The Honeymoon Is Over

    Mary Ann thought things would be so different with her new husband Bill. Things couldn't have been worse for both of them. Bill drank heavily and Mary Ann couldn't stand it. It affected everything in their life. Linda was giving them a hard time, she was 7 and talked back terribly. It seemed she hated her new father and her Grandma Moberg didn't help any, always telling Linda that she didn't have to listen to Bill because he wasn't really her father, He was just her mom's new husband. Timmy was just 3, he was a quiet boy, Linda always told me that my dad would try to spank her but she fought back, so Timmy would get the worst spanking because he couldn't fight back.
   I always thought that was so hard  to believe because dad never spanked most of us kids. He hardly punished us in anyway, he let our mom do it.
   I guess his drinking just made him abusive. He started not going home and hanging out with his friends again. Mary Ann told him that it had to quit and that she wasn't in her marriage to be alone it was to have a man who cared for her and her kids, and have kids of their own.
   Bill came home drunk one night, and as usual they fought, this time worse than before. Bill had told Mary Ann he didn't want anymore kids that Linda was more than enough for him. Mary Ann started throwing things so Bill left.
   Linda went to school and Mary Ann and Bill just worked. Timmy, was growing into a gentle child, but a little brother non the less and he was driving Linda crazy. He followed her everywhere and she did not like it. Linda would tell her Grandmother that he was bothering her, Grandma would make him play alone, He didn't want to play alone so he found Ruthie, she was a young woman who had a very severe stutter and she couldn't walk she would hang on things to get around. Ruth had just been fit for braces and shoes for her feet, so she could walk. It took her years to be able to walk again. she was 34 years old. Her thick black hair was very curly and she kept it short so she could brush  it because her hands were crippled as well.  Most kids were afraid of her for a few reasons, besides as she got older she was scary. Her voice was deep and she was only 4'8". Ruth never went to school of any kind, she was always child like.
   Linda taught Ruth to right the first two letters of her name and Linda could write hers.
   Christmas that year Linda and Ruth went down after the Christmas presents  had been put under the tree  at Grandma Mobergs house and they opened all the gifts that had Linda's name on it and the packages that had the RU...Grandma was not happy.
   Mary Ann was so sick, she couldn't keep any food down so she went to the Dr. ,Yup, she was pregnant, she was due April 1. 1956. Bill was going to be mad.
    It was a cold winter night and Mary Ann decided it was now or never, she made all Bill's favorite foods and lit candles just like many woman have done, she was nervous, she knew he didn't want any more kids, but maybe he would be ok with it.
    Well it was getting late. Bill didn't come home after work. Mom told me it was like a bad movie, very predictable, she knew he was drinking so she ate and put everything away. It would have to wait, another day another time she thought. Just as she was about to fall asleep she heard him stumble in.
    She climbed out of bed to try to get him to be more quiet, Timmy was sleeping and Linda was at Grandmas house sleeping over, she didn't want him to wake up Timmy.
    One look at him and she knew it was going to be bad, she asked him to quiet down and he yelled louder," I don't care if the whole damn world hears me he said!" Mary Ann didn't back down," Timmy is sleeping, Bill , please don't wake him", she pleaded. He went to get something to eat, Mary Ann put on coffee and he sat at the table, she asked where he'd been, he told her he'd just stopped to get a beer and met a few friends and here he was. Mary Ann started to cry, she just couldn't believe this was her life," SO is this the life you want for your kids?", she asked," Those are your kids Mary Ann not mine, hell they don't even like me, Timmy is afraid of me and Linda is always at your Moms house, what kids? I don't have any..", she cried harder and said, "The one that I'm going to have, we're going to have a baby in April". Before she could get all the words out he jumped out of his chair and grabbed her throat, he shoved her against the wall and tried to choke her," I said I didn't want any kids, NONE...I told you that before we got married, how could you let this happen?"
    Mary Ann was reaching and feeling for anything she could grab, he was going to kill her if she didn't stop him some how. Her hand felt a handle she got the tightest grip she could and swung it back and hit him, she was aiming for his head but it hit his arm.
    He let go and she dropped to the floor. When she looked up at him she saw him sitting in the chair with his head down, she picked herself up and the Cast Iron frying pan she hit him with and sat next to him. They were both crying, she went into the bedroom and got Timmy up and took him across the street to her mothers house.
   The next morning Bill went to work, he couldn't move his arm so he was sent to the ER by his boss. Mary Ann had broken his arm.He went home and Mary Ann was there packing hers and the kids clothes. That was never going to happen again. He could have killed her, then what? And the baby inside her would have died too.
   Bill grabbed her and held her, he cried again," Please don't leave me..I promise I will never drink again. I will stop right now, I promise Mary Ann I won't drink, you just can't leave me", he begged her and she stopped packing.
 He asked about the baby and she told him when she was due and he said he would be a better husband, and a better father to all the kids.
   No more drinking and he  would never lay a hand on her again. Then they laughed that she broke his arm, even though it wasn't really funny at all. I guess it was out of relief.

   Bill had said he was tired of drinking anyway, and he loved her more. Over the years this story was told a few times.