The apple orchard smelled wonderful, relighting the kindling of old memories and a calmness I hadn't felt in years. I stood barefoot at the edge of the orchard listening to the song of the wind, feeling the caress of the breeze and watching the leaves dance and sway with fresh, swollen, juicy apples adorning their branches. The harvest would begin soon no doubt meaning early mornings and late nights among the apples and twittering birds or the roar of the ocean only a few miles away. I could still picture the child that was once me running through the trees, weaving, spinning and dancing without a care in the world until her mother screamed for her. It was a time she could smile easily.
A small distance away from the orchard that mostly kept the trees healthy with water was a pond big enough to call for a paddleboat and to get a decent swim in. It was the home to cattails, tadpoles and frogs, dragonflies and most of all: a willow tree, old and graceful.
Beneath the willow tree were three headstones each with a name carved on the surface: Corporal Ian Donovan, 1915-1936; Dusky Donovan (putting up that headstone was much like pulling teeth since she didn't deserve a headstone next to my father), 1917-1958, Patrick Donovan, 1945-1960; and finally: Augustus Sinclair. It took some arguing with his still-alive mother (my mother-in-law), but she finally relented allowing for his body to be buried on the grounds of the Donovan Apple Orchard. It was a small funeral procession with just my grandparents and Sinclair's mother who still looked at me like I was the one who had killed Sinclair having been one of the last people to see him alive. She even doubted that me and him were in a relationship because, and I quote, "You don't look like any of the women my son has been with. You look like a beggar looking for scraps on a dead man's fortune! Harlot!"
She recanted the statements later even opening up Sinclair's saved funds to me, but it still stung that she would think that of me. It also made me question how many women Sinclair had been with but shoved the idea aside since he was around 20 years before I was born. I more or less earned her 'trust' when I told her everything about her son during his time in Rapture. She told me flat out to not lie like I did to the police and embassy representatives and so I didn't sugarcoat a thing. I still hadn't touched the money she had allowed me access to.
When we had escaped Rapture, it took three days for someone to find us after drifting several hundred miles. We were taken to a small port on the coast of Iceland where a team of ambulances, police men and news reporters were waiting for us after receiving word that the missing British girl who had been missing for over 20 years had been found alive. We were surprised to be met by Tenenbaum who had escaped from Rapture only a few hours before us.
It took two months to finally be released from the hospital since they were so adamant that I be pumped full of vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants to treat the malnourishment I had suffered from for nearly 25 years. On top of that, I had to prove my identity to the UK Embassy representative and get into contact with my grandparents.
Alice and Garrett flew out from their comfortable lives in the UK to see if it truly was me after 20+ years of not seeing myself or my mother. The reunion was tearful and heartwarming; I couldn't stop crying for several hours seeing their faces once again, truly believing that I was going to die in Rapture. They stayed with me in the hospital room for the final few weeks before I was released.
One by one the girls were returned home to their families who were more than ecstatic to see their daughters once more after nearly giving up hope. Some of the parents had even appeared in my room to thank me for bringing them back when I barely did anything except keep track of them as they showed up. It took a while to get them out of my room. I had to page a few nurses to get hysterical mothers off of me. I could live with them thanking me, but the physical contact was not something I was up for, not since the last person to hug me was Augustus.
Camille became Eleanor's adoptive mother, not being old enough to go out on her own just yet since she had no family on the surface that she was aware of. I officially met Camille's husband who flew out to see her just as my grandparents did. He was a nice enough man who rambled on and on about having a child of their own even though Camille confided in me that she was unable to bear children due to the damage she suffered in Rapture.
It was in that hospital that I also learned of the biggest life changing moment of my life.
Alice wandered over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. Her hair gray and frail, but still full as I could remember in a hairstyle known as the wedge, her eyes the same color blue as myself with a bit more life to them than mine, and her skin tanned from working outdoors. "You should be inside resting," She said warmly, still in shock that she had her granddaughter back.
I smiled and turned to place my hands on her shoulders. "A few more minutes." She nodded in agreement and started her walk back to the house. I looked to Sinclair's grave once again, resting my hand on the cold stone. "I love you, Augustus," I muttered before the hand fell from the grave to my abdomen.
It was there I felt the firm kick of the child growing within me, the only thing Rapture hadn't taken from me at last. It seemed cliché like something out of a movie: the hero sacrifices himself leaving his widow alone with a child, but I could have cared less: this was one joy I was going to cherish. "The baby's gettin' big, Augustus, They're so strong. A survivor," I said like he was standing there listening to me yammer on. "I miss you."
I touched the grave one last time before making my trek back to the house where Alice and Garrett were waiting.
Garrett startled me when he came up behind me and pulled me under his arm giving me a wet kiss on the temple. He'd been overtly affectionate towards me, but I didn't condemn him for it for he was my grandfather and entitled to such things, getting his granddaughter back and discovering that she was pregnant with his great-granddaughter. And he was excited to relive the joy of having a baby in the house.
I smiled affectionately at the man, tucking myself further under his strong arms. My grandfather was a large man with big hands and large arms that could engulf you easily. Compared to my grandmother, who was petit and small, he was a giant of a man who could put a smile on anyone's face. He was an extreme lover and an extreme fighter who would fight anyone if they threatened him or his family (he had done it a few times coming home with bloody knuckles). His thick Santa Clause-like beard tickled my face and his blues eyes shined with life, just as my grandmother who always saw the silver lining in everything. He was stubborn as he was flexible which is who I must have gotten my attitude from for the most part; my stubbornness for sure.
He pushed open the door to the kitchen and slipped up to my grandmother, taking her in his arms and tucking a wildflower behind her ear. She giggled lovingly and pushed him away, telling him to help set the table for dinner. I took a stack of plates despite their protests that I should be resting and set the table with my grandfather carrying the silverware. I wolfed down the food Alice put out having to eat for two making them both chuckle. "I was the same way, dearie," Alice reminisced holding Garrett's hand. "Your father was a terror!" She laughed as Garrett heartily joined her laughter.
"I don't remember much of anything about my father," I admitted stirring the potatoes on my plate smothered in gravy.
Alice sighed, but smiled and proceeded to tell me all she could about Ian Donovan, the man who was my father. "Your father, when he heard that Dusky was pregnant, nearly flipped for joy at the idea of being a father. He was so looking forward to raising you, asking a million questions. But the war pulled him away and unfortunately you know the rest," She finished taking a sip of her lemon water. I nodded stroking my hand over the swollen belly I was growing.
I helped clear the table after everyone was finished eating and excused myself to my bedroom to get some rest. I laid down on the down pillows, pulling the comforter up to my chin to shield myself from the chilly night time air. I allowed myself to pretend that Sinclair was lying behind me wrapping his arms around my waist and stroking the babe he helped make, cooing and being in general awe that he was going to be a father… Like my own father had been. The stories Alice told me of him reminded me of Sinclair's reaction to me telling him that I was pregnant the first time. Sure, the first child didn't make it, but this one was going to make it – the doctors assured me.
And just like my father, he wouldn't get the chance to watch them grow.
Before I knew it, a few months had passed and I found myself in the hospital grasping Alice's and Camille's hands and screaming through the process of painful childbirth. The medication they gave me did very little to dull the pain. But the 36 hour labor was rewarded with the healthy wails of a beautiful baby girl. I was surprised that Camille had even made the flight in time for the birth having come only a few days before the predicted due date only for me to go into labor right as she got off the plane to meet Garrett. Garrett sped all the way to the hospital, Camille as white as a ghost from his crazy driving.
The baby girl was handed to me at long last from the doctors cleaning, weighing and measuring her. I held her gingerly, like she was made of glass and I was instantly in love with her. She nuzzled my breast as I fed her, her tiny fingers opening and curling back into a fist testing her newfound freedom. Camille cooed and wiggled her finger into the clenched fingers, smiling brightly when she felt the baby grip her finger tightly. "What's her name?" She asked quietly.
I smiled and answered, "Josephine Alice Sinclair."
A cradle was brought in to keep Josephine comfortable and to allow me to rest at long last. Alice and Camille were both unconscious in their chairs while the men leaned against each other on the nearby couch, James and Garrett having bonded over their excitement over the newborn baby of the woman who had saved Camille's life more than once.
I sighed heavily as the sleep drugs kicked in and I was out like a light, dreaming of emerald eyes and a soothing southern drawl.