He had Rose. The two weeks—had it really only been fourteen measly days?—since she left seemed like an eternity, and knowing she slept a few doors away soothed a part of his soul that’d been left open, aching and raw. He rarely dreamed, and although Ben could not remember if he’d dreamt the vision or simply wished it, he awoke the next morning under a blanket of peace, an image of Aiko and Hotaru smiling, giving him their blessing and wishing him happiness. A life with Rose would not replace them, but give him the chance to love again, to find the happiness he was denied years earlier.
When they disembarked from the ocean liner that carried them back to New York four weeks later, Ben caught himself staring at the gleaming gold band on his finger, nearly identical to the one he shared with Aiko but entirely different.Hewas entirely different now.
“Concentrate.” Rose placed her hand over his on the rail and the sunlight sparked like fire from her matching band. “I can’t have my husband falling in the river before he’s even made it ashore.”
He kissed her forehead then, planning to kiss much more of her the moment they arrived back in Brooklyn. Ben had cabled ahead to Garrett to inform them of their imminent return, and of their hasty wedding in the chapel on Timothy’s estate. The wide grin on Rose’s face had not slipped for an instant the entire day, although that night, when they shared a bed in a guest cottage on the property, her mouth—
Well. His cheeks burned at the memory of the first night with his wife.My wife.He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it for a moment before grabbing their trunk—he had no intention of handing it off to any street urchins today.
They found a cab to carry them over the bridge, and as Rose peered through the cables at the sunlight splintering off the surface of the river, casting the buildings of Brooklyn in streaks of gold and copper, Ben felt like a king bringing his queen back to their castle. One filled with ghosts and aspiring chefs, pesky birds, cranky cats, and nosy old ladies.
Filled with love.
“What do you think Abby has planned for when we arrive?” Rose asked, as though reading his thoughts.
Ben winced, although he was eager to be back in the place he belonged. “My guess is a six-tier cake and a full menu of accompanying cookies.”
“All iced in our likeness.” Rose grinned, and he wished to always remember this moment.
“I’d expect nothing less,” he said, cheeks in danger of aching from his smile. “And I’m certain Fern will have returned your cable by now.”
Rose stiffened for a moment, then exhaled with a nod. A condition of her father’s approval of their marriage and subsequent relocation to America had been for her to reach out to her twin while they were in England. When Fern had replied to her sister’s cable in record speed, Rose had cried, asking Ben to read her the message again and again.
I have missed you terribly and I would love to meet Ben properly STOP The man who has earned your love must be particularly special STOP
Ben had praised Rose’s bravery, her willingness to move on from the pain of her past. She’d dragged him out of his despair, and now he would help his wife through hers.
My wife.
Their carriage had barely pulled up to the curb before residents of 138 Willow began pouring through the front doors, with Abby in the lead and Cass close behind. Garrett pulled their luggage from the rear as Mrs. Korzakowski and Mrs. Thurgood embraced Rose, pressing kisses to her cheeks as Ben paid their driver. He dropped sweets he had purchased in London into the hands of several waiting children, and Abby thrust a perfectly crisp chocolate chip cookie into his palm, insisting he eat it since he looked thin after their travels.
Ben wrapped his arm around Rose’s waist as they were rushed up the marble stairs and into the building. “Welcome home, my love,” he whispered in her ear.
Rose stopped and cupped Ben’s cheeks, pressing a kiss to his lips that drew hoots and whistles from the residents surrounding them. She met his gaze with damp eyes and a broad smile. “It’s wonderful to be home.”
Epilogue
March, 1904
“Thiscan’tbenormal.”
Garrett shoved a tumbler of whiskey into Ben’s hand. “I promise it is.”
Ben scowled at him. “How would you know? How many births have you attended?”
“What would you like me to say? Cass is in there with her, and she doesn’t seem worried, so I’m not either.”
Abby pushed her way into the parlor and dropped a tray loaded with at least a dozen distinct types of cookies in front of him, then snatched the tumbler of whiskey from Ben’s hand, draining the entire glass in one go and smacking her lips. “He needssugar, not liquor.”
Garrett raised an eyebrow. “And your professional opinion is based on—”
“Enough!” Ben cried, then grabbed a cookie and shoved it in his mouth, barely tasting it. Rose had been in their bedroom for hours now, and Cass had only emerged once to reassure him everything was proceeding normally. Visits from neighbors had punctuated the long night, as they dropped off sundry sweets and offerings while asking probing questions about the status of the newest resident of 138 Willow.
Abby and Garrett were there to provide moral support and distraction, but Ben was about to climb out of his skin. It had taken a year of marriage for Rose to even consider wanting a family, and another entire year for Ben to feel ready to try. Her confinement had passed without incident, and both Mrs. Restell and Cass declared her pregnancy to be remarkably healthy. All the waiting, the weeks and months of fear and hope and love, had boiled down to one night and one room.
How could he survive if something went wrong? He was already fiercely in love with the being his wife had created, savoring the kicks that made Rose laugh at his awed expression. His entire world circled around this one woman, and now, God willing, their child.
Ben pushed to his feet. “I can’t do this anymore. I’m going in there.”
