185 - Little Oven
*Oh, sweet Molly, mourn for having lost yer Becks. But never, never, regret having loved her. And, lad, don’t forget that yeh have others that also love yeh. Cling to them and their love. Hold yer littles close. – Nessie*
Once Case had calmed down and was no longer crying and apologizing over and over again, Tammy took her to the first aid room just off the kitchen. She opened the cabinet and grabbed a pregnancy test. Turning the box over, she verified that it was still good and then handed it to Case.
“Go pee on a stick, and then we’ll figure out what to do.”
“I… It just kind of… I’m so sorry…” new tears tracked down her cheeks as guilt and fear engulfed her.
Tammy pulled her into a tight embrace and rubbed her back. “You’re okay,” she assured the younger woman. “We’ve already accepted you and Noel into the family. This just cements your position. No matter what that test says, or what you decide to do, you’re part of the family.”
“I’ve told him no every time since.”
“Why?”
Confused, Case pulled back and looked at the matriarch. “What?”
Smiling, she smoothed down the young woman’s dark brown hair with bright green and purple streaks in it. “He’s living again. He’s sought us all out. But you and Noel were the first ones that he went to. If you don’t want him, then by all means, tell him no. But if you’re denying yourself because of us, don’t.”
“But he’s your *husband*.”
“No, he’s not,” Tammy shook her head slightly. “Becks was his legal wife, we all have communal agreements, but I don’t think that he will ever marry again. He might go to Trigg and have another Saints wedding, but he won’t file for any legal marriage license.”
Alicia appeared in the doorway of the small room and looked at the two women in a light embrace. Seeing the pregnancy test in Case’s hand, she grumbled something before grabbing the test and walking back into the kitchen.
“That damn man must have sperm with fucking egg GPS and superpowers!” Alicia complained loudly.
“Well, okay, then,” Tammy laughed as she got a new box off the shelf and checked the expiration date. “That one should be good.”
“Is Alicia okay?” Noel asked as the other two stepped out of the first aid room. Her eyes widened as she saw the box in Case’s hand. “Do you have more of those?”
“Yups,” Tammy chuckled as she went back into the room and opened the cabinet for the third time. She grabbed the last four boxes in the cabinet and set them on the center island.
“You don’t think…” Case asked eyeing the boxes.
“God, I hope not,” Tammy laughed. “But just in case.” She chuckled, “No pun intended.”
“Not the first time that I’ve heard that.”
“Okay, I have to ask,” Tammy said grabbing a single serving bag of chips, “how did you get the name Case?”
She chuckled as she sat down on the stool at the island, grateful for the distraction and delay at taking the test. “My mom went into labor early and when she called my dad, his mistress answered his phone. He had told mom that he had ended it and would be faithful. Instead of telling the woman that she was in labor, she tells her to remind him to pick up some milk on his way home.”
“Ouch.” Noel chuckled.
“She calls her brother, and Mike takes her to the hospital. I come along a few hours later. Dad gets home, of course mom’s not there and calls her. She’s like, oh I’m spending the night over at Mike’s and acting like there’s nothing wrong. This goes on for the next three days.”
“Damn, and your dad’s not smart enough to put this together?”
“No,” she told Tammy as she took her bag of chips. “He’s spending time with his little girlfriend and mom is like hey, I’m going to stay over one more night.”
“Dumbass,” Noel laughs and gets them all drinks from the fridge.
“Thanks,” Case said accepting the raspberry lemonade. “Anyway, mom comes home, obviously no longer pregnant and hands dad some paperwork. Along with divorce papers are pictures of him and his girlfriend, *Elizabeth Case*, living the happy couple life while she was in the hospital.”
“Damn!” Noel and Tammy both said.
“Gets better, mom sues Elizabeth for emotional alienation or something like that. Mom and dad work it out, get back together and live happily ever after. No, not really. Mom became a vindictive bitch and dad drank himself into a few DUI’s and then vehicular manslaughter while under the influence. Mike ended up raising me and I received monthly checks from Elizabeth until I graduated college.”
Case shrugged, “I grew up in Mike’s house with his sons and played sports and went to my mom’s every other weekend and my dad’s the others. Donovan is a trainer for the Celtics and MJ is on the coaching staff for Boston College.”
“We always wondered about all the sports scrubs,” Tammy admitted.
“That’s because the boys are always trying to one up on my scrubs. Worked out good for me.”
“Feel better?” Tammy grinned at the younger woman.
“Yeah.”
“Good, go pee on a stick.” Tammy ginned at her as she pushed a pregnancy test towards her.
“I got to go into town,” Alicia said coming down the stairs with wet hair from her shower.
“Toy store?” Tammy asked.
“Yes, I swear, Becks had it right, that man can always hit the eggs.” She picked up Case’s raspberry lemonade and took a big drink. Then she quickly turned to the sink and spit it out. “Damn it, kid, I like this shit!”
“Both of you, go pee,” Tammy ordered.
“Do they need to go with me?” Alicia asked as she sniffed the strawberry lemonade.
“They need to go pee, so we know for certain.”
“I’m lost,” Case admitted.
“Come on,” Noel smiled. “I think I know, but let’s go pee so that we can know for certain.”
A few hours later, Molly came into the main house a little before dinner time and Yvonne met him at the door. It had been a rough day for him, and it was one where Priscilla would describe her father as being in the box with his Becks. Yvonne seemed to know that he was struggling, and she wrapped him up in a tight hug.
“*Mi amore*,” she whispered. “Tell me what you need, Molly.”
“I really don’t know,” he hugged her close, carefully avoiding her hair as she did not like it being touched. “Today was just a hard day.”
“I understand,” she kissed his cheek. “Let’s go get a shower.”
He cupped her cheek and tipped her face up for him to give her a kiss. “That sounds like a great idea.”
Taking him by the hand, she guided him upstairs and to the large shower in the main room. He was always thankful for the boiler system that provided enough hot water for them to get clean, get dirty and then get clean again.
By the time that they were done in the shower, Alicia was back from the store. Trips into town took a little longer now that they all had to stay six feet apart and wear masks.
They had already lost Brute to this disease. Cookie’s mother and brother-in-law succumbed to it within weeks of each other. His sister was on a ventilator, and they had taken in her three children. Ink lost his mother and his sister, Rose, was trapped overseas, unable to come home.
A few other brothers had been sick, two prospects at the mother house were struggling to breathe. Rye’s cousin, Geo, had been home from the Army when the lockdown was ordered. With all flights grounded, he had no way of getting back to his duty station in Hawaii. They put him on temporary duty at one of the local bases. After Priscilla moved out of Rye and Chance’s house, Geo moved back into his room.
And today, they were told that Cletus’ stepdaughter had tried to commit suicide. The isolation was getting to her. Cletus had asked if she could come hang out at the clubhouse or with Molly’s daughters. They had never condemned the man because Pops was unfaithful, but he always stayed just on the outside of the family. With this crisis, he seemed to be reaching out and grasping the hand that the Lowery’s had always held out for him.
Walking into the large kitchen, Molly froze as he saw the little wooden oven on the counter. He looked around and saw all his pretties watching him. Noel and Case both seemed very nervous. Smiling, he moved to where the little oven sat.
Opening the door, he pulled out a hamburger bun, sesame seed bun, a golden-brown colored roll, and a conch roll.