Part 1: Chapter 34: 1887: Red Deer, Alberta,

In Winnipeg: Part 4

Mornings were often spent together, trying to do more reading and prep work for the trial and going through Regina's legal paperwork. In the afternoons, the group would split up, either going out to track something down, or staying in for afternoon lessons, which Harris had quickly joined with Colleen and Nate. Edith would turn her parlor into a mini-classroom, but she had a lot of open space for movement. Somehow, she managed to combine all three of their levels into one big lesson that often turned into a game. There were days where Harris was required to speak only in the language he was to be focusing on for that day. Edith would speak her instructions in that language and in English so that Colleen and Nate were getting both. They had surprised her one day when they started speaking to each other in simple Irish, which she didn't know. When they told her they learned it from Archie, Archie was suddenly tasked with helping on language days. She was happy to be learning something new along with the children.

After lessons, they were encouraged to do something they found fun. Nate would be down at the pond with Harris or Archie fishing. Colleen was often inside either helping Ophelia bake or learning how to draw better with Edith.

The evenings were spent as a family discussing their days.

Regina and Ted finally agreed on a place for their graves. It wasn't in the Normandeau Mausoleum, as that was in Quebec. But, they found a newer and much nicer spot on the outskirts of Winnipeg. Regina had insisted on showing them Edith's drawing. She wanted those makers made to those standards. This was the first place that said that it wouldn't be a problem, even if Regina's and Nathan's last names didn't match. They had even started carving the marble for each of the spaces.

Ted felt so much lighter after their conversations with this caretaker. He seemed to be a man of integrity. Regina was also optimistic about this place they found. When they told the others about what they found it brought smiles to their faces. Wilma was looking ever more frail, which isn't a word one usually uses to describe her. On the day of the trial for the first caretaker, Wilma was bed ridden. Ted was the only one who could go with James to the trial. It ended up being an open-and-shut case, and the judge awarded the Harrises the cost of the plots lost, and then pain and suffering damages. They got $75 out of the deal, which was more money than Ted had held in his hand at any one time in his life. He tried to pay Regina's lawyer, but the man refused saying that James had covered the cost of this trial. Ted then tried paying him back on their way home.

"Give it to Ophelia, they need it more than I do," James said with a kind smile.

When they got back, there was an air of quiet anticipation in the house. Ted walked to his wife's room, where Ophelia was sitting in the darkness while wiping Wilma's brow with a cloth. Wilma looked like she was in more pain than she had ever been.

"We won $75, my dear," Ted whispered as he approached the bed.

"Good, use some of that to pay back," Wilma slurred.

"I already tried. Neither would accept it," Ted whispered then kissed Wilma's cheek.

"Ophelia, I have no idea how you managed to find the one upper class family with integrity and generosity, but I am glad you did. We wouldn't have had such an easy time these past few days without it," Wilma said as she took Ophelia's hands and squeezed them.

"Nathan's grave wouldn't have been destroyed if Regina hadn't fallen in love with him," Ophelia said. "I think she feels like this is her way of saying sorry."

"That's rubbish. She didn't ask Richard Wainscott to do any of this," Wilma protested weakly.

"We know that, but she needed to be part of the solution," Ophelia added.

"I'm just glad you've surrounded yourself with good people," Wilma gave her a tired smile.

Ophelia hadn't ever heard this from her mother, so she took in a breath.

"Even Archie. When he isn't gambling, he is good," Wilma admitted with a whisper.

Ophelia kissed her forehead.

"Nathan would be happy and proud of what you've done," Wilma added as she looked into her daughter's chocolate eyes. "So am I."

Ophelia let a few of her tears drop.

"I love you, Mom," Ophelia whispered.

"Will you bring the children in?" Wilma asked weakly.

Ophelia nodded and left the room to get everyone.

She didn't have to say anything when she entered the room they were all in. Everyone could see her emotions on her face.

"Grandma wants to see all of your bright faces," Ophelia said as she looked at the children in the room.

"Come on, Nate, let's go see Grandma," Colleen took her brother's hand and led him into the hallway. Harris followed behind slowly. The adults followed behind him. Archie put a comforting arm around Ophelia and she leaned into his side.

They all entered Wilma's room quietly.

"Hi, Grandma," Colleen said softly as she crawled up into her bed and sat next to her.

Nate followed his sister on the other side, except he put his arms around her stomach to hug her. Wilma pulled Colleen into the hug and kissed both of their heads.

"I love you both, so much! I hope you know that" Wilma whispered against their cheeks.

"We do, Grandma," Nate said as he smiled up at her.

"You both need to be good for your Mama. You are her entire world," Wilma said softly.

"We know," Nate said as he smiled at his mom.

"I try to be good, but sometimes it's hard," Colleen admitted.

Everyone laughed at her statement.

"As long as you apologize and help fix your mistake I think you will be just fine," Wilma added with a snuggle to Colleen's cheeks.

Colleen nodded.

Wilma held them for a few more seconds before pulling back. Archie and Ophelia stepped forward to hold them in their arms. Harris was next. He sat on the bed beside her.

"Thank you for accepting me so willingly," Harris said.

"How could we not? You're a living piece of our son. I'm sorry that it took so long for us to be introduced," Wilma said as she hugged him.

"I love you, Grandma," Harris said as he got up.

Wilma nodded.

Regina bent over next.

"Thank you for your compassion," Regina whispered.

"That is the first time someone has said that I have any," Wilma said.

"Maybe not directly. Nathan said that you weren't certain how to show it," Regina whispered.

"I'm glad it was you. You're an excellent daughter-in-law," Wilma whispered back as she squeezed Regina's hands.

Regina couldn't stop her tears.

"Lieutenant, come here please," Wilma gestured to the man standing on guard near the door.

James raised an eye-brow in surprise, but walked over.

"I don't know why you decided to help my family, but I will be forever grateful for your generosity. I do ask you to continue to look after them," Wilma struggled to get out. But she met his eyes with a pleading look.

"I helped them because they needed it. We've been helping each other ever since, and I was going to look after them anyway," James confirmed her request.

Wilma squeezed his hand in thanks and leaned against her pillows and shut her eyes.

"We should let her rest now," Ted said as he opened the door for them to leave. It was a somber group leaving the room.


Ted returned to Wilma's room after they ate dinner. Wilma was asleep. Ted laid down next to her and held her hand in comfort; then he fell asleep himself.

No one could precisely say when Wilma and Ted passed away that night. The group only knew that they had died in their sleep; Ted holding onto Wilma in a loving embrace; Wilma looked like she was at peace finally.


It had been Regina and James who found them together. They had been surprised that Ted had passed with his wife, he hadn't shown any signs of being near death, but James could understand his motive.

"This is going to be you and Edith," Regina whispered as they pulled a blanket from the closet to cover the bodies.

"Hmm?" James asked back.

"You and Edith. Many years into the future. She's finally going to exhaust herself, and you're going to be lovingly holding onto her until her last breath. Then you'll pass on yourself," Regina said.

James looked at the old married couple and thought about Edith. He knew she was right. But he was surprised she had caught on so quickly. His surprise must have shown on his face because she commented about it.

"Oh, come on! Anyone who actually sees the two of you together can tell how much you love each other! I'm not that blind," Regina said in defense of herself.

James gave a quiet nod in agreement.

"Actually, it makes me feel better about you," Regina admitted as she looked at her little brother.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Before you realized just how much she means to you, you were on the front lines of many battles. With her, you make safer choices," Regina explained. "Part of the reason I didn't like you stepping out of the family business is because I was afraid you were going to die on a battlefield somewhere."

"I love you, too," James said simply as he held out his hand to his sister.

Regina grabbed it and squeezed gently.

The siblings soon left to tell the others what had happened. There was a lot of sorrow from the adults and a slight understanding that they wouldn't talk with their grandparents again from the small children. They started discussing funeral preparations and ceremonies.

"Do they have a will?" James asked.

Ophelia glared at him.

"Doctors were a splurge, what do you think?" Ophelia said sarcastically.

James nodded once in acknowledgement.

"Have they said how they would like to be buried, and who was getting what?" James tried again.

"They wanted to be buried together with Nathan," Ophelia said, "but that has already been established."

"They've said when we moved here, that Harris could have what they still had of Nathan's," Regina added.

"That wasn't much and that makes sense," Ophelia said as she gave a small smile to Harris.

"Perhaps we can go through the things they brought here and see who wants what. If there are any items that a few of us want then we can discuss who gets it," Edith suggested kindly.

"That's a good suggestion, Edith," Regina complemented.

The group agreed.

They quickly settled on the services for the couple. Then they arranged the plans. Ted and Wilma's funeral would be that weekend at the church Regina and Harris had found near their home. They would then have a graveside service at the cemetery they had picked. Edith had written a nice, sweet obituary for the family and sent them to the papers to be printed.

Since Edith couldn't go, she helped dress Colleen and Nate in black dress clothes. Edith was also wearing a black dress in solidarity. The family was quickly dressed in mourning clothes and ready to go. They were taking Regina's carriage to the church.

Then they stood in the waiting line.

James was holding Nate in his arms, and Colleen was holding onto his hand as their parents greeted the people showing up to the funeral. Many of Ted and Wilma's long time friends and acquaintances were stopping showing up and were surprised with Regina, Harris, James' presence next to Ophelia.

The family was surprised to see uniformed soldiers approach the church.

James passed over the children to Regina and blocked their path. All of them stopped in surprise.

"What brings you here?" James stood with full authority in his tone.

The soldiers all stopped at the same time and stood at attention.

"Lieutenant Normandeau, Sir!" the leader of the squad saluted and said.

"Answer my question, Corporal," James said.

"We are here to give Ted Harris a soldier's funeral, Sir," the man said in response.

James was absolutely surprised by this.

"Ophelia?" he turned to her to gesture her to come over.

"What?" she said when she got close.

"They said your father was a soldier?" James asked quietly.

Ophelia's eyes went wide in shock.

"He never said anything to me," Ophelia said honestly, "He only worked at the market from what I know."

"James Normandeau!" an old man's voice rang out from behind, "I wasn't thinking I would see you today!"

James squinted until the man came forward.

"General Marsh!" he said with happiness. This had been the man who had trained him.

"It's good to see you, even if it's in such sad times," General Marsh said with a smile.

James nodded in agreement.

"How do you know Ted Harris?" the General asked with a toothless grin.

"That's a long and involved story, but suffice it to say that I am a friend of the family," James said. "You?"

"Ted Harris saved my ass in a rebellion outbreak. I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for him," the General said with fondness. "He wasn't in the service long after that. His injuries made it so that he couldn't continue in his career. He met Wilma around then."

The family had stepped up to hear what was going on. All of them had jaws dropped.

"He never spoke of being a soldier. There weren't any documents about his enlistment, either," Ophelia said.

"That doesn't surprise me. He saw some terrible things. He just wanted a normal life with his family. He probably burned his copies to make sure he wasn't reminded of that time," General Marsh said with a smile at the family. "When I saw the obituary, I knew I would need to come, but no one was at the apartment. And no one could tell me where they had gone. I took it upon myself to organize a partial soldier's funeral for him, if that's okay?"

Ophelia looked to the rest of the family for their opinions.

But they all looked back at her saying it was her choice.

Ophelia nodded in agreement, still in too much shock to process that her shy father had been a soldier.

The group slowly and quietly entered the church.

The family took their positions in the first pew. James was holding Nate and sitting next to Colleen again.

The pastor started the service for Ted and Wilma. It was a simple, loving service. When it came to the eulogy James was the one who stood up. Ophelia had refused to speak, knowing that in her grief, she wouldn't be able to speak in front of a crowd of people. They had decided to leave it open for the guests to speak, but what the others didn't know is that Edith wrote something for James to read.

Ophelia gave him a confused look when he approached the lectern.

James just unfolded his piece of paper and stood tall.

"Ted and Wilma Harris were like most couples: complicated. They loved their two children, Nathan and Ophelia, with every ounce of their beings, even if it wasn't shown all that well. They extended that love to their grandchildren: Harris, Colleen, and Nate. They showed that they raised their children to be good people because both Nathan and Ophelia became the kind of generous and open hearted, welcoming people that many wish their children to one day become, even if that is not what actually happens. They were flawed, as all people are in some ways, but they genuinely apologized if the flaw hurt someone else. Over the last few months, both have tried to make up for the things they did wrong, by being open and willing to accept a family that isn't traditional. There are things about Ted's and Wilma's lives that we don't know about, and probably never will, but I am grateful for everything they did. Because if they hadn't made the exact choices they had, we never would have met Ophelia. Our legacy is the people who love us and we leave behind. Ted and Wilma's legacy is in the form of their remaining child, Ophelia, who is the kindest soul in the world, and their just as sweet grandchildren-Harris, Colleen, and Nate. And they are the best things that have come from Ted and Wilma's life spent together, which is why I was not surprised that they died together. They knew that they had these kind, open people to continue on a better path," James finished as he put the paper back in his pocket.

"Will you thank Auntie Norman for that?" Colleen said loudly which echoed through the church.

"Colleen!" Archie reprimanded.

"What? She wrote it," Colleen said.

"That she did," James said as he stepped down from the lectern and took his position by the children.

Colleen looked at her father with a smug look.

"And I will," James whispered into her ear.

They turned their attention back to the others who were wanting to speak. All of the speakers spoke of how quiet, but loving Ted was, about how Wilma was a stern and complex woman. How hard both worked. General Marsh was the last speaker.

"Edith Normandeau's words about how we won't know every little detail of a person's life is most sound in why I am here. But Second Lieutenant Harris was a fellow soldier when I was a young man."

The crowd gasped at the knowledge that quiet Ted had made Second Lieutenant.

"He took injuries saving me from my own stupid actions, which took him permantly out of the army. His slight paralysis on his left fingers, meant that his career as a shooter was at an end. I can say with 100% certainty that he was thankful for the release from the army. He had been growing tired of the hard life of a soldier. Once he was discharged, he never looked back. We lost touch over the years, but without his bravery, I wouldn't be standing in front of you now. So, I came here to pay my respects to the family he fought very hard for," General Marsh said as he looked at the people sitting in the first pew.

They nodded back.

General Marsh then sat back down.

The pastor then went about finishing the church service. The attendees were instructed about the graveside and where it was. Archie led Ophelia down the pews, followed by the others. The attendees strolled back out again. Then the soldiers started their parts, which was bearing both Ted's and Wilma's caskets into the hearse.

They all got into the carriage and drove to the graveyard where Ted and Wilma were going to be laid to rest. The soldiers were carrying them into the mausoleum.

The pastor said a few more words. Nate, Colleen, and Harris placed a rose on each casket before standing with their parents. Ophelia was holding Colleen's hand. Nate was in Archie's arms. The soldiers gave Ted a nine gun salute. To which everyone except the military personnel flinched.(Colleen even covered her ears).Then they saluted if they weren't part of the group putting them in their graves.

General Marsh and James were also saluting.

Nate had put his hand up in a salute in Archie's arms.


So, I wrote this instead of prepping my school work (I will regret this later, but for now I'm rationalizing it.) Thanks for the feedback! Once again, don't know how often I will update.