Picket Fences! Part 4


It's Thrusday morning in Buford Falls. At Mary Lou Anderson's house on Shady Lane . . .


Her husband Peter, a Field Researcher waved goodbye on his way out the door.


Peter's carpool came at 8:30 AM in order to get him to work at 9AM.


Mary Lou and Peter's daughter Julie left at 8:30 AM to catch the schoolbus. Today is Julie's first day of school.


When the telephone rang Mary Lou answered "Hello!"

"Mary Lou this is Emily. Can I come over for a short visit this morning?"

"Sure come on over" said Mary Lou.


When Emily came in the backdoor, Mary Lou noticed immediately that she was wearing a maternity top.

"Oh Emily, I'm so excited for you and Sam. When is the baby due?" she asked.

"I'm not exactly sure yet. I got an appointment with Dr. Brian tomorrow morning. Will you go with me?", she asked.

"Sure, I'd love to go. We can go to lunch afterwards. My treat", Mary Lou said.



"Your belly is already pretty big. You might be expecting twins", she said.

"Sam would be thrilled if I have twins this time. He wants a big family" said Emily.


"Mary Lou gave Emily a goodbye hug. I'll see you in the morning", she said.


Emily left to go back home.


Then Mary Lou called Joy.

"How about coming over and telli me all about Mr. Rhys Sawyer."

"I'll be there in a few minutes" said Joy.

"What did you find out about Rhys when you stayed in his house for two hours the other day?" asked Mary Lou.

"Well, he said he was sent to an orphanage after his parents died. That's where he grew up" said Joy.

"I wonder why Grace didn't get custody of Rhys after he was orphaned. She would have been the logical choice to raise him", she said.


"You would think so, but I guess she didn't want to explain having a child living here when the whole town thought she was an old maid. It would have been a real scandal back then. She would have never lived down the embarassment", said Joy,"It just seems a shame that Rhys grew up in an orphanage when he had family", said Mary Lou.

"Yeah, he said he didn't know he had a grandmother until he got the letter from Grace's lawyer.", said Joy, "Rhys thinks Grace tried to make amends to his dad by leaving him everything she owned."

"I wonder who it was that Grace loved enough to have a child with", said Mary Lou.

"Rhys said it was someone who just used Grace and then threw her away when she got pregnant", said Joy.

"Well, we should help Rhys find a nice single girl to marry, so he can start his own family", said Mary Lou.

"When I asked him if he had ever been married, he told me he never had or ever wanted to be. I told him it wasn't that bad and he said he would take my word for it", said Joy.

"If he meets the right girl, he'll change his mind", said Mary Lou.

"I saw Emily when she was going back home. I didn't know she and Sam were planning on having another child", said Joy.

"Oh yes, she said Sam wanted a big family and he would be thrilled if she had twins. I'm going with her to the doctor's in the morning. I'm taking her to lunch afterwards. I thought we'd go to the pizze parlor", said Mary Lou.

"Well I'm happy for them then. I got to be getting on home. I haven't even made the beds this morning", said Joy.


"Bye Joy", called Mary Lou.

"Bye Mary Lou", she answered.


That night at Joy and Larry's house . . .


When the telephone started ringing Joy answered.

"Hello", she said.


"Hey beautiful. Can you meet me tomorrow someplace? I want to see you again", he said.

"I guess I can", she said, "Call me in the morning."

"Alright I will", said Rhys.


"Who was that on the telephone?", asked Larry.

"Oh, just Mary Lou. She's going with Emily to the doctor's and wanted to know if I wanted to go with them", said Joy.

"What's wrong with Emily?", he asked.

"She's pregnant", said Joy.


"You know, I wouldn't mind us having another baby. It would be kinda nice having a little brother for Arlene. Don't you think?", he said.

"I'll think about it. Alright?", she answered.



"Goodnight sweetheart", he said.

"Goodnight", she said.



"You coming to bed?", he asked.

"I'll be on in a little while", she said.



To be continued . . .