Now that Ester was living on her own she was bursting with energy. Professor Petters even mentioned to her how much he enjoyed the tasty deserts she was making every day. She just felt so alive. She wanted everyone to enjoy life as much as she did. Much of her excitement about life probably also had to do with Olof. Ever since the night of the fish boil all she could think about was seeing Olof again. What would they enjoy together next? The question that ran threw her thoughts often.
William was keeping Olof busy. His company had gotten another big job, this time at in Villa Park. Ester was Elsa’s companion when her husband and Olof were working later with the longer days of summer. This job was a school and church which made the work was much more intricate. They needed to put up and take down large scaffolding each day. It would keep them employed for many months. Elsa told her that William had submitted several bids to get the contract for this job. With the baby coming soon he wanted to expand his business to ensure his family would have a comfortable future.
Ester promised Elsa she would go to Doctor Gustafson with her instead of going to the Svea Club for English classes today. It was a regular new mother check-up. Ester was frustrated with the English grammar she had to work at learning so a visit to Doctor Gustafson’s offices was a welcome relief. The doctor’s office was in Chicago in a building on Western Avenue. Ester was walking up to the Carlson’s door when suddenly Elsa came out.
“Ester, I’m having some pains. Mr. Yungdahl said he would give us a ride to the doctor’s office so we don’t have to walk there. He said he would pull up in front of my house… oh here he comes.” Elsa waived as a blue Ford pulled up.
“Thank you Mr. Yungdahl.” Elsa said when she got into the back seat of the car. Ester sat in the front.
“Hello, Miss Nilsson. How are you doing today?” Mr. Yungdahl asked.
“I’m worried about Elsa, Mr. Yungdahl.” She said. “Hopefully Doctor Gustafson will have some answers for us.”
“Don’t worry Miss Nilsson. We will get her there quickly.” Mr. Yungdahl said as he pulled away with the shift grinding.
Ester helped Elsa walk into the door marked Karl Gustafson, MD next to a store front. She waved to Mr. Yungdahl sitting in his car at the curb. Yungdahl said he had some errands to run but would come back to the doctor’s office after he was done. They had to walk up a long narrow flight of stairs to the office suite on the second floor. When they finally got to the top of the steps the nurse greeted them in Swedish, “Good morning, Mrs. Carlson. Doctor Gustafson will be with you in a few moments. Let’s take you in, Mrs. Carlson, to get you ready.
Ester asked Elsa, “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, Ester you can wait here.” Elsa said.
Ester waited and waited. She was the only one there this early in the morning. The room was sparse. There were only vacant chairs lined up against the wall in front of a window facing the street. A small desk stood empty on the opposite wall. Ester assumed it was used for reception. Finally the nurse came out of the door from the examine area and headed passed Ester for the small desk.
Ester asked. “Is everything alright with my friend?”
The nurse said, “She will be out shortly.”
Just then Elsa walked out the same door the nurse had just exited. Ester stood up with worried anticipation.
“Ester, I’m fine. Just some early labor pains. Nothing to worry about. The doctor said I should rest. That’s all.”
Ester said, “Vilken Valsignelse (What a blessing), I was so worried when it took so long for the examination.”
Elsa said, “Let’s get downstairs to see if Mr. Yungdahl is back.”
As he walked to William’s home just before dawn, Olof was pleased with his luck in finding work with William. Construction was booming in Evanston and communities like it.
All carpenters only worked an 8 hour day secured by the Unions years ago. But he had heard from other carpenters that because of the depression of the late 90’s and a union lock-out in the early years of this decade, the unions had to make more compromises to keep workers employed. Union carpenters could only work for association contractors. Still, it didn’t keep independent carpenters from working on their own. Carlson had wisely taken advantage of this shift in Union controls and along with the push for building more and more housing in the outlying areas of the city to establish his own business. (*) Olof could now think of his future and safely consider the possibilities for a future with Ester.
“Oh, Ester,” he sighed. “I don’t want to get my hopes up but I feel like the evening of the fish boil has made my path clear. Ester is so appealing and she seems open to my affections.
“Johansson, you are day dreaming again.” Olof was jarred out of his thoughts with William’s voice.
“Nah, just trying to wake up Carlson. I need more coffee.” He yelled.
“First, let’s load up the wagon and I’ll get you some coffee to drink on the ride out to our job site.” William said.
The men loaded lumber and tools and secured them to the truck. William handed Olof his coffee before he hoped into the driver seat. They were working in Villa Park today.
“Good strong coffee, just what I needed! Olof declared. “I need a wife like yours to make me good coffee.”
“Johansson, what are you saying? Marriage is a big step. Look at me, now we are having children. It means more and more work.’
“You are doing well, Carlson. If I stick with you, we both will be rich.” Olof joked.
“Yaj, you better be nice to your boss!” William said. They both laughed.
“Really Johansson, I’m happy about the baby. Who could complain about that! So what are your plans for this weekend with Ester?
Olof smiled and said, “I thought we could go to the amusement park. You know the one called Riverview by the lake.”
“You rascal, lots can happen on a Ferris wheel!” William teased. “Don’t spend all your money before you’ve earned it.”
“Yaj,” Olof sighed. “We have time to get to know each other before anything is settled. I just want to enjoy the summer like I did at home when the weather was good and the days were long.
“I can’t fault you for that, Johansson. Do you hear from your family in Sweden much?” William asked.
“No, I don’t. Not one letter since I came. I wrote when I first arrived to let my family know where I had settled. I sent my address so they could write back to me. For a while, I wrote every day. Probably because I didn’t know anyone here and needed to talk to someone. I’d only gotten to know the grocer near my lodgings when I first came here. Until I met you. Then I just wrote weekly and then gradually I just gave up. I guess I’m not going to hear from them.”
“You have a new life here now, Johansson. Don’t spend time on the past. Think about the future.”
“That’s what I’m doing, Carlson! Do you think you and Elsa would go to a baseball game with us?”
“I see you’re planning ahead. I’ll have to let you know about that.” William said.
When William arrived home that night for supper he found Elsa sleeping on the sofa. He kissed her softly and she woke up.
“Oh, William,” she smiled at seeing his face. “This child is exhausting. Your dinner is ready. We just have to heat it up.” Elsa said as she started to get up.
“No worries, my dear. New mothers are supposed to be tired. How was your day?” William asked.
Elsa said, “It was very eventful. I had to ask Mr. Yungdahl to drive me to Dr. Gustofson’s today because I had sharp pains and I didn’t think I could walk there. Fortunately, Ester was here also. We had made arrangements previously for her to go to the doctor’s office with me anyway. This was before I got the pains.
William was visibly shaken. “What?” He said. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, you know the usual. It is early labor pains. I need to rest more. It’s just going to be like this until the baby comes.”
“Our son,” William started to say and Elsa corrected.
“Or our daughter.” She smiled at her husband.
“Yaj, or our daughter. She must be just getting her Mama ready to keep up with her.” William teased.
They both laughed and walked, arms linked, into the kitchen for supper. Ester had helped Elsa make meatballs, potatoes, and cabbage for their dinner. She placed the bread on the table and poured William an ale and herself a milk before they both sat down and prayed. “Bless this meal, Oh Lord, and our new family, too.”
William asked, “Olof wanted to know if we could go to a baseball game sometime this summer with him and Ester. Do you think you would be up to that?
