Samson and Sunset (46 page)

  “Kathrine, are you telling me there is
a chance you’re my real mom and Shay is my real dad?”

  “Yes, Patty, that’s what I’m telling
you.”

  Patty grabbed me, wrapped her arms
around me and wouldn’t let go. “What if Grandma won’t let me take
the tests?” she cried into my arms.

  Shay was sitting by her and Patty
reached over and held us both close, her thin little arms wrapped
around our necks so tight. Shay had his arm around her back, just
like I did.

  ‘’Well,” Shay said, trying to talk
through his own tears, “we don’t have to worry about that, Patty
Cake. My attorney has a court order for blood tests for any female
child born June 16th, 1967 at the Hudson hospital, so it’s a done
deal.”

  “When can we do the tests?” Patty
asked.

  “Tomorrow isn’t soon enough for Callie
and me,” Shay said.

  We had Kelly and Wes come to our room
and told them what was happening. If you can imagine what a room
full of five blubbering people would look like, well, that was us.
Everyone was hugging each other with tears in their eyes.

  “I knew all along you were my sister,”
Wes said.

  “How did you know?” Patty asked,
sniffling.

  “Well, ’cause you’re just like Kelly;
a pain in the butt!” he laughed. “The two of you are just alike.
Now I got two pains in the butt.” But he had as many tears in his
eyes as everyone.

  Shay picked up the phone and called
Willis Hock.

  “Willis, how ya doing? I called you at
home because I have some news. Callie and I think we’ve found our
blood daughter. Right here, she lives right here, so close to us,
right in Hudson. You bet we are. You bet! We want her tested in the
morning, so can you please set it up? We will be at the hospital
before ten, thank you, thank you, yes I’m sure we’re right. I’ll be
in to see you tomorrow. She is. She’s beside herself,” he said,
smiling, and hung up.

  “Patty, we have to get up early
tomorrow. Callie and I are taking you to talk to your grandmother,
and then we’re going to go get that test,” Shay said giving Patty a
hug.

  I don’t think we slept all night. We
were too excited at the thought of finding our daughter. I felt
safe in saying “our daughter.” I knew Shay was just as sure she was
ours; not mine, but ours. The more I thought about that sweet
beautiful face of Patty’s, the more I could see Shay. Did I see it
in the hospital? Was that why we felt so immediately connected? How
strange life is, I thought lying awake in the dark, stranger than
fiction, that I should find my child, thirteen years later, in the
same hospital I lost her in.

  My mind was running amuck. There was
no way I was going to sleep, so I wrapped myself in Shay’s arms and
thanking God for the miracle of our child. Shay spent most of the
night rocking me like a baby, cradling me in his strong arms.

  “You know, princess,” he said, at one
point in the dark. “I don’t think I really ever comprehended how
you felt, when you said your arms were empty and you needed your
child. As a man I just didn’t feel that massive emptiness you
talked about—until today. Thinking: that is my lost child, my arms
feel empty, and I just want to hold her and rock her as if she was
my newborn daughter. Callie, forgive me for not always
understanding that love you could never let go of. I now know that
love you’ve felt, your need. Princess, I am so, so sorry that there
were times I wasn’t there for you,” Shay said with tears running
down his cheeks.

  We were up and dressed early at the
breakfast table. Mom was there, and Sterling and Maggie had just
gotten home, so Shay broke the startling news. Our family was not
only surprised, but we could see how happy they were for us—to
think the little girl they’d all become so attached to could be
their own little granddaughter. We all had a lot of tears at the
table.

  It had been a huge story in the Hudson
paper when we were searching for our child. I remember the last
articles said something like:

 
The Westover family may never find
their daughter, but they say they will never give up the search,
and they believe in their hearts that one day they will find
her.

Shay had a lot of work for Wes to do that
day, but Kelly wanted to go to Hudson with us to Patty’s
grandmother’s, then on to the hospital for the tests. Kelly was so
tenderhearted, she wasn’t about to let her little sister out of her
sight.

  Shay had called ahead to Patty’s
grandmother’s house and asked that Patty’s father, Levi, be present
when we got there. We had a long talk with her so-called family. It
amazed both Shay and me how little they seemed to care that Patty
might not be theirs. I had hoped there wouldn’t be a fight, but in
a way this was more disturbing.

  What shocked me the most was that they
had no questions about their real daughter. It was like, ‘pass the
baby around, where she stops, nobody cares.’ I could see that no
one really gave a damn about this child or Marie. How could they
not want to know about their baby, precious little Marie?

  The dad seemed relieved to be rid of
Patty, and the grandmother seemed downright happy to be able to go
back to her life of parties and boyfriends. Did they give us their
blessing for the tests? It was more like a shrug. ‘Yeah, sure,
guess things like that just happen. Well, let us know what the
tests say.’ What in the hell had our little girl been through?

  I could tell Shay was noticing the
same thing, and as the conversation wound down, he looked Levi in
the eye and said:

  “I’d like Patty to bring a few of the
things that she wants. I plan to keep her with us until the results
are in. If for some reason the tests are negative, then we need to
talk, because I’d like to keep Patty either way.” He ery
authoritative about the whole thing. No one argued.

  Off to the hospital to get our blood
drawn! I was shaking, just shaking. Shay held onto me throughout
the whole ordeal. We went to the Weiner Wagon for lunch and all got
the conies Shay and I loved so much. The girls wanted to go shop a
little, so Shay gave them each some cash and they were off.

  “I’m glad they wanted to leave for a
while,” Shay said, fixing his eyes on me. “Callie, you need to calm
down. The last thing I need is for you to make yourself sick. What
can I do to keep you calm and level-headed for the next ten to
fourteen days, princess?”

  “Shay, how can I calm down? I found my
baby, I feel like I just gave birth! I want to hold my tiny baby in
my arms, and here she is, thirteen years old; beautiful, smart,
sensible, she’s growing up to be a wonderful young lady. Shay, I
missed—
we
missed—so much of her life, and you know what
really scares me?”

  “What scares you, princess?”

  “Shay, what do you think she’s been
through, what sort of a life has she had? Did they feed her enough;
love her at all? Didn’t look like it. Did anyone abuse her? Gosh,
Shay, all the boyfriends she said her mom had… I have so many
questions, but I’m afraid I can’t handle the answers.”

  Shay knew exactly what I meant. I
could see he had been thinking the same things. “Princess, I don’t
want you to even think about that right now—first things first. If
she’s our child, then let’s enjoy that knowledge. There will always
be time for us to think about what happened in her past. Right now,
let’s concentrate on the future.”

  Shay was my man of reason.

  When the girls got back we went home
to Westover, and the girls went horseback riding. I was still a
mess of nerves. Ten days, to two weeks… this was going to be sheer
agony. How could we make it?

  ***

I saw Shay watching me as the days passed, he
watched my every move. One night, while he held me in his arms, I
finally told him that he didn’t have to worry about me.

  “I’m drawing on your strength,” I
said. “What you’ve said to me, all of it; I think it’s beginning to
sink in. You’re my rock, Shay. And when the oceans get rough, I
have my rock, so I know I won’t drown.”

  “You make my world, Callie. I thought
the only thing I ever wanted to be was a playboy, a party guy. Then
I met you and you turned my world upside down. Just look at me; I’m
a husband; I have three children. I’m running the farmstead
operation and I am the happiest, most content man in the world.
Callie, nothing could make me happier than I am right now.”

  A couple of days later, I made a
decision. I knew the time had come for me to move on Marie’s baby
things. I could do it now. It took thirteen years, but I could now
give them to someone who needed them. Maggie told me some years
back that she had stored the crib and all of Rie-Rie’s little
things in the attic. So for the first time since I’d been living in
the Big House I ventured up there.

  My goodness, Maggie had a lot of stuff
stored in that attic! There was a lot of history up there, history
that would one day pass along to Wes and his family. There it was,
I could see the boxes. They were marked in black ink, “Marie’s
Clothes.”

  Then I just had to chuckle. Maggie had
a box that said, “Wesley’s Clothes,” and, “Kelly’s Clothes.” I
could even see their two cribs, and of course, little Marie’s.
Well, Maggie had just been busted. Her secret was out. She was a
packrat!

  I sat down and opened the slightly
dusty boxes. They were pretty clean for being there so many years.
I was having fun looking at the little tiny outfits, the booties,
sweaters, and hats, the receiving blankets. The two boxes were big
and believe me, Maggie had packed them full. As I sat there holding
Rie-Rie’s booties, I became aware that I wasn’t alone. I whirled
around.

  “Good grief, Shay!” I said, startled.
“You gave me a fright. I didn’t hear you come up the stairs.”

  “What are you doing, Callie?” he
asked, walking toward me and crouching down.

  “Shay, look, Marie’s little booties.
Remember when she came home from the hospital in this little
outfit?” I held the little booties up.

  “I always told you, Callie, I don’t
need pictures to remember you and my babies. I remember it all.
I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.”

  “Look!” I chimed. “Maggie even kept
Wes’ things.” I pointed at the box.

  As Shay was looking around the room I
heard him start to laugh. “Callie, stand up. I want to show you
something,” he said with a grin. “Look over there on that wall. See
those three stacked boxes? Read what they say.”

  I looked where he was pointing. They
said from bottom to top, “Shannon’s Clothes,” “Debbie’s Clothes,”
and “Becky’s Clothes.” What a riot! Maggie kept everything.

  “What are you going to do with these
two boxes?” Shay nodded towards Maries’ things.

  “I can let go now, Shay. I don’t want
to save all this old stuff like Maggie did. I’m going to re-box
these two boxes so they’re nice and fresh, and I’m going to take
them to the church and give them to Father Mike, someone could
certainly use them.”

  “Hey, Callie, we have a farmhand who’s
wife is expecting a baby any day. What about giving these clothes
and one of the cribs to them?” Shay suggested.

  “Yes, yes, Shay. Take them down and
give them to your farmhand!” I agreed. “We have our baby now. She
just happens to be thirteen,” I laughed, “so, I’m thinking she
needs a bigger size now.”

  Shay took the boxes down the stairs
and set them by the back door. I had lost track of the time. It was
lunch and everyone was gathered at the table. Hulda had made roast
beef sandwiches and potato salad, with pudding for dessert.
Everyone was laughing and talking, when the phone rang. Hulda
answered it in the kitchen and when she returned, she told Shay it
was our doctor and he wanted to speak to Shay. He went to the
kitchen to take the call.

  When he returned, he told us, “The
blood tests are back. Doc Sam wants us to come to his office.”

  “Mom,” Kelly said, “I’m going
along.”

  “I’m going too,” said Wes, and with
that we just left the table. We didn’t even eat the wonderful lunch
Hulda had made, but she understood.

  “Off with ya now,” she said, “I’ll put
this all away and keep it fresh. My heart goes with you.”

  I said, “Mom, come on, you’re coming
with us.”

  We were all off for Doc Sam’s office
in Hudson.

  ***

When we arrived, the nurse said, “My,
Kathrine, you have your whole family here for support; and let me
add what a lovely family you have.”

  She told us to follow her back to the
private office area. There were three chairs in front of the desk.
Shay told Mom and me to sit down, but I said, “Shay you have to sit
here by me, I need you here, please!”

  Shay sat down and my nurse said not to
worry, she’d get the kids each a chair. They told her they didn’t
mind standing, but the nurse was very gracious and got them each a
chair. Where was Doc Sam? I couldn’t bear this. After what seemed
like an hour, and was probably five minutes, Doc Sam came in. He
walked around to his desk and sat down.

  “Kathrine, you do have a lovely
family,” he stated, as he sat there looking at all our eager,
nervous faces.

  I was thinking, ‘I already know all
this, please tell me what I don’t know!’

  Doc Sam opened the folder. He sat
there reading with his head down for a moment, then closed the
folder and sat there a second. Doc Sam was such a character. He
reached in his shirt pocket and handed Shay a cigar.

  “Congratulations, kids,” he broke into
a grin, “you have a daughter.”

  I just wept, as did Mom and Shay. Now
the kids were crying. What a mess Doc Sam had on his hands, but, as
he told us, it was the best mess he’d ever had in his office. As he
got up, he shook Shay’s hand, squeezed my shoulder and left us to
cry over our happiness.