Chapter 39: Happiness

5 days later...

It was a sunny day in April and Sean was plowing the land to help the summer crops grow. The winter and fall harvest had been plentiful enough for them to grow more crops. Sean also had to check the growing of the grain, which included wheat and potatoes, but he'd do that later. Those had been planted back in October. He'd just finished his fifth row when he saw Karen walking to him with Quinn in her arms. Ah, his little red headed lad was growing up so fast. He stopped the horse that was helping him plow the field and pat him on the rump.

"Take a break, boy," he said to the horse. The horse knickered as if in gratitude as Karen approached. "And how are ya this mornin'? Sean asked both his 9-month-old son and Karen.

"We're good," Karen replied. Quinn gurgled and put his fist in his mouth to slobber all over it. "I think he's got a tooth comin' in."

"Uh oh," Sean chuckled as he grabbed Quinn and lifted him up. "Ya got a tooth comin' in?" Quinn giggled and drool came falling out of his mouth. It landed on Sean's face and Karen laughed as Sean groaned in disgust. "Oh bloody hell!"

Quinn squealed in delight and Sean put him back in Karen's arms to wipe off the spittle. "That was funny."

"Oh yeah, real fuckin' funny, Karen," Sean said with sarcasm in his tone.

Karen giggled and readjusted her hold on Quinn. "Oh, stop it." Sean smiled evily and wiped the spittle on her face. "Ew!"

Sean laughed at her and Karen smacked his arm. He sighed in amusement and turned his head towards the plow horse. "Well, I better get back to it."

Karen gave her husband a kiss and walked off the field as Sean went back to plowing. By midday he had finished and put the plow and horse away. Now to get some lunch. He wiped his hands on a cloth in the stables and made his way to the house. As he walked in the back door, he heard familiar voices. Dutch and Hosea were back from London. Sean went to the kitchen to see the men and his little nephew and niece. A broad smiled appeared on his face.

"Well well, so glad to see ya back, Dutch. Hosea," Sean said. "How was London?"

Dutch laughed. "Oh, a lot happened. We met the king, Arthur and Lilly beat up some werewolves...Lilly became one and killed one of the baddest ones of all."

Sean and Karen gaped at him. "Lilly's a werewolf?"

Hosea held up a hand. "Oh she's fine. It actually was quite handy for her to defeat the main source of werewolves in England."

Sean sat down, looking flabbergasted. "This is a lot to take in."

"It sure is."

Karen cleared her throat and bounced Quinn on her hip. "So you guys met the king?"

"Yeah. And Lilly's going to be knighted, too. Well, once she deals with the werewolf problem," Dutch said. "I forgot about that part."

"Sounds like you fellas had a good time," Karen said.

"Oh, and we went to the zoo. Twice. It was absolutely delightful!" Dutch said.

"Zoo!" Aoífe shouted and clapped her hands. "Zoo zoo zoo!"

"Zoo!" Arthur Junior yelled.

Quinn started making baby coos and laughed. "Ooo!"

Karen laughed. "I think he's trying to say "zoo"."

The group chuckled at Quinn and Quinn kept trying while the other two babies kept repeating the word "zoo"."

"So they must have enjoyed it, aye?" Sean asked.

"Oh yeah. They loved the fairy floss, too," Hosea mentioned.

"What is fairy floss?"

"It's like a fluffy, sugary candy on a stick."

"Ooooh. Did you have some?"

"Yeah, but only a little. It was a bit too sweet for me."

Suddenly Aoífe and Arthur Jr. started rubbing their eyes. Aoífe laid her head on Dutch's shoulder while Junior started getting fussy. "Uh oh, I think these two need a nap," Dutch said.

"Yeah, they had a very long trip," Hosea pointed out.

Sean watched as Dutch and Hosea left the kitchen to bring the wee bairns upstairs to the nursery. Sean laughed and looked at Karen. "You know, maybe we should be the ones to take a trip next."

Karen grinned at him. "Really? Well, where would we go?"

"Well, I've always wanted to see Scotland."


Miss Grimshaw had done a good job teaching Arthur how to wash bedsheets, and thank god the other girls hadn't asked too many questions about what was on them. Once he had hung them up to dry, he was satisfied and thanked Miss Grimshaw for the lesson. He went to go to his tent to check on Lilly but then he spotted Uncle sleeping against one of the wagons. Arthur shook his head, growled, and ambled on over. He took a moment to consider how to wake the bastard up, but ultimately decided to use physical force. A swift kick to the leg and Uncle woke right up.

"Careful not to work yourself to death there, Uncle," Arthur said in a sarcastic way.

Uncle slowly got up. "Mmph, I was thinkin'."

"Ah, does it pay well?"

Uncle let out a grumble. "Eventually."

A hand clapped on Uncle's shoulder a few times and Arthur grasped his belt, directing Uncle to step with him. "So, while the rest of us are busy stealin', killin', lyin', fightin' to try to survive, you," Arthur pointed at him, "get to think all day."

"It's a strange world we live in, Arthur Morgan."

Arthur shook his head in disappointment. "You wanna head into town? See if we can find anythin' out?"

"Sure. I got some errands to run."

"Great." Arthur pointed at the horses. "Go check the horses are ready."

Uncle growled and walked away to do as he was told. Arthur turned away and pulled out his cigarettes, spotting Karen, Tilly and Mary Beth skulking about. "If you're gonna take the old man into town, could you take us too?"

Arthur put a cigarette in his mouth and lit a match with his boot. "Why? What you got planned?" he asked as he lit his cigarette.

"Nothin'. We'll find somethin' for y'all to do. We always do," Karen said as her and the other two girks walked to Arthur.

"We're bored outta our minds," Mary Beth said. "Been cooped up here for two weeks now. Karen's about ready to murder Grimshaw," Mary Beth teased.

Arthur took a puff of smoke. "Well, can Miss Grimshaw spare you?" Arthur asked.

All three girls scoffed in disgust. "Can Miss Grimshaw spare you?" Karen repeated after Arthur with slight frustration in her voice. "What's happened to you, Arthur? Three young healthy women want you to take 'em robbin' and you're worried about house chores! Let's go!" Karen pleaded with excitement.

"I think Lilly is what happened to him," Tilly giggled.

Arthur grasped his belt buckle, took another puff of smoke and eyed Tilly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"We saw you washin' bedsheets, Arthur. Why wasn't Lilly doin' it?"

Arthur cackled and took another puff. "Well, you can ask her that when she wakes up."

Mary Beth eyed Arthur suspiciously. "Lilly's sleepin' in? Usually she's full of energy when the sun comes up."

Arthur cackled and put out his cigarette. "Well, that ain't how I left her."

"How you left her?"

Arthur started chuckling deeply and waited for the girls to get the hint. Karen started guffawing loudly and bent over at the waist. "Oh my Lord, Arthur, you perverted bastard!"

The other two girls blushed. "Arthur, you didn't!" Mary Beth shouted. "You...are you implyin' that Lilly is tired from...from...you know..."

"Yes, I am," Arthur said proudly. Tilly and Mary Beth started giggling into fits. "Did you not know we was in that stage of the relationship?"

"Yes I did, but...I didn't think you'd comment on it," Mary Beth stammered.

Arthur gave a soft shrug. "Why wouldn't I? Lilly makes me...well..."

"Happy?" Tilly asked him.

"...Well, yes," Arthur said joyfully. "She makes me happy."

"Like you want to shout it out to the whole world?" Mary Beth squealed.

Arthur raised a brow. "Well...kinda. I mean, she..." Arthur rubbed his face. "Look, can we just get goin' into town now?" He suddenly felt very uncomfortable with the conversation.

The girls woo hooed and climbed into the wagon. "Arthur, you better tell us all about your feelings for Lilly," Mary Beth said.

Arthur shook his head and climbed into the driver's seat. "Pass."

Uncle looked at the ladies strangely. "His feelings for Lilly?"

"Yes. Are you in love with her?" Mary Beth inquired.

"Can we please change the conversation?" Arthur asked as he snapped the reins.

"No!" Karen, Tilly and Mary Beth all said together.

"Y'all moved in together, you know what that means, don'tchu?" Karen said.

"What's that?" Arthur asked.

"Well, you gotta propose next!" Mary Beth exclaimed.

Arthur pulled the reins in quickly to stop the wagon. He was actually blushing but he wasn't about to let the girls see it. "I haven't thought that far ahead. Lilly and I are in a relationship and we're sharin' a tent. That's all I'm gonna say on the matter because I ain't the camp gossip!" he snapped.

"It ain't gossip if you're talkin' about yourself, Arthur," Uncle pointed out with a grin. "Come on, there's nothin' wrong with a little girl talk."

"I ain't a girl!"

"But the girls gotta be entertained!"

Arthur growled in frustration. "I..."

He looked back at the girls who were staring at him with big, doeful eyes. "Please?" they all said.

Arthur rolled his eyes and decided to indulge them a little bit. "Yes, I am in love with her. And she is in love with me. We both admitted it this mornin'."

The girls squealed with joy as Arthur snapped the reins again. "Go on!" Karen yelled.

"Oh for chrissakes...what more do you need to know?" Arthur snapped as he drove the horses out of the wooded area.

"Well, why did you two decide to get a tent together?"

"That was a surprise for her."

Mary Beth practically swooned. "That's so romantic!"

"Shut up..." Arthur grumbled in embarassment.

The girls laughed along with Uncle. He nudged Arthur's arm. "You don't need to hide your feelings, Arthur. Women hate it when men do that."

Arthur looked at Uncle. "Seriously?"

"Yes!" the girls shouted.

"Stop hidin' your feelings and shout out that you love Lilly O'Callaghan!" Mary Beth exclaimed.

Arthur rolled his eyes. This was stupid but he knew the girls would not leave him alone until he did what they wanted. "Fine. I love Lilly O'Callaghan."

"Louder!"

"I love Lilly O'Callaghan!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Come on, Arthur! Shout it out proudly!"

Arthur actually started laughing at the girls. This was absolutely ridiculous. "I love Lilly O'Callaghan!" he shouted. "There, ya happy?"

The girls cheered and clapped their hands. Just then they saw a carriage up ahead barreling up the road. "Look at that coach! He's...he's all over the place," Uncle said as he pointed towards the carriage.

Arthur heard some reins snap and saw a white Shire run away from the carriage to the right. "Oh god dammit! Oh shit, the horses!" the driver yelled.

Arthur stopped the carriage. "Is one of you gonna get that fellas horse?" Tilly asked.

Uncle turned around. "Oh, I got lumbago. It's very serious."

Arthur sighed and got out. "Alright, I'll see what's goin' on. Lumbago, really..."

In truth, Arthur could use any excuse to get away from the girl's incessant nagging about him and Lilly. Yes, he loved Lilly very much but the way the girls were going about it all made him almost bashful, as if they were teasing him. He didn't like it at all. He approached the coach.

"You alright there, friend?"

"Oh hey, you couldn't help me get my other horse back from over there, could ya?"

"Sure, no problem."

"Thanks, mister. It's the white one over there."

Arthur walked across the train tracks towards the horse. He could hear the girls encouraging him as he neared the horse. The horse stomped its feet and neighed and Arthur held up his hands. "Whoa, easy there...easy, it's okay...easy. You're okay."

The horse finally calmed down and Arthur pat him before grabbing the reins. He heard more words of encouragement from the ladies as he walked the horse back to its owner. "Here, here you go."

"You're a gentleman, sir, a gentleman!"

"No, not really...I was just...trying to impress the women," Arthur mumbled.

The man laughed. "Well, anyway, thank you."

Arthur climbed back into the driver's seat of the wagon and snapped the reins again. "You're turnin' into a regular old fairy godmother there, Arthur," Uncle teased. "Must be Lilly's doing."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur asked.

"It means you got a heart," Mary Beth explained. "A small one perhaps, hidden deep inside, but a real one. Lilly is doin' a fine job with you. And you-"

That was it. Arthur halted the carriage to a stop and glared at the people in the wagon. "That's enough!" Arthur yelled angrily.

The girls frowned at him. "What's enough?" Tilly asked.

Arthur pointed at everyone. "You talkin' about Lilly and me like we're a god damn joke just because she makes me happy! I can tell you right now that we ain't a joke! I've been in love with that woman for four god damn years and she has made me the god damn happiest man alive just by bein' with someone like me, so shut your god damn mouths!"

Arthur turned back around and flicked the reins to ger the horses going. There was complete silence for the rest of the way into town until they reached the stables.

"Alright, here we are ladies!" Uncle said as everyone got out of the wagon.

"Uncle, what're we doin'?" Arthur asked him.

"Well, we're gonna do what any self-respectin' maniac does. Put the women to work."

"With pleasure...we'll start at the saloon," Karen said.

Arthur squinted his eyes at them. "Okay, just stay out of trouble and don't get yourselves noticed."

Karen, Mary Beth and Tilly all left the men with frowns on their faces and headed towards the saloon. Uncle nudged Arthur. "Don't you think you were a little hard on them? We wasn't teasin' you and Lilly...not really. Hell, everyone is happy you two is together now. And we're happy that you're both happy."

Arthur sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a bit touchy about...my feelings, is all. I'll apologize to the girls later."