The Happiest Day

by Sandy Huth

  “I’m Rachel MacGregor,” she said, extending her hand. The girl shook it politely. “I’m sorry for what has happened, but I want you to know that you will be safe with us.” She remembered Norris’ words to her over thirty years ago: Everything’s going to be all right. I’ve come to rescue you.

  “Merci, thank you,” Lorraine answered. Her eyes warily took in the rest of the group.

  “These are our children,” Rachel continued. “This is David, Matthew, Steven, and Lily.”

  The boys politely greeted the children but Lily couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. She leapt forward and grabbed the startled Lorraine’s hand. “You’re my big sister now,” she informed her. “I always wanted a big sister. I’m the baby and the only girl and it’s been dreadful.”

  Lorraine laughed then, breaking the tension. “I have always wanted a sister, too,” she informed Lily. “We’ll be the best of friends, I’m sure.”

  Rachel turned her attention to Adrian and Teddy and her heart melted. They looked like Theo, but more than that they looked like heart broken young boys. She moved so that she stood behind them, laying a hand on each boy’s back. “Now how old are you?”

  “I’m eleven and Teddy is ten,” Adrian answered, his voice trembling with fatigue and fear.

  Matthew stepped up. “I’m fourteen and Steven is twelve.” The four boys who resembled each other so much examined the others closely. “We live in a big house so you can each have your own room if you want, but if you want to share a room, you can do that, too. We have horses. Do you ride?”

  The younger of the two, Teddy, inhaled sharply. “Horses? Our grandparents had horses on their farm, but they were work horses. When they died, we had to sell them.”

  “Well, our horses are just for fun,” Steven said in a boastful voice. “We can teach you to ride.” He stole a look at his step-father, and then amended, “Well, Peter can teach you, too.”

  “We can talk on the train,” Peter intervened. “We have a long trip home but we must get to the station if we hope to catch the last train of the day.”

  “Are you hungry?” Rachel asked the children as Peter hailed two taxis.

  The affirmed that they were and Rachel promised them a meal as soon as they settled on the train. She rode in one taxi with Lily, Lorraine, and David while Peter took the remaining four boys with him in the next taxi. Lily couldn’t sit still and twisted around, waving frantically.

  “I see Peter!” she exclaimed. “He’s right behind us.”

  “Dad will give you an earful if you don’t turn around and sit down,” David warned her.

  “Why do you call him Dad but Lily calls him Peter?” Lorraine asked curiously.

  “He’s my real dad,” David explained to her. “Theo was my step-father, and Peter is Lily’s step-father.”

  “Oh, I see,” Lorraine said but the frown between her eyes belied the fact.

  David laughed. “I doubt that you do, but there’s plenty of time to fill you in on our complicated family history.”

  Lily turned around and sat, turning her attention to Lorraine. “What do you like to do? Do you like dolls?”

  Lorraine smiled gently at the enthusiastic young girl. “I like to read.”

  Lily’s face fell. “Oh. Well, so do I. I just like dolls better.”

  David snorted a little and looked out the window. Lorraine’s eyes fell on him and she studied him closely. Rachel felt a thread of discomfort run through her body. She wasn’t sure how she had known, but she had felt that the young teen girl would be attracted to David. She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but she didn’t want Lorraine to be fascinated by David. David, for his part, didn’t seem to pay much attention to the girl.

  The whole family settled their private car and Rachel was suddenly overwhelmed with the fact that her family had grown from four children to seven. As usual, Peter handled everything with cool precision and called a porter, ordering a quickly served dinner for everyone. The children ate ravenously then the two younger boys immediately fell asleep. Rachel was touched to see how Lorraine watched over them, covering them both with blankets and stroking their hair.

  “You should get some sleep, too,” she said to the girl, indicating another berth. “We’ll travel the night.”

  “Could I sleep with Teddy?” she asked. “He’s been having nightmares. I wouldn’t want him to wake up and be scared.

  “Of course,” Rachel answered.

  “I’ll sleep in her berth then,” Lily said, clapping her hands excitedly. Peter had rented a second sleeper car to accommodate everyone but Lily was loathe to be separated from her new sister.

  “Only if you can be quiet,” Rachel admonished. “Adrian and Teddy are exhausted and they need their sleep.”

  “I promise.”

  Peter lowered his head and kissed her. “I’m going to go next door and the get the boys settled. I wish we could sleep together.”

  “We have seven children now,” she answered. “There’s no time for each other any longer.”

  He swatted her bottom. “Bite your tongue, woman. Maybe I’ll sneak over here in the middle of the night for a rendezvous.”

  Lorraine was watching them with wide eyes. David noticed the expression on her face and touched her elbow lightly. “Don’t let them bother you. They talk to each other like that all the time.”

  “They love each other,” she noted. “I think it’s nice.”

  He grinned a little. “So do I; I just wish they would be more private about it. Hey, I’m sorry about your mom.”

  Pain was evident in luminous eyes. “I don’t even know if she’s still alive.”

  “How will you know?”

  “The letters she promised will not come.”

  David didn’t know what to say. He wished he could help her but admired her strength and maturity in travelling halfway around the world with her two younger brothers. He nodded and said, “Well, good-night. I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll be home tomorrow and things won’t seem so frightening for you.”

  “Thank you, David,” she said formally. “Bonne nuit.”

  “Bonne nuit,” he said in return. He bid his sister and his mother good-night as well and joined his younger brothers and father in the adjoining car. The two younger boys settled into their berths and fell asleep almost immediately, but David felt wide awake. “Hey, Dad?”

  “Yes, Dave?”

  “What was it like when Mom and Uncle Laurie came to live with you?”

  “They were frightened. Their parents had been murdered and, even though they knew Norris, they had never met the rest of us. I helped your mother out of Norris’ car and she was this scared little girl in a white nightgown. Her hair had come loose and was covering her face, with these beautiful eyes peering out. She wrapped her legs and arms around me and she was shaking. I could barely loosen her enough to hand her over to our nanny.”

  “That’s why you call her Spider.”

  “Yes.”

  “Lorraine doesn’t seem scared, just sad.”

  “Those children have been through a lot already with the war. If Martine has been sick for a while, I’m sure that Lorraine has had to grow up quickly. Your mother was a child but Lorraine is already a young woman. She reminds me of her own mother. Very quiet, very strong. She doesn’t look like she would back down from much if she was protecting someone she loved.”

  “I’m glad that we agreed to take them.”

  “I am, too, son. Ultimately, it was your mother’s decision and I knew she would make the right one. She’s quite a woman.”

  “Was she very upset when you got to France and she found out the truth?”

  “Sad, angry, hurt. All the things she should have been.”

  “Dad---I mean, Theo---wasn’t nice to her after you came. He blamed her for how things changed. He called her a liar.”

  “I’m sorry, David.”

  “It’s not your fault. It’s just that, how could he be so mean to her when he wa
s lying to her about what he was doing? I mean, Lorraine is thirteen. I was only a baby when he must have started seeing her mother. That was long before he found out you were my father. It just seems….I don’t know….”

  “Hypocritical?” Peter supplied. “I agree but Theo isn’t here to defend himself or to explain his actions. I don’t think it’s beneficial to judge his actions any longer. We should just move forward and try to make his children as comfortable and secure as we can.”

  David nodded. “All right.” He settled back in his berth. “Was your family nice to Mom and Uncle Laurie?”

  “No. Well, my mother wasn’t, at least. She was resentful of things.”

  “Mom told me that Laurie was really Norris’ son.”

  Peter looked up in surprise from where he was going through his overnight bag. “She told you that?”

  “Yes. I guess that’s why your mom wasn’t nice to them.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “But Mom is being really nice to Lorraine and her brothers.”

  Peter had to smile. “Your mother is the best woman I’ve ever known. She’s good-hearted and kind and has never forgotten what happened to her.”

  “Did you always love her?”

  Peter was surprised at the personal turn the conversation had taken. “I loved her like a sister, like a friend for many years. I didn’t fall in love with her until many years later.”

  David nodded. He grew silent and Peter thought that he had fallen asleep until he heard him say, “I’m glad you fell in love with her.”

  Peter chuckled silently. “I’m glad, too. Good-night, David.”

  “Bonne nuit, Dad.”

  In the adjoining car, Rachel watched over the three children. They could have represented Theo’s infidelity, his faithlessness, but instead all she saw was their mother’s strength and determination to hold onto her family as long as she could. What incredible love she had for them to know when to let them go. Just days later, Paris fell to Nazi troops.

  Chapter 29

  The children settled in better than Rachel could have hoped for. Adrian and Teddy chose to share a room while Lorraine took the room next to Lily. Since it was the summer, they didn’t have to worry about school yet. They had time to get to know each other and settle in at the estate. The boys were in awe of the expansive home and grounds as well as the stable full of horses. Lorraine was more reticent but couldn’t hide her gasp of pleasure when she saw the library.

  “Am I permitted to borrow books?” she asked Rachel, her eyes wide with longing.

  “This is your home. You can read whatever you like.”

  Surprisingly, she was almost as impressed with the chapel as she had been with the library. “You have your own chapel?” she asked.

  “My first husband, Norris Thornton, was a deeply religious man,” Rachel embellished. “He enjoyed having a quiet place to come and pray.”

  “I think I would like that, too.” She turned an expressive gaze on Rachel. “If I may?”

  “Of course you may,” Rachel said gently. She looked at her watch. “I’m sorry to leave you, but I have to get to work. Will you be all right?”

  “I’ll be fine. I think I’d like to stay here for a while.”

  “Certainly.” She laid a tentative hand on the girl. “We’re all praying for your mother.”

  “Thank you.” She inhaled sharply as if suddenly nervous. “My mother explained everything to me before she sent us to you. I…I…you are very gracious to welcome us here,” she said in a rush.

  Rachel felt tears stinging her eyes and her throat tightened in emotion. “Do you remember your father?”

  She nodded. “I do. He wasn’t with us a lot, but we were always so happy when he was there.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Do your children know or should we keep it a secret? I know Lily said that I’m her big sister now but I wasn’t sure if she was just being friendly or if she knew the truth.”

  “They know.”

  “So, we really are to be brothers and sisters?”

  “You are.” Rachel didn’t know why this girl touched her so, but she felt an overwhelming need to cry.

  “It feels good to have a family.”

  “We’re very glad you’re here,” Rachel said in a rush before she made a fool out of herself. “I have to go now. Let Smythe know if you need anything.”

  Lorraine nodded and made her way to the front of the chapel, sitting in the first pew. Rachel watched her for a moment, and then left the chapel quietly. She ran into Peter.

  “Hey, babe, we’re running late. You ready to go?”

  “What are the boys doing?”

  “They’re fine. Two of them are playing chess, two of them are getting ready to go outside and ride bikes, and your daughter is aggravating the other one.”

  “In what manner?”

  “She wants Adrian to help her set up her dollhouse.”

  “Should we…?”

  “No,” Peter said firmly. “We should let him figure out how to handle a pesky little sister. Let’s go.”

  The summer flew by and they all returned to school in September. By this point, her own children had become very protective of Martine’s children and didn’t allow any teasing or questions to occur. Bert’s own Alan and Rose, now eighteen and sixteen, took the younger children under their wing as well and the months flew by happily. In January, they received word that Martine has passed peacefully in her sleep and Peter suggested that they hold a memorial service for her in the chapel. The children, who had been thriving, suddenly were thrown back into a maelstrom of emotions.

  Laurie performed a modified funeral mass for Martine. When it came time for a reading, David stood and made his way to the front. Rachel was so proud of how tall and handsome her son was. The maturity he displayed was breathtaking.

  “A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes,” he began, his voice deep and solemn. “There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.

  A time to give birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. The word of the Lord.”

  “Thanks be to God,” they all responded.

  David bowed at the altar and returned to his seat. Laurie continued the mass and afterwards, Peter ushered everyone into the dining room for a late lunch. Rachel spoke with the staff briefly, instructing them to begin serving, then returned to the dining room. A quick head count showed that two were missing. David and Lorraine. Rachel’s stomach clenched. Over the past half year, she had purposely tried to keep the two apart from each other. She slipped from the room and headed back to the chapel. She was quiet as she peeked inside, worried about what she might see.

  She found Lorraine still sitting in the pew, her head bowed. David crouched in front of her, holding one of her hands between both of us. He was talking quietly to her.

  Rachel stared at them, not seeing David and Lorraine any longer, but herself and Peter from almost three decades earlier. Again, she felt suddenly and uncontrollably emotional and left the doorway of the chapel, standing against the outside wall, holding her hand over her heart. What was wrong with her? she thought to herself. They were just talking.

  Suddenly, there they stood, David’s face quizzical. “Mom? Are you all right?”

  “I…I’m fine,” she stammered. “Lunch is waiting.”

  “We’re coming.”

  She talked to Peter that night about her strange reaction. “When I saw them like that, I was suddenly so sad and so scared.” She stood
next to the bed, twisting her hands. “I felt like such a loon.”

  Peter was already in bed and he held out a hand to her. “Come here, my loon.”

  She crawled into bed and curled up in his arms. “What do you think is wrong with me?”

  “Maybe a couple of things,” he mused. “First off, he’s your first-born and he’s growing up. He’ll be seventeen in a few months. Today, he looked like a man.”

  “Even more, he acted like a man,” Rachel added.

  “True.” He cleared his throat a little. “Rae, be honest with me. Do they remind you of us?”

  “Yes,” she answered. “When I came across them in the chapel, suddenly I only saw us, not them.”

  “Is that what’s bothering you? Do you fear history is repeating itself?”

  She nodded her head, tears slipping out of the corners of her eyes. “Peter, we went through so much pain before we were finally together. I don’t want that for David.”

  “Rachel, there are some pretty big differences. Norris spun a web of lies around us that caused one tragedy after another. We’ve been nothing but honest with all of the children. Have you considered that, if they do have feelings for each other, that this is the new and improved version of us? What we could have been without all of the deception and wrong choices?”

  “That’s a nice way of looking at it,” she admitted.

  “Also,” he gave her a little squeeze. “I think you’re jumping the gun. You came across them talking quietly in the chapel and suddenly you’ve envisioned this whole future for them. David has aspirations, you know. He wants to go away to college, experience life, before he settles down to work at the newspaper.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “I’ve also talked to Lorraine. She wants to become a nurse, did you know that? She is very focused on her future.”

  “Look at you, showing me up again,” she sighed dramatically. “When do you find the time to talk to the children? You must not have enough to keep you busy.”