The Happiest Day

by Sandy Huth

  “Yes, I am,” she said with a smile.

  “I didn’t know,” he finally said. “I’ve only ever seen you in a coat and you never mentioned it.”

  “It didn’t come up in conversation. Does it bother you?”

  “Of course not. It just surprised me. It must be very difficult for you, with your husband gone.”

  “It is. We lost a child early in our marriage and it seemed that there wouldn’t be any others. I didn’t find out I was expecting until after his death.”

  “I’m sorry.” He took a step forward. “Is it any wonder I find you fascinating? You have so many layers to you, Rachel. I feel like everyday I learn something new. It makes me want to rush to tomorrow, but then I think, no, I don’t want to lose today yet.”

  Rachel felt a blush work its way up her cheeks. “Theo…”

  “I know.” He laughed at himself. “That was too much, too fast. I’ve never been known for my sophistication, though. I know we’ve only known each other for a month, but I have to admit that I am obsessed with you. In a good way,” he said in a rush then looked charmingly embarrassed. “There I go again. My mother always said that my mouth would get me in trouble.”

  “I think you’re just fine,” she said softly. “But let’s just keep things as they are, OK?” It had been only two months since Peter had left her but she was sure that she would never be able to feel that way about another man. “It hasn’t been that long since…” Her voice faded off.

  “Since your husband died,” he supplied.

  “Yes, and I can only concentrate on friendship.” She touched her middle again. “And the baby of course.”

  “I’ll be good, I promise,” he said with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s eat, I’m starving.”

  That reveal of her secret seemed to change something between them and they began spending most of their time together over the next few days. Even if Rachel just curled up on the couch with a book, Theo stayed with her, reading, writing, and sometimes drawing. On Christmas Eve, she looked up from where she sat, an afghan over her lap, and narrowed her eyes. “What are you drawing?”

  “Nothing,” he said in too innocent of a voice.

  “Theo…”

  “You said you didn’t want to be photographed. You didn’t say anything about me not drawing you.” He looked up from his drawing pad. “Humor me. I need some souvenirs to take when I leave here.”

  She suddenly felt sad. “Are you leaving soon?”

  His eyes became serious. “I’m staying until you leave. I won’t want to be here after that.”

  “Theo,” she said warningly, although she had to admit that his openness with his feelings appealed to her on a deep level. This was something she had never gotten to experience.

  “Humor me,” he said, returning to his drawing. “I’ve lived my life out of a suitcase for the past ten years, never stopping to get to really know anyone. I can’t help it if the first person I spend any time with happens to be the woman of my dreams.”

  His words warmed her deep to her soul. “You’re too sweet to me.”

  “It has nothing to do with sweetness. Listen, Rach, I know the timing of this is horrible. I respect what you’re going through. I just want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. Oh, and I was wondering if that job offer still stood.”

  “Theo, you turned it down before.”

  “Things change. One of the reasons I came on sabbatical is that I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. I had been working so hard for so long that I was lost. I’m starting to think more clearly and get some direction back in my life. I want to work for your newspaper as long as I’m given full creative independence.”

  “I probably can’t pay you what the big cities could.”

  “It’s not about the money. I’ve been paid enough over the years to ensure I don’t have to take jobs just for the money any longer.”

  “So, what you’re saying is when I decide to go back home, you want to come with me?”

  “If you’ll have me.”

  “As my employee?” she reiterated.

  He nodded. “For starters,” he said, and then winked.

  Rachel had to laugh. “You’re very tenacious, do you know that?”

  “I do know that.” He sat up straighter when a strange look came over her face. “Rachel, what is it? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing…oh! He’s kicking!” She put a hand on her rounded abdomen and smiled. “Oh Theo, come feel!”

  He didn’t need a second invitation. He sat on the couch next to her and placed his hand next to hers, laughing when he felt the tiny kick. “That’s amazing. Rachel, it’s a miracle.” He lowered his head and placed a kiss on her belly. “I’m Irish Catholic,” he reminded her when she looked surprised. “We’re all about populating the earth. There is no one higher in our book than an expectant mother.”

  “Why have you never married?” she asked. “You would make such a good father.”

  “I told you. I’ve never stopped working long enough, or been in one place long enough, to get to know anyone. Now, here I find myself at Christmastime, holed up in a manger, with the blessed Madonna. It’s a Christmas miracle.”

  Rachel laughed, bending to place a kiss on his cheek. “I really do like you, Theo Bressler. Why didn’t I meet you when I was seventeen?”

  He grew serious. “You’ve met me now. Maybe not the right time for you, but don’t toss it aside, Rachel. We’re only given so many chances in life to be happy.”

  They celebrated Christmas together quietly with no gifts but a fine dinner and conversation in front of the fireplace. December turned into January and winter turned into spring. Suddenly it was May and Rachel could barely remember her life before living in this beach house and spending her days with Theo. They began to speak of the baby and their plans for when she went into labor. The beach was becoming more crowded now and the town had bustling activity. Theo made some enquiries and found a physician that would be willing to assist when the time came for the delivery.

  As the days went by, Rachel felt less and less like moving and spent most of the day relaxing in the rocking chair. Theo attended to her like a mother hen and if she hadn’t have been so grateful she would have snapped at him for his over-protectiveness. She thought of Peter occasionally but found that it was better to push him to the furthest recesses of her mind. His child with Blanche was possibly born by now, as well, and he was no doubt enjoying fatherhood. She did think of Maryanne, Bert, and Laurie and knew that they must be worried about her.

  “When the baby comes,” she told Theo, “I need to go home, I think.”

  “Are you ready for that?” he asked. She had never told him the true story of why she ran away; he assumed it was because she had been grieving the loss of her husband and she did nothing to dissuade his thought process.

  “I think so. I want to raise the baby in my home and I want him to know his family. I can’t live in paradise forever, can I?”

  He twined his hand with hers. “We can always come back when we’re in the mood for a little paradise.”

  She noticed the use of “we” but didn’t comment on it. Her feelings for Theo were complicated. He made it very apparent that he was in love with her although he had never said the actual words. He showed it with his actions every day, though. In the middle of the night, when the baby’s movements didn’t allow her to sleep, she would think about him and whether or not she was in love with him. She loved him, for sure, but didn’t know if she was in love with him. He was handsome, smart, and talented. He demonstrated his capacity for giving every day. Could she picture a life with him, though?

  She had been married to Norris and had spent most of her days as his wife unhappily. She had been in love with Peter and her love affair with him had brought nothing but desolation in the end. Maybe she didn’t know how to pick the right man. Would it be so horrible to marry a man who loved her and only her, and wanted to spend his days being with her? Even if he didn’t make her
feel the way that Peter had made her feel, being married to a man that treasured her could only lead to happiness. She decided that she would focus right now on the baby and then after he was born, make some serious decisions about her future.

  That happened in the middle of May when David Thomas made his arrival in the middle of the afternoon. He was a big baby with a lusty cry and a thatch of dark hair on his head. Rachel held him to her breast and allowed herself the luxury of remembering the man who had given this child to her. Peter would love this child so much.

  “You’re crying,” Theo said, sitting on the bed next to her after the doctor left and wiped her tears with the pad of his thumb. “Tears of happiness, I hope.”

  “Yes,” she whispered, opening her eyes. “Isn’t he beautiful?”

  “He’s amazing,” Theo agreed, running his hand over David’s head. “Rachel, I know I’m catching you at a vulnerable moment and it’s as unfair as one can be, but I love you so much. I want to marry you and I want to be David’s father. Please, let’s go home as a family and start our lives together.”

  In that moment, admittedly a highly emotionally charged one, it did seem right. It seemed as if all the puzzle pieces were falling into place. She put her hand over Theo’s, connecting the three of them together, her decision made. She was choosing happiness. “Yes, Theo. Yes, I will marry you.”

  Chapter 20

  Rachel married Theo a month later in South Carolina while the minister’s wife held a sleeping David in her arms. Rachel had had plenty of time to think about her decision and she didn’t regret it at all. Her life before meeting Theo and giving birth to David seemed like snapshots from some other person’s life. When she held David in her arms and gazed down at his beautiful face, she couldn’t deny that he looked like Peter but Theo was his father now. She refused to look back ever again.

  After the wedding, they spent a few more days at the beach on an abbreviated honeymoon. She was relieved that she and Theo were sexually compatible and that she was able to please him as much as he pleased her. He was an eager and adventurous lover and Rachel reveled in the freedom of being able to enjoy his lovemaking anytime without fear of discovery. His love for her and for her son was obvious in everything he did and she felt her affection for him grow more each day.

  “I want to introduce you to my family,” he said on their final night in South Carolina. He lay on a blanket on the floor next to David, playing with his toes as the baby waved his arms in the air. “What do you think about going to Boston before we head home?”

  “That’s fine with me.” She reached down from where she rested on the sofa and ran her finger over David’s downy dark hair. “What will they think about you marrying a widow with a child?”

  “I was thinking about that. Don’t get me wrong, they would love you and David no matter what. It’s just that…I want to be David’s father. Did anyone know you were expecting when you left home?”

  “No, but I was almost two months along. We would have to lie, let people believe he was premature.”

  “Not to my family. They don’t know when we met. We would only need to bend the truth to your family. Does that bother you?”

  Her eyes grew distant as she thought of Peter—something she tried not to do. What if he found out that she had been pregnant on the last day they had been together? Peter knew better than anyone that Norris had no chance of being David’s father. He would know that he was the father. What if he tried to take David away from her? Panic rose in her and she made her decision.

  “No, it doesn’t bother me. You’re David’s father. No one ever needs to know differently.”

  A smile broke out over his face. “We’re a real family now, Rachel. No one can ever come between us.”

  The travelled to Boston the next day and were greeted by a very large and very ebullient family at Theo’s parents’ home. No one asked questions and seemed to accept that Theo had married and had become a father without them knowing that he was even seeing someone. David was passed from uncle to uncle, aunt to aunt, cousin to cousin, until finally the grandparents took over. Theo’s mother, Jayne, sat in a comfortable chair clasping David to her bosom, a look of ecstasy on her face. His father, Sean, hovered behind her, looking as proud as if he was the father himself.

  “I’m sure this must all be a surprise to you,” Rachel said tentatively, glancing nervously at Theo who was swallowed up by his four older brothers.

  “What Theo does is never a surprise to us,” Jayne said with a laugh. “He is a free spirit. I worried that he would never settle down and now look at him, a wife and a baby. I couldn’t be happier, my darling.”

  Sean Bressler agreed. “Theo is a man, but he’s also our baby, and the one we worry about the most. He’s always off gallivanting the world, going to dangerous places. We’re proud of him, of course, but now he’s got something to keep him here and keep him satisfied.”

  “I hired him for my newspaper,” Rachel admitted, “but I don’t think that means that he plans on staying around. I think he will always have that fire to travel the world.”

  “Give him a few more of these,” Jayne nodded her head towards David, “and he’ll won’t ever want to leave again.”

  “Mother, stop badgering my wife,” Theo said, breaking away from his brothers. Rachel smiled inwardly. His protective streak never waned. “I fell in love with her because she understands what I do.” He sat next to her and kissed her gently on the lips. “She’d no more keep me from my work than I would keep her from hers.”

  Jayne signed dramatically. “Theo, must you be so difficult?”

  “Yes,” he answered with a grin. “I come by it honestly, according to Dad.”

  They spent a few days with the Bressler family. Rachel enjoyed the openly loving family and was sincere in her request that they come visit them in Cincinnati. “My home is much too large for those of us who live there, so please, all of you are welcome to come and stay as long as you’d like.”

  Theo had mockingly laid his hand over her mouth. “Be careful what you wish for, Rachel. They’ll arrive with trunk loads and never leave.”

  “I’d be all right with that.” She hugged her new in-laws and Jayne shed tears over saying good-bye to her new grandson.

  “We’ll be down to visit at the end of the summer. Don’t let him grow too big.”

  She and Theo boarded the train and headed home. Rachel was nervous to be returning home for the first time in almost a year. She hadn’t sent any letter or telegram notifying anyone that she was returning. She knew that the reaction to Theo and the baby would be shock, deservedly so. At six weeks old, David looked only as a baby could, but his dark hair was certainly his father’s, not her own honey blonde or Theo’s chestnut color. She didn’t think that anyone would dare ask about the baby’s parentage but didn’t even want the hint of speculation.

  She and Theo hired a car and arrived at the estate early in the evening the next day. She was weary and looking forward to settling David in his new home. The estate looked fairly deserted and for that Rachel was glad. The staff hid their surprise well when they opened the doors to her new family and hurriedly moved to make everyone comfortable.

  “Is my brother here?” she asked Smythe.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’ve sent Sheila to get him,” he said, referring to a young maid. “I believe he’s in the library.”

  “The library,” Theo mocked the butler out of the corner of his mouth. “Are you sure he’s not in the conservatory or the orangery?”

  “Theo,” Rachel said, pursing her lips at him to hush him. “I told you it was an estate.”

  “I know you did but, Jesus, Rachel, this is a mausoleum. Are we really going to raise our children here?” He walked around the foyer, jiggling David in his arms, looking at the expensive artwork. “Come on, surely we can find a more suitable home. I can’t relax here.”

  “This is my home,” she reminded. “Our home now.” She laid her hand against his cheek. “We’ll mak
e it a happy one, I promise.”

  He turned his head and kissed her palm. “I’m holding you to that promise, my love.”

  “Rachel!”

  Rachel turned and saw her brother, now a man, striding down the hallway. It had been almost a year since she had last seen him and a torrent of emotions rose up in her. “Laurie,” she greeted him with an emotional smile. “It’s really me.”

  “I could hardly believe it when Sheila told me you were home.” He caught her up in a hug. “Do you know how worried I’ve been about you?”

  “I know, and I’m sorry for that. I just had to get away from everything.” She pulled away from him slightly. “I’d like to introduce you to two people.” She reached out to Theo and gestured him closer. “Laurie, this is my husband, Theo Bressler and our son, David.”

  Laurie seemed frozen in place for a moment, and then took in a quick breath. “Theo, it’s very nice to meet you.” He held out his hand and Theo took it with a smile.

  “I’ve heard so much about you, Laurie. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “It’s Lawrence, actually,” Laurie said kindly, but firmly.

  “Pish,” Rachel said with an inelegant snort. “Who told you that?”

  “For years, my parents called me Teddy and Teddy-bear,” Theo told them. “I’m in full favor of men being able to demand that they not be called by childish nicknames. Lawrence it is.”

  “Five minutes in the house and you’re already over-ruling me,” Rachel said in mock anger. “Can I still call you Laurie if I promise not to do it in public?”

  “I suppose, as long as I can hold my nephew.”

  It felt so right to be home, more than she ever thought it could. Laurie was delighted with his nephew and seemed to like Theo, as well. After she fed and changed David, she settled him in her old room, in a crib brought down from the attic, vowing to remove the feminine touches of the room as soon as she got a good night’s sleep.