Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (21 page)

Aggie promised to think about it, and once the children were on the school grounds, drove towards home. Thinking about the boy
’
s forlorn face, Aggie made a
U-turn
and zipped across town to the mall. School was school. It was time to step up as
“
mom
”
and do the difficult things that mothers have to do.

Going with the twins and Ian, however, was not the wisest move Aggie had made to
date. Cari and Lorna made a bee
line for the bunnies and guinea pigs with Aggie stumbling behind
,
trying to keep Ian
’
s pudgy hands from grabbing things off the shelves and toppling bi
rd
cages. The sales assistant, panic rising in her voice as each second dragged by, grabbed the cardboard
carriers,
and tried to engage the twins in picking out the perfect rats for Tavish, but the girls would have nothing to do with it. They raced to the fish tanks, drumming their fingers on the glass trying gain the attention of swimming fish, crabs, or turtles.

“
See the fwoggie!
”
Cari
’
s delighted voice caused Aggie
’
s head to whip around in alarm. Before she could protest, the child dipped her hand into an aquarium and pulled out a frog to show her enraptured little sister. The result was pandemonium.

Mr. Frog wisely sensed danger and leapt from Cari
’
s hands. Unfortunately for him, Lorna was fast, and when he paused to determine his next step, the excited little girl wasn
’
t able to halt before squishing him. Screams of horror erupted from both girls, startling Ian into joining their wails of terror. Puppies barked, birds screeched, and the harried sales assistant grabbed the rats and dumped them on the counter before rushing to clean up the remains of the frog.

Trying to purchase rats, a cage, a book, get basic instructions, and keep the twins and the baby from eating or otherwise killing the rest of the fish and mammals was the most harrowing maternal experience Aggie had yet faced. Her bill was atrocious once she paid for the squished frog, not to mention the three fish that were scooped out of the tank without benefit of a nice bag of water as temporary housing.

Hours later, Aggie watched as Laird and Tavish built an elaborate maze of empty toilet paper rolls and hollow-ended Velveeta boxes. The time and care that the two boys put into the endeavor astonished her. She had a hard time believing that these were the same boys that balked at hanging up towels in the bathroom. The rats were sequestered in Doug
’
s old study; Aggie hoped she hadn
’
t made a mistake in getting rid of that kitten…

Friday, April 19
^th

Laird slipped into Aggie
’
s room with a miserable expression on his face as she was dressing Ian for the day.
“
Aunt Aggie?
”
His feet shuffled awkwardly.
“
I didn
’
t want to tell you because Tavish was so upset and everything, but I have to
--
see these bites?
”
Laird lifted his pant leg and pulled down his sock. Aggie stared in disbelief at the welts up and down his legs.

“
I
’
m slightly allergic to ant bites, but Tavish is
really
allergic. His legs are covered, and I think the ants are now in the bathroom too.
”

Aggie groaned and handed Ian to Laird. She went to the locked cupboard where Allie kept the medicines and found children
’
s Benadryl. Ant bites are one thing that Aggie understood. After giving a very miserable Tavish a dose of the medicine, Aggie went in search of ant spray.

Monday, April 22
^nd

Once the children left for school, Aggie took Ian, the cordless phone, the phonebook, and went out on the patio table to call an exterminator. She gave the twins bottles of bubbles and taught them to blow them while she begged every extermination company in town to come immediately.

“
I
’
ll pay for an emergency visit, I don
’
t care what it costs, but we can
’
t go upstairs in our own house. Ants are
everywhere
. I have children here who are allergic to ants, and these guys are vicious. I don
’
t know how to get rid of them without exterminating us in the process.
”
Eventually, a small company promised to send someone immediately.

When the man knocked at the
door,
Aggie practically grabbed him and pulled him up the stairs.
“
In here. They
’
re in here. They
’
re everywhere.
The floor moves
. How did one little ant farm create an invasion like this?
”

The poor exterminator backed away slowly looking frantically from Aggie to the floor. He half-stumbled, half-walked back down the stairs and brought a hand held can of pesticide with a spray nozzle and worked quickly to kill the ants and find the source. He acted suspicious of Aggie as if he was certain that she
’
d pull a knife, or some other dangerous object
,
and threaten him with bodily harm if he didn
’
t kill every single ant inside the house. He was closer to truth than either of them wanted to consider.

* * *

“
All right, guys. We
’
ve got a problem.
”
Aggie spoke with deliberate calm to a table of chewing children. She
’
d learned quickly, in her on-the-job-training in Mothering 101, that some things require a captive audience.
“
The exterminator found food in just about every corner of this house. All bedrooms, the bathrooms, the dining corners, cabinets… and ants were covering it all. We are talking about two different kinds of ants causing the problem.
”

Aggie scanned the children
’
s faces.
“
The ants that were biting are the ones from Tavish
’
s ant farm, but the rest
--
those came in from outside, and they came because there was food everywhere for them to find.
”
Aggie
’
s voice grew serious.
“
I am sorry to make more rules, but we have to have a new one.
No food
may be taken from the kitchen area. Period.
No
exceptions. If anyone sees someone with food upstairs or in the living areas,
someone
needs remind him or her that it
’
s not allowed. Do you understand?
”
Aggie smiled,
rose,
and put her plate in the sink.

While the children silently finished their food, Aggie made a list of things to inspect and or clean on a weekly/biweekly basis. Closet corners were top of the list. Next, she began a list of things she needed to do to pack them up for moving. That would be an entirely different and challenging project.

Saturday, May 4
^th

“
Vannie? Are you ready? Let
’
s go room by room, starting here at the door.
”
Aunt and niece walked through the house cataloging what would stay behind, what would be sold, and what would move with them.

Aggie had gotten mixed reactions to the move. Vannie and Ellie seemed too attached to their home to want to leave, but the boys seemed to consider it an adventure. The little children had no opinions
--
only questions. Was it big? Where would everyone go to school? Would they have the same Sunday school teachers? Aggie answered to the best of her ability and prayed that this move would be a blessing.

“
Aunt Aggie! I had an idea!
”
Laird was excited.
“
Remember how that shoe organizer thing ripped up right away and you wanted something else?
”

Aggie nodded.
“
Why? What
’
s up?
”

“
Well, what if Tavish and I took that old apothecary
’
s chest and converted it into one? I know we can do it. Those drawers are so
big
and there are sixteen of them!
”

Aggie gave the go-ahead and turned back to her list making.
“
Ok, what pieces of furniture do you know you guys would like to have with you? Were any of these your mother
’
s favorites, or are there any with personal sentimental value?
”
Aggie surveyed the room with dismay.
“
You know, Vannie; I think your mom and I had opposite tastes. I
’
m only taking the beds, your toys, the books, and a few pieces of furniture that you
want
to have with you. The attic at the other house has a lot of furniture and things in it, and if we have to, we
’
ll buy some.
”

“
Momma didn
’
t like most of our furniture. She couldn
’
t stand the couches. She thought that white couches in a family full of children were ridiculous. Oh, and those dining room chairs with the fabric seats, Mom spent every night covering and scrubbing those. She hated them.
”

While not surprised to discover that Geraldine Stuart
’
s idea of proper furniture dictated much of the décor of her home, Aggie was relieved to find that almost none of the furniture meant anything to the children. It was easy to decide what would come and what would stay. The gold plated silverware set would not come along, but the lovely stainless steel set would. They
’
d keep most of the books, all of the beds, the casual dishes, the children
’
s toys, the scrapbooks, and the photo albums. Things like the grandfather clock, couches, chairs, sideboards, credenzas, desks, curio
cabinets,
and any oil paintings they intended to leave behind. Aggie added,
“
Buy sheets at the thrift store to cover furniture,
”
to the to do list clipped to her clipboard.