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"Okay, open your eyes!"
Bella felt the soft fabric of the blindfold removed from her eyes and she obediently opened them. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped in surprise.
Mortimer placed his hand on her shoulder, his eyes searching her face. "Do you like it?"
"Oh, Mortimer…I love it!"
The two had spent the better part of the morning driving, Bella sitting in the passenger seat with a blindfold on. Now, they stood in front of a small, two-story, gray, brick house.
Mortimer smiled. "Would you like a tour of our new home?" Bella nodded enthusiastically and grabbed his hand.
Together they crossed the front lawn and stepped onto the soft, off-white stone porch. They stopped in front of the elegant wood door that had an oval-shaped, frosted window pane in the middle of it. Here Mortimer produced a gold key with a flourish and unlocked the front door. Bella almost squealed with delight at the interior.
Beautiful, printed blue wallpaper with black wainscoting lined the entryway walls; the wooden floor tile was of a remarkable, elegant design. Mortimer led her through an archway to what she assumed was supposed to be the kitchen. It had sunny yellow walls with blue tile on the floor. He opened a side door that led to the green and yellow bathroom that connected to the master bedroom, but when Bella reached for the handle of another door, Mortimer stopped her. "I want to show you that part last."
He then led her back to the front of the house and through another door. "This is to be our bedroom," he explained. Bella smiled, liking the décor of tans, greens, and blues.
Next he led her up the stairs where a single room was decorated with the same wallpaper as the entry, only with cream-colored carpet on the floor. "I know the house is small but—"
"But I love it," Bella interrupted with a smile.
Mortimer looked relieved as he smiled back. "You haven't even seen the best part."
After re-entering the kitchen, Mortimer grabbed Bella's hand. "I hope you like it."
"Oh, Morty, stop being so nervous. I love this house! I love everything about it. This is the best birthday present I have ever received."
Mortimer nodded seriously and opened the door Bella had previously not been allowed to. She was amazed at what she saw.
Beyond the small patio was a walkway that led directly into some smart, green hedges. These hedges were surrounding a group of headstones. "But Mortimer…who are they?"
"Some old family. Mostly extended relations from my father's side. But there is more to the surprise. Come."
Bella followed her husband through the graveyard, stopping in front of two headstones that stood side by side. Bella sunk to her knees in front of the two stones, gently running her hands over the names engraved on them.
"Grandma and Grandpa."
"Yes, Bella. You are a part of my family now, and I wanted this to reflect that. There may be relatives of mine laying in this graveyard, but now there are some of yours, too."
Bella's eyes watered. "Oh, Mortimer."
"My Bella, my love, my life," he knelt down next to her. "Are you happy?"
"I don't think I could ever be happier."
BGBGBGBGBG
Bella Goth rubbed her expanding belly and walked up the stairs, using the railing for support. She stopped at the top and surveyed the room. For the past year she had kept the room empty, both she and Mortimer unsure of what to use the upstairs space for. Now they both had the perfect idea.
The delivery men had just left after bringing in the new furniture, and the nursery looked almost complete. There was just one, tiny thing missing.
"Bella? Darling?"
"I'm upstairs, Morty," Bella called.
Mortimer joined his wife and kissed her on the cheek. "What are you doing up here?"
Bella sighed contently and rubbed her stomach, looking around the room. "Just trying to picture it."
"Picture what?"
"Being a mother."
Mortimer smiled at his young wife. "You are going to be a perfect mother, Bella. I'm sure of it."
Bella laughed and hugged her husband, her swelling belly preventing her from fully wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You're so sweet to me. What did I ever do to deserve you?"
Mortimer bent and kissed his wife. "Oh, sweet Bella. You had only to be unwittingly perfect."
BGBGBGBGBG
Bella awoke from a dreamless sleep to the sound of a baby wailing. "Oh…Morty?" In her groggy state she turned over and weakly shook her snoring husband. "Morty, wake up. The baby's crying."
Not opening his eyes, her husband mumbled some unintelligible words and turned away from her. Moments later he began snoring again.
Bella sighed and threw the covers off her. She swung her legs to the side of the bed and began to rub her tired eyes. Cassandra continued to wail. After trying, and failing, to find her slippers in the dark bedroom, Bella moved slowly through the house and up the stairs to the nursery.
She left the lights out and made her way over to the bassinet in the dark. She leaned over and lifted the two-month old into her arms. "Shhh, Cassie, shhh," she soothed. Bella moved the small girl so that the baby rested on her shoulder, and she patted Cassandra's small back. "It's alright, honey, Mommy's here."
Cassandra began to calm down, her wails turning into whimpers before finally she just let out the occasional hiccup. Bella walked about the nursery and sung soft lullabies in the baby's ear, bouncing her lightly in her arms if it seemed Cassie was about to start crying again.
Bella sighed and looked out the window into the yard below where a few ghosts were moving about, mostly minding their own business. Uncle and Auntie (Mortimer's great-uncle Samuel and his wife Olivia) were suspiciously absent from the ghostly gathering. Bella could only assume they were in the house somewhere, trying to execute their latest scare tactic.
Bella shifted so that she could see her daughter's face. The small, round face looked very peaceful as the babe slept. Bella kissed the smooth skin of Cassie's forehead and placed the baby gently back into the bassinet. After making sure she was tucked in tightly under her covers, Bella crept silently back down the stairs and into her bedroom.
Mortimer didn't stir as she silently opened the side door and went out onto the back patio. After moving in, the couple had planted a handful of shrubs and flower beds around their wide expanse of property, but what Bella really loved was the small fountain they had installed. She walked over to it now, the rushing water soothing. She ran her hand under the cool spray of water and sighed.
This was her life now. A wife, a mother, a woman who stayed home…all alone…all day. She felt so much older than she was. She had turned twenty-six a few months ago. But, she didn't regret her choices. She loved her home, her daughter, her husband. She loved making dinner and setting the table, her husband coming home and kissing her on the cheek, always with a bouquet of flowers in hand. She was lucky, she knew, to have the life she did. And yet…