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"Nothing happened. They just looked at each other. You don't have to tell," she insisted.
"We'll discuss it afterward," I said. "Finish dressing him."
As soon as the two of them were fully dressed I sent them out of the room and downstairs to wait while I spoke to Fern. She sat on her bed and stared down at the floor.
"How could you do such a thing with children that little?" I said, forgetting for the moment that I was speaking to a girl only a little more than ten herself.
"I told you," she said, glaring back hatefully, "I didn't do it."
"Stop lying. I heard you just before I opened the door." She stared at me a moment, and then suddenly she burst into tears.
"Oh, you're going to go tell Jimmy now, and Daddy Longchamp, and everyone will hate me. That's just what you want," she cried.
"Fern, that's not so. I don't want anyone to hate you," I said, but she just cried harder and harder. "I'm not going to tell them," I said finally. "I'm not."
Her crying stopped instantly.
"You're not?" she asked, grinding the tears from her eyes. "No. But it was a very naughty thing to do. Why did you do it?" I demanded.
She thought for a moment and then said, "They were playing with dolls, and Gavin wondered why the boy dolls didn't have what he had," she said. "Then Christie asked what that was, so I thought they should both know the difference. It was just educational. Like science class," she explained.
"That's not the way to teach them, Fern, and I asked you once before not to talk about those things with Christie yet. She's too young," I said firmly.
"Okay," she said. "You're really not going to tell?"
"I said I wasn't, but that doesn't mean I'm not very upset. Nothing like this must ever happen again," I emphasized. She nodded.
And then she narrowed her eyes and said, "If you tell Jimmy after saying you won't, I'll hate you forever." My mouth gaped open. The force of her threat made my breath catch in my throat. For a moment I couldn't speak.
"It's not nice to threaten, Fern," I responded, but she didn't look away. She made her eyes blank and refused to speak. My heart pounding, I turned and left the room.
Maybe it was a mistake, but I didn't say anything to Jimmy about the incident. Everyone was enjoying Daddy and Edwina so much, I didn't want to spoil the day and the evening. Our meal was wonderful. Even Philip, who I feared would be snobby and condescending to Daddy, was charming and friendly. I assumed he was doing everything he could to continue to make up for the horrible way he had behaved when Jimmy was away. He kept looking at me to see if I was pleased with him.
Before the evening ended I played the piano and sang. I saw that it brought tears to Daddy's eyes. When I was finished he got up quickly and came to me to draw me into his embrace. He bowed his head into my hair, his breath stirring it as he spoke.
"If only Momma was here to see this," he said. We both cried, and then Betty Ann talked Christie into playing the piano, too. Little Gavin looked absolutely fascinated with her. He sat unmoving, his eyes fixed on her every move. Afterward, when we all applauded, I thought he clapped his little hands harder than any of us.
Betty Ann got the twins to perform a little dance when I played for them. Everyone loved the way the golden twosome hugged—and turned each other and then clapped their hands for themselves. We all laughed.
Only Fern looked unhappy. She sat in a corner, away from everyone, a sour expression on her face unless Jimmy spoke to her or looked at her. Then she would smile widely, lovingly. Toward the end of the evening Daddy tried to talk to her, asking her questions about school, but she was very flippant and acted completely disinterested. Finally he laughed and gave up.
It was time for all the children to go to bed anyway. Betty
Ann and Philip left with the twins, promising to meet Daddy and Edwina for breakfast in the dining room in the morning. After they left, Daddy, Edwina, Jimmy and I sat in the living room talking about Fern.
"I think you two did a wonderful thing rescuing her from that terrible life and bringing her here to live with you. She's certainly got a lot of advantages," Daddy said, shaking his head. "She's lucky now, growing up in a place like this."
"It doesn't bother you that she's not going back to live with you right now, Daddy?" Jimmy asked.
"Oh, no, Jimmy. I think she's better off here, now that I see her. She's a big girl already, and—well, to tell you the truth, we're just making ends meet as it is, and we want to do as much as we can for Gavin," Daddy said.
Jimmy nodded, but when he gazed at me I saw the sadness in his eyes. I knew he was wishing Daddy had had these thoughts about him when he was Gavin's age, but that was a different time, almost a different world.
"Okay, Daddy," Jimmy said. "We'll do the best we can for Fern, and we'll keep in close touch with you."
"Oh, I know you two will do just fine by her, just fine," Daddy said. A silence dropped around us as Daddy gazed from Jimmy to me and then back to Jimmy. Jimmy and I glanced at each other. We knew what had to be going through Daddy's mind: He had known us only as his children, and now we were man and wife. He tried his best to hide it.
"Well," he said, "I guess Edwina and I should turn in, We got a big day of traveling tomorrow." He clapped his hands together and stood up. "Thank you for a wonderful dinner."
