Necessary Heartbreak (33 page)

“I'll stop when I want to stop,”Vicki teased, looking at him with a smile.

Michael looked straight ahead, occasionally wiping the front of the car window as he identified the Queens storefronts they passed. Just after the movie theater, he said, “Okay, slow down now and park on the next block.”

“There?”

“Yes, in front of that little hill.”

Vicki found the curbside vacant. “This is easy,”she said as she parked the car underneath a streetlamp in front of a baseball field.

“Come on. Let me show you this statue.”

“Here?”Vicki looked outside. The rain was pelting the top of her windshield, which had fogged up again. She wiped it clean and looked out. “It's pouring out there. Can't you just tell me what the statue looks like?”

Michael was frustrated. “No, I need you to come out and see it with me. It's fantastic.”

Vicki looked at Michael as if he were crazy. “Is this going to make you happy?”

“It could.”

“Well, if I'm going to get soaked on a baseball field looking at
some dumb statue, you better be happy.”She laughed again, flipping her hair off her shoulder with exaggerated flair. “I hope you understand I don't do this for every boyfriend.”

“Oh, you have others?”

“I may,”Vicki said with a sly smile as she reached for the door handle, “but today you will do.”

Michael opened the passenger-side door, leaping over a huge puddle before meeting her by the front of the car. “Come on,”he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up the slippery grass over the hill.

Vicki glanced around through the pouring rain. “So where is it?”

He pulled her toward second base. “It's way out there,”he said, indicating center field.

“I can't see it!”Rain was dripping off her hair into her eyes. Vicki took a few steps but felt Michael pulling her back.

“Mike?”she said, turning to look at him curiously.

Michael's face was peering up at her and he was on one knee. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring.

“Vicki, you make me happy and you make me believe in love. Will you marry me?”

Vicki stood stunned with her mouth wide-open.

“Hey, Vick, I'm getting drenched here, so I'm going to need an answer soon,”he said with a laugh.

“This is it? This is really it?”

“Vicki, this is definitely it,”Michael said. “So, will you marry me?”

“Yes!”

Michael stood up, and Vicki jumped into his arms.

“Let me do this right.”He got back on his knee and placed the ring on her finger.

Vicki dropped to her knees and hugged him, knocking them both over. They lay there on their backs near second base, watching the falling rain glisten in the streetlights illuminating the field.

After a few moments, Vicki began waving her hands in the ground over her head.

Michael laughed, watching her. “What are you doing?”

“I'm making a mud angel,”she said, laughing.

“Cool.”Michael replied, before making his own.

Vicki rolled over to Michael, resting her head on his shoulder. “Mrs. Michael Stewart. Wow.”

She held her ring above them through the pouring rain. Michael thought it looked like a star in the sky. Catching him watching it, she rolled over and kissed him.

“Keep me safe,”she whispered.

“I will,”he promised. “I will.”

Was that a raindrop?

He looked up at the sky. The sun was bright overhead. Michael's right shoulder ached with the weight of the crossbar. They had only traveled about twenty to thirty yards.

“Move!”one of the soldiers yelled to Michael when he briefly stopped to shift the beam on his shoulder. His knees buckled again.

“Over there!”yelled another soldier.

Michael could see a hill in the distance with three huge wooden posts planted vertically in the ground. But as he began to walk again, the crossbar skidded awkwardly behind him, catching on the uneven stone road. Its weight vibrated through his shoulder, slowing him down.

As he neared the hill, Michael heard a commotion behind him. Two soldiers grabbed the crossbar off his shoulder and pushed him away.

“Go now,”one soldier ordered him.

Michael looked behind him. The soldiers had grabbed Jesus and were tearing off his bloody cloak. Then they pushed Jesus down. Michael leaned forward to try to catch him, but the guard blocked his way. He saw Jesus' head slam against the ground.

Michael was pushed back into the small crowd that had assembled
on the hill. Many women were softly crying under their veils. Grief overwhelmed him.

What have I done?

The clink of nail hitting bone shook him. In horror, he saw the soldiers huddled over Jesus. He didn't need to see what was happening. Michael turned away. The sobs grew louder around him. He could hear the crossbar bearing Jesus being anchored to the post.

Michael turned in time to see the soldiers placing Jesus' feet one over the other and nailing them to the wood. His face, battered and bruised, sloped downward. Blood dripped from the crown of thorns around his head, falling to the ground.

Looking up at the cross, Michael went numb.
What have I done? Oh, Lord, I'm so sorry.
He fell to his knees and started to wail.

A wooden decoration depicting Jesus, his father, and his mother sat atop the Christmas tree. It nearly touched the ten-foot ceiling. Presents were piled all around, with glitter and gold ribbon wrapping several big boxes. A bright blue bicycle, with shiny black tires and a sparkling bell on the handlebar, stood nearby. On the stairway leading up to the second floor, garlands and poinsettias circled the wooden banister, and Christmas cards were strung through the railing. The aroma of a roasting turkey filled the air.

Michael sat in the living room with his eyes closed, just letting his senses drift.

“You okay, sweetie?”Vicki asked as she rubbed his shoulder.

“How could I not be?”

“What were you thinking about?”

“I was thinking one thing,”he said, placing his hand on her belly and smiling. “It's perfect, so perfect.”

Vicki gently touched Michael's wedding ring and he felt a rush of love.

“Okay, lovebirds,”Samantha said as she walked in from the kitchen. “Time to break it up. Ken's almost done with dinner. He's making it extraspecial for the future Miss Stewart.”

“That's Elizabeth Stewart,”Michael proudly boasted.

Samantha looked into Vicki's eyes. When Vicki nodded, Samantha squealed, “Oh, I love that name! I can't wait to meet her! Are you guys excited?”

Michael and Vicki looked at each other.

“She's excited but really nervous now that we're so close,”he said.

“Oh, don't worry, everything is going to be great.”Samantha smiled. “Just make sure you have the anesthesiologist in the room at all times!”

Vicki smiled, giggling. “I guess so. Sam, you'll be there for me, right?”

“You betcha!”

Watching his nephews reach into their stockings, Michael began laughing.

“What's so funny?”Vicki asked.

“I remember this one time when we had our stockings in the basement. I couldn't have been more than four or five years old. I woke on Christmas morning before everyone else and snuck downstairs to the stockings. I looked at all the stockings and decided that Santa wouldn't know if I moved all the presents into my stocking.”

Vicki started to laugh.

“So I reached up as high as I could. I was pretty small so I had to get a chair. I stood on top of the chair and started pulling out the presents from everyone's stockings. Then I moved the chair over to my stocking and jammed in as many presents as I could. It was overflowing. Then I snuck back upstairs and pretended to be asleep. My mom almost caught me in the hall.”

Vicki turned in her seat. “What did your parents do?”

“Well, they told me years later that they heard me get up. After I got back into bed, they went downstairs to survey the scene. They told me they laughed a lot and took a picture. Then they returned the
presents to the rightful owners. Here I thought I could trick Santa, but I couldn't trick my parents.”

“My goodness!”Vicki giggled. “I'll have to keep Elizabeth's and my stockings away from you from now on.”

She paused. “You know, you laughed just now when you were talking about your parents. It's important to remember the good times. It's what life is all about.

“Hey, do you want to open your present?”Vicki handed Michael a small box, neatly wrapped with red paper and a bright green bow. She always put green bows on his presents because it reminded her of the color of his eyes. Inside the box was a silver bowl with the engraving
for mike only
.

“Gee, thanks?”

She laughed. “Don't you get it, you ice cream fiend? Your pregnant wife can't steal your ice cream any longer.”

Michael squeezed her hand and kissed her gently on the cheek. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small box, also tied with a green ribbon.

“For
me
?”she inquired through raised eyebrows and a huge grin.

“For
you
. . . . Don't expect me to get down on my knees for this one.”

“Ooh, this one might be better than I thought.”Vicki slowly untied the ribbon, smiling up at him one last time before she opened the box. Hanging from a delicate gold chain was a panda mother holding her baby.

“Let me put it on you, Vick.”He lifted the necklace from the velvet insert, unclasped it, and fastened it around her neck.

Vicki reached up, covering it with her soft, delicate hands. “It's beautiful. I love the way it feels. Thank you.”

Michael placed his hands on top of hers, feeling the warmth of her skin. She leaned down, gently brushing his knuckles with a kiss.

Looking then at the bowl on the table in front of them, Vicki smiled. “Oh, my gift was so silly.”

“No, I love it.”

“Well, I hoped it would make you laugh.”

“It does,”he reassured her. “So, does this mean that you'll run out and get me ice cream whenever
I
want?”

“Of course. Once, maybe?”

“Wow, did I get the better end of that deal or what?”he teased, laughing.

“Hey, everybody, dinner's ready,”Ken called from the dining room.

“C'mon, lady, let's get you to the table,”Michael said as he helped Vicki to her feet.

Throughout dinner, Michael kept rubbing Vicki's hand gently, unaware of the numerous conversations around him. He loved her so completely and was delighted that they were soon going to be parents together. She was his world. Toward the end of the meal, he noticed she was speaking less, preoccupied and anxious again.

“Are you okay?”he whispered. “Maybe we should have gone straight home after visiting my dad.”

Vicki shook her head. “No, don't worry about that. I just need some air.”

Samantha noticed them talking quietly. She got up from the far end of the table and walked over to Vicki. She whispered a few words and Vicki nodded.

“We're going for a drive,”Vicki said.

Michael looked up at her, concerned.

“Don't worry,”she said, standing up. “Hey, I'll get you some ice cream if we find a store that's open.”

She leaned over and kissed him on his cheek. Her hair fell in front of her face and she brushed it back behind her ear.

“Don't worry. I know everything will be fine. You make me believe that.”

Putting on her heavy wool coat and Black Watch plaid scarf, Vicki said to Samantha, “Let's use your car. You drive. I'll talk.”