He chuckled as he bent to whisper in her ear. "Not to worry. We'll just keep practicing 'til we get it right."
Epilogue
Summer 1906
Rose Hill
MARY LOUISE sat embroidering by window of her sitting room. She loved this room, she loved this house— had loved it from the moment Cooper brought her to see it nearly fifteen years ago. Still, she often thought wistfully of the little apartment over the jail.
At the sound of a distant train whistle, she looked up and smiled. She had a special place in her heart for trains, too, as trains had played a major role in all that was good in her life: not only had she met her darling Cooper in a train station, but she had wed him there. And it was on a train that she told Cooper about the coming birth of his son— or, as it turned out, his three sons. What a surprise that had been! The first triplets born in the history of Hollisburg.
A few years ago, on their tenth anniversary, Cooper surprised her with a train ride all the way to Niagara Falls. She sighed at the memory of that romantic trip. And how could she forget the fateful trip to Belle Rive when, halfway between Hollisburg and Memphis, she unexpectedly went into labor and gave birth to Jazzy in a dining car. Cooper, though terrified, had rolled up his sleeves and helped to deliver his youngest daughter. She chuckled softly. Was it any wonder that she loved trains?
Sixteen— year— old Annie Matthews interrupted her mother's musing. "Mo— ther," she complained, "You simply must do something about The Gospels."
Mary Louise looked up from her embroidery and smiled at her daughter. "What have your brothers done this time?"
The triplets, Mark, Luke, and John, had been dubbed "The Gospels" by their father soon after their entrance into the world fourteen years ago. The name, however, proved to be a misnomer, for by age two it became obvious that the rambunctious boys would never be candidates for sainthood.
"They've been stealing Mr. Jenkin's apples again, I'll bet." Piped up eight— year— old Jazzy.
"No, that's not it," Annie interrupted. "It's much worse."
"What can be worse than stealing? Stealing is a sin, isn't it Mama?" This week Jazzy was a religious zealot.
"Yes, Jazzy, stealing is a sin," Mary Louise replied patiently. "But I think your sister has another complaint against the boys. What is it dear?"
"They throw cow patties at Thaddeus Blackwood every time he comes to call," Annie said, clearly outraged. "And today one of them hit Thad squarely in the back of the head."
"Oh, dear," Mary Louise said with a sigh. "I'll have a talk with them, Annie, I promise."
"Well, it must not have hurt him too much," Jazzy interjected. "I saw him riding to meet Cynthia Fikes down by Boguechitto creek not five minutes ago."
"What!" Annie sputtered. "Why that...how dare he....See what's happening, Mother? The Gospels are scaring off all my beaus. Unless something is done, I'm going to end up an old maid!"
Cooper, with four— year— old Charles at his heels, walked into the sitting room. "So you're going to be an old maid? I must say I like the sound of that."
Mary Louise's face lit when she saw him. "Darling, I didn't know you were home. How were things at the Capitol?"
The recently— elected Senator bent to kiss his wife. "Let's just say I've still got a lot to learn." Then he grinned at Annie. "Your mother and I will be glad to have you to care for us in our golden years."
"Papa, this isn't a joking matter," Annie said petulantly.
"Who said I was joking?" He sat down beside his wife on the long sofa and lifted Charlie into his lap.
"Papa, what's an old maid?" Charlie asked.
"An old maid is any woman over eighteen who's still unmarried," Annie replied before her father could form an answer.
"Eighteen isn't old," Jazzy declared. "How can a girl be an old maid if she's only eighteen."
"Because," Annie replied scornfully, "if a woman hasn't married by the time she's eighteen she never will."
Cooper glanced at Mary Louise and grinned. "Annie, your mother was nearly thirty when we married."
"Thirty!" Annie's gasp said thirty seemed near ninety . "Surely you jest!"
"I was twenty— nine the day I married your father."
"But that means you must be nearly..." Annie paused and appeared to be mentally calculating.
"Forty— two, darling," Mary Louise finished for her.
"But— but that's..."
"That's enough talk about age and enough talk about your getting married, young lady. You've just turned sixteen. You are going to complete your education before I'll allow you to even think of becoming some rascal's wife."
"But Papa!"
"Annie," Cooper warned. "Enough."
Annie, in a practiced, self— righteous huff that she had perfected over the last year, stormed from the room. Having grown accustomed to his eldest daughter's acts of high drama, Cooper turned his attention to his youngest child. "Charlie, my lad, you're soon going to be too big to sit in my lap. Just look, your feet are nearly dragging the ground." He kissed Charlie's chubby, freckled cheek and set him on the floor. "Jazzy, I brought some sugar cane from town. Why don't you and Charlie take some of it down to Lizzie and Sam. You know how much they love sugar cane."
Jazzy held out her hand to her little brother. "Come on, Charlie, let's go see Lizzie and Sam. Maybe Lizzie'll tell us some more stories about Papa when he was little."
Cooper watched his children skip from the room. He sighed heavily and turned to lie with his head in Mary Louise's lap. "It makes me sad to see Jazzy and Charlie growing up. Charlie's already to big to be a lap baby. I soon won't have anyone to cuddle," he murmured.
"You'll still have me," she replied.
He didn't rise to the bait. "I'm getting old, Weezie."
Mary Louise combed her fingers though Cooper's hair. Though there were new creases in his face, and the dark brown of his hair was streaked with gray, age had not marred her husband's good looks. In fact, age had only enhanced them. "Old?" she scoffed. "You? The handsomest man in Hollis County?" Mary Louise tweaked her husband's nose.
Cooper touched her lips with the tip of his finger. "And you are the most beautiful woman in the world."
She grinned at him. "Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear."
"Will it get you into our bedroom?"
"I thought you'd never ask."
Cooper sat up and offered his hand to his wife. "Come with me, Mrs. Matthews, and I'll take you to the stars."
"I'm counting on it, Senator Matthews."
Arm in arm they walked across the room. As they mounted the stairs toward their bedroom, Cooper said, "You know, maybe having a dozen children wasn't such a good idea after all. Six seems a gracious plenty, don't you think?"
"Mmmm. Perhaps you'd better change that number to seven."
"Seven?" Cooper paused on the landing and slowly turned to face his wife. "Are you saying...?"
"If it's a girl I thought we'd name her Elizabeth and call her Lizzie. Lizzie will like that, don't you think? And I rather like Joseph for a boy. Of course, there's always the chance we'll have triplets again, or maybe twins this time. We'll have to think of some other names just in case. Better to be prepared for any possibility, I always...Cooper? Cooper, darling, why on earth are you sitting on the floor? Do you feel faint?"
Cooper grinned up at Mary Louise. "I never faint."
~*~
Sabrah Huff Agee
FOR NEARLY twenty years, Sabrah H. Agee was employed by the District Attorney of Alabama's largest circuit as administrative assistant and investigator. Since her job presented her with the sordid side of life, she began to write romances — stories that always had happy endings — as a means of coping. Sabrah received a lucky break when writer Beverly Barton introduced her to the Heart of Dixie Romance Writers of America. Since that day, Sabrah has made the three hour trek each month to attend meetings with other romance writers.
In 1999 Sabrah's first book, JINX AND TRACY, was
published by Kensington Publishing Company. She adapted the book to a screenplay and production of the movie is scheduled to begin this summer. At present, she is employed by SABRA Sanctuary, a local shelter through which she assists victims of domestic violence. She is also working on a screenplay of her second book, FOR THE LOVE OF ANNIE, published by Hard Shell Word Factory.
Sabrah lives in Alabama with Kit, her best friend and husband of thirty— five years. You may write to her at Post Office Box 393, Selma, Alabama 36702, or e— mail her at [email protected].
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