Holy Echad Marriage (HEM) - Bouquet of Roses - A Romantic Plural Marriage Trilogy - Volume 3, Chapter 19 The Americans Arrive

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Chapter 19

The Americans Arrive

In spite of my best efforts to find more north Americans to come and join Stan's family, all we ever seemed to find were more Europeans. The four Poles (Suszana, Kryztina, Anna and the absent Isabel) were now outnumbered, and knew it - two Estonians (Salme and Elisa), a Russian (Kasia), a Romanian (Andreea), a Finn (Hanna), an American (me) and a Canadian (Sarah-Jane) - seven in all - had made sure of that. Stan himself had wanted an English woman, a German and at least one Asian but only the abortive visit by Molly to Lublin had come anywhere near realising the first. And practically half a century old, Stan wanted to call it quits, thinking it unfair for a new wife to bring children into the world who might never see their father to maturity. Reckoning on 70 to be a good age to depart into the next world, Stan had pretty well made up his mind - God willing - not to marry anyone after he had turned 50, thus allowing any children to reach 20 and independent man- or womanhood before he died. Kasia, always anxious to stretch Stan that little bit more, tried to make him extend that to 52.

Summer arrived at Kadesh-Naphtali. With the building work practically completed, we felt ready for our expected visitors. Uppermost in my own mind was the arrival of my father who still knew nothing about our polygamous arrangements, and how to "fix" everything. More than anything I wanted him to meet his grandson Tom, but how, if at all? He would be staying a week and would be making detailed mental notes of everything he saw and heard. And Dad was not blind or deaf. We had long planned that Tom would go away for a week, probably with one of the sister-wives, but now I was starting to have doubts. The more settled I became in the patriarchal way of life the more unsettled I became about concealing it from him. I was once again in a dilemma.

"I just can't bear this, Stan - isn't there any way we can tell him the truth?"

Stan had a pained look on his face. He hated these moral quandaries because there were never easy solutions, if any. It had gone so well with Andreea, so why hadn't the Lord sorted this one for me too? It was easier for those who came from poor Eastern European countries like Estonia or Romania for whom travel was difficult though Salme and Elisa knew that they could receive a visit at any time. The bigger our family grew, the larger the potential difficulties loomed. The Poles had been through their "fire" and knew that nothing worse could happen to them. In a way, those of us who hadn't told their parents and wider family had chosen the easier path but this had brought restrictions. But at least we had the goodwill of our parents still. We all knew what the scriptures taught about true believers being persecuted¹ but when you have potentially twelve sets of families persecuting you, it ceases to be remotely amusing.

The small guest house opposite the orchard and next to the farm building area was now ready and Stan agreed that I could make this my "home" for the duration of my father's stay. Stan would present Suszana as his wife along with Maria and Władysław. He would be given some brief tours around the colony and Stan would make Władysław's new home his "base of operations". Those living monogamously he would have the greatest exposure to, especially to the Åkerstedts as both their children were married to Stan's. Signild would take a holiday to her parents' so that Karl and Maria could pose as monogamously betrotheds. Hilda would move in with Björn's family making intimate contact with both Åkerstedt and Nilsson families possible, plus the truncated Królewiec family. Nobody much liked the implied deception, Stan least of all, but we simply could not think of any alternative. Father and I would go for regular trips into the Swedish countryside as well as spend a few days in Stockholm.

I was as nervous as a gopher on the lookout for predators the day Dad arrived but in the end the visit went just fine. He seemed to like everyone, and especially Stan who engaged him in long discussions on theology. Dad stuck to his Baptist guns in spite of Stan's attempt to show him that mandatory Sunday worship was not biblical. But he was impressed that we were at any rate fully committed to a biblical way of life even if he did not agree with our "interpretations". I think Stan's contacts with the Baptist Church in Romania eased whatever concerns he may have had that we were some wayward "sect". On the last weekend of his visit, Stan gave Dad the pulpit on the Sabbath morning service and he preached a nice, simple sermon on faith. My only regret, when he left, was that he did not know that I was married or that he was a grandfather.

Come summer, came many visitors. The Högströms came from Jönköping for the marriage of their daughter Signild to Karl Åkerstedt and seemed to enjoy themselves. Märta Reuterswärd came from Oxelösund to visit Władysław and Karin, and ended up spending nearly a whole month, during which she became dedicated ² to Władysław. The betrothal was provisionally set for September. Our only regret was that she did not bring Jenny for a visit with her, who politely refused our invitations and offered excuses for not being able to come. Patriarchs, their wives, and several investigators from all over the world came and went that roastingly hot summer, putting the Conference Centre to good use. Stan never seemed to stop - the summer is our busiest time. Not until winter comes do we start curling up and spending more time together as a family.

Maria Królewieca Åkerstedt - well, she has her ups and downs, giving her husband Karl a good run for his money, peaceful times of bliss giving way to explosive rows roughly once a month, though the gaps between the rows are beginning to widen. Sometimes Maria runs off to Stockholm for a few days, returning to pick up the broken pieces and start again. To be married to a stick of dynamite on a short fuse is no-one's envy but someone has to take care and love them. In her brilliant moments, Maria truly shines and astounds everyone and for a moment Signild seems to fade briefly into the background. But then come the heavy falls and the long struggles. I am glad I do not live in a plural marriage like that, but such seems to be what the Lord has ordained for these three. Stan thinks Karl is a martyr.

In early August the two ladies from southern California whom Stan had tried to discourage from coming, arrived, a couple of days apart, and with buoyant expectations, and both, coincidentally, from the same town, San Diego. Neither knew of the other's existence or planned visit. I suspect that Stan deliberately invited them at the same time to make it a bit more "difficult" for them but he never answered me when I questioned him on the subject. And to be doubly difficult, he spoke in Polish as often as he could. In dinner conversation he would suddenly say, "Kto mówi?"³ or "Mam tłuste włosy"⁴ much to our embarrassment because the guests would always ask for a translation. We explained that he was a bit deaf sometimes and that he was wondering who would next cut his hair. Once he asked them both, "Moj aparat jest popsuty, czy może pan go naprawić?"⁵ when Anna was sitting next to them and Stan, forcing her to be the translator. But that was too much for Anna who was not amused. Her cheeks flushed red and it was plain that she would soon be exploding like a grenade if someone didn't defuse her, and Stan was the only one who could do that. The guests wondered what was on earth was going on. Whereupon Stan, in a mischievous mood, produced a damaged pocket camera which he had been concealing under the table on his lap, said "cheese", and pressed the button. Nothing happened. Then Anna started roaring with laughter, almost falling off her chair - she just couldn't resist Stan's crazy ⁶ humour.

After that meal I pretty much took 28 year-old Emma under my wings and with the help of my sister-wives tried to socially integrate her into the life of the family for the duration of her stay.

------------

Emma Schroeder was a beautiful, well-educated professional woman and manager of a small Creation Science Museum operated by Californian Creationists for Christ or CCC for short. She had not been long in the job but had a flare for organisation and marketing, and in the short space of her apprenticeship had helped turned the museum into a viable operation, much to the delight of her employers. She had come across our family viâ Kasia's internet ministry whom she had met in a Plural Wives Chatroom and had through her found her way to the meaty material on Stan's FICP website. Desirous to get a firmer grounding in her discipleship and to meet experienced polygamists, she had asked for help and received an invitation from Kasia. But before coming she had been particular to ask whether there might be an opening for her in our family, obviously keen to kill two birds with one stone if at all possible.

San Diego

"I am so tired of the dating scene," she confided in me. "All that the men in San Diego want is sex. They're not interested in a deep relationship or life commitment. It's bad enough just walking down the street to work. You can feel them sizing you up. All I want to do now is find a godly family and get settled down as quickly as possible."

I was impressed by her transparency and honesty. Emma was quite unlike any of the other investigators we had received. She had little in the way of any "church" training and had the simplest of faiths in Christ. Though her professionalism belied the fact, she was in her soul the most straight-forward of persons to talk with and befriend, and one whom I thought would be a marvellous addition to the family. And I thought she would be ideal for Stan too, bringing for him, and us, an "uncomplicatedness" that none of the rest of us seemed to possess. I was enthusiastic about her from the first day.

18 year-old Shelly Martinez was a completely different type of young lady. Brought up a Christian from when she was very young, she had a solid spiritual foundation which was unusual for someone her age. Even more unusual was her interest in, and determination to pursue, plural marriage as though it was something built into her. Like Emma she was very open and honest about her beliefs, confessing quite openly to her parents that she intended to marry polygamously when she felt the right moment had come. She was in no hurry, self-composed and quite determined. Her forthrightness had won her father's admiration and though opposed to plural marriage himself, had told her that he would respect whatever choice she made. Her mother was not so enthusiastic and would have created a major fuss had not her father put his foot down and not given his objecting wife any room to pressurise his daughter one way or the other.

"If only all fathers were like him," I thought to myself.

We all agreed that in appearance Shelly looked like Kryztina but had the moving spirit of a Kasia. And though Stan was impressed by her pluckiness and single mindedness, he gave no hint of it, knowing that young women were easily flattered. Taking advantage of a woman was not Stan's way - he wished anyone coming into the family to do so under their own steam following their own life-chart and spiritual compass. Steering or manipulating women into plural marriage, he said, only led to long-term trouble, something he had had to upbraid Władysław over for his over-keenness to win Märta's heart. He was not above using his father's popularity and success in plural marriage to his advantage in courtship, but Stan had immediately spotted it and had made sure he spoke to Märta in private to tell her to be objective and not to feel pressurised in any way.

Instinctively, Shelly headed for the youngest and newest of Stan's wives, Salme, for friendship and fellowship, realising that she would probably be able to identify with her the most closely. Hour after hour Shelly would probe away, punctuating their conversation with girlish giggles over something silly. When Stan would appear, her eyes were at once upon him, wondering. But Stan made no effort to get to know either Shelly or Emma which, contrary to his plan, actually worked against him! For instead of feeling side-stepped or rejected, the two women - and especially Shelly - grew all the more curious. Without knowing it, the otherwise open and transparent Stan had injected an aura of mystery into his distancing act and made himself even more attractive to them.

"My father," Stan had told me once, "was not interested in children at all, though he was never mean to them. And as a result, they used to flock around him. The fact that he didn't bother or mollycoddle them seemed to pique their interest in him even more. Whenever small cousins or other family members used to come and visit us, my mother used to dote over them and sometimes drive them away, much to her distress, in spite of the fact that she was warm-hearted and caring, much more so than my father. I learned from that the secret of attraction as against force. Yah'shua used to attract children to Himself to such an extent that the disciples tried to shoo them away. But the Master rebuked them and said that the Kingdom of Heaven was made for such as them ⁷ .

"As I grew up I started very much in my mother's mindframe and tried to force, cajole, manipulate and elicit pity to win friends, but I soon learned that it drove them away, except those who were weak-willed, and they never made good friends because they were always parasites in the end. So I watched and learned from my father. I'm not sure I've succeeded, mind you, because I have both my father and mother in me. And those two natures sometimes war inside. It's taken me a good part of my life to reconcile them and find out who "I" really am and to let the Lord take control of my life."

"And which nature won?" I asked.

"Neither," he replied. "I can't explain exactly what happened, but somehow the Ruach haQodesh seemed to take the best of both and create something new out the mix."

Still, I thought he was being unfair to Emma and Shelly. But the fact that the hoped-for response to his aloofness was the very opposite of what he had planned served him right, in my view. Though Emma respectfully kept her distance, and became more and more electrified by Stan as a result, such that at times it seemed as though I should see electrostatic sparks fly off her whenever Stan passed nearby, Shelly was not so reserved. Bursting with energy and smiles she would interpolate herself between Stan and wherever he was going and try to be friendly. Knowing that he could not be nasty, Stan was forced to engage her in conversation. Anna would watch scowling, making sure that Stan could see her, as if waiting to pounce on him should he start speaking in Polish again. She knew he could pull off a trick at any moment and whilst they usually amused her, she was determined to protect this waif ⁸ of a girl and also the honour of the family. But somehow I knew Stan would never go that far - he had had his nutty moment and would not repeat it again ... for a while.

It did not take long for Shelly to win Stan's heart. Her intensity and goodness at length conquered him and rather than repell her was, after a few days, soon engaging her in active conversation himself. And seeing that Emma was a little hurt at being left out, soon turned his attention to her as well and was affability itself. From that moment on the two visitors befriended one another, though it had taken several days, each being slightly nervous of the other knowing that both were about the same purpose.

I learned from Sarah-Jane when I first entered the family that Stan had ambivalent ⁹ feelings about America and Americans. On the one hand he loathed our collective go-get, greedy, arrogant and superficial ways, but on the other enormously admired our pluckiness, industriousness and youthfulness. Understanding this inner conflict within him took a bit of getting used to at first since he was both repelled as well as attracted by our cultural values. He knew, of course, that Europeans had their own contrary values too, and was the first to point these out - what they had in terms of cultural and historical depth was often off-set by their snobbishness and silly mannerisms which he equally hated. And yet Europe of the 21st century had, like the rest of the world, come under the American shadow as the youth of the previous half century had progressively adopted American values. His hope in marrying Sarah-Jane and I had been to find the best of both the Old and New Worlds and marry them together in our home.

The truth behind his antics when Shelley and Emma arrived turned out to be fear. He was, I learned, afraid that American values would swamp the family and redefine it away from the target he was heading for. He also feared the overt feminism in American culture and did not relish the thought of having another campaign to quash it. And yet he secretly wanted that American "spark" to liven us all up a bit for he felt that in recent months things had begun to drag somewhat. I assured him that if he could so completely change my American outlook on life in just a handfull of years that he would likely be able do the same should Shelly and Emma join the family. He seemed assured by that. And I reminded him that the sheer spiritual-gravitational force from the mass of the existing family would, like the giant planet Jupiter holding numerous satellites in orbit, in some respects relieve him of the burden of reforming new wives that had been so necessary to his personal operation at the beginning. And the word "operation" was no overstatement - there was much that had to be changed in us before the family could provide a solid base for new incoming wives. Now, with so many well-trained wives, we were able to do much of the training ourselves. Indeed, virtually all that Salme had learned had come through her sister-wives, and little from Stan.

I guess with increasing age he did not look forward to any more major struggles. Now he just wanted to "settle down" and enjoy the last third of his life as we all matured towards the hoped-for goal of full sanctification in Christ. He was also thinking a lot about Isabel, and was more hurt over her estrangement than any of us had imagined. He had thought that the days of wives running off were over and that he could now relax. But he was now pining for his wife and two sons, one of whom - Benoni - he hardly knew. That he managed to, on the one hand, mourn and, on the other, to joyfully court simultaneously, was a mystery that I don't suppose any of us women will ever be able to understand. It was like, he said, men trying to understand what it was like for a woman to bear a child. These were just things we had to accept were beyond our respective gender ken ¹⁰ .

------------

The visit by Shelly and Emma seemed to pass at lightening speed. Stan was by this time very involved with new congregations in Asia and was absent much of the time in order to advise all the several pastors. Vistors from Norway came - an apostle and two pastors - to help Stan with the Asian challenge, knowing that out there, unlike the apathetic West, things tended to move fast. During the two weeks the Americans were with us, five more congregations had been raised by the dynamic and deeply committed evangelists in the field.

Isabel had been an invaluable helper in the practical administrative side of missions but she had gone, leaving him feeling helpless at times. He knew that Jenny would have been an invaluable help too, for she was likewise passionate about this side of ministry. He pleaded much in prayer during those days, asking the Lord to free him from this mounting burden which he alone could not manage. The Norwegians were too busy with the start of a small revival in their own country to do very much, and Elisa was constantly needed on the Internet advising the new congregations in Estonia. We were, if the truth be known, getting overworked - the ministry, the estate, and the children were slowly but surely wearing us down - either we needed more families to move in to Kadesh-Naphtali to help or we needed to expand our own family more.

Perhaps Stan's initial reluctance to have more visitors from America at this time had initially been because of all the pressures on him. What he was not keen to have was more wives who would overload the rest of us.

"If we are to add new wives to the family," he told Elisa, Andreea and I one evening after the guests had gone to bed, "we have to have ones who are dynamic, motivated, hard-working and to some degree independent. The whole dyamic of the family has changed now. We aren't what we used to be."

And he was right. Size does change things, and it changes them enormously. Though the analogy is limited, we had become more like a firm with departments and stricter divisions of labour. This meant that those who held leadership positions in the "Family Firm" were absolutely crucial - if they "went down", the whole firm would feel it.

Isabel's departure had most definitely affected us adversely. She was the family and colony treasurer and knew all the ins and outs of Swedish tax and redtape about which the rest of us were very ignorant. It had fallen on Kryztina to take over, which she hadn't liked, as she was by now very engaged in family homeschooling, having the most experience of all of us. Though she had handled finances before, she had never enjoyed the job. Those who could understand Swedish to some degree or another lent a hand as and when they could but for now had to rely on Björn, Lars and Bengt to help us out. The chain-of-command had become more spread-out and therefore less efficient, with the result that more pressure fell on Stan.

"Oh, why can't Jenny see how much she's needed here," bemoaned Stan that evening. "I need her, we need her, and I truly believe she needs us. She could do so much good here."

Nobody said anything. Nobody could. He might have asked the same about Isabel or anyone else whom we knew Yahweh had called to be gathered with us there and then.

There was a knock on Stan's door and Salme came in. Stan looked up and smiled. She glided over to him for a kiss and sat by him on the arm of his chair.

"Shelly and Emma are going in two days, darling," she said, with a pleading look in her eyes. "What are you intending to do?"

He knew what she meant. From the comments he had heard all of his wives making in the past few weeks, there wasn't much doubt that we wanted these two women in the family. And he knew that we expected him to take the "bull by the horns" and propose to them. The half-sad reaction on his face wasn't what we wanted to see. He looked up at at, each in turn, as though hoping for a solution to what we thought was no problem at all.

"Shelly is thirty years younger than me," he pleaded, as though we would be persuaded by that excuse. And when he saw that we wouldn't support him, he sighed. This was not like him at all, but we could see he was under strain.

"Emma's invited you to go back to California with her but is too scared to ask," said Salma hopefully, knowing that Stan needed a rest and change of scene. "Both she and Shelly want to give you a holiday."

Stan felt ashamed. Here he was, having at first kept them at arm's-length, and then having had to be forced to be more positive, now being shown up. He knew he was wrong and we could see from his countenance that he was admitting it.

"How can I go with so much happening in India and Pakistan? They want me to visit there too, and I think they have a prior right, don't you?"

We couldn't argue against that. He had told us often enough that plural marriage existed to serve the Kingdom of God, and not be served by it.

"Why don't you fly to India viâ the USA?" suggested Andreea.

"The travel would kill him," I protested, knowing that what Stan needed above all now was plenty of rest. The others reluctantly agreed.

Hanna appeared, beaming as usual, and joined in the conversation.

"You're right, of course," admitted Stan, "I do have to do something about Emma and Shelly. We all know, I most of all, that they are called into this family, only as you know I hadn't wanted to take more than twelve wives. There are some patriarchs already accusing me of multiplying to excess."

I felt anger inside. There were always jealous polygamists accusing Stan because they couldn't get past the two or three wife barrier. Envy is such an ugly thing. Stan should have ignored them, but there were times when he was over-sensitive, and he always took criticism seriously, even when it was so obviously wrong and ill-intended.

"What do Emma and Shelly feel?" quizzed Stan. "What have they told you about their desires about marrying me - I mean, what sort of timetable do they have in mind ... if they've even got that far in their thinking, or shared that much with you?"

"Salme ... Andeea?" I said, looking at them, as the visitors seemed to have now firmly attached themselves to these two.

Andreea answered first:

"I know that Emma would marry you today, Stan, and not turn back. She's pretty well made up her mind. She's been very open with me, says she loves the family, and feels this is where God wants her to be. And she's very attracted to you, dear."

Stan's countenance didn't change. He was thinking hard.

"Shelly hasn't been that direct," added Salme. "She communicates more by facial expression than by words. I don't know. She loves the place and the people - I know she looks up to you, Stan, but I get the feeling she's reserving what she wants to say for the right moment. I'm not sure - she's really sweet and bubbly but doesn't seem to want to be rushed into anything."

Stan continued staring ahead and then looked up at Salme intently, almost expressionless. He didn't say a word but was intensely, if silently, earnest. There was silence for nearly a minute as we waited for him to speak. Salme put her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm sure you'll know what to do, darling," she said lovingly and confidently. But he didn't.

"Do you all agree that I should invite them both to be my wives?" he asked suddenly.

A chorus of "yes's" went up.

"What about the others? What do they say?"

We all glanced at one another.

"Kryztina and Kasia agree," said Hanna. "I was only talking to them about it yesterday."

"Sarah-Jane is enthusisatic," I said, "and I know Anna is dead keen."

"What about Suszana?" asked Stan.

No one seemed to know.

Stan slowly got up, made for his door, and then stopped. He turned and addressed us:

"I can't in all good conscience go to America right now - it isn't the time."

My heart sank as I was sure he was about to give a negative answer to marrying the two women.

"I'll propose to Emma and Shelly tomorrow, after supper, after the children have all been put to bed."

Salme started hopping for joy and smiles lit up the faces of everyone in the room. Hanna darted off to tell the others.

"I'll talk to Suszana myself," added Stan, restraining Anne by the arm on her way out as he was sure she would be going to tell all the Poles and Kasia. Anna gave a smile and half-nodded, put her arms around him, and then left. We all embraced him before he could slip away.

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The day passed and Stan retired to his room alone for an hour, deep in thought still. The conversation at the dinner table the day before had been cheerful but with a trace of heaviness as the guests wondered what, if anything, would happen before they left. Emma had wanted to stay longer but hadn't dared to tell anyone whereas Shelly wanted to go home at once ... not to get away from Kadesh-Naphtali, as you might be led to suppose, but because she was so sure that Stan would propose to her and wanted to break the news to her parents and friends.

Stan had Emma and Shelly seated next to him at the table this time and went into Old Word charm mode. Noticing the change and warming in his attitude towards them, both women concluded independenly that he might propose to them. Shelly was more bubbly than usual, and not a little tipsy in her speech - you'd have though she was sitting on springs as she sat up and down with everything she said.

Emma was more subdued but equally aflame within. There was a tingling sensation going around her whole body so that at odd moments her shoulders would twitch, much to her embarrassment. She had put her best dress on that evening, somehow believing that it was the right thing to do but not knowing why. When she found herself placed on Stan's left, she shuddered with a mixture of apprehension and joy. Would this be the moment? Would he propose there and then? But the proposal didn't come and her heart sank after the meal was over and nothing had been said. Yet she had noticed a sparkle in Stan's eyes when he looked at her and for the first time felt a bridge of love between them.

How different Emma and Shelly were! Emma was the epitome of the "here and now" whereas for Shelly, who was usually in wait-mode, she was already in tomorrow and beyond.

Stan rose, holding a wine glass filled with red grape juice. It wasn't often that he gave speeches but for some reason he felt he had to that night. He looked around and smiled at us individually.

"I feel a sudden surge of happiness," he said to our surprise, as we remembered his mildly melancholic mood an hour before. Shelly's eyes lit up, in expectation. Emma looked dreamily at him, too lost in hope for thoughts, and looking for any sign of affection to stir her longing for him. He looked intently at Shelly who looked as though she would suddenly spring out of her chair and land on the chandellier above. And then Emma - Emma stared long and hard into his eyes, swallowed, and caught the beam of love she had so wanted. Her heart began to pound, her lips momentarily parting as though needing an extra intake of air for the emotional gush she expected.

"I have changed my mind," he said, and paused, leaving an atmosphere of tension in the room. Horror filled my heart I supposed he would be announcing he wouldn't be proposing to them. Everyone looked anxiously at one another. The silence was killing. There he was, standing like a tower of strength, wine glass still in his right hand. He cupped it with his left and then laid it down gently on the white lace table cloth, steadying it when he though it would tip over.

"I'm a bit of a fool at times," he said, with a slight quivver in his voice, and glanced down at the table as though in contrition, "and wish I could be more of a man for all of you lovely ladies."

Heads shook in protest.

"There have been quite a few upheavals in recent times, all of which I thought I would be able to take in my stride, like I always have done. But this time I couldn't."

Shelly grew still, the smile replaced now by a more intent and serious look.

"You have all, as always, been a wonderful support," he continued, with a slightly plaintive look on his face, "and I don't know what I would have done without you. You are all so wonderful, and I love you all so deeply."

Anna started sniffing. All gazed up at the man we had pledged ourselves to for eternity. Emma was now looking down at the table, realising that Stan was talking to his wives and not her, but still touched by the love she had felt emmanate from his eyes when he had looked so intently at her.

"The Lord our God is always bringing surprises - sometimes wonderful, sometimes not so wonderful. Sometimes we are so blind to them, though, that we don't know what's going on."

He paused again, took up his glass, and sipped.

"I said a moment ago I had changed my mind. Well, I intended to make an annoucment to you all tomorrow but I have decided to bring it forward to make it now instead ...."

My eyes widened and my heart leaped a beat.

"Emma," he said looking intently at her again, causing her to suddenly look up, "... Shelly ..." He smiled warmly at them both. They knew what was coming.

"I want to invite you two to become my wives and to join our family."

There was a deathly silence, then a sudden shriek of joy from Anna, and then the whole room was in uproar. Shelly was the first, her spring in full release, and she was on top of Stan in a bound, wrapping her arms around him like a lassoo and hopping like a yoyo, piercing the room with a scream all of her own, and then burrying her chin into his right shoulder.

Emma's eyes were moist but she remained seated. Stan extended his left hand to her and she took it, as he drew her gently into his embrace. She began to slowly sob with relief and joy that her search was all over. Neither said "yes" but everyone knew what was on their hearts. In seconds everyone had gotten up and left their seats behind, some even knocking them over in the rush to be the first to embrace the new sister-wives-to-be.

I had never seen a scene like this in the Królewiec household before and as I watched and marvelled I suddenly realised that we Americans had made a dramatic change and that neither Stan nor the family as a whole would ever be the same again. That American "zing" had been born and infected us all, Anna being the first to catch it. Even Stan was overwhelmed by it, and happily so. After a few seconds of intense hugging, crying and congratulating, everyone started dancing. Kasia rushed over to the Hi-Fi system and put on some celebratory music.

What had happened to us? The transformation was electric, quite unlike the stoic atmosphere that had prevailed earlier. And suddenly, I felt at home - really at home. The American in me was suddenly released and I was whooping like most of the rest. The laughter and happiness was infectious, the children swallowing it up and running amok. Nobody cared, all formality having been driven to the four winds. Shelly was clutching Stan's right arm for all she was worth, whilst trying to hug everyone else with her free one. Emma was holding Stan round the waste and showing no signs of ever letting go, looking intently up into Stan's face, at first lost like a little child, and then smiling and then laughing like the rest of us. And without anyone noticing it, except Stan, she lifted herself up on her toes and stole a short but intense kiss from his lips.

Kadesh-Napthali had received its American baptism and nothing would be quite like it had been before.

¹ e.g. John 15:20

² engaged

³ "Who's speaking?"

⁴ "My hair is oily"

⁵ "My camera isn't working, can you mend it?"

⁶ Eccentric, unpredictable

⁷ Matthew 19:13-15

⁸ A person who is homeless, friendless or, in this case, neglected by her host.

⁹ The co-existence of two opposed and conficting emotions or thoughts

¹⁰ knowledge

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