Glad Tidings, Christmas, New York, 1874
Author: Gretchen
Email: gf3@nyu.edu
Rating: G

Summary:    Adam and a teenage Amy come to an agreement at Christmas.

“Time’s up, girls!  Put your pencils down and pass your papers forward.”

“At last,” Amy thought as she straightened the pile of her classmates’ test papers and handed them to Miss Field.  “Merry Christmas, Miss.”

“Girls, remember I want the whole of chapter fourteen read and outlined for the first day back in January.   Have a Merry Christmas.”

The mood in the coatroom was jubilant as the girls wound scarves around their necks and pulled on warm mittens.  They had two weeks ahead of them without school.  Two weeks of skating and parties and reading novels and gossiping with friends.  

“Amy, come join us for hot cocoa,” Jenny said, grabbing her friend’s arm.

“Oh darn it, I can’t.  I have to walk my brothers home.”

“Surely Jacob can walk Thomas home,” Ann pleaded.

“Jacob is a dilly dallier.  He’ll find something to look at and forget that Mama worries if he isn’t home by three.”  Amy sighed dramatically.  “BROTHERS!”

“Well, don’t forget about my party on the 23rd,” Ann said.  “And don’t forget to bring Winna.”

“We’ll be there.  You can count on us.” 

Winna had left for boarding school in September.  Her father, Edwin Booth, had a long theatrical tour that autumn and felt it would be best for Winna to be under the supervision of Miss Sarah Porter in Farmington, Connecticut. The girls had written faithfully and looked forward to seeing each other.

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With Thomas in tow, Amy walked her brothers home.  Thomas, at six, was a chatterbox and incessantly curious. 

“Do you think Santa comes late at night or early in the morning?  ‘Cause if he comes too early his bottom might get burned by the fire in the fireplace.”

“I don’t know, Thomas,” Amy answered impatiently. 

“Do you think he’ll bring me a toy horse?  I got old ones from you and Jacob but I want a new one that looks like Grandpa’s horse.  You know, a yellow one.  What’s that kind of horse called?”

“A palomino,” Jacob said.  “I’ve asked Papa to take me to the dinosaur workshop in Central Park.  He said we could go on Monday. Amy, are you coming with us?”

She rolled her eyes.  At fourteen, her plans did not include parents and little brothers, especially little brothers.  “I have a party to attend on Monday.”

They reached the house on 12th Street and Sara opened the door.   A cold wind blew in with the children.  Sara shivered and knelt to help Thomas undress.   “I’ve got cocoa in the kitchen.  The cookies are baked but they need to be decorated. Go and change.”

Amy spotted a new Frank Leslie magazine on the hall table.   She grabbed it and raced upstairs to her room.  She turned the key in her lock to protect her privacy and flopped on the bed to read.  The doorknob rattled as Thomas called out, “Amy, aren’t cha going to decorate the cookies with us?”

“I’m busy. I've got homework, Thomas.”

“Homework?  We don’t have school next week.”

“Go away, Thomas.  I need to read.”

Sara was disappointed when Thomas reported back that Amy would not join in the fun. “Fourteen is a difficult age,” she thought, “too old to play with dolls, too young to act on most of her dreams. Most of the time Amy was pushing back from her parents, but then she’d collapse in their arms weeping like a young child at the slightest provocation. 

Sara tried hard to be understanding but poor Adam was flummoxed most of the time. “I had brothers,” he confided to Sara.  “I have no experience with teenage girls.  She is a true enigma to me these days.”  He missed the close relationship he had always shared with his stepdaughter.  It seemed to him lately that nothing he or Sara did satisfied Amy.  He was beginning to chafe under the scrutiny.

Like most girls in her circle, Amy had read Little Women and taken it to heart, especially the character of Jo.  Jo was smart and independent. Amy had begged for and received a journal for her birthday.  She wrote each night, recording her dreams and frustrations.  Her journal was her best confidant with Winna away at school.

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Adam came home from Columbia University and walked into the kitchen to greet his family.  Thomas was covered in sugary icing, somehow managing to frost his hair while decorating cookies.   Jacob was methodical and scientifically accurate in his work.  Sara sat doing the bulk of the decorating.  Amy was absent.  “Again,” he thought.

Sara looked up and smiled wearily.  She looked tired.  It was just six weeks until the baby was due.  This unplanned pregnancy had caught both of them off guard, not that they weren’t pleased by the situation.  But in these late stages Sara was more and more uncomfortable and going to bed exhausted.

“Jacob, Thomas, you have done a marvelous job,” Adam stood “admiring” their work.  His teeth ached at the sight of thick sugary frosting heaped on the cookies.  He placed his hands on Sara’s shoulders and kneaded them a few moments.  Then he leaned down to whisper, “She’s in her room?”  Sara nodded.  Adam kissed her and walked slowly up the backstairs.

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His soft knocking at Amy’s door was answered with a shout. “I said, go away Thomas!”

“Amy, please open the door,” Adam said softly.

“Yes, Papa.” She took a deep breath and lef it out slowly as she walked across the room.  She prepared herself for a battle.   Locking her door was forbidden, but how else could she preserve her privacy from her prying family?

She turned the key and opened the door.  “I know,” she said as she rolled her eyes.  “I’m sorry the door was locked, but….”

Adam walked into the room slowly.  “This has nothing to do with that.”

She met his glance and was surprised he was not angry.

“Sit down, I want to talk for a few minutes.” 

Amy walked over to her bed and sat.  Adam pulled out her desk chair and placed it facing her.  He sat and gathered his thoughts for a moment.

“Amy, sweetheart, I know that it is hard to have brothers to care for.  Your mother and I appreciate your efforts.  In the next couple of months we are going to need more and more help.  We’ve decided to hire a housekeeper until we go west this summer.  That means you’ll need to move back down to the second floor.”

She frowned.  She would lose her haven on the third floor.  No one ever asked her how she felt about the new baby.  Her parents were too old for a baby.  It was embarrassing that they kissed each other and held hands all the time. She hated the thought of another brother and she was sure it was a boy her mother was carrying.  Her belly was enormous.  It had to be a boy.  

“Yes, Papa,” she said quietly.

“Thank you, Amy.”  He watched her eyes tear up in defeat.  He stood and moved to sit next to her.  He put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.  “It won’t be so bad.  We’ll clear out your mother’s sewing room and make a bedroom just for you,” he smiled wryly and added, “with a lock on the door.”

She tried to smile. 

“Now, I have a question for you, an invitation actually.   Tomorrow night there is a concert of the Messiah at the University.   I would be honored if you would attend as my guest.”

“Oh Papa, Winna is just getting home.   I want to spend the day with her.”

“I know that.  I have a ticket for her as well.   I have arranged with her father to pick her up and take you both to dinner at the Fifth Avenue Hotel.  Afterward, we’ll go to the concert.”

“Can she spend the night here?”

“It’ll be her first Sunday home, Amy.  Her father will want to have her all to himself.” Adam squeezed Amy’s shoulders.  As much as he would like to have had Amy as his only “date” he was willing to share her with Winna.  He kissed her cheek and she winced.  She hated the mustache and long sideburns Adam had grown in the last year.   They scratched and made him look too stern.  She rubbed her cheek unconsciously as he stood.

He held his hand out for her to take and said, “C’mon let’s go downstairs for dinner.”
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Sara smiled sympathetically as she passed the mashed potatoes to Amy. Her daughter’s eyes were still dewy from Adam’s news about moving her bedroom.

Amy answered with a tight-lipped smile and shrug. She stared at her brothers, all spotted with sugar icing, poking each other in high spirits. “It’s easy for them to be happy,” she thought. “Scruffy little monsters invading my room, tattling to Mama and Papa, making my life miserable.”

“Amy, would you pass the gravy please,” her mother asked.

She looked at her mother and passed the gravy boat. “She’s the cause of my problems,” Amy thought. “Mama and Papa. How could they have another baby? They’re too old.”

She watched Sara pour gravy on her mashed potatoes. “How can she eat that? She’s waddling now with her big belly. It’s grotesque.”

“Amy, did you hear what I asked?”

“I’m sorry Mama. What?”

“I wondered if you might like to open a present early. There is a new dress that you could wear to dinner and the concert tomorrow.”

“Really?”
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Amy opened the package from Stewart’s Department the next afternoon. The blush pink silk dress had a tiered and ruffled skirt just skimming the top of her boots. It was the longest skirt her mother had ever allowed her to wear. In spite of herself, she beamed with excitement. Sara brushed her hair until it shone and then pulled it back in a matching ribbon.

“Can’t I wear it up, Mama?”

“No young girl of fourteen wears her hair pinned up,” her mother gently admonished her. “But I will lend you my cameo to wear at your neck. Satisfied?”

Amy nodded.

“Amy? I want you to be nice to your father tonight. It’s hard for him to watch you grow up.” Sara kissed her daughter’s cheek.

Adam helped Amy into her coat and they set out toward Gramercy Park and the Booth’s home. Crossing busy Fourteenth Street, Adam without a thought, took her hand. She pulled it back appalled that he would treat her like a child, like her little brothers.

“I can cross the street by myself, Papa,” she snapped.

“I know, but I take your mother’s hand when I cross with her. A gentleman does that for a lady he loves, Amy.”

She looked up at his saddened expression and regretted her words.

Winna opened the door and the girls squealed in delight to see each other. She recovered her manners and hugged Adam. “Oh, Mr. Cartwright, thank you so much.” She looked beautiful in her champagne dress, cut above the ankles. Edwin, or rather his mother, had not caved in to the demands for a “grown up dress” to the ankles either.

They made their way to the hotel and were seated in the grand dining room. Adam allowed the girls to order whatever they wanted and they enjoyed a fine dinner of roast Long Island duck, green peas and escalloped potatoes and brandied fruit cake for dessert. He smiled as the girls feigned nonchalance as the cake was set aflame at the table. He looked at his watch as the bill was presented.

“Girls, we should hurry on to the concert.”
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"Adam, come join us," Dean Chandler beckoned. He and his wife, Alma, were standing in the lobby waiting to enter the concert hall auditorium. Adam and the girls joined them.

"Oh, this can't possibly be Amy," Mrs. Chandler said. "My dear, you are more and more beautiful each time I see you. That blush color is stunning on you."

Amy pinched Adam's arm.

"Mrs. Chandler, I believe those are the bells calling us to find our seats. May I escort you?" He winked at Amy and led the Chandlers to the seats next to their seats. Adam was flanked by Amy and Winna to his right and the Chandlers to his left. The girls were thrilled watching as the mixed chorus filed in. The young male singers were Columbia students. The girls were Vassar students who had ridden the train from Poughkeepsie. Even if the music was more to her father's taste, she and Winna could compare notes as to which boys were the most handsome. Most of the lead singers were too old to warrant the girls' attention, except for the tenor who was tall and trim, with flowing hair and a romantic look about him.

The music began and the tenor's clear voice rang out as he sang “Prepare ye the way of the Lord” with a tone that was straightforward and appealing. The soprano's deeply effecting solos gave warmth and depth to the music. But it was the young chorus that demanded and won the affection of the audience. Amy and Winna stopped fidgeting and whispering and were mesmerized by the choral pieces. They tapped their feet to “For unto to us a Child is born” and stood quietly swaying to the music of the “Hallelujah” chorus.

After the concert there was a reception for the chorus and their guests. The Dean insisted that Adam and the girls attend. A tall handsome boy approached them and greeted Mrs. Chandler with a kiss.

“Good show, my boy!,” the Dean said. “Adam, it gives my pleasure to introduce my grandson, John Hudson. He sang in tonight’s chorus. A fine young baritone he is.”

Adam shook the boy’s hand. Amy and Winna sidled up to Adam smiling coyly. He placed his hand on Amy’s waist and introduced the girls.

“Winna Booth? Am I to presume that you are the daughter of the actor Edwin Booth?”

Winna grinned and nodded.

“Why, Miss Booth, I had the honor of seeing your father in Hamlet. It was life changing.”

Winna blushed in response.

“I’m parched from singing. Miss Booth, may I get you a punch, or perhaps you’d care to join me.” He took Winna’s arm and they made their way across the room to the punch table.

Amy was horrified that Winna would abandon her so casually. She swallowed hard and tried to compose herself.

“Professor Cartwright! How wonderful to see you here,” a willowy young man greeted Adam.

Adam smiled and acknowledged him. “Mills. I thought I saw you among the tenors.” Adam drew Amy closer to him. “Amy, this is Harold Mills, one of my freshman geology students.”

The young man bowed slightly.

“Mister Mills, this is my lovely daughter, Amy.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, Amy. Harry, you must call me, Harry.”

Amy beamed at the attention. Soon Harry led her to the punch table as well.

Adam turned to the Chandlers and sighed. “That seems to have gone well. I must confess that I’m on pins and needles with her most days.”

Mrs. Chandler smiled knowingly. “Teenage girls are a breed unto themselves. The only consolation is that they do eventually grow out of their moods. Even the most troublesome daughter can give you the most divine grandsons.”

Adam chuckled and replied, “I pray that you are right.”

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The hansom cab stopped in front of the Booth house and Adam stepped out to help Winna out. He escorted her to her front door.  She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.“Thank you, Mr. Cartwright.  I hope to see you soon.”

“You’re very welcome, sweetie.  Good night.”

He returned to the cab and Amy climbed down.  “Walk me home, Papa?   It’s such a pretty night with the stars twinkling.”  Her face was glowing.

“Of course.”

He paid the driver and turned to Amy.  She took his arm and they started to walk south toward home. 

“Did you have a good time?”

“Oh Papa, it was wonderful,” she squeezed his arm.  She swallowed and tried to conceal her excitement. “That Harry Mills is a nice boy, isn’t he?”

“That Harry Mills is too old for you, but yes, he is a very nice young man.  He wants to go to Virginia City with the school for the summer.”

“Oh that would be just….”

“Hold your horses, Amy.  Students aren’t eligible for the summer program until after their sophomore year.”

“Oh…,” she said softly. 

“But there is another choral concert in mid-February if you’d care to accompany me.  I’m sure that young Harry Mills will be singing.”

“Yes, Papa!”

They came to the intersection at Fourteenth Street and waited for traffic to clear.  Amy remembered his hurt expression earlier that afternoon as he guided her across the busy street and she chastised him.  This time she shyly took his hand as they crossed.  Adam smiled as Amy tried her best to please him. 

“You know, sweetheart, it’s not easy for me to see you grow up.  A part of me will always see the little girl who changed my life for the better.”  He squeezed her hand.  “I know it’s hard for you as well.”

“What are you saying, Papa?”

“I am asking for a Christmas gift, Amy.”  He stopped and looked at her directly. “I want you to be more understanding of your mother.”  She raised her eyebrow.  “I saw you frowning while she was eating last night.”

“It’s just that she’s so fat.  She was mad when she was heavy after she had Thomas and now she’s fat again.”

“She’s not fat, she’s pregnant.”

“She is fat.  I’ve seen her without her stays.”

“Believe me, Amy.  She’s not fat.  She’s carrying the baby much higher this time.   She says that’s how it was when she was pregnant with you.  She’s sure it’s a little girl.  Maybe you’ll have a little sister to dote on.”

A tiny smile crept over Amy’s face.  A sister would even the score with her brothers. Adam leaned down to kiss her cheek.

“I’ll be nicer to Mama if you give me a Christmas gift as well.”

“What is that?”

“Please shave that awful mustache and those bushy sideburns.  They make you look old and they’re scratchy.”  She rubbed her cheek where he had kissed her.

He chuckled and held out his hand.   “Agreed.  We’ll call it a Christmas truce.  Let’s shake on it.”

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As they approached the house only the hallway light shone out to the street. 

“Do you think Mama is asleep?”

“I’m sure that she is.”

He opened the door and helped Amy out of her coat.  He hung their coats on the pegs near the door.  She unwrapped her long scarf and handed it to him smiling.  “It was a great evening, Papa.  Thank you.”

“I’d kiss you good night, sweetie, but your cheek is probably sore from the last kiss.”

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek.  “Good night, Papa.”

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Sara was laying on her side breathing deeply and evenly as Adam climbed into bed.  He nestled near to her and placed his hand on top of her distended belly. 

“Oh, your hand is cold,” Sara said.  A shiver raced down her spine.  She took his hand in hers to warm it.  “Did you have a good time?”

“Yes.”

“Did she?”

“She and Winna seemed to have a great time.   The collegiate chorus was of special interest to them.”  He chuckled softly.  “Each was a bit taken with a boy.”

“Really?”

“It was harmless, dear.  The Dean’s grandson paid attention to Winna and a young freshman student of mine got Amy a glass of punch.”

Adam draped his leg over Sara and snuggled closer.   She put a hand on his hip and caressed it. 

“Mrs. Chandler sends her regards.  She assures me that this thorny patch we’re going through with Amy is temporary.”

“That’s a relief.   I feel like I’ve got eyes burning a hole in the back of my neck sometimes.”  Sara tried to shift her position slightly.

“Do you want me to rub your back?”

“No, sweetie.  It’s my stomach, it’s so heavy.”

He put his hand under her belly to support it.  He was glad Sara had not heard Amy’s accusation that she was fat.  In fact she had not gained nearly as much weight with this baby.  Her arms and legs were still slender. 

“Does that feel better?”

Sara sighed in contentedly. Soon her breathing deepened and she was asleep.
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It was nearly seven thirty when Sara woke.  The sun had risen and was shining in through the bedroom window.  She sat up and stretched, then rose to put on her robe and slippers.  Adam was not in the room.  She looked in the boys’ room and found it empty. At the top of the back stairs she heard voices from the kitchen and she made her way down.

There the boys were seated at the table having oatmeal with maple syrup and raisins.  Amy was at the stove stirring a pan of hot milk to keep it from scalding.  The cocoa tin was on the counter beside her.

“Good morning, children.”

Amy turned and smiled warmly.  “Good morning, Mama.   Would you like coffee or hot cocoa?”

“This is a lovely surprise.  Coffee, I think, sweetie.  Thank you.”  She started to walk to the stove but Amy waved her back.  

“I’ll pour it for you, Mama.  Would you like some warmed milk in your coffee?”

“That sounds wonderful.”  Sara sat down at the table and unfolded a napkin in her lap.  Amy placed the coffee in front of her mother.  

“Now, I have oatmeal made but I’d be happy to make you eggs and toast or whatever you say.”

“Oatmeal is just fine.  I’ll take some raisins in it.”

Adam stood at the door a moment watching Amy and Sara.  The balance was back in kilter between them.  He was pleased and walked into the room.

“Papa!  Your whiskers are gone!,” Thomas shouted.

He walked to the counter and picked up a coffee cup.  Amy had a wide smile on her face as she poured coffee into his cup.  He put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed them for a moment.

“Yes, son.  Someone, whose opinion I value, said I look better clean shaven.”  He leaned down and kissed Amy’s cheek.  He whispered,  “Merry Christmas, Amy.”

She winked at Adam.   “Merry Christmas, Papa.”