. 

Lois smiled. “Well…I’m not sure—"

Bills’ eyes popped and his mouth fell open.  “What?”

She burst out laughing. “You should see your face.”

“Hey, that’s not funny,” he said, grinning. “So? Is that a yes?”

“Yes.”

As he looked into her shining face, a tear rolled down his cheek. “I’m finally going to have a family,” he said. His voice was thick and deep with wonder and possibilities and happiness. His eyes were faraway, seeing into the future. Their future together.

Lois smiled, sniffled, and reached up to wipe away his tear.  “Yes, we will."

His dark eyes focused on her as he returned to the present.  “So,” a slow smile, like the rising of the sun, lit up his face, “how soon can we start our family?”

And That Was It, Part III

Part III

Lois shielded her eyes from the bright sun-off-the-water reflection and watched her boyfriend and her niece race ashore, neck-and-neck.  “He’s so good with the kids,” she whispered.  “He’s so good to me and my family loves him.”  She sighed and the Mona Lisa smile returned to her full lips.  “And he’s just so…beautiful.”  She watched them for another few seconds.  “He does it for me.”  Then she dropped her hand and yelled, “Come on, Rainy, kick his behind!”

Rainy splashed in first, touched the side of the dock, and raised her hand in triumph, her smile so big it almost outshone the sun sparkling off the water.  “I won, I won!” she screeched over the cheers and laughter coming from the milling mass of kids and grownups.

“Woo!  Good for you!”  Lois yelled.  She waved her arms overhead for a minute, then, still smiling, she sat down, picked up the oars and began rowing in to shore.

She bumped the shoreline and was lifting the dripping oars into the boat when the boat was yanked further ashore, almost toppling her from her seat.

“Hey,” she squealed, her eyes flying wide open as she turned around on the seat. 

“Just giving you a hand,” Bill grinned from his position at the bow with one hand on the boat and the tie-up rope in the other.  He looped the rope around a tree and held his hand out to her.  She grasped it and stepped out of the boat to stand next to him.  She looked up with a smile just in time to be pulled into his embrace for a long kiss.  This time, in the shelter of the trees, they were able to share a few private moments.

They pulled apart and stood with their foreheads touching.  

...to be continued