Scene #19
First Night
“Come here, Sweetheart.
Your face is as white as that nightgown. There’s nothing to be
nervous about.”
“I’m not nervous. Not really. I just,
I, um, just , I don’t know…”
“Come here. You’re
shivering, Sweetheart. Sit on my lap. I only want to hold you.
Honest. I’m just going to hold you and we’ll talk awhile.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I wanted tonight to be perfect. I didn’t
expect to be so sca… uh, tense. I just need time to, to relax a
little.”
“Lizzie, we’ve got all the time there is,
Honey. We don’t have to rush things. We’re married now. We’re not
sitting in your Aunt Gertie’s parlor watching her knit and rock,
and waiting for her to say, ‘My, it’s 8:30 already. The rooster
will be calling before we know it.’ We’ve got the rest of our
lives.”
“That sounds so good, Sam. You know, I’ve dreamed
about us getting married and moving out here to the farm. Us being
in our own home. Having time to be alone together……. I was so happy
today. The church was so pretty, wasn’t it?”
It might have
been, Lizzie, but I have to tell you, I didn’t notice anything but
you. Your beautiful face, your smile. I’ll hold the picture of
you, my beautiful bride, in my heart always. Oh, Sweetheart, don’t
cry! What did I say to make you sad?”
“Sam, I’m not sad. I’m
happy. I love you so much.”
“This is happy?”
“Yes, Sam,
tears can be happy. …I feel so silly.”
“Why silly?”
“Well, I think of myself as a modern woman. Here it is a brand
new century. I even rode on the trolley in Philadelphia last
summer. I’m 20 years old, not a little girl. I didn’t expect to be
so tense tonight. Here we are finally alone and married, and,
and…it took me almost an hour to come out of the bathroom!”
“Lizzie, you’re not afraid of me are you Honey? You know I’d
never be rough with you.”
“Oh, no! No, I’d never think
you’d hurt me. I, Sam, I just wish I knew what to do. I mean Aunt
Gert said…”
“Your aunt talked to you about tonight?”
“Well, she knew that with Mama gone nobody else would tell me
what to expect. I was only twelve when Mama died and I came to Aunt
Gert.”
“Honey, your Aunt Gertie was born when Andrew Jackson
was president. A seventy-two year old maiden lady, …what did she
tell you? Ah, Lizzie. Your cheeks are as red as one of my prize
Macintosh apples. You don’t have to be embarrassed with me. I’m
your husband now. You can tell me anything. What did Aunt Gertie
tell you?”
“She told me what to expect, that’s all.”
“What did she say, Honey?”
“Well, she said… , she told me
what to expect.”
“Elizabeth, tell me.”
“Aunt Gert
said that from what she’s heard over the years, tonight would be
better than a trip to the doctor, but not as good as chocolate
cake. Sam, are you laughing at me?!”
“No, don’t go
Sweetheart. I’m sorry. Come back here to me. Sit here on my lap.
That’s better. Relax your head right here on my heart, Honey and
listen to me. I love your Aunt Gert, you know I do, but she’s
wrong, Honey. You like when I kiss you, don’t you? You like the way
it feels when I taste your lips. You like it when I nibble your
neck, right here below your ear? How does that feel?”
“It
tingles, and, oh Saaamm, it, hmm, makes me warm.”
“It’s
better than chocolate cake, Sweetheart. So much better than the
best chocolate cake ever. Let me show you.”
