186 - Greatest Gift

“Ari. Ari!” Jon called down to her from the top of the stairs. 

“What?” 

 

“Hurry, woman. You’ve made me wait long enough.”

 

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” she called up to him. The house’s grand staircase had always been one of her favorite features. Not so much now. Arriving at the top, she let out a deep breath of relief and led him down the hall. 

 

“Ready.” 

 

Ari pushed open the double doors, her voice trailing off as she let her gaze roam across the freshly painted room. While they were gone, Luc had finished the nursery and added a few of his own last touches. The most obvious centerpiece was the hand carved crib that took up most of one wall.

 

“Holy Shit! Did you know about this?”

 

“Nope. But it’s wonderful. Perfect.”

 

The crib, made of a dark, distressed wood of some sort, had massive ornate feet that were carved into a myriad of designs. The most stunning feature about the bottom portion, however; was not the feet. As they inched closer, the sentiment of such a gift became clearer. Knotty oak tabletops formed the curved end panels, and the rails and spindles were made from their legs. One panel had a big cursive B carved into the front with Lily Francis arched over it. 

 

“Oh, my…” Ari’s jaw dropped as she walked over to the crib and ran a hand over its finish.

 

“Are these table tops?”

 

“Yes, and legs.” She curled her fingers around the hand-crafted spindles. “Now I know why Luc asked if he could keep the tables and chairs after the fire.”

 

A soft plush rug covered the floor and assorted accessories lined the border of the room, including a massively useless but entertaining giant teddy bear. The walk-in closet was filled with more supplies and baby-oriented necessities than they could ever ask for, probably all courtesy of Jeanie’s planning.

 

The walls were a pale pink and just enough girly to accent the room’s jersey cotton and faded denim attributes. Nestled in the corner, near a very familiar piano, was a cushy chaise rocker .... and next to that, well, Jon had already noticed.

 

You’d have thought he was looking at the next Mona Lisa because there, sitting on a guitar stand, was a vintage Gibson LG-1 Flat-Top Acoustic with a pink bow around the neck.

 

“Is that?”  

 

“Yes.”

 

As any decent musician would be, Jon was not only intrigued, but also mesmerized. Boy, was she a beauty; ladder bracing, mahogany back with no lengthwise center seam on inside back, a long mahogany neck, back and sides, a rectangle bridge with black pins, he slid off her bow dropping it to the floor and let his fingers brush over the gold ‘Gibson’ decal before wrapping her in his arms.

 

“How… why?” Gently he fiddled with the strings.

 

“Before you get too excited, Elvis did not play that, but it is one of the first hundred ever made. As for why, it’s a first, kinda belated Father’s Day gift. I wanted to give it to you while we were in London, but it was just delivered a few days ago.” Bracing herself on the chair’s arms, she sat with a plop. “Do you like it?”

 

“Like it? I love it. And the piano. That’s Lili’s, isn’t it?”

 

“Uh-huh. I had Luc bring it here.”

 

“But…”

 

“But, nothing. I needed a piece of her here with me and it made sense.”

 

“And she is. Now how ‘bout a song for girls?”  

 

She loves me, she loves me not

She loves me, she loves me not

She loves me, she loves me, she loves me

 

Ari rolled her eyes. She had a feeling he’d go with an Elvis song, but this was not the one. They must have watched this movie a hundred times over the years.

 

The lady loves me and it shows

In spite of the way she turns up her nose

I’m her ideal, her heart’s desire

Under that ice she’s burning like fire

She’d like to cuddle up to me

She’s playing hard to get

The lady loves me, but she doesn’t know it yet

 

“Cute.”

 

“C’mon baby, you know the words.”

 

“I am not singing.”

 

“Aww, why not? You used to.”

 

“I was young and….”

 

“In love.”

 

“Yeah, right? You remember the words to this song?”

 

Ari pushed herself up off the chair and padded across the room.

 

“Hey, I ain’t finished. Where ya goin’?”

 

“Pee. My bladder waits for no rockstar.” She gave him a quick wave over her head and disappeared into the hall.

 

♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱ ♱

 

“You sure you don’t want to come? I see Sal’s in our future.” Jon grabbed his keys off the rack he asked her one more time.

 

“As good as that sounds, no thanks. I have something I need to do before the Normandy invasion happens. You can always bring me back something.”

 

“Hmm. I wonder what?”

 

“You’re a smart cookie. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” Pinching his cheeks, she kissed him. “Now, go. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

 

Waiting long enough so that she was sure he was gone, Ari grabbed her keys and was out the door herself. Seeing the nursery and the crib had brought this event one step closer to happening, and she needed to make sure of one more thing. Pulling out onto Navesink River Road, she opted for backstreets at this hour. Her normally short drive would take a little longer due to beach traffic.

  

“Ari, darling. I didn’t know you were coming over. Is everything okay?” John Sr. asked as he pulled his car out onto the street next to hers.

 

“Hi, John. Jon went to get the kids, so I thought I’d just stop by to say hi.”

 

“Oh, okay. Carol’s out back on the deck reading. Just go around back, sweetie.”

 

“Thank you.” Waving him goodbye, she pulled into the driveway. Since she had called earlier, she knew he would be heading to his weekly poker game, but thought for sure he'd be gone by now. She needed to discuss something with her mother-in-law and only her.  

 

Climbing out of the truck, Ari admired the red, white and blue petunias that outlined the front of the house. Leave it to Carol to change her flower gardens to match every season.

 

Carol stood when she heard the snapping of Ariana's flip flops. “Oh good, you’re here. Come sit." She pulled out one of the chairs for her. "I brought out an extra pillow for your back if you need it.”

 

“Thanks.” Ariana gave her a quick hug and kiss before settling down on the chair.

 

"Your call took me by surprise.” Carol poured her a glass of tea before sitting herself. “Not that I mind you visiting. I just assumed you would still be getting acclimated to being home.”

 

“Years on the road, I’m used to it.”

 

“Is there something specific you needed?”

 

“Yes, and no." Ari’s tone wavered with a slight indecision.

 

"Oh, I don't like the sound of that. What did my son do now?"

 

Ari nearly choked on her tea at her last few words. “Nothing. It’s me. We got to see the finished nursery this morning, and it brought up a ton of emotions.”

 

“Such as?”

 

“Lili. My mother.”

“Ari, sweetheart. I’m not a mind reader, though sometimes my grandchildren and children believe I am. Just spit it out and then we’ll go from there.”

 

And so she did. She told Carol all about the nursery and how beautiful it turned out. She told her about her gift for Jon and how he was like a kid in a candy store when he picked it up for the first time to play it. And then she finally got to the root of what was really bothering her. Describing Luc’s generous gift, it brought back the emotions that rushed through her veins when she saw it for the first time, the only difference this time. She didn’t hold back her tears as she did then.

 

Reaching across the table, Carol laid her hand on top of Ari’s. “It sounds like a beautiful crib and I can’t wait to see it, but you have yet to tell me where this is going?”  

 

“I need you to promise me something.”

 

“I won’t keep secrets.”

 

“It’s nothing like that. I need you to promise that Lily will always know how much I loved and wanted her, more than anything I’ve ever wanted.”

 

“My dear child.” Carol gasped.

 

“I’m serious, Carol. Tell her every day. Twice if you have to.”

 

“I won’t have to.”

 

“You don’t know that.’

 

“And neither do you.” Taking a napkin from the center of the table, Ariana blew her nose.

 

“Ari, you can’t ensure that what happened to you mother will happen to you. You have to trust it was an isolated incident.”

 

“I know that, truly I do, but what I can ensure that is Lily will never doubt how much I wanted and loved her.”

 

“Is that the issue here?” Carol scooted her chair closer to Ari’s and looked her straight in the eyes. “I can say this with a hundred percent certainty. Your mother loved you from the first day she found out she was pregnant.”

 

“Well, it took me years to figure that out and why I need you to promise me if it came to that, you would make sure she knows.”

 

“Listen here. I’m going to say something, and it has nothing to do with Jon being my son. That man loves you more than life itself and if and that’s a big if, something was to happen. There is no way he’d let a day go by not telling that precious little girl about her mother. Do you understand me?”  

 

Ariana simply nodded. She knew what Carol said was true; she felt it to her core. “Good. Now, no more of this nonsense talk. John made some eggplant earlier. How about we go inside and eat?”

 

“Thank you.” Catching her hand, Ari gave it a squeeze. It was good having someone like Carol to talk to.