When Lee got home the next day, Vivian wasn't there to greet him. Instead, Rosemary was sitting at the table, working away on her latest article. Aaron was sleeping in his crib in the corner, and the house was quiet. Lee shut the door softly and walked over to Rosemary. "Hey, sweetheart," he said as he put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a kiss.
"Oh, hi." Rosemary looked up from her article. "I didn't even hear you come in."
"That's alright." Lee pulled out a chair and sat down beside her. "Where's Vivian?"
"She's playing at Opal's, and she's staying there for supper. Remember, they planned that a couple weeks ago."
"That sounds fun." Lee nodded. "Did you have a supper plan, or?"
"Oh!" Rosemary interrupted. "I'm so sorry, I totally forgot. I'll get something started right away." She jumped up. "I can't believe I forgot."
"It's okay." Lee stood too.
"No, it's not. I'm sure you've had a hard day at work and here I am, not even having anything ready for you."
"Sweetheart, it's fine." Lee gently caught her arm. "Just wait a second."
"What is it? Is something wrong?" She stopped moving about and looked at him with concern.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just need to give you something."
"Lee." She smiled. "What?"
He dug in his pocket to bring out two slips of paper. "These are for you," he said as he handed them to her.
She looked over them and a huge smile came over her face as she looked back up at Lee. "Really? These are for me?"
"Yes. I know we've been really busy lately, but I'd like to take you away for a weekend. What do you think?"
"I love it. I love plays, and this will be so exciting." She gave him a huge hug, then stepped back, a million questions flowing. "When are we going? What will I wear? Do I have time to make a new dress? What about the kids?"
"Whoa," Lee held up a hand to stop her. "We're going in two weeks, which should give you enough time to make a new dress. Elizabeth already agreed to have the kids and Abigail volunteered to help too."
"Are you serious?" She asked, as if hoping he would say he was kidding so that she wouldn't believe him.
But he nodded. "I'm serious." He opened his arms and gave her another huge hug.
"I'm so excited! It'll be wonderful!" Rosemary exclaimed. "These two weeks are going to pass so slowly," she said mournfully as she stepped back.
Lee chuckled. "With all that we have to do, I'm sure they will fly by." And he was right, the weeks did fly by. Before either of them knew it, it was Thursday afternoon. They had arranged that Vivian would come home after school, then Rosemary would bring her and Aaron over to Elizabeth's after supper. Rosemary and Lee were scheduled to take the train at 8am on Friday morning, so they would have Thursday night to themselves.
Rosemary was busy packing when Vivian and Lee came in. "Mama, I'm home!" Vivian said as she came running up the stairs.
"Hi sweetheart." Rosemary knelt down to give her little girl a hug. "How was your day at school?"
"Good." Vivian nodded. "Allie and I were making plans for when I go to Mrs. Thornton's. She said she's going to be there too. And Mrs. Thornton said I can call her Aunt Elizabeth when we're not in school."
"That's wonderful. Do you want to go and do some packing before supper?"
"Will you help me?"
"Of course." Just then, Aaron began crying. "And maybe Aaron will help too." Rosemary chuckled. "Go to your room, I'll get Aaron and then come too."
"I've got him!" Lee called as he breezed past him and Rosemary's room to Aaron's room.
"Alright." Rosemary called back. "Viv and I will be in her room." She and Vivian hurried to Vivian's bedroom. Rosemary sat on the floor and pulled out a suitcase from under Vivian's bed. "What do you want to bring, Viv?"
"Hmm..." Vivian pulled open her closet doors and some drawers. She selected a blue dress that Rosemary had made for her. "This one," she threw it towards Rosemary. "And..." she dug in her closet, triumphantly pulling out two more dresses, one purple and one green. "These."
"The boys have arrived!" Lee announced as he came in carrying Aaron. He plopped down on the floor next to Rosemary and set Aaron down. "What are we doing?"
"I'm packing, Papa." Vivian said as she brought the dresses over to Rosemary, who folded them and carefully put them away.
"Fun." Lee looked over at Aaron, who was happily sitting up and bubbling over something.
"Is there anything else you need?" Rosemary asked.
"Nope." Vivian shook her head.
"So you don't want pajamas or your stuffy or shoes?"
"Oh." Vivian smiled. "I guess maybe."
"Why don't you put those in here too." Rosemary smiled too. As she glanced over at Aaron, she saw him pull one of Vivian's bracelets off the floor and bring it towards his mouth. Quickly, she took it out of his reach. "Nice try, little buddy. You can't have that."
He stared at her, surprised, and then his little face crumpled and he began to cry. Rosemary pulled him over and picked him up, giving him a hug. "I don't want you to choke on it." She said softly, patting his back.
Lee picked up the bracelet and gave it to Vivian. "Put this in a safe spot." He said.
"Alright." Vivian placed it on her dresser, then came back to the little group. By then, Aaron had stopped crying. Instead, he was playing with Rosemary's bracelets and chortling. Vivian sat down between Lee and Rosemary and stretched out her hand. "Aaron, Aaron," she said as she began moving the bracelets back and forth to get his attention. Aaron grabbed onto her hand as he started gurgling again. He slobbered all over her hand. "Ugh." She drew it back distastefully. "I'm covered in baby slobber."
Lee and Rosemary looked at each other and laughed. "Come on, I'll help you clean it off." Lee said.
"And I'll get some supper ready." Rosemary added. The group scrambled to their feet, and then Lee and Vivian went down the hall and Rosemary and Aaron headed for the stairs. Rosemary made a quick meal of grill cheese, and the family sat down to eat. Once supper was done, Rosemary turned to Vivian. "Are you all ready to go to Aunt Elizabeth's?"
Vivian nodded excitedly. "Yes!"
"Why don't you go get your suitcase, and Papa can grab Aaron's?"
"Alright." Vivian pushed back her chair and hurried upstairs, with Lee following her.
All four of them got in the car and made the short journey to the rowhouse. Nathan's house was complete, and he and Elizabeth would live there after the wedding, but for now, the rowhouse was Elizabeth's home. Lee grabbed the suitcases, Rosemary held Aaron and took Vivian's hand, and they entered. "We're here!" Rosemary called as they walked in.
"Hi!" Elizabeth said, walking over to them.
"We brought everything they need, but if they happen to need anything else, you can just get it from the house." Rosemary began. "Aaron usually takes three naps, and you can bottle feed him at every meal. He does like a little bit of applesauce, which I also put in here, and.." her voice trailed off as she caught Lee's look. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She finished with a smile.
"He'll be just fine." Elizabeth assured her.
"Are you sure? I feel bad for leaving him and Vivian with you, especially when you have school tomorrow."
"It's okay. Abigail volunteered to watch him during school, and Nathan will be over to help me, as well as Allie." Elizabeth smiled. "You go and have fun."
"Alright." Rosemary gave Aaron a hug and kiss, then handed him over to Elizabeth. He chuckled and smiled as he tugged on Elizabeth's hair.
"Viv, it's time to say goodbye," Lee said.
Vivian had been playing with Little Jack, btu she came back over. She ran into Lee's arms. "Do you have to go?" She asked quietly as a tear formed in her eyes.
"Yes, sweetheart." Rosemary knelt down. "But we'll be back really soon." She put her hand on Vivian's shoulder.
"And you're going to have so much fun." Lee added, pulling Vivian in for another hug. "I love you, my girl."
"I love you too, Papa." Vivian said as she stepped back, then she turned to give Rosemary a hug. "I love you, Mama."
"I love you too, Viv. You be good for Aunt Elizabeth, okay? We'll be back as soon as we can." Rosemary said as she stood up. They waved bye, then they turned and went out, closing the door behind them. "Are you sure they're going to be okay?" Rosemary stopped in the walkway.
"They'll be fine, sweetheart," Lee said. He put his arm around her. "And we'll be fine too."
"Alright." Rosemary sighed. "Is it bad that I miss them already?"
"No." Lee chuckled. "I miss them too."
"Okay, good." Rosemary got into the car. She and Lee drove home, and when they opened the door to the house, it was strangely quiet. There was no Aaron, with his bubbly chortle, and no Vivian, who could talk for hours and hours and keep them entertained. When Lee shut the door, the sound echoed throughout the house. "It's so silent." Rosemary said quietly.
"It's amazing how much noise we're used to." Lee agreed.
"But I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Rosemary turned to face him. "Thanks for doing all this."
"I'm excited too. We haven't gotten away together in a little while." Lee smiled.
"What play are we going to go see? You haven't told me yet." Rosemary suddenly remembered.
Lee chuckled. "Oh, you'll just have to wait."
"Lee." Rosemary pretended to frown, then laughed. "I suppose I can wait a little while longer. What time is Jesse coming tomorrow?"
"Six-thirty."
"So we'll have to be up early." Rosemary nodded. "Maybe I'll prepare some breakfast now, and it'll be ready for the morning."
"Good idea. And you're all packed, right?"
"Of course." Rosemary smiled. "I really am looking forward to this." She added.
"Me too."
In the morning, Rosemary woke up early in the dark. Lee was already gone. She slipped downstairs and found him sitting at the table. "Morning." She said quietly as she padded over to him and gave him a kiss.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
"Do you want some breakfast?"
"Yes please."
"How much time do we have before we have to go?"
Lee checked his watch. "Well, it's five forty now, so Jesse will be here in twenty minutes."
"Perfect." Rosemary set the breakfast before them. "Then we can enjoy a quiet meal together."
"I like the sound of that." Lee smiled. "Have I told you I love you, Rosie?"
"A few times," Rosemary admitted with a chuckle. "But I could hear it again."
"I love you, and the food looks delicious."
"Thanks. I love you too."
They ate a quiet breakfast, then got ready to go. Lee was ready before Rosemary, so he put all their luggage in the car. Just when he was ready to go up to get her in case something happened, she came down. She was dressed in a beautiful purple dress which accented her hair and eyes perfectly. "Wow." Lee took a deep breath. "You look beautiful, sweetheart."
"Thank you. You look rather dashing yourself." She giggled as he pulled her into a hug.
Outside, they heard the sound of horses. "Must be Clara dropping Jesse off." Lee said. He helped Rosemary with her coat and extended his arm to her. "Ready to go, Rosie?"
"Absolutely!" Rosemary declared with a grin.