Chapter 14

"Mother? Father? Grandmother? Grandfather? Rose? Bonnie? Pierre? Billy? Joseph?" I called out, naming my family members and the staff.

Mother came to the doorway. She now looked VERY pregnant. "Victoria?" she asked, then burst into tears. I looked at her in shock. I'd been expecting a lecture, and then a turn-out. "My darling little girl! I've missed you so much!"

She came over to give me as much of a hug as she could, with the baby inside her and all. In the doorway behind her stood my frowning grandmother. She looked at the twenty or so boys gathered behind me, and sniffed, then turned away.

Father came down the stairs at all the noise. "What's going on?" He saw me and I watched his posture grow even more stiff. "Victoria," he said softly.

"I t'ought 'er name was Daffodil," I heard Snipeshooter whisper softly.

"Hello, Father," I said. I didn't see Grandfather anywhere, but this didn't surprise me. I figured he'd been the one to lock the door.

"Bonnie! Rose! Pierre!" Father called, and suddenly his posture lost ALL stiffness as he ran down the stairs toward me. "Get out some food! Our daughter has returned!" He held me in a tight hug, and the maids came skittering around the corner, along with Pierre (the cook), Joseph (the butler) and Billy (the gardener).

We all went into the kitchen. Mother sat quietly, crying into her handkerchief at the emotion of it all (I suppose the pregnancy held a big part in her emotionalism, as well). I introduced all the newsies who had come with me, and Mush was of course the perfect gentleman towards me, pulling out my chair for me and looking my father right in the eye when they spoke. (My father always liked that in a fellow man.)

"So you're the one that Victoria ran away from us to be with," he said, but he didn't sound bitter, simply amused. This struck me as odd.

Mush looked at him and nodded. "She's da bes' t'ing dat eveh happened t' me," he said. "I love 'er."

My father looked at me, and I saw tears in his eyes. He nodded, just once, and I knew that was all that Mush and I needed. We had his blessing. "Oh, Papa!" I said, the childish name popping out as I rushed to hug him. "Thank you."

"So why did you come back?" my grandmother asked. She was sitting stick-straight in her chair, not eating or drinking or laughing or crying or smiling or frowning or anything. She fixed her hard eyes on me.

I lifted my chin defiantly. "The lodging house burned down," I answered. "We have no place to stay."

"A-ha!" she said, standing up. "I knew that if she was coming back, it had to be because she wanted something. They always do, Elijah," she warned my father, and with that, she swept out of the room.

"We heard about the fire. Of course, we didn't know that's where YOU stayed," Mother said softly. She looked around at all the dirty faces around her. "You poor children." She shook her head, and her ringlets bounced. "Rose?" Rose came over, drying her hands on her apron. "Get all the guest rooms ready, and bring down some extra blankets and such. We'll make room for all these boys." She gave me her best motherly smile, and I knew that, in her mind, at least, she'd just made all the boys her sons. I was pretty sure that that, too, was a behavior of the pregnancy.

"Say… does dat mean I'se can take a bath in a TUB?" asked Specs.

"An' eat more a dis food?" chimed in Jack.

"Take us on a tour a you'se house, Daffodil!" Bumlets suggested. Smiling, I led them through the parlor, living room, my bedroom (they were all quite impressed by this time that I'd ever left these riches to stay with Mush), my parents' bedroom, the servants' quarters, the three spare bedrooms, the two bathrooms, the kitchen, the carriage house, the greenhouse, and the other places on the grounds, like the stable and the garden.

"Ain' it amazin'," Mush said as Jack talked to my horse, Star, "how much dif'rence five blocks can make t' the housin' an' the situation?"

"Can I ride 'im, Daffodil?" Jack called out, patting Star.

"Tomorrow, Jack. It's too late. Let's all go inside; I bet we can convince Pierre to make us some food, and Specs can go take his bath."

"I wan' one too, Daffodil!" nearly everyone shouted in some form.

"In fac', how's abou' I take one wit' YOU?" Racetrack said, sidling up next to me. All the boys laughed except Mush, who hit him on the head.

I just laughed at him. "You might want to get rid of the cigar. No smoking in the house—Mother's rule," I told him with a smile.

"You'se KIDDIN'!" he said, staring at me in shock. "Wha' kind a prison IS dis?"

I smiled. "I've asked myself that very question more times than I can count."

I led the boys back across the lawn and into the house. Grandfather was still nowhere in sight. The boys decided to wait for baths in favor of food. Bonnie came in while we were testing some sample desserts Pierre had made for us. "We can fit three to a bed, so that's nine taken care of with the spare bedrooms," she said. "The chairs in the parlor are not very pleasant to sleep on, so we'll rule those out; however, the chairs in the living room are quite nice, so there's another four. That leaves…" she counted, "Six of you. There are nineteen, right?"

"Yes'm," they chorused together.

"Well, there are piles of pillows and blankets in the living room, so perhaps you can make your beds there on the floor. I'm sorry, but that's the best we could do."

"Hey, dat's much bettah dan sleepin' in da park wit' nuffin!" Boots said, smiling at her. "Thanks!"

The others echoed his thanks, and then, finally full, we all headed to bed.

Rose helped me out of my dress and corset, and I pulled on a cotton nightgown. It felt good to finally have something cool and clean on. She left the room and I was just pulling back the heavy comforter on my bed and thinking how nothing had ever looked more inviting, when there was a knock on my door. I opened it and found Mush standing there, holding a blanket and a pillow and smiling.

"Is it all righ' wit' you if'n I made my bed outside ya door?" he asked. "It'd be impropah fer me ta sleep in yer room, but I like bein' close t' ya."

I couldn't resist his smile. "It's all right with me," I answered him. "Just watch out, Grandfather sometimes likes to walk around at night and he might step on you." He laughed, then kissed me goodnight, and closed the door. I climbed into bed and happily blew out the candle. I yawned only once, feeling incredibly safe, knowing Mush was outside my door. As I drifted off to sleep, I knew that was a foolish thought – what had I to be afraid of in my own house? I closed my eyes and smiled.