Ready or Not (Aggie's Inheritance) (25 page)

Aggie nearly screamed in frustration. After three days of having the twins run wild all over the house, she realized that Tina had been right. She would have to call for help. Picking up the phone, Aggie swallowed her pride and called Zeke. Again. This was becoming a terrible habit of hers.
“
Zeke? This is Aggie. I
’
m so sorry to keep bothering you, but you
’
ve lived here a while, and I thought maybe you might know where I could get some help.
”

Zeke chuckled.
“
What kind of help do you need, missy?
”

Aggie realized that she was not making sense.
“
I need to hire two people for the next two weeks. I need a mother
’
s helper type person. Someone who can come in and take care of the twins and Ian for two weeks, so they don
’
t run wild. I can
’
t control them!
”

“
And the other person? What is this other person going to do?
”

“
I need a cleaning service or something. My friend Tina told me to call someone, but I forgot and the house is already a mess. Please, if you can think of anyone who can do either of these, I really could use the help. It
’
s so hard to get the baby in and out of his playpen. I re-injured my ankle last night when I was getting him up for an impromptu midnight feeding. I whacked it on the coffee table.
”
The defeat in Aggie
’
s voice showed the strain this enforced bed rest was causing her.

Zeke was silent for a moment before speaking.
“
Oh, I know! There is a lovely woman in our church. Her husband just got laid off, and they
’
re cutting it pretty close these days. Why don
’
t I call her and see if she
’
s available? If she is, I
’
ll give her your phone number.
”

Aggie sagged in relief.
“
What could she do? Cleaning or watching?
”
Aggie was praying that it would be watching as she heard yet another
loud
thump upstairs.

“
Why, I imagine she
’
d be doing both. I
’
ll give her a call.
”

Aggie says:
Mom? Are you there?

Martha says:
I
’
ll get her.

Aggie says:
Hi, Dad!

Martha says:
She
’
s coming. How is that ankle?

Aggie says:
Healing, but slowly.

Martha says:
I
’
ll bet. Here
’
s mom. If I don
’
t talk to you later, take care.

Aggie says:
Night, Dad.

Martha says:
Hi Aggie! How are you? Are you sick of that question yet?

Aggie says:
Yep, but I
’
ll live.

Martha says:
What is wrong, young lady? I can tell something isn
’
t right.

Aggie says:
I can
’
t do it.

Martha says:
Can
’
t do what? Last I read, Paul promised we could do all things through Jesus.

Aggie says:
humph

Martha says:
I
’
m waiting.

Aggie says:
The twins won
’
t listen, I can
’
t lift Ian, and I
’
ve had to give up and hire help to do what Doug and Allie thought I could handle. I
’
m a failure.

Martha says:
Hogwash. If you don
’
t quit this pity party, I
’
m going to drive down there myself and spank you.

Aggie says:
As if.

Martha says:
Do not sass me!

Martha says:
Listen to your mother. I don
’
t need her up fretting half the night.

Aggie says:
Yes ma
’
am/sir.

Martha says:
That
’
s better. Now, let me get this straight. You
’
re pretty much stuck on the couch all day, is that right?

Aggie says:
bingo

Martha says:
Furthermore, you have small children that need attention, but you are physically incapable of providing it. Do I have the situation described correctly?

Aggie says:
Yes, Mother.

Martha says:
Well, when Allie was unable to move around at the end of her pregnancy with Cari and Lorna, if you
’
ll remember, she hire
d
an assistant to do the housework and keep the children from killing themselves and each other.

Aggie says:
How did I miss that? When
--

Martha says:
I think it was your second semester at college. You were probably sleep-deprived and didn
’
t remember. I remember you spent the whole trip to see the babies in the hospital studying child psychology or something and drove us all insane with your new-found knowledge.

Aggie says:
Oh, yeah, I think a woman brought the kids to the hospital that day. Was that her?

Martha says:
Yep.

Aggie says:
Why do I feel like such a failure?

Martha says:
Because when you
’
re curled on the couch, it
’
s much easier to stare into your own navel than it is to see reality.

Aggie says:
Gross, Mom.

Martha says:
I call them like I see them. Did you find someone to hire, or did you just realize you
’
d have to?

Aggie says:
Zeke says he knows someone. Sigh.

Martha says:
We
’
re proud of you, Aggie. You know that, right?

Aggie says:
I know, Mom. Thanks

Aggie says:
Am I crazy not to move to Yorktown?

Martha says:
I know your dad thinks he
’
s being sneaky about suggesting you keep far enough away that I can
’
t drive, but as much as I don
’
t want to admit it, he
’
s right. I
’
d try to come, it
’
d be too much for me, and you
’
d have nine kids to take care of until he could rescue me. Staying close to Rockland gives you a broader support base, and even though you
’
ll have a new church, the old church will be close enough to help out if necessary. It
’
s a good decision, Aggie.

Aggie says:
I guess.

Martha says:
Aggie?

Aggie says:
hmm?

Martha says:
Is Jesus big enough to handle this?

Aggie says:
yeah

Martha says:
Then give it to Him. Your dad is giving me slicin
g
motions across his neck. I
’
d better go before he grabs a knife. Night.

Aggie says:
Night, mom. Love you.

Martha says:
Night, Aggie. Love you too.

Discovery

Thursday, May 9
^th

The children rushed out the door the next morning, just as a car drove into the driveway. Vannie looked curiously at the woman but rushed past, trying not to miss the bus. The woman counted the children as they dashed out the door. Kenzie tripped over her shoelace but was up and running again before the startled woman could try to help.

Aggie called out with a welcoming,
“
Come in,
”
as she heard a knock at the door. A smiling woman, with beautiful russet hair piled on her head in a bun and jolly green eyes, hesitantly entered the room.
“
Are you Aggie? Zeke didn
’
t give me any other name, just Aggie.
”

Aggie noticed that the woman looked ready to work. She wore an old hand painted t-shirt that
said,
“
East or West, our mom
’
s best
”
and bleach stained jeans.
“
My name is Iris Landry. It
’
s nice to meet you.
”
The slightly plump woman extended her hand to Aggie.