every day, damaged, retarded, children with Down syndrome, some with severe abnormalities and complications. Believe me, you don't want that."
"You're right." She looked her mother right in the eye. "I don't. I never have wanted children . . . thanks to you and Daddy And on those words, Pilar disappeared into the small crowd, feeling herself tremble as she looked for Brad. He had drifted away to talk to someone while Pilar seemed to be chatting with her mother.
"You okay?" Marina whispered to her, her own gray hair looking curly and a little frumpy. She was the mother Pilar had never had, the friend she had always longed for. She was wise in many ways, and she had made many similar choices to Pilar's, although for different reasons. The oldest of eleven children, she had raised all ten of her siblings when her mother died, and she herself had never married or had children. "I gave at the office," she always explained, and she had always been sympathetic to Pilar's agonies about her parents. In recent years, the younger woman's pain had dimmed, except on the rare occasions when she saw her mother. "The Doctor," as Pilar called her, only came out to California every two or three years, and the truth was that in between times, Pilar didn't miss her. She called her dutifully, and she was always amazed to find that in the years since her childhood nothing had changed, the calls were still "interrogations."
"Looks like the Doctor was giving you a hard time." Marina eyed her kindly, and Pilar smiled. Just being with Marina always made her feel better about the human race. She was one of those rare people, great souls, who enhance the lives of all those who know them.
"No, she just wanted to be sure that Brad and I understood we're too old to have children," Pilar said with a smile, but her voice sounded surprisingly bitter. It wasn't the lack of children that bothered her, it was the lack of kindness or warmth from her mother.
"Says who?" Judge Goletti looked annoyed on her behalf.
"My mother was fifty-two when she had her last one."
"Now, there's something to aspire to." Pilar grinned. "Promise me that won't happen to me, or I'll shoot myself now."
"On your wedding day? Don't be ridiculous." And then, she surprised Pilar by asking a question. "Are you two thinking of having kids?"
She knew lots of people older than they were who had had children recently, but she was curious, and she felt that she was close enough to Pilar to ask her. She had been so startled by the idea of Pilar marrying Brad, after being so adamant about staying single all her life, that now all her earlier decisions seemed to be in question.
Pilar laughed openly before she answered. "I don't think you need to worry about that. The last thing on my wish list is kids, in fact, it's so low on my list that I never wrote it down at all, and I don't plan to." She wanted Brad, but the one thing she was sure of was that she didn't want children.
"You don't plan to what?" Brad joined them and slid an arm around his bride's waist with a happy expression.
"I don't plan to retire from the law," Pilar said, looking calm again.
His soothing effect made her forget her irritation at her mother.
"Who ever thought you would?" He looked surprised that anyone would even ask the question. Pilar was an excellent attorney, and she was devoted to her career. He couldn't imagine her ever leaving her profession.
"I think she should join us on the bench," Marina Goletti said solemnly, thinking that there was some truth in that, and then she was distracted by someone and moved away, and Pilar and Brad stood looking into each other's eyes, alone for a moment, in the swirl of good friends around them.
"I love you, Mrs. Coleman. I only wish I could tell you how much."
"You have a lifetime to tell me . . . and I you . . . I love you, Brad," she whispered.
"You were worth the wait, every minute of it. And I'd wait another fifty years if I had to."
"Then
"You're right." She looked her mother right in the eye. "I don't. I never have wanted children . . . thanks to you and Daddy And on those words, Pilar disappeared into the small crowd, feeling herself tremble as she looked for Brad. He had drifted away to talk to someone while Pilar seemed to be chatting with her mother.
"You okay?" Marina whispered to her, her own gray hair looking curly and a little frumpy. She was the mother Pilar had never had, the friend she had always longed for. She was wise in many ways, and she had made many similar choices to Pilar's, although for different reasons. The oldest of eleven children, she had raised all ten of her siblings when her mother died, and she herself had never married or had children. "I gave at the office," she always explained, and she had always been sympathetic to Pilar's agonies about her parents. In recent years, the younger woman's pain had dimmed, except on the rare occasions when she saw her mother. "The Doctor," as Pilar called her, only came out to California every two or three years, and the truth was that in between times, Pilar didn't miss her. She called her dutifully, and she was always amazed to find that in the years since her childhood nothing had changed, the calls were still "interrogations."
"Looks like the Doctor was giving you a hard time." Marina eyed her kindly, and Pilar smiled. Just being with Marina always made her feel better about the human race. She was one of those rare people, great souls, who enhance the lives of all those who know them.
"No, she just wanted to be sure that Brad and I understood we're too old to have children," Pilar said with a smile, but her voice sounded surprisingly bitter. It wasn't the lack of children that bothered her, it was the lack of kindness or warmth from her mother.
"Says who?" Judge Goletti looked annoyed on her behalf.
"My mother was fifty-two when she had her last one."
"Now, there's something to aspire to." Pilar grinned. "Promise me that won't happen to me, or I'll shoot myself now."
"On your wedding day? Don't be ridiculous." And then, she surprised Pilar by asking a question. "Are you two thinking of having kids?"
She knew lots of people older than they were who had had children recently, but she was curious, and she felt that she was close enough to Pilar to ask her. She had been so startled by the idea of Pilar marrying Brad, after being so adamant about staying single all her life, that now all her earlier decisions seemed to be in question.
Pilar laughed openly before she answered. "I don't think you need to worry about that. The last thing on my wish list is kids, in fact, it's so low on my list that I never wrote it down at all, and I don't plan to." She wanted Brad, but the one thing she was sure of was that she didn't want children.
"You don't plan to what?" Brad joined them and slid an arm around his bride's waist with a happy expression.
"I don't plan to retire from the law," Pilar said, looking calm again.
His soothing effect made her forget her irritation at her mother.
"Who ever thought you would?" He looked surprised that anyone would even ask the question. Pilar was an excellent attorney, and she was devoted to her career. He couldn't imagine her ever leaving her profession.
"I think she should join us on the bench," Marina Goletti said solemnly, thinking that there was some truth in that, and then she was distracted by someone and moved away, and Pilar and Brad stood looking into each other's eyes, alone for a moment, in the swirl of good friends around them.
"I love you, Mrs. Coleman. I only wish I could tell you how much."
"You have a lifetime to tell me . . . and I you . . . I love you, Brad," she whispered.
"You were worth the wait, every minute of it. And I'd wait another fifty years if I had to."
"Then
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