Albert Tennyson and Abigail Hope grew as each day passed in the same manner they had since God separated the light from the darkness and saw that it was good. They were talked to and loved and cuddled; and they throve as became children of Dovedale. William and Amelia were quite as foolish over them as Katie and Johnny were, and lost track of the days before Amelia was too far along to chance a trip across the ocean. In late March Tenny and Hope greeted their cousin, William Henry Albert Darcy into the world, though he was born with the aide of a doctor. In May, Jacob was given a sister named Madeline, though they called her Maddie, and Dovedale seemed to be brimming over with so many babies that little Jacob was quite beside himself.
Though the twin and little Wills were novelties to the two year old, it had always been good to go home at the end of a visit to Dovedale and have his Mama and Daddy to himself. Now that loud baby sister of his took some of their attention away from him, and he didn't like it. He supposed she was pretty, in the manner any toddler can, but he didn't think she was nearly as interesting looking as baby Hope with her big eyes and vibrant tufts of hair, but those are thoughts and feelings that will be left to another time.
When spring grew older and young Wills was deemed old enough to travel across country and ocean, Dovedale said goodbye to William, Amelia, Wills, and Aunt Lizzy. It had been three years since Aunt Lizzy had returned Katie to Dovedale with Johnny, and though she was loathe to leave Katie and Johnny, she knew it was more than time to return home to Derbyshire . She was slowly beginning to feel her age, and had bid eternal goodbyes to far to many loved-ones. Her heart longed for her own home; to walk where her family walked.
There were no tears at this parting though. All parties involved agrees that enough tears had been shed for a great while. Only promises from Katie and Johnny that they would bring Tenny and Hope to Pemberley for a visit soon were given alongside kisses upon the downy heads of Tenny and Hope.
Time continued to lapse just as the train carrying the visitors rambled its way down the tracks, and for once everyone was truly happy. The twins, Tenny and Hope grew in stature alongside the children of Gideon and Ginny. Though Jacob and Maddie were eventually joined by another sister and brother, Tenny and Hope seemed to be the only children that Katie and Johnny were to be blessed with. There were a happy little family though, living together in the house of Dovedale and constantly revisiting the old haunts that another pair of twins often visited in their years of wonder and delight.
Dovedale was happily being filled with new, wonderful memories for Johnny, Katie, and their children to cherish such as the day when the twin took their first steps and said their first words.
"Johnny! Come quick! I think that Tenny is about to try and take his first steps!" Katie's voice called into the bedroom where he had been changing out of his work clothes.
He quickly ran into the living room where Katie was sitting in the floor and Tenny was standing up, holding onto the sofa. He was smiling, gray eyes sparking like polished platinum, and edging his way into his Mama's waiting arms.
Tenny looked to his Daddy and almost decided to go to him instead, but Katie was determined to be the first person to whom he ran. "Come on, Tenny. Come to Mama. That's a good boy. Come on," she cheered as he gradually toddled his way to her. As he walked to his mother, Tenny's steps became more and more wobbly, yet he made it all the way to her arms before collapsing into their loving safety. He let out yells and gurgles of joy as she smothered him with kisses, letting him know how proud she was. Hope was watching this show of adoration between mother and son, and furrowed her brow immensely. Even at only ten months of age, Hope didn't like to be outdone by her twin brother. She was ten minutes older anyway.
Her father couldn't help but take notice at his daughter's obvious jealousy over her brother getting so much attention. He walked over to his little fiery tot and scooped her up into his sturdy arms.
"What can be so bad that Daddy's little Prairie Princess has to make such an awful face?" he asked, kissing her downy soft forehead.
A father's love can always soothe the troubled soul, and Hope decided at that moment to reward her father with a milestone of her own. "Daa-ddy," the baby sweet voice said aloud.
"Did you hear that, Katie-girl? She said, Daddy! That was her first word, and it was Daddy!" he exclaimed, holding the girl close to him.
The baby girl knew she was being praised, so she repeated herself, over and over again, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Then Tenny decided to join in on the fun. "Daaa-diieee!" he cried out.
Katie picked him up, staring into his eyes as he chanted along with his sister, "Oh, no, not you too! One of you needs to say Mama. Can you say Mama, Tenny?" she asked the boy, and he had the sheer orneriness to shake his head, "no" and smile.
"Well, I never!" the exasperated mother declared in defeat. Her husband could only laugh from the utter joy of the moment.
As the children grew, so did the memories each day created, for once they were walking and talking Hope and Tenny prohibited life from becoming dull. A go-preacher with even more fire and and brimstone in his fists than Brother MacGowan came to the area for a tent revival, and Ginny played piano and sang with a gospel quartet. Before the preaching began one night, the quartet played such a happy, stirring rendition of "I'll Fly Away" that little Hope started to do a veryun -baptist-like thing and danced a happy little jig, causing the stares of many old and faithful and the utter embarrassment of her twin. That was until the evangelist reminded them that King David danced before the Lord at the return of the Ark of the Covenant. Still yet, Katie wondered and Gideon teased that Johnny's people must certainly be holy rollers.
Of course Tenny created his own sensations from time to time. There was one evening not much after the revival when Katie was hosting the Women on Mission group, and the twins were supposed to be asleep. Instead they were playing "Jacob Marley" under the covers when old Barnabas descended upon the window sill and gave a hoot frightening Tenny so much that he flew downstairs screaming at the top of his lungs that demons were going to drag him to the fiery pits of hell. It was about that time that Katie decided that the twins shouldn't go to any more tent revivals until they were older.
Johnny and Katie were very happy with their two dear children, but Johnny however was no businessman, and though Darcy oil did not falter under his leadership, he longed to be home with his wife and children. To him though, it was an impossibility to sell George Darcy's legacy to his children and grandchildren. So he trudged along, believing this was what Katie would do; not knowing that she too wished he would sell the business. She and the children missed him terribly when he was away on business, and he was away far too often it seemed.This ended when the twins were around a year and a half old, and Johnny was home to witness things like Hope's dance and Tenny's tear. In 1921, the racial powder keg that was Tulsa erupted into riots in the Greenwood area. Johnny was in town at that time for work, and reports returning to Dovedale were sketchy at best. Katie had never felt any fear like that she felt in those tumultuous days. Johnny returned when all was said and done, no worse for wear but with a decidedly bitter taste upon his mouth. Though quite relieved that he was never in any sort of danger, it bothered him greatly that the trouble had been solely in a prominent colored neighborhood.
Katie had had enough losing loved ones, and knew that if she lost Johnny she would lose herself too. The Greenwood riots were merely the excuse she had been looking for to bring up selling the company. So one evening, she had a long heart to heart with Johnny, and together they made the mutual decision to sell Darcy Oil to Dexter Burton for enough money to make sure that both Tenny and Hope never had to work unless they wanted to. At first Johnny was reluctant to part with the family company until Katie explained that George had never wanted to own an oil empire, he only wanted to farm the land and raise his family. While Johnny was little more a farmer than a businessman, he was able to do just what George had always wanted.
The summer after the twins turned four, Katie and Johnny took an extended visit to Derbyshire, so that Grandfather Henry could gloat over all of his great-grandchildren. They spent several months with their Darcy family, recalling the happier times they spent there together before Arras. When they returned, the spring flowers were beginning to sprout, Hope and Tenny were a year older, and Katie and Johnny were expecting another bundle to love and cherish.
One evening the happy couple took advantage of a fair day leaving the twins with the MacGowans to play while they took a drive up to Grand Lake for a relaxing picnic. They rambled about the shore, together in a manner shared only between loving couples, and looked forward to the day when they would have all three and possibly more children running about Dovedale. It was a perfect day, and Johnny felt on the verge of conjuring a bit of verse when they were blind-sighted by a truck. The last thing Johnny saw before his head slammed into the steering wheel was Katie's body flying out of the car. Then everything faded to black.