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He nodded. “I can’t expect you to forget where you came from just because you’re here with me now. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you weren’t allowed to miss them.”
Tears sprang to her eyes. He finally seemed to understand. Finally. He may never understand about his mother, but that was all right. She could deal with a persnickety mother-in-law, as long as she had a happy marriage otherwise. “Thank you.”
Taking the kitten back from him, she cradled it close to her, keeping her eyes averted. She didn’t want him to know she was crying. It would be hard to explain.
Cuddling the kitten the entire way home, she thought about what to name the beautiful little kitten. Finally, she came up with a name that seemed to fit the sweet creature. “I’m going to call her Felicity. Because she makes me happy.”
“That’s a perfect name for her.” Leonard truly didn’t care about the kitten’s name, and he was still unsure about having her in the house, but she made Constance so happy, and that was important to him.
Once they were in the house, she set a shallow crate out for the kitten to do her business in, and pulled in some dirt from the backyard, until they could find some sand. Then she found two small bowls in the kitchen, filling one with water, and the other with meat.
The kitten had no trouble knowing what to do with those things, and she hurried to the water bowl, slurping at the liquid, and falling face first into the water, which made Constance giggle.
“I’ll have to make her a pillow to use for a bed.”
Leonard shook his head. “They just use straw in a barn.”
“But she’s not a barn cat. She’s a little princess.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you’re happy with your gift.”
“I am, but not just because of the kitten.” She walked into the parlor and sat on the sofa, waiting for him to join her. “The kitten is symbolic.”
“How is a kitten symbolic?” he asked, his brows drawn together.
“You’ve told me over and over that I should forget about my family because I have yours here. When you gave me the kitten, you said that it was to help me with my loneliness for my family. I was starting to feel as if you didn’t care about my feelings at all.”
Leonard frowned. “I do care about your feelings.”
“I know that now. I was thinking about buying a train ticket back to my family, because I wasn’t sure I could live with a man who discounted my feelings so quickly, even though I love him.”
“Wait…You love me?” Leonard asked, a smile spreading slowly across his face.
“Of course I love you! Do you think I’d have put up with you for this long if I didn’t?”
He chuckled. “I guess I’m not perfect…”
“No one is.” She sighed. “I can easily deal with how your mother treats me, as long as I know I have your love!”
“I’ve seen Ma with you. She treats you just like she does her other daughters-in-law. She loves you!”
Constance shrugged, not willing to argue about it when she felt like she’d just won a huge victory. “If you say so.”
“I love you, Constance,” Leonard said softly. “I know you think my brothers’ have more romantic stories about how they got together with their wives than we do, but I think ours is special. You are the woman I imagined when I wrote that letter asking for a bride, and I’ve been happy with you since the moment you arrived.”
She frowned at him. “But you didn’tchooseme.”
“Perhaps not, but I choose to keep you and to love you. You are the woman I want beside me every day of my life.”
She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down for a kiss. “And I choose to love you every day.”
He sighed happily.
Epilogue
Constance struggled into a sitting position on her bed, Abigail and Caroline at her side. “He’s beautiful,” Abigail whispered.
Constance looked down at the baby in her arms, trying to fathom how this little miracle of life could possibly be hers. “The most beautiful baby in the world,” she said softly.
