"Have a good day, love." Bella smiled, kissing her husband on the cheek and pausing to wipe a faint smudge of her lipstick from the area lest he be ridiculed at work for it.
"You too." He smiled back, shrugging his coat on and returning the kiss before opening the door and leaving for work.
This was Bella's routine every morning, and she still loved it many months into their marriage. There was a routine to life, she was comfortable and happy and, for the most part, still lived her own life. There were no obligations she had to fulfil just to keep a roof over her head, and no one she had to fake a smile with. She had a husband whom she loved and a comfortable life that allowed her to pursue her own interests and passions. For example, Bella had time to sit and sew up Bennet's clothes, which she enjoyed more than he could ever understand. Rarely did she have the time at the brothel to sit and play seamstress.
There were still wifely things she did, like cooking and cleaning. But she did them because she loved Bennet and he provided a life that allowed her to stay at home and do those things. He worked hard for them both and she was happy to do those things for him.
Tonight, she was planning to cook him something special as he'd booked he weekend free for them to have some time together. A celebratory meal for their little weekend holiday-at-home seemed like a perfect idea and after she'd washed the dishes up from breakfast, Bella dressed and headed out to the local butchers to see what cuts of pork he had.
As she stepped out into the street and turned left, Bella noticed a small group of children huddled against a wall, their backs to the street. She didn't like to make blanket assumptions, but gangs of young boys never really bode well for whoever they were ganging up on. Bennet had told her about the gang run by a Liverpudlian who'd tattooed them and mad them do his bidding. The thought of children running around and killing was awful, even to a woman like Bella who'd lived in London for many years.
"Oi, clear off!" a shopkeeper stomped out from a doorway next to them, waving his hands. The kids laughed and ran, one of them dropping something. The shop owner looking down at the box they'd left behind and huffed, before picking it up. Meanwhile, thinking it a stolen item from a delivery box,Bella had sped up her walk enough to approach the item dropped by the boys, only to find it was not an item. Instead, she picked up a small tortoiseshell kitten that cried out and wiggled its little paws around as she held it. The box must've been full of abandoned kittens, hence the shop-owner's sigh. It was regular for people to leave unwanted animals in the street, after all.
"Wait! They dropped one." She called out to the man in the shop doorway who paused and held the box out or her to put it in. "What are you going to do with them?" she asked, gently placing the kitten in with its siblings. Maybe he had room for them or would be giving them to a friend.
"Drowning's a quick enough death. Better than leavin' them out here to starve or get torn up by dogs." The man said, turning to head back into the shop. Bella's stomach did a flip, and that strong impulsive nature that'd saved her skin more than a few times in life kicked in to now save the skin of other living creatures instead.
"No, don't. I'll take them." She held her gloved hands out for the box, and the shopkeeper snorted as he looked her up and down.
"You'll be wanting rid of them once they grow up and start shitting everywhere."
"At least they'll have had a chance to grow up. Let me have them." She did not plead like a shy little girl, but instead demanded with such a tone that the man thought she might snatch the box from him. With a shrug he handed it over, and Bella held the light, damp cardboard box with both her hands, making sure the curious little creatures didn't try to climb over the sides. "Thank you." She added with just as much intimidating strength, turning and marching on her way to the butchers.
There was an offer on steak, which seemed like an ideal meat for dinner tonight since it was a celebration. She managed to get a smaller and larger cut for her and Bennet respectively (as she was not a big eater), and then managed to get plenty of meat scraps for pennies and a few fresh chicken hearts for the kittens, who were mewing in a loud chorus and attracting plenty of attention in the shop. With her purchases wrapped and held in a bag, Bella returned straight home to get the house cleaned and dinner prepared. Then she'd work at trying to feed the little creatures. Funnily enough, Bennet had mentioned that the almost-full bottle of milk they had needed to be used up very soon or else it would go out of date. That'd make an ideal feed for the kittens if they were too young for meat.
When Bennet arrived home not long after five (which was a pleasant surprise), he found the living room and kitchen surprisingly empty. Before he could call out for Bella, he heard a shuffling in the bedroom before she came rushing through.
"Evening! Sorry, I was sorting some clothes. Dinner will be ready in about half an hour, I didn't want to cook the meat until you were home."
"That's fine." He smiled, hooking an arm around her waist and pulling her into a hug, which Bella reciprocated before planting a light kiss on his lips.
"Sit down, I'll get you a drink while everything is cooking." She smiled, and Bennet eased himself down at the small table. His feet ached as usual, and he was looking forward to sleeping late into the morning tomorrow instead of being up on them at dawn. Bella opened a bottle of stout and placed it on the table, lighting the stove to cook their steaks as vegetables boiled gently in pots on the other hobs. With her back to him, Bella pursed her lips and figured she'd best ask this now before the kittens made a noise or he went into the bedroom.
"What did you get up to today then?" he asked before she could speak, inadvertently giving Bella the perfect opportunity to admit to her earlier impulsive decision.
"Not much outside, really. Just went and got the meat. I finally managed to polish all the brass in the cabinet too…and well…" she looked over her shoulder, lips pursed again for a moment. "I found some kittens."
"You found kittens?" Bennet wasn't sure what her tone was evident of. She could have found them dead or dying and felt awful over it, or just felt bad about leaving them. But there was a colour in her face that led Bennet to the conclusion that it was him she was worried about, not some poor kittens she'd left in the street.
"Some boys were messing with them, and then a bloke said he was going to drown them. I couldn't let him drown some poor little baby animals, they've done nothing to deserve it! They get tortured by little street urchins and then drowned to death – it's not right."
"Calm down, Bella!" he chuckled, holding a hand up in a 'stop' signal. "So where are they?"
"In the bedroom...I'm sorry, I just couldn't bear the thought of them being killed, Bennet."
"It's fine love." He stood, taking a swig from the stout bottle before walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'd be a fool to see your good nature anything but a blessing. You know we can't keep them of course?" he dipped his head, eyebrows raised in a comforting but paternally stern manner.
"I know, but I supposed if I feed them and care for them until they're a little older, I could find homes for them all. Plenty of people have rat problems, after all."
"That sounds like a smart plan." Bennet smiled again and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze; a silent gesture that Bella had come to understand as a very sincere one from a man who did not always voice his emotions. Bella almost grinned as he went back to the table and sat down.
"I promise the steak is only for us though." She teased, placing the cuts of meat in a now heated pan.
"How kind of you Bella." Bennet shot her a wink, sitting back and relaxing. He could see the relief in his wife's face and it cheered him up to know she was happy. "I was thinking we might like to go out to the music hall tomorrow, though. Will they be alright left alone?"
"Oh you are too sweet! I think that would be lovely." Her smile grew wider at the thought; it'd been so long since they've had an evening together to go out and enjoy themselves. "And oh…I imagine so. I'll close them into one room and keep them wrapped up."
"Then tomorrow I shall take you out to a show." He concluded, standing again to lend a hand in help moving one of the pots of vegetables that had finished cooking.