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“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m strong as an ox. Just pray that George doesn’t lose his mind when I tell him my news.”
“He won’t. He’s always been excited at the idea of each new child. I can’t imagine him being upset.”
“He was always in love with his wife for each new child,” Jessica reminded the older woman.
Mary Sue hugged her. “I’m heading out. I’ll be by tomorrow, and you can tell me how it went.”
Jessica returned to doing the last few things to prepare for supper, including getting the pie from the oven. Her pies were never quite as pretty as her mother’s, but they always tasted better. She’d trade pretty for better taste any day.
On a whim, she mixed some brown sugar with melted butter to make a caramel sauce to go over the pie. She would have liked ice cream with it as well, but she’d only had ice cream a few times in her life, and she had no idea how to make it.
The children came inside with George, each of them going to wash their hands, and George carrying Sally to wash hers. He laughed as she splashed water all over the front of him, obviously in a fine mood for a change.
Once everything was on the table, George frowned. “I’ve never seen this mixture of food.”
“It’s something my mother used to make all the time.” She cut open her own potato, and poured a helping of the roast beef and gravy over the top, putting some carrots on the side. “There.” She did the same for Joe’s plate, and let the older children fix their own. As usual, she shared her meal with Sally.
George looked skeptical, but he spooned the roast beef over his own potatoes, and then tried a bite. “Oh, this is delicious.”
Jessica nodded. “It’s one of my favorite meals.”
“I can see why.”
While they ate, the children talked about their day at school, while George laughed with them at the funny stories. Jessica was surprised to see George so happy, but she was thankful that he was in this sort of mood when she needed to give him her news.
Once the children were in bed, Jessica returned to the parlor where George was again reading the farmer’s almanac. “I need to talk to you about something,” she said softly.
“It’s going to be a harsh winter according to the almanac,” he said.
“We’ll manage.” She took a deep breath. “I haven’t been feeling well lately. I saw Mrs. Daugherty today, and I’m expecting.”
His eyes widened for a moment, and his face fell. “Are you certain?”
She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes. She so desperately wanted him to be happy about the baby and in love with the baby’s mother. No matter how he’d treated her in the past six weeks, she fell a little more in love with him daily. She didn’t know what that said about her, and she didn’t want to.
George took a deep breath and let it out. “Well, I guess we’ll have a baby then, won’t we?” He didn’t look altogether pleased with the news, but he wasn’t yelling at her either.
“I wish we wouldn’t have two in diapers at the same time, but there doesn’t seem to be anything to be done about it,” Jessica said. “I’m sorry this happened.”
“There’s no blame for it. We’ll just manage.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll dig the cradle out of the barn in case you want to paint it.”
“I’d appreciate that.” She had no idea whether or not she wanted to paint the cradle, but it was always nice to have options. “I’ll order some flannel for diapers the next time I go to the store.”
“That’s a good idea. It’s not like we won’t need them.” George had no idea what to say to Jessica. He wasn’t unhappy about a new baby but wasn’t over the moon either. He’d been unfaithful to Heather with his new wife, and he still regretted it, especially as he fell further and further under her spell as the days went by. “Do you need help around the house? How sick are you?”
She shrugged. “Changing diapers is the hardest thing for me. I’m vomiting a lot, but I think I’ll be fine on my own. Besides, Mary Sue comes by most days to at least free me up to do whatever needs to be done in the afternoons. It’s nice to throw myself into a project and know she’ll care for the children if they wake early.”
He nodded. “I’m glad she does that then.”
“Me too.” Jessica wanted to throw herself into his arms and sob her heart out, but he’d never once indicated that he was willing to accept any type of display of emotion from her. Instead, she sat on the sofa, trying to blink back the tears.
When nothing else had been said five minutes later, she mumbled. “I’m turning in. See you in the morning.” She got up and half ran up the stairs to the sanctity of the bathroom where she wept.
As she lay abed trying to sleep, her mind went back to the fantasies she’d had of him opening his arms to her at the train station and immediately knowing she was the woman he needed in his life.
Instead, she told him she was expecting, and all he said was they’d deal with it. What kind of man married a woman, made love with her only one time, and showed no emotion toward her whatsoever?
A man who is still in love with his late wife,a tiny voice responded.A man who has no desire to have you in his life at all other than for you to cook, clean, and mind the children. Wake up and smell the coffee. It’s time you grew up and give up on your childish dreams of having your husband fall in love with you. It’s not going to happen.
