Starting Over- Part 2
Disclaimers: See part 1; Also, I have a limited knowledge of the Boston area, so be kind.
Rating: G
The following day found Charles in the back of the family car being driven to the South end of Boston to a small apartment which he knew quite well. The driver didn't speak which gave Charles the time to think of what Charlotte O'Brien had been to him over the years.
Many, many years ago, nearly 16 years ago now, Charles had been a lad of 18. He had just been accepted to Harvard and was spending the summer at the family home on Cape Cod. Charlotte was the daughter of the grounds keeper and from the moment Charles saw her, he was besotted with the red-hair girl with hazel eyes, liberally dusted with freckles. She returned the affection and quickly the two became friends and by the Labour Day weekend, lovers. She was his first romantic and physical relationship but both knew it could never last.
That fall, just before Thanksgiving, Charlotte appeared at his dorm. She told him that she was pregnant with his child. He knew he couldn't offer her marriage nor did she ask for it. She simply wanted him to know that she was pregnant and keeping the child. He did the only thing he could think of; he offered her money to maintain both her and the child which she accepted.
He was torn. He loved Charlotte dearly but knew that his parents would never accept her, the daughter of the grounds keeper and Irish at that.
They remained in contact during the pregnancy and late one spring day, a letter arrived from Charlotte which included a picture of the most beautiful baby girl he had ever seen. Charlotte had given the baby his name, Emerson Winchester.
Every year, around the first week of May, a letter and a new picture of Emerson would arrive and it was through these pictures and letters that Charles got to know his daughter. By the time the forth letter came, it was too much for him. He got into the car and drove to the return address and Charlotte answered the door. At first she was shocked to see him but as she looked into his eyes, she saw the longing to meet his little girl.
The small family of three spent the rest of the day playing together and to the casual observer, they were the model young family. It was Charles, who that night, tucked the little girl into her bed with a story and a kiss and who stayed the night in Charlotte's arms and they made yet another child.
Charles learned of that child, another girl called Mary for his grandmother and Honoria for his sister, came into the world on a snowy February day. Another letter and picture arrived in the post and it was all Charles could do to prevent himself from getting in the car and going to his beloved and children.
He didn't see them again until 2 days before he left for Korea. This time, the girls were 12 and 8. He as introduced as a friend of their mother's but Charles could tell that Emerson saw the resemblance. They spent another day together as a family and one last night as lovers before he left for war.
Charles was forced to live through the torture of no news from his first love for three years. It wasn't lack of interest which made him so foul when Hunnicutt bragged about little Erin but rather the sheer frustration of never being able to brag of his own sweet girls. With each of Erin's milestones, he thought of those he lacked with his own children.
When he contracted the mumps, it wasn't the thought of never having anymore children that had him so unnerved but rather the idea of never having any that he would get to see grow up.
The car stopped in front of the familiar brownstone apartment building. He told the driver to park, that he would be a while. Charles walked silently up the steps to the second floor apartment. Only the house keeper, Mrs. Collins, knew of this place. She had found a picture of Emerson and because of the clear resemblance, he confided in ther, asking her to watch over them while he was away. He was greatful fir that and it was the only that kept him sane without the letters and pictures.
He knocked on the door and a young girl with his eyes and feathery curls answered the door.
"Hello," she said with tears in her eyes, "you're too late. She died yesterday."