Chapter XXV

15th July 1943

Dearest friend of mine,

It's crazy to think that it's been already a whole week since I've arrived here, in Italy and specifically in Sicily. I can't say where exactly in Sicily I am right now, they would have censored it out anyway but what I can tell you is that right here it's extremely hot, especially because it's summertime. The trees here are so different to the trees in New York or even Canada that I find it extremely fascinating to simply look at them, when I have time of course.

I'm fine, dear Hester, I truly am so don't you worry about me. Yes, I shall be saying this to you just as much as your brothers and cousins do and besides, you know that we are invading the Italians now, and we're winning! God save us all and the Italian soldiers too!

I can't say that I enjoy my life as a soldier, not really. However, some aspects of it are quite satisfying I must tell you. For example, while moving from place to place we cross the cities we would only be able to see on the globe and that in itself is wonderful. I have never seen such unity in my life before either. Funny, isn't it? Unity in war! But yes, that is exactly what I'm talking about, in my regiment that is. All the men with me here are very positive and extremely loud as well. We sing all the time, dance, hum, and even laugh with one another sometimes at things that aren't actually that funny but we keep on laughing, to keep this sound familiar to us all, during the time which nobody would ever associate with laughter.

I miss you so very much, Hester. That's all I can say. I have your photograph in the pocket of my uniform and I look at it often, to remind myself of you, this bright spot in my life with musical hands, mind and soul, as well as beauty inside and out. Thank you ever so much Hester for sending me the copy of this new short piece you composed yourself. I don't get a single bit of line you scribbled on that piece of paper but I love it nonetheless. I trace it down with my fingers and then try to imagine you playing your cello and creating the sound that you've written down on that page in my hands. It gives me hope somehow.

Yes, Lily wrote to me too. She's very excited indeed about going overseas after her training. And oh, her letter from her second day of training as a nurse was so long and scruffily written that I couldn't help but laugh when I read it yesterday. I am proud of her and I can only imagine how proud you, while being so much closer to her than myself, are of her.

Don't worry too much about David, he'll be fine I'm sure. Like all of us over here, everyone will be fine Hester, just keep on keeping faith and praying for us. That will be enough to keep us all going.

Now I am anxiously waiting with you in my mind especially for the arrival of your little baby brother or sister! How exciting is that? You'll be the most wonderful sister to him or her, I am sure about that and so are everyone else I am certain of that fact too. Send my love and good luck to your parents, especially your mum. I'm thinking about you all and I'm waiting for a letter from you informing me that right in that moment of when you are writing this letter to me you'll be holding your new sibling in your arms.
Good luck to you too, dearest Hester.

I have to go now, of course, you know now from your own experience as a sister and a cousin receiving an enormous amount of letters and such from the front, that we have a limited time writing letters to the ones we love most.

Goodnight my sweet.

Always yours,

Second Lieutenant Phillip Jones

Hester was riding her bicycle, her summer pink dress swirling in the wind of her ride. The notes and the music books were shuffling against each other in the basket placed in the front of Hester's bicycle. She wore a wide, white hat with an alabaster ribbon tied underneath her chin, whilst a pair of sunglasses rested upon her pale nose. She truly looked as if she was filming a scene for a movie, even though each pair of her clothing was at least a year or two old. Her smile was both ageless and priceless though, and her red lips curved sweetly as she hummed "Moonlight Serenade" in the midst of the cloudless sky and a summer breeze.

She had just finished her music lesson with a nine year old boy of a name Bobby whose new passion was Hester's long developed and nurtured passion of playing her cello. He did splendidly at their lesson that day and that was why Hester was smiling so beautifully and spotlessly, she was always in the highest of moods when "her children" were doing "good" during the lessons with her, be it playing cello, violin or a piano.

She was very excited for the evening because she arranged with Daria, who was now working in the office as a secretary in town, that after her work at six in the afternoon, they would both go together in the garden of the House of Dreams and paint their nails together while listening to Hester's portable radio.

Now, though, Hester had the rest of the day off. She was already planning out in her head each activity she would do once putting her feet into her home. Firstly clean the floor, secondly put the soup on the stove and make dinner for herself and most importantly for her mother…

Hester stepped down from the bicycle and put it hurriedly at the wall of her house, taking off her sunglasses and a hat without a second hesitation. Her father's car, who was supposed to be at work an hour ago, was still in front of the House of Dreams and that could only mean one thing. It was the time.

Hester ran into the house and threw the glasses and a hat of hers on the sofa carelessly and just as suddenly her grandma Anne and aunt Una stood in front of her, soft smiles and a hint of worry in their eyes. "You haven't missed anything, dear." Anne said as she put her arm around Hester's shoulders and embraced her caringly "The contractions are still about ten minutes apart."
Hester breathed out heavily and took the hands of her grandma and her auntie into her own. She looked at both of them with a tight squeeze to their hands "I'm glad you're both here." she said and both of the women she loved so dearly smiled at her softly.

"Always, darling Hester." Una said to her kindly and planted a kiss on her cheek "It is so exciting, I must add."

"My dear House of Dreams will see another birth in its lifetime." Anne sighed in contentment while she put an arm around Hester's shoulders again and drew her closer, looking at the perfect example of her granddaughter for the statement she just outlined "I couldn't be happier."

"From this day forward, another thing in my life will change forever." Hester said with shining eyes "But it will be a good change, so I don't mind that at all." and then she put her arms around her grandmother's and aunt's waists just in time to hear a sudden high pitched shout of Rilla's from upstairs bedroom.
All three women, Hester included, took one another's hands, looking frantically at the stairs and Hester felt as if they all were entangled together in the same bubble of emotions and for once she didn't feel alone at all, she felt quite safe with both Anne and Una by her side and it gave her hope and faith.

For the next three hours all three of them were cleaning downstairs, talked together to take their mind off the timeless passing time and the terrifying sounds from upstairs, and were drinking lemonade after lemonade and eating apple after apple.
And then, four hours after Hester came back from her lesson with Bobby, the wind blew softly but certainly into the living room where she sat with her grandma and an aunt of her heart, and it touched their faces tenderly. They all looked at one another, their cheeks flushed, smiles knowing, and then the sound they have all been waiting for for so long finally voiced its way downstairs so that they all heard a cry of a newborn baby, a new and expected with joy member of the Ford, Blythe and the Meredith family.

Hester put her hands on her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks and all three of them stood up abruptly, starting to hop around, hugging and kissing each other, the sounds coming out of each of their mouths fogged by the sound of tears spriniging down from their eyes. "You're an older sister, Hester!" Una said to the black-haired girl who kissed her aunt's cheeks in return.
"You're an auntie again!" she said to her and then kissed Anne's cheeks "And you are a grandma!" now all three trembling women turned into a huge ball of shaking emotions as they embraced one another again.
"Ladies." Ken's steady yet very enthusiastic voice filled the room and all three women, an auntie, a grandma and a sister turned around and looked at Ken who was suddenly very changed indeed. His jacket was off and his shirt was slightly buttoned open at the top, his black hair with a few silver strands was all messy, his cheeks were pink even though they are usually pale, like Hester's, and his eyes! Hester felt how her own eyes filled with tears all over again, for there was nothing in those grey eyes of her father's but pure joy, a phenomenon she hasn't seen ever since before the war has started. "Would you like to meet our new little miss Ford?" he asked them and all three of them gasped with delight, looking at Ken as if he had just said that the war is over.
"Oh, daddy, it's a girl!" Hester cried out with a wide and beyond-than-happy smile on her face as she put her hands in her father's own and he kissed them eagerly, smiling back at her.
"It is, my dear." he said to her as both Anne and Una started running upstairs, whispering to each other something very excitedly "But," Ken kissed Hester's forehead gently and looked into her eyes with love she always knew was in his heart "-you are no less important to us, remember that, the first beautiful daughter of ours."
Hester kissed her father's cheeks and then took his hand and started for the stairs "I know, dad." she said to him merrily "But I don't mind you loving another daughter of yours. Oh, I can't wait to meet my sister! My sister!" she exclaimed in delight again and Ken chuckled as they both started going upstairs, their hands holding one another.
"A true miracle." he whispered gratefully.

As soon as Hester came inside the bedroom of her parents, the first thing that caught her attention was how bright the whole room was. It was amost as if angels from above were shining through the window and were blessing the small bundle that was now saftely in her mother's protective arms.

Everyone was inside: Gilbert and Jem, the two doctors who delivered the baby of both their daughter and sister respectively, who had just finished cleaning up and were now standing next to each other at the end of Rilla's bed; Anne and Una who were sitting on the left side of the bed, talking softly to Rilla and the baby.
Rilla was flushed, she had faintly dark circles beneath her eyes, her auburn hair was put into a messy braid and her nightgown was dissaranged almost completely. But her eyes were reserved for the bundle she held in her arms, and the smile was for that bundle too. It was the sight which Hester would never forget, and the sight that filled her own heart with not just gratefulness, happiness and love but also with a small hope for her own self and her own future.
Hester came over to her mother's right side and sat on the chair slowly. Only then did Rilla look up with loving eyes of her own and reached out her hand to squeeze Hester's hand, fresh tears rolling down her red cheeks "Hester, dearest," she whispered and pulled her oldest daughter gently into her arm. Rilla planted a kiss on her oldest daughter's lips and then on her cheek before letting her to sit back up on the chair again.
"Are you alright, mummy?" Hester asked her, not letting go of her hand and still looking into her eyes.
"Better than I was all those four years ago." Rilla replied and everyone in the room chuckled.
"I must agree with you on that, sis." Jem said to her with a raised eyebrow and laughter grew in the room again, quietly.
"Meet your sister, dearest." Rilla said finally and put the bundle into the hands of Hester who took the bundle like a mother herself, without any hesitation yet with care and precaution, a skill she learnt at Una's orphanage.
Hester looked down at her little sister and gasped with wide eyes "She has such long eyelashes!" she said and the people around her chuckled again. Ken crept behind Hester and squeezed her shoulder gently, looking at the bundle himself.
"Just like Rilla herself did when she was born." Anne said softly and she and Gilbert shared a knowing glance ending with Rilla being kissed by both of her parents.

Hester looked down at the bundle again and smiled through happy tears. The baby was unbelievably beautiful. Her face was heart-shaped, her nose and lips were the shape of Hester's own and therefore the shape of their mother's too. Her eyelashes were long, incredibly long and her eyebrows quite thick. The fuzz on her hair was quite clearly auburn. Her eyes were still closed as she slept with an angelic smile on her face. "Her eyes are grey." Rilla said proudly "Like her father's." she squeezed Ken's remaining hand and looked into his eyes deeply "And like Gilly's." her voice trembled slightly as she said her oldest son's name but her smile remained on her face nonetheless.

As if the baby sensed that her sister wanted to see her eyes she yawned widely, which caused a delighftul gasp from everyone. The baby then opened up her big and round grey eyes. Hester only then realised how her cheeks were wet all over again and she quickly wiped them off with the edge of the blanket in which her baby sister was envelopped. "Just perfect." she whispered to her baby-sister with a wide smile before looking up at her parents "What's her name?" she asked and everyone's heads turned towards Mr and Mrs Ford who were looking at each other knowingly, a thousand words passing through them without voicing them at all.
"Her name is Poppy Joyce." Ken said proudly whilst looking at the small bundle lying peacefully back asleep in her older sister's arms "Poppy for peace and luck for our boys, and Joyce for she is a joy, but also for the rememberance of the auntie of hers who was born in this very room just like she was today." Ken and Rilla looked at both Anne and Gilbert who held one another's hands by then and their eyes were filled with fresh tears as well as a wave of pride, when a small flash of heartbreak was slowly disappearing once their eyes met with little Poppy's in Hester's arms.
"Poppy, the most perfect gift." Una said with wet cheeks as she was kissing her bosom friend's tired hand.
"She won't ask for anything." Rilla added with her own cheeks red and wet.
"And most definitely not for love, dearest sister." Hester whispered as Poppy's small chubby hand grasped her finger and squeezed it tightly, as if for a reassurance that even though she was only an hour old, she knew very well that she was and always would be certain of this one thing her family will be always able to give to her, and that was called love.