AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I hope everyone plans to stay. I will have Mrs. Stone prepare rooms.”
“Already done,” Charles grinned. “They have moved everything into the rooms.”
“My goodness! It seems that I slept a lot longer than I thought, if you were all able to get that done this morning,” she laughed. “This is perfect! I am thrilled that you are all here. We have gifts for everyone. They are arranged in the...”
“Ahem,” Charles cleared his throat and pointed towards the decorated table piled high with gifts. It looked like a much larger mound than she remembered.
“I hope those are all for the children,” she gently chided.
“We have gifts,” Alice spoke up.
“As do we,” Charlotte added.
“There are gifts for everyone,” he chuckled. “It is our first Christmas as husband and wife, and Henry’s first Christmas with us as a family. We all wanted to make sure it was perfect for you.”
Agatha stood there for a moment, feeling a little overwhelmed, before walking over to niece and hugging her. “I do not know what to say, except that I love you all,” she choked out.
“Merry Chrwithsmas!” Henry cried. He had been practicing this for days, it seemed. It was perfect.
Before she could say another word, a knock sounded at the door. Walters opened it and singing started.
“Lady Bentley, you have company awaiting you on the front door,” he said, passing out the pelisses and coats.
As her family emerged through the front door, singing erupted with the sweetest rendition of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” she could remember hearing. Under the sprinkling of soft snowflakes, Mr. Hanson, his wife, and the orphanage children stood dressed in their holiday finery and sang each verse of the song.
When the song ended, Charles herded everyone into the room. “Come! Cook has prepared a special Christmas breakfast for all of us. I fear that she will come and get us if I do not send you her way.”
As the group moved towards the dining room, Charles pulled his wife aside. “Thank you for this life, Agatha,” he said, pointing up at the mistletoe ball above him.
“Thank you, Charles, for believing in me when no one else even liked me,” she said.
“Shush! That was someone else,” he sighed, covering her lips with his. “I love you, Agatha.”
“I love you, my dearest husband. I never thought I would have this... not ever! Thank you.”
“I am glad you are wearing your locket. It makes my gift easy to give you. Go ahead, open it,” he encouraged.
Unable to hold back her excitement, she opened her locket and found a picture of the three of them. He had had it crafted in oils when they had had their picture made a month ago. “I love it. I cannot believe you did all of this without my knowledge. But I am happy you did. This is the best Christmas I can ever remember. I have everything.” She pulled him close and kissed him.
“We deserve happiness, Agatha. You are a wonderful mother to Henry and everything I could ever want in a wife.”
A loud meow sounded as Pretty sauntered past them on her way to the kitchen, followed by her three kittens, all walking single file. Laughter erupted from the two of them. “It seems that Pretty is also a wonderful mother. She takes after you,” he added, smiling.
Unable to contain her tears of joy, Agatha dabbed furiously at the corners of her eyes. It had been a wonderful year since her brother’s visit, those many months ago. She missed him and wished she could thank him and tell him how much she loved him, one more time.
As if in answer, a bell tolled in the background. Glancing around, she realized it rang for her alone, which made her smile. “Thank you, Thomas. I love you,” she mouthed. Her brother had given her the very best gift of all—the life she had always wanted.
