Scorned and Widowed Mother of Twins Dares to Believe in Love Once Again: Romance Short Story
Page 3
The coach had barely stopped before what seemed like a crowd of people ran down the front steps. The coach doors were flung open and the sleepy children scooped out of their arms. Everyone seemed to be rejoicing and Victoria found herself seeking Sylvester’s eyes.
“My mother and twin sisters, as well as the two housekeepers. The women in the house would barely let me rest after they found out that you were coming. Give them time to do their thing; then they will eventually remember us.”
As the twins were passed from one person to the other, and two tall men joined in the fray, Victoria had to smile. The smiles and delight on their faces were genuine, and she felt touched when Sylvester reached out his hand and took hers.
“If you’ll allow it, Nathaniel and Natalie will have a loving family. My sisters only recently got married and none of them have children as yet, so you can be sure that ours will be thoroughly spoiled, but in a good way.”
Hearing Sylvester referring to the twins as his also made her heart sing. She would give him a chance, especially given the way his family had accepted the children without any reservations at all. The twins, who were now wide awake, were grinning, lapping up all the attention and fitting in as though they belonged.
Finally the melee was over and then Jemimah turned on Sylvester. “Why are you keeping my daughter-in-law confined in the coach when we are waiting to meet her? Don’t be so selfish, Sylvester. Pass her down so we can give her a proper welcome.”
Victoria hid a smile when Sylvester rolled his eyes as if to say, “I told you so.”
“Mama, here is your delightful daughter-in-law.” He handed her to one of his brothers-in-law and waited for her to step down.
As soon as Victoria’s feet touched the ground she was engulfed in a warm embrace and tears filled her eyes. Never once had Samuel’s mother hugged her.
“Welcome home, child.” Jemimah hugged her again and then passed her round for more hugs. When they were finally done, the whole crowd moved to the house.
Victoria couldn’t believe that she’d overslept. She looked around the room, wondering where her children were. Because it was their first night in strange surroundings, Jemimah had thoughtfully put two cots for them in the room allocated to her.
As she made her way out of the large bedroom, out to the corridor and down the stairs, she could hear Nathaniel and Natalie chatting at the tops of their voices. She followed the sounds until she entered what she could only term as a massive kitchen.
Jemimah was seated at the kitchen table, the twins on either side of her, and they seemed to all be having fun. Sylvester was watching them, putting in a word from time to time. At first they didn’t notice her and Victoria took time to observe the touching scene.
“Grandma, will Papa take us on the big horse?” Nathaniel was asking.
“Yes, and more than that. He bought two beautiful ponies for you. Living on the farm means you will need to learn how to ride.”
“And Mama?” Natalie piped in. “Will Papa teach her how to ride also?”
“Yes, my love.” Jemimah picked up a cloth napkin and wiped the corner of Natalie’s mouth. It was such a natural gesture that Victoria knew the woman had been longing for grandchildren. “Papa also bought Mama a beautiful mare. Now, finish your breakfast so Papa can take you out to the stables. And don’t make so much noise or else you will wake your mama up and she needs all the rest she can get. Looking after the two of you for five years alone must have been a very tough job for her.”
The children obediently went back to their breakfast and that was when Victoria decided to make her presence known.
“Good morning, Mrs. Black. Good morning, Mr. Black.”
Jemimah chuckled. “My, you make us feel like such ancients. Don’t you think it’s time you called me Mama, seeing as I am going to be soon? The children already know how to call me Grandma.” She was practically glowing. “You’ve done such a commendable job with these two, and your son is especially protective of you. Natalie looks like Marjory did at the same age.”
“And my name is Sylvester,” Sylvester said with a twinkle in his eye, and she blushed. “No more Mr. Black for me. That was my father.”
“All right, then, Sylvester, for goodness sake let the girl rest her feet. Anita will make you some fresh eggs and bacon, or whatever you want.”
The Black household was a noisy one, quite appropriate for Victoria’s own boisterous two. Marjorie and Nicole were no better, and if she hadn’t met their husbands, Victoria would have been hard pressed to believe they were actually married.
Her children seemed to bloom and Victoria began to feel over-pampered, expressing her fears to Jemimah one morning when Sylvester had taken the children for their riding lessons.
“I’m becoming very lazy,” she complained. “It seems as though I can’t lift a hand to do anything before Anita or Sylvia are waiting to do it for me. This is extreme pampering.”
“You deserve it, my dear. There comes a time in life when the Lord gives us all rest. I don’t know what Sylvester has told you about our lives here on the orchard, but things weren’t always this simple. My papa loved me very much, yes, but when I chose to marry Eliud Black, we were pretty much on our own. Papa bought us this land but that was it. He said we had to learn how to work for ourselves.”
“Sylvester didn’t tell me that.”
“He doesn’t usually tell the true story, preferring to gloss over the details. The long and short of it is, by the time we had Sylvester, we were about to give up and admit that we couldn’t run an orchard. But then Anita’s husband, Diego, came along. He is Mexican and had worked on an orchard down in Mexico. Within two years things changed and here we are now. When I take a rest it’s because the time to rest has come, and at other times it’s time to work. Enjoy the rest while you can, because we’ve just finished harvesting. Soon this place will be a beehive of activity that you won’t have time to catch your breath.” Jemimah looked at her with piercing eyes. “Unless you’ve changed your mind about marrying my son. He loves those two children as if they were his own, and it will break his heart if you reject him and take them away. I know he will eventually recover, but you’ll have lost a wonderful man, Victoria. I’m not saying this just because I’m his mother.”
“That, I can see for myself.” Victoria blushed. “Sylvester is a good man but I don’t know how to approach him and tell him that I want to be his wife. It would be a great honor. He hasn’t asked me again, so….” She shrugged. “I guess I’m waiting to be asked.”
Victoria couldn’t believe the number of people who turned up for their wedding, which was being conducted in the orchard, under the bare trees. Because most of the workers were Mexicans, the festivities had began long before the day itself. It seemed to her as though they loved the chance to celebrate anything.
Victoria was radiant and could barely wait to walk down the long aisle that was splashed with flowers of all colors and kinds. She really loved California and was glad that this was to be her home again, but this time with a man she was in love with. Seeing his love for the children and his kindness to her and everyone who knew him, including the servants, made Victoria realize that he had a good heart, and she would be a fool to let him go.
Sylvester stood at the end of the long aisle watching as Victoria practically floated down towards him, and finally they were standing face to face.
“My papa, my mama,” Nathaniel told anyone who cared to listen, beaming from ear to ear. He looked like a miniature version of Sylvester in his outfit – a small black suit with a lacy white starched shirt and a felt hat, completed with shiny black boots with small spurs on them. Natalie looked like a little angel and Victoria couldn’t hold her tears back.
“I pray that those are tears of joy, my darling,” Sylvester whispered as they waited for Reverend Manuel Clips to wed them. “May you never again shed tears of pain, beloved woman of God.”
“I’m so happy,” she whispered back. “Never did it
ever cross my mind that I would love again, and be loved so deeply. Thank you, Sylvester.”
“Thank you, Victoria. And just in case I haven’t told you this lately, I love you very much.”
“I love you too.”
:)
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