Grandview, p.20
Grandview, page 20
“Oh man,” he said after taking his first sip, “I’m pretty sure this is the best coffee I’ve ever had.”
“You always say that.”
“I always mean it. Did you finish your labor of love?”
“Oh, yes! It’s wonderful. Would you like to see it?”
“Coffee first.”
“Agreed.”
They pulled up YouTube on Robert’s iPad and watched fail compilations while finishing their coffee. Under the covers, Robert lightly stroked Leticia’s thigh. Predictably, his hand drifted more and more to the inside.
“Robert,” Leticia said, pushing his hand away, “there are times and places.” Robert looked around the room and checked an imaginary watch.
“Far as I can see,” he said, “this is both.” She took hold of his chin and directed his face to hers.
“Tonight,” she said, “I promise.”
“I won’t make it, Letty,” he said. “I’ll die.”
“You will not die,” she said. “And you will not regret waiting. I have something special planned.” She kissed him well and then pushed him away. “Now go take a shower. You need it.”
“You do too,” he said. “Come with me.”
“I showered two hours ago. Now, go. Or I’ll start pinching you.”
Robert jumped to his feet and off the bed with such force that the headboard clattered against the wall.
“I’ll call the cops,” he said.
“I’ll pinch them too,” she said.
They got ready together in their en-suite bathroom until Robert got handsy and she made him leave. They reunited in the kitchen over a fresh pot of hot coffee.
“How long has it been,” Robert said, “since we knew they would end up together?”
“Well, let’s see,” Leticia said. “At our wedding they weren’t together yet.”
“Yes, they were.”
“Nah-ah.”
“Yes, Letty. Remember? They just hadn’t told anyone yet.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re right. Probably in Croatia then. That’s when I knew anyway.”
Robert nodded.
“You’re right,” he said. “Yeah, you’re right.” He smoothed his tie, and said, “Ugh. I’m sorry, but I don’t like this color.” The future Johnsons consulted three times with Robert and Letty before choosing a ghastly, desaturated puce.
“I know,” Leticia said. “Why did they even involve us?”
“Who knows,” Robert said. “Maybe they just wanted an excuse to hang out.” He looked his wife over and said, “All I gotta say is it takes a lot to make you look bad ...” Leticia’s eyes flashed, and he added, “More than this dress for sure.”
“Good save,” she said.
“Can I see their frogs now?”
“Ah, I forgot,” she said. “Hold on.”
She left the room and returned soon after carrying a box wrapped in brown paper on which was balanced the frogs on their lily pad.
“Wow, Letty,” Robert said. “That’s great. Good job.”
“Why, thank you,” she said. “It’s not my favorite set, but it’s close.”
“So you do have a favorite,” Robert said. “I thought you loved them all the same.”
“I kind of do,” she said, “but I definitely have a favorite.”
“Which is it?”
“I’ll show you later. Hey, look. Check it out. Can you see the little pegs there? That’s what holds them in place.”
“Sick,” Robert said. “Honey, you’re a freakin’ genius.”
“I don’t know about that, but thank you.”
“No, you are. Hey, if marriage was a thing that you did every day, what percentage of days would you marry me?”
“What?”
“I mean, like if marriage was a daily thing, and every morning you had to choose another person. How often would you choose me?”
“Every day.”
“Good,” he said.
“What about you?”
“What about me?”
“How often would you marry me?”
“Almost every day. At least ninety percent of the time, maybe even more.” Letty calmly walked to the pantry and returned with a bottle of Karo syrup. She pretended to unscrew the top and held it over him. “Okay, okay,” he said. “I’ll marry you every day.”
“Hmph,” she said and put the syrup back in the cabinet. Suddenly, she froze. “Have you seen Toast?”
“I let him outside earlier,” Robert said. “He’s on his bed in the den, resting his bones.”
“Is the door cracked?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, good.”
“You feeling all right?”
“You mean the baby?”
“Yes.” Leticia brought her hands to her belly.
“I feel great actually.”
“Will you be sad you can’t have real champagne?”
“No,” Letty said. “To be honest, I don’t miss drinking at all.”
“You never were a big drinker.”
“No. Still, it will be nice when I can have a decent glass of wine again. What makes me sadder is coffee. I’m glad I just went for it today, but now I miss it more.”
Robert reached out, drew her to him, and kissed her belly. “I love you, baby,” he said loudly. “Sorry if you’re all twacked out today. Mommy needed it.” He kissed her belly again and said, “Can it hear me yet?”
“Probably not. Remind me to look it up later. Hey, did you hear about Braden and Tiff?”
“Uh, no. What happened now?”
“All good things. They just bought a new house in Carlsbad.”
“Really? Wow. How did they afford that?”
“Some kind of low-income government thing. I forget what it’s called.”
“I’ve heard of that. How cool for them.” Robert was already planning to help them get into one of his rentals but was glad to hear they were able to buy. “How does that work if they want to move? They just sell it at a loss or what?”
“I don’t know,” Leticia said, “but I’m sure there’s a catch. Can you hand me the scissors?”
“Sure,” Robert said and fetched them from the junk drawer. Leticia used them to snip a loose thread from the neckline of her dress.
“For how much Vero spent on these,” Leticia said, “I don’t think they’re very good. Not even counting the color.”
“Yeah, it is kind of weird. Especially since she’s like the Los Angeles queen of fabric. You’d think they’d want to impress her.”
“Don’t say anything later though.”
“Of course not. Why would I do that?”
“Honey,” Leticia said, “once you’ve had a couple drinks ...”
“I’m not going to drink,” he said. “Except for the toast. I just decided.”
“What? No way.”
“Yes way. I’ll just drink Martinelli’s with you so we can be matching.”
Letty shrugged.
“Cool,” she said, “I guess. We’ll see when we get there, won’t we?”
“You’ll see. I already know.” He smoothed his tie again and made a sour face. “Man, this color is disgusting.”
“See,” Leticia said, “there you go.”
“It’s just us here.”
“Right, but soon it won’t be just us, so practice not being negative. Oh, and remind me to bring Kylie’s earbuds. They’re on the piano.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Robert said. He affixed his tie pin between the third and fourth buttons of his shirt, and said, “Babe?”
“Yes, babe.”
“I want to do more. To help people.”
“What do you mean?”
“Like, how Braden and Tiff just got that house. Why didn’t we just help them get a house? We could have.”
“Well,” Leticia said, “I don’t mind helping people out. We can definitely talk about it.”
“I don’t mean we should have just bought them a house, necessarily,” he said. “I mean, like, just helping with a down payment or something like that.”
“They would still have a mortgage,” Leticia said.
“We could help them with their mortgage, too. Why not?”
“Well,” Leticia said, “believe it or not I’ve been having similar thoughts.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Like how Paul was saying on Sunday how we’re just stewards of what we have. It made me think about how when I look back on our life, the best things are always things like that.”
“I felt the same way.”
“Paul is the best,” Leticia said.
“He is,” Robert said. “I’m so glad they’re doing better now. Did you see Alicia in the cry room? She looked so happy.”
“Yes, and their baby is sooooo cute.”
“I know.”
“Babe?”
“Yeah?” Leticia sat down and placed her hand on Robert’s.
“I’m with you, okay? Whatever you decide to do, I’m with you. I would rather not have to get a job until the baby’s older, and I want to make sure we travel as a family. But besides that, I don’t really care. I love this house, and I love our life, and I don’t need anything else. Really. Everything is God’s.”
“First of all,” Robert said, “You won’t ever need to work again unless you want to. I should add God-willing to that. Second,” and he kissed her hand, “thank you. You really are the best wife, you know that?”
“And you’re the best husband,” she said.
“Yes, I am. Hey, have you heard from Mary?”
“Not since Thursday, but I told her I’d visit tomorrow.”
“She probably can’t wait to get home.”
“I’m sure. We should probably empty out her fridge before she gets back.”
“You’re on your own there,” Robert said. “I’m not touching it.”
“Babe,” Leticia said, “you heard the doctor. She’s got to slow down a little. And she needs to exercise.”
“Yes,” Robert said, “I was there. And, I repeat, you’re on your own with that one. She wouldn’t listen to me anyway.” Leticia thought about how frightened of Mary she had been those first few weeks. Now she saw how unnecessary it was for her to feel that way. After three years of relatively harmonious cohabitation, she though of Mary as not quite a grandmother but something like it. The clock struck the hour, and Robert said, “We’ll have to leave soon.”
“Yes. Why does it have to be in Temecula?”
“I think her parents live there now,” he said. “They just like it. It’s a beautiful venue.”
“I know,” Leticia said, “but that drive. Bleh.”
“I know. So gross. Are we still picking up Esme, too?”
“No, Sean made it back last night, so they’re driving together.”
“Cool.” He looked up at the 8”x10” glossy print of him with Leticia on the beach in Kauai. It was identical to the one he had cut to pieces during the wee hours following Eddie’s fundraiser. The clear plastic frame was severely outdated and complemented nothing else in the room. But his own mother’s fingers had tightened down the decorative, gold-plated clasps. “I’m so glad your dad had that,” he said. “I really thought it was lost forever.”
“Me too,” she said. “Dang, that was such a crazy time.”
“To say the least. Hey, let’s get out of here soon. I’d rather be a little early than have to be all rushed.”
Leticia agreed, and they started to gather their things. Robert was about to ask if Leticia wanted him to box up the frogs when he noticed the box was too small to contain the full set.
“Babe,” he said, “I hate to say this, but I don’t think these are going to fit.”
“How do you mean?”
“I mean the box is too small.”
“Oh, but of course,” she said. “They don’t have a special box or anything. I’m just going to use bubble wrap.”
“Oh,” Robert said. While rinsing out their cups, he turned to her and said, “What is that box for then?”
“What box?”
“That,” he said, pointing. “Did you bring it out for a reason?”
“Oh,” she said, “that box. That’s yours.” She turned to him, and in her eyes Robert saw a mischievous gleam, which meant all was going according to her plan. He set the cups down in the sink and washed his hands.
“What is it?”
“Our family,” she said, shrugging.
“Can I open it?”
“It’s yours. Do what you want with it.”
He carefully lifted the lily pad and set it beside the box on the table. Beneath the brown paper wrapping was a black-lacquer box with gold fittings. He pressed the latch, but it did not open. Then he saw the keyhole. “I think it’s locked.”
“Oh,” Leticia said, smacking her forehead. “Silly me. Yes, you’ll need this.” From thin air she produced a tiny key. “Here you are. I recommend putting that on a keychain as soon as possible so you don’t lose it.”
He accepted the key from her and held it in his open hand. “Is this a joke?” he said. “Like will it make a loud noise or something?”
“Open it,” she said, but he hesitated. “Do I have to go get the syrup again?”
“Okay, okay,” he said and inserted the key.
This key feels like actual gold, he thought, and this lock looks like gold. He realized then the box contained something highly important. Reverently, he turned the key, and the lock gave satisfying, mechanical feedback. He looked back at Leticia once more, and her expression was every bit as inscrutable as it had been that day at Grandview.
“Open it,” Leticia said.
Gingerly, he touched the lid on each side and lifted. It tilted back silently on its heavy golden hinges, revealing an orange silk lining. The contents of the box were covered in a small, cut piece of the same silk. He looked to Letty and could see she was trying hard not to smile.
At the center of the little piece of silk was sewn a tiny red loop. He grasped it and slowly lifted. Soundlessly, the silk slid smoothly up and away from the items it concealed. They were frogs, of course, but more anthropomorphic than what Leticia usually made. The two adult frogs were apparently bipedal, which was something Robert had not before seen in his wife’s art. The largest was wearing jeans, and though his chest was bare it was mostly covered by a long brown beard. Next to him was a woman frog also wearing jeans and a wonderfully realistic hooded sweatshirt. Her long black hair fell around her shoulders, and in her half-open mouth was a fly. The quality was exquisite, far beyond anything of its kind he had ever seen. Truly, this had been a labor of pure love.
These caricatures of himself and Leticia however bore no responsibility for the people they represented arriving later than intended to the wedding venue. That culpability rested solely on the two, small, relatively undecorated baby frogs in the perambulator beside them. The dainty pram, a perfectly convincing dollhouse miniature, was a Victorian antique passed down to her from her great-grandmother, and the blanket covering the babies was a monogrammed handkerchief that had belonged to Robert’s father. The handkerchief was folded so that the ornate, silver “W” spanned the width of the pram’s interior.
Robert stared down at the little family, confusion giving way to recognition, and recognition giving place to unspeakable joy. “No,” he said, “No way.”
“Yes way,” Letty said, actually glowing. “I used Vero’s set as a cover story. It was really hard to keep it from you, but from your color I think I was successful.” Robert’s cheeks were pale, and his breath was short. “Honey,” she said, “should you sit down?”
“Yeah, yeah. Good idea,” he said, lowering himself down into the chair nearest him. From the moment Leticia sprang from the powder bath, waving the pregnancy test and shouting for joy, Robert’s imagination had been in constant overdrive. More than once he’d driven to Grandview, not to surf but to stand at the base of the stairs and pray. South of the main peak, where his father had pushed him into his first green wave, he had stood on the pebbles and longed for the day when he could do the same for his own child. He’d pictured himself in the shallows with a GoPro, while Letty cruised past him with his son or daughter on the nose of her longboard. He’d imagined the child in a swim vest, throwing clumsy shakas at the camera and standing to its feet with Letty’s help. This and other scenarios played continually in his mind, the only constant being his child’s emerald green eyes. But despite his close relationship with Teddy and Maisie, not once had he envisioned having twins.
“Robert, sweetie,” Leticia said, kneeling down beside him, “are you gonna be all right?”
“Oh,” he said, breathlessly, “yeah, I think so ... soon. Could I have some water, please?” Leticia poured him a glass of water from the Berkey. “You want ice?”
“No, thanks,” he said. She handed him the water, and he took a sip and placed it on the table. “Letty,” he said, “what on earth? Is this a trick?”
Letty laughed.
“No, I’m afraid not. No tricks here.” Robert gulped, and wiped his eyes.
“Oh, wow. This is real, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Have another drink of water.”
He obeyed her, and she stroked his hair and kissed his shoulder. Eventually, his breathing began to slow, and he began to smile. Turning to Letty, he took her hands and held them tightly.
“Letty, honey?” he said.
“Yes, honey?” she said.
“This is really crazy, right? Like really, really crazy.” Letty nodded slowly.
“Yes, I think so.”
“Do you think we’ll be good parents?”
“Yes,” she said.
“How do you know?”
“I’m not too worried about it. We’ll learn as we go.”
“What if I’m not a good dad?”
“Robert,” Letty said, smiling, “you’re going to be a great dad.”
“What if I’m not, though? Or what if something happens?”
Leticia stood up and kissed the top of Robert’s head. He reached for her and pulled her down onto his lap.
“I don’t know,” she said. “But God does, and we just have to trust him.” Robert tensed.
