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"Pa…. Pa?" Elan muttered.
"Did you hear that. I knew he'd get it." Charlie chuckled.
Willa smiled. In that moment, she knew she'd be happy here for the rest of her life. Charlie and Cora both loved Elan, and that was so important to her.
"No one disturbed the man's grave?" Willa asked.
"Nope, not a soul." Clay told her with a smile.
"That is good to know." She sighed. "Did you fix it like I said?"
"Yes, we did."
Tomorrow the preacher would be here, and the doc and it would be a glorious day. The girls had their heads together all day, about what they would wear, and they'd been cooking a lot too.
After they ate, Charlie and Clay went out to get the deed done.
Something about digging graves made both men rather somber.
It took a while to dig three graves but when they had buried them, Charlie insisted on saying a few words over them. It gave Clay a bit of peace. Clay stared off into the distance a few moments later, and Charlie knew that Clay was coming to terms with digging his own mother up and finding her in that condition. It was a hard thing to do and Charlie wasn't comfortable with it himself.
That evening they all gathered on the porch, sipping tea and talking about things.
"Well Charlie, you ready to give up your freedom again?" Cora asked with a knowing smile.
He reached for her hand, kissed it and smiled. "I sure am. Might even say I'm anxious."
"And you Clay," Cora smiled at him.
"I'm looking forward to it. I'm gonna be a husband and a father." Clay told them with a happy smile. "I couldn't be happier."
Cora looked at Charlie and then she picked Elan up off the porch where he'd been playing with a wooden spoon. "I guess that makes us officially grandparents then, Charlie."
Charlie laughed, "It sure does!"
Elan gurgled.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The next morning everyone was up early. The women put the coffee on and went to bathe in the creek.
The men were busy shaving and Charlie put Elan on the floor beside him while he shaved.
Clay laid his clothes out on the bed and brushed his suit, so it looked nice.
They poured themselves a cup of coffee and put Elan in his highchair. Clay gave Elan one of his toys and he banged it on the tray.
"Well son, this is gonna be a mighty nice day, isn't it?" Charlie got up from the table and glanced out the kitchen window.
"One I sure won't forget." Clay smiled.
"We'll have a lot of good years son." Charlie glanced at him.
"Yes sir, I believe we will." Clay stared at his father.
He hadn't seen his dad this happy in a long time and it made him proud. Charlie had already started acting younger since he proposed to Cora. Funny, how a little thing like love could do that to a man, he mused. He was so excited himself but tried to contain it. Willa would finally be his, and they would make a big and happy family, he was sure of it.
They could hear the girls giggling all the way back from the pond. They weren't dressed in their fancy clothes yet and they skipped and laughed as they came into the house.
