Here we go!

I have two or three more chapter before I start jumping time and filling in some gaps of where and how Sarah got to where she is as she writing this.

Thank you, everyone, for all the reviews and follows you really are the highlights of my day. I enjoy reading them.

This chapter is a little lighter in tone, but still holds a pivotal moment for them and this story. All of you waiting for some smut will have to wait for a couple more chapters. It is coming, I assure you but it's taking it time getting there.

Thank you to my amazing beta, and have a wonderful time going to go see Labyrinth this weekend in theatre. I am jealous as Canada did not get the special viewing this time!

Anywho! On to the chapter!

Chapter 21

I was nervous, to say the least, as I smoothed my hair and dress in the mirror. I had brushed out my curls, letting them fall into loose waves. On my crown, I pinned and rolled up two of three curls into fashionable rolls. After one too many occasions, where Emmeline had gotten her tiny hands around my long hair, I took the shears to my hair, cutting it to my shoulders one night as Jareth watched from the doorway. It was still long enough to style into various styles, but short enough to not get caught by Emmeline's tiny hands. While my hair was straight, I always enjoyed that it held a curl with no problem. Now, with more time in the mornings, and Emmeline sleeping the majority of the night, I had time to style it.

I spritzed myself with perfume before I looked back at the clock on the wall and headed downstairs. The last time I had seen the Signor it was under completely different pretences. I went from being a 'family relative' to being the Lady of the house. I prayed that he was enough of a gentleman to not bring up the subject of how I became Lady of the house. Nor did I know if it was a subject I could even discuss with anyone besides Jareth. Everyone I'd met just ignored our past. I wasn't sure how the Signor would react to the changes of the household. Smoothing my hair once more, I stepped out onto the veranda. Walking to Jareth, who had Emmeline outside with him, I tucked my hand into his and gave him a shaky smile.

I watched as the truck pulled into the tall gates before I turned my head to the basket that Emmeline was in. She was intently sucking on her fist. She looked up at me with her large, wide eyes as I reached to take her fist out of her mouth. She would suck it until a blister formed, if I let her. Both Emmeline and I were wearing shades of pink. Hers a light pink with smocking, while I was wearing a darker, dusty rose with short sleeves and a flared skirt. I picked her up and held her, one hand in my own, trying to distract her so she would forget about sucking her hand raw. It worked for a few minutes before she realized I was keeping it from her. She let out an angry scream as the Signor walked up the stairs of the veranda.

"Jareth," he greeted my husband with a firm handshake and a rather crooked smile my way.

"Lady Lutin," he gave me a shallow bow.

"Signor," I nodded my head at him as I gave up and let Emmeline have her hand back so she would stop shrieking angrily in my ear. I knew from that moment that any question of my new status would not be an issue. "May I introduce you to Miss Emmeline?" I smiled at him and turned so he could see her more clearly as she rested on my shoulder.

"She is a beautiful child. How old is she now?" he asked sincerely, though I could see him mentally count in his head. He knew more than he let on, it seemed, but merely smiled and traced over her chubby cheek.

"She turned three months on August third," I answered him nervously. "Now, I placed you on the lower level. Emmeline doesn't always sleep well, and I don't wish to disturb your rest," I told him as I led him and Jareth into the house. The young boy, Seamus, whom we hired over the summer, followed us, carrying the Signor's two bags.

"She's a little doll," Signor commented as she looked at him from her spot on my shoulder. "I am sure I will be fine with whatever noise she makes."

I laughed out loud. "Don't say that, she'll hear you and take it as a challenge." I stopped at the door. "I hope you will be comfortable. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask." I smiled at him and turned to Jareth, who was following us. "I will leave you gentlemen to talk. I have a few things in the nursery to take care of."

"Of course. I will let you know if we go survey the land and see if you wish to come along," Jareth told me as he kissed the downy hair of Emmeline's head and chastely kissed my lips. Something I was still not totally used to as I blushed and stammered a quick goodbye to both of them.

I spent the rest of afternoon in the nursery, going through the drawers of clothing that Emmeline had already grown out of, and I brought out the larger cloth diapers as the others were getting too snug. She'd developed the most delectable pot belly as she'd grown over the weeks, and I would often blow bubbles on it as I dressed her in the mornings and after her baths. She was still getting used to baths in the shallow tub that sat in her room.

The first time, both Jareth and I sat in front of it, trying to hold and wash her at the same time. She was like a slippery fish as she flailed her limbs about, screaming until we lifted her from the water. She warmed to them slowly over the passing weeks, getting to the point where she contentedly rested in the warm water, looking at us with large eyes. Her eyes were a mystery. They were constantly changing, sometimes leaning more blue or green, depending on the day.

Her personality was beginning to show, which delighted Jareth, who swore she would be a handful. Even though she reached ten pounds in weight, she still woke us up once a night to feed. Sometimes, she refused to go back to bed after we changed and burped her. Those times we were learning to leave her in her room as she babbled to herself. If she cried, we let her know that we were there for her after making sure nothing was actually bothering her. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it seemed to work her into a schedule. I would never let her cry on end. I wasn't cruel, but every mother I spoke to told me that letting a child learn how to console themselves was part of life.

The conversation was light and interesting as we sat around the round dining room table. Tales of childhood mischief and planning for the next day were the chosen topics. I found it strange that the Signor never spoke about his own life, and when he did, he was careful with names. I found myself watching him as I drank my glass of white wine mixed with ginger soda. I found it strange that, a year ago, he offered his help to me.

The hour grew late, and as we sat in the sitting room playing card games, we heard an angry cry come from above the stairs. I looked at the time on the wall before excusing myself, knowing I checked. I made my way to the nursery where one of the maids was already checking in on her. "I thought I left the nightlight on?" I asked the maid, looking at the turning carousel that beamed images on the wall around her room.

"It must have shut off," she shrugged. "I only stepped out to go the washroom," she explained as she tried to fix the lamp, to no avail.

I looked at her with a look of disbelief and picked up my crying child. "It's not your fault. I'll have someone look at it tomorrow," I sighed when I realized I was being unfair towards her. "Go home to your husband," I told her, looking at the time. She was no older than me, and already married. Her sweetheart had married her shortly before her sixteenth birthday. A lot of girls did that, a way to dodge the Academy in a way. The loophole didn't last, as the elders caught onto and amended the legal age to seventeen for females to marry, while our men had to be twenty to take a bride. This way they had less of a chance of losing the girls who filled the Academy.

I spent the next hours trying to get Emmeline to sleep. She refused to nurse and clung to me. It wasn't until Jareth came to grant me a few moments of peace to use the bathroom and shower that I had a moment to myself. I was exhausted as I fell onto the bed and he passed her to me, crawling in beside me. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she quieted down. Nuzzling her head into my chest, I sighed and moved the nightshirt over for her and let her nurse herself to sleep.

The next day, we all went walking through the orchards. The last of the harvesting trees were only beginning to be ready for picking. I carried Emmeline in her sling as she remained grumpy and red-faced with drool running down her face. Teething is what one of the infant books told me as I looked up her symptoms that morning. She still refused to use a soother, more content on sucking on her hand more than anything.

"Ahh, the adventures of teething," the Signor slowed to walk beside me as we headed back towards the house. I had instructed the cook to make a large pitcher of lemonade and iced tea for us. The heat was becoming unbearable, and I was looking forward to the cool shade of the veranda.

"So it seems," I nodded my head. "I hope she didn't disturb you too much last night," I apologized to him.

"It was nothing. I have been through those nights." He smiled at me before continuing to explain,

"I have a son and two daughters." He hummed as he thought of them. "Lucan is turning thirteen, and Elara and Delia are almost eight."

"Twins?" I asked him as I sat down in a wicker chair. I tasked myself with taking Emmeline out of the sling and placing her in the basket with a canopy that kept the sun from her. Jareth bent down and kissed my hair, excusing himself to record a few things in the study before joining us.

"Mixed or one or the other?" I asked him, motioning to the pitchers.

"More tea than lemon, thank you," he replied, before continuing on. "Twins, yes," he nodded his head and pulled out his wallet, fishing out a photograph. Passing it over to me, I smiled at the picture of twin girls with their dark hair much like my own Emmeline. The more I studied the photo, the more of an eerie feeling I got from looking at it. "They aren't identical, but Elara is on the right, and Delia is on the left."

I nodded my head as he explained to me, looking once more at the photo. I pushed back the peculiar feeling with a shake of the head. Surely, I was overthinking it. Was it nothing more than a child looking like another child?

He passed me another photograph. This one of a boy with short hair that stuck up hazardously. While the girls looked a fair amount like him, that boy was the complete opposite. Fair as the sun as his sisters were dark. He had a tongue sticking out while making a face at the camera. I studied the photograph closely, noticing a lady with her back turned to the camera in the corner.

"Is that your wife in the background?" I asked him curiously.

"Yes, Celina. She doesn't enjoy having her photograph taken," he explained as I looked back towards the twins.

It clung to the depths of my mind as I went about my day. The photo stuck on repeat as I held up one of Emmeline. I was crazy to believe such a thing! The photograph already fading from my own mind as I tried to compare the two from memory. There was no way a possibility, surely. Jareth would have suspected something, would he have not?

Still, as I brushed out my hair, I watched Jareth undress in the mirror. "The Signor is an interesting man," I pondered out loud. "How did you meet one another?" I asked him, which caused him to turn around and look at me in the mirror. His shirt was already off and I could see the ripples of his muscles on his stomach. My hairbrush stopped midway as I watched him from my mirror.

"He found me," he responded as he pushed his trousers from his hips. He stood there in his drawers for a moment before he stepped out of them and placed them on the chair. "It was a few years ago. His wife enjoys fruit, but they are rare while living in the southern-sphere. She is from near our borders. He gets enough so she can make preserves to last throughout the winter and spring."

"Why doesn't she visit with him?" I asked him curiously. Things were not adding up in my mind about the Signor.

"I extended the offer early on, but Celina doesn't enjoy travelling. She usually stays to watch over the ranch and the children. I am sure if you ask about them, he will tell you about everyone," he said as he crawled into the bed and opened his book. He read for a moment before looking up with a worried expression. "Where's Emmeline?" he asked, looking around the room like he had momentarily forgotten about her.

I laughed. "She is out like a light for now, though I am sure she will be up later at some point," I told him as I shed the robe that covered my silky long nightgown and moved to join him in the large bed. It felt different being in here with him with company in the house. No crying baby, just silence in the house. It felt like before, that night when the Signor had last visited.

Jareth must have caught the strange look that crossed my face as I went to slide my body onto the bed. "Sarah," his voice echoed like waves in my mind, crashing into me as I took a deep breath and sat down gently on the bed. "Talk to me?" He gently guided me as my mind went into overdrive. He crawled closer, his palm rubbing gently down my back.

"The last time he was here," I started, my voice low with a haunting that still plagued me. Some days I wasn't sure if I could move past those nights. Happy as I was, it only took a thought or words to make me relive those moments. "I was so angry that he was here. The charade the whole bloody weekend. Lord, help me, what he thinks what was going on back then," I confessed to him, and my own worries about my reputation.

"He understands our world to an extent. I explained to him before he came here that things had changed, that I had remarried," he replied, his hand still rubbing my back. "As for the other part of that weekend, maybe I can allow you a better memory?" he asked simply as I turned to look at him. Unsure of what he had in mind, I stared at him with wide eyes. "Come here," he nudged me and brought us back onto the pillows.

He cupped the side of my face with one of his large palms. "I'm going to kiss you, Sarah," he whispered, his thumb running over my bottom lip as his eyes bored into mine. "I won't go any further," he murmured as he kissed the edge of my jawline. "Just let me kiss you."

I nodded my head as I breathed shallowly in my chest. His lips were soft, yet firm, as he planted his on mine. Adjusting the pressure, he moved them softly until I was brave enough to kiss him back. My inexperience only made my fumbling hands unable to choose a spot to hold on to, switching from at my side, to his arms, to his chest, and back to his arms.

He chuckled deep in his chest. "Stop thinking so much," his voice husky against my lips before kissing them again, this time catching my bottom lip and sucking on it long enough for me to catch my breath. It was intoxicating as his scent filled my senses. His breath tasted like cardamom and spices from his toothpaste. It tingled on my tongue as I licked my lips when he pulled away. My cheeks flushed pink, knowing my response was juvenile at best.

"Hmm," he hummed softly, his hand gripping my waist through the thin material. This time I took the chance. Capturing his lips, I kissed him boldly for a moment before I wavered, unsure of what to do next. He must have felt my hesitance as he took the lead once more. Running his tongue over the seam of my lips, I shyly responded by parting them. His tongue slipped into my mouth, tangling with mine before retracting. Once, twice, three times it took for me to become brave enough to explore his timidly.

I fell back onto the pillows, his body moving with mine as I ran my fingers through his hair. His hands stroked my waist and hip gently over the curves, up over my ribcage. His body was close yet positioned in such a way that it kept his weight off of me. His hand settled over my stomach for a moment, like he was looking for those little kicks that used to greet him.

I tensed up at the sudden change of thought, which caused him to pull away.

"I'm—" I started to blurt out.

"Shhh," he shook his head at me, cupping the side of my face with his hand. "Don't be sorry, I got carried away." He shook his head again, not accepting the apologies I tried to say. We laid in silence, wrapped up in each other's embrace. I kissed his jaw as I snuggled into the curve of his arm, my head resting on his shoulder as he ran his fingers through my hair.

It was in the early morning when Emmeline woke up to nurse. Just as the sun was rising in the morning sky, I sat in the rocking chair that I pulled to face the window, the golden and coral skyline glowing as the sun rose. I saw a familiar figure in red coming from the east of the orchard. I wrapped Emmeline in her sling before covering myself with my robe and walked silently down the stairs to the back of the house.

Tears streaming down her face was what greeted me as I pulled her onto the dark porch. Her dull red hair pulled from her face in a worn uniform we once shared. As I pulled her into the light, I saw she was covered in ash and soot. She was holding a bundle in her arms, and I knew it was her son.

"There was a fire," she cried. "They aren't home. I didn't know where else to go or what to do. I can't go back there. This is my only chance!" I knew exactly what she was talking about at that moment. I pulled her into my arms and comforted her, careful not to crush either child who were asleep. I rubbed Lena's back like a small child as she cried quietly on my shoulder.

"I think I know someone who can help you," I whispered to her. "He asked me once before if I needed help without anyone knowing. Jareth trusts him, so I should be able to trust him." It was a dangerous move, but I had no other choice as I held Lena in my arms. She stole a peek at Emmeline. Seeing her for the first time, she cried once more at my sleeping cherub.

"I was so worried when the news broke," she whispered. "I'm glad she was healthy." I nodded, nothing had been more terrifying than those hours in labour, unsure if she would survive. Would she be able to breathe?

Then I asked the most honest question I could. If it came down to it, if she escaped this life, would she do it alone? We talked for another moment before I saw her stiffen. I turned to see Jareth taking in the tired and pale form of Lena.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"I was nursing, and I saw Lena out in the yard," I explained to him, letting him piece together whatever he thought may have happened.

"I woke up to smoke. I grabbed Max and just ran as I saw the flames grow," Lena explained. "Don't make me go back, please. This is my one chance to escape if they think I'm dead," she pleaded.

She was so shaken, I didn't know what to do other than to lead her to the table to sit down. I whispered to Jareth. "Wake up the Signor," I told him as I looked towards the guest room down the hall. "He once asked me if I needed help last year." I saw his mind processing my words, but he did as I asked.

We all sat around the table. It was only in-house, as none of the hired help lived with us now. We all thought there had to be a way to make this work? The hardest part would be getting past the border. We were asking a lot of the Signor, but he took it in stride. He never asked for anything in return and offered Lena a place to stay as she got on her feet if she didn't mind the flat sandy lands of his own.

The Signor left with Lena and her son hidden away between large pallets of fruit built up around her like a forte in the bed of the truck he drove. The border was only an hour drive south, but still I sat in agony for three hours until the news broke about the fire that destroyed the Sutton's entire house. As the day wore on, I listened to the radio as I worked on my sketches. I watched the front gates from windows I passed as I tried to go about my day.

They had to have managed the border. We only had to wait for the Signor's call, a hidden message within his words. While we waited, they searched the rubble of Sutton house. There was too much damage, the fire too hot as it burned in the hot August night. There were no bodies. There was no way they could have escaped the fire, they said. Another young maid, who had yet to turn sixteen, was labelled deceased as well.

Then, almost a week later, the phone rang. 'The peaches made the journey. The extra protection kept them from bruising." Such a normal statement about fruit, but we finally let our minds sigh in relief.

If we only knew what we had started, and how it would change our lives. The whispers of hope that spread between the girls in red. The rumours of someone escaping that circulated between them.

They began to see that even in the darkest of night, the stars still shine brightly in the sky.

That hope existed even in the darkest of times.

That hope still existed, even for them.

This one wrote itself into a long one as you can tell.

Also who else loves half ice tea/sweet tea-half lemonade? I love Arnold Palmer and can drink them by the case sometimes. As a Canadian, I call Sweet tea-Iced Tea. I tried McDonald's sweet tea last year on a road trip and couldn't do it, it tasted too strong of tea haha.

The Signor is back for a visit. What do people think about him? I left some clues floating around about him and wondering if anyone may have picked up on them. Some of rather blatant, other maybe not so much haha!

Next chapter is shorter and will be a break from the normal POV. So if you have been missing how Jareth feels and his thoughts, it is coming next chapter!

As always let me know what you think. If you have any questions are pondering. Always review in a way where I can reply back to you privately. Guest reviews aren't great for clarification that you may want or need!

Tina.