The Fulfillment Read Free

they both started losing their hair, and nothing could get a proposal out of him.
    And what did Aaron think? Riding through that April morning, taking Priscilla home in her father’s rig, he recognized how deeply he’d settled himself into her family. He was so comfortable with them all that it seemed as if he were already a part of them. Maybe that was why his hackles rose when he thought of marriage. It seemed he and Pris had never had the chance to think about marrying before everybody in the township had the knot tied for them.
    He admitted that he’d given Pris more than enough reason to expect his proposal. They’d been constant companions for the last year, and once, but only once, they’d been more. Granted she’d given in to him only once. But that was enough to build her assumptions on. The memory of that encounter didn’t set lightly on Aaron. He knew she wasn’t the type to dally with every young buck in the county. Indeed, he’d been her first. And just because that was true, Aaron felt a responsibility toward Pris. But it made him feelhe was being forced toward marriage. And he simply wasn’t ready for marriage.
    Still, habits are hard to break, and spending time with Pris wasn’t exactly a hardship. She was pretty, she lived close by, and they had fun together. So here he was again, headed down to her place to while away a Sunday, driving her pa’s rig like he’d already married into it!
    None of the others in Pris’s family had gone to church that day. Agnes, her mother, was due with her fifth baby. Coming up the rise now where his own driveway angled off to the left, Aaron asked, “You want to go straight home today, or should we have breakfast with Jonathan and Mary?”
    â€œIt’s best I get straight back,” Pris answered. “Ma will need help with the meal and all.”
    From behind them Jonathan saw Aaron’s hand wave a farewell. The lead rig continued over the crest of the hill toward the Volence place, which lay a quarter mile beyond, at the bottom of the hill.
    â€œLooks like they’re not stopping for breakfast,” Jonathan observed.
    Mary watched the dust settle ahead of them, saw the rig disappear over the crest of the hill, and felt a wisp of loneliness dim the bright day. She would miss their usual Sunday breakfast together. The house would seem empty. Mary thought about the bustling Volence household with all those kids and didn’t blame Aaron for preferring it to their own silent house, which always seemed a little bigger and a little quieter on Sundays. Well, at least she could escape to the garden today, Mary thought, shaking off thebothersome emptiness, but what she said was, “Agnes will be needing help. It’s best they didn’t stop, anyway.”
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    Newt Volence came charging down the driveway on his stubby six-year-old legs, a-hollering all the way, “Ma’s havin’ the baby! Ma’s havin’ the baby!”
    â€œYou git down to the barn and stay there!” Pris yelled as the rig passed Newt in the dusty gravel. She was down and running to the house before Aaron could bring the rig to a full halt. When he stepped down, Newt was right on his feet, pulling at his hands and hollering, “Do I gotta go to the barn, Aaron, do I? Pris can’t make me!” And little drops of spit came flying out where his tongue peeked between his teeth.
    â€œBetter do like she says, Newt, so you won’t be in the way,” Aaron said.
    â€œShe just doesn’t want me to hear if Ma does some yellin’.”
    Aaron laughed and reached down to grab Newt under the arms and hoist him up, astraddle his own waist.
    â€œHow do you know that?”
    â€œJimmy Martin said his ma did plenty o’ hollerin’ last time,” Newt confided, “and so did Clara when her calf was born.”
    There was no arguing with that, Aaron decided, and offered to keep Newt