Miranda's Spiel: Thanks to everyone who left reviews, and my apology for
the wait!
I found that I really enjoyed being a Winchester. It was kind of like a fairytale. My husband was truly Prince Charming, and lavished attention, love and gifts on me whenever the chance arose, even when I thought he couldn't find a reason, he'd come up with one to buy me flowers, or something for the baby, still 8 weeks away, or tale me out to dinner.
Charles's' extended family loved me too, and delighted in paying visits to see me while I was at home with the twins. They also brought plenty of things up for the baby, and I strongly suspected that this bump, when he or she arrived was to be the most spoiled baby in all New England.
"Anne I just noticed that your latest maternity dresses are looking a tad restrictive. I have some time off tomorrow afternoon, would you like to go shopping with Nora and myself?" Diana observed as I squeezed into a dress with her help. The bump was already proving difficult to dress with, and I needed help getting things over my head.
"Well Diana, I could have Hawkeye bring some more of my things from the twins up next time he visits . . ." I protested hopefully, I liked being spoiled, but at the same time I sort of felt bad, as I rarely gave anything back.
"Do, by all means, but you are aware that we've been invited to dinner with Elaine Montgomery this weekend, and Anne, I wouldn't like to think you felt uncomfortable." Diana meant that the Montgomery family would probably make fun of the fact that I was wearing decidedly lower-class clothes. She hadn't said directly, but Charles, both senior and junior, had been the subject of many very snide remarks about an inability to provide decently for their wives and family, and while for me they didn't make a fuss, they still felt that perhaps it was true.
"Okay I will Diana, but nothing overly fancy this time. I insist." I protested, knowing full-well, they wouldn't be happy to settle for the comfy cotton dresses that I had worn with the twins.
"And we really should get Annabelle some new pyjamas." Charles put in, he'd been rocking a very sleepy Ben and had just set the baby in his crib. In the corner, Nora was reading to Felicity.
"Charlie, dear that was a one-off." I'd worn one of his old uniforms. Felicity had been in the bath, and swallowed some of the water accidentally. A few hours later, it had disagreed violently with her little belly, and she'd thrown up all over my remaining clean nightdress.
"So?" Charles put his arms around me and bent down to kiss me. "I still like to get you plenty of new clothes."
"Why?" I queried with a grin.
"Because I love you, and I've never had anyone to treat like this before, and. . ." he paused and waited until he was certain Nora and Diana were occupied with my daughter, "it's expected of me." This was added in a whisper.
"I would have been happy just to settle for the first reason. I love you too." I cuddled Charles as well as I could manage my belly, and his stout figure making it hard. I was dying for the day when I would be the little me again.
Time passed quickly in the Winchester house, and I came to love the fact that no one expected me to work during the days. Attending the occasional function with Charles or Nora didn't count. The whole days at home meant that I was able to spend as much time with my beautiful growing babies as I wanted. They were learning to walk, little by little, Ben being the faster of the two.
Sara, a nanny had been hired for me, and she was around to help me with the children whenever I needed it. I appreciated the help with two babies, but hoped that she would not try and take over with the baby when it was born. I wanted to be around my child from the very first instant, and be the one to do everything. I also wanted to gradually teach Charles more about being a parent, and looking after children.
"She's getting a new tooth Charlie dear," Charles had decided that he wanted to take a far more active role in his children as babies than his parents had with him and Nora. As a result, he was practising with the twins, and trying to learn what various things meant, in this case, why Felicity was screaming at two am, with red cheeks and strands of saliva running down her chin.
"See how flushed her cheeks are darling?" I pointed out as Charles tried to soothe her, "But she's not running a fever, and she's drooling a lot, there's a new tooth coming in."
"What's the matter with my baby girl?" Hawkeye, who had come up with Margaret for the weekend to see the twins, had woken when Felicity had started to scream.
"Teething." I explained. Hawkeye looked pained, as a doctor he'd seen many a child come through his clinic with teething problems, and knew there was little more to do than give the baby something cold to suck on and wait.
"What can I do?" Charles asked, he was quite naturally concerned, but if the sight of him so lovingly holding the baby upset Hawkeye, I didn't see it.
"There is a washcloth in the freezer." I explained, taking Felicity from him, and lifting her to my shoulder, my presence calmed her more, but she was still in pain. "Go get that, I'll see if she wants a feed." I was trying to wean the twins slowly, and having a lot of success, but there was still some milk available and I figured that Felicity could use the comfort.
"I'll be right back." Charles left hastily, as Margaret appeared sleepy- eyed at the door.
"What's wrong, she's not sickening for anything is she?" Her voice was tired, but concerned, as I sat in a chair and rocked Felicity a little bit before offering her a feed.
"No, she's just cutting a new tooth, I can't work out where though, and I'm not exactly game to try and feel for it while she's in this mood, her other teeth are quite sharp!" To my relief, Felicity decided the idea of a snack was appealing and she quieted down. Charles was till moving around downstairs, looking for the washcloth.
"I don't remember her crying this much when she was younger." Hawkeye said concerned, stroking her little head, in response Felicity tried to jerk her head away and screamed louder than before. It was another minute before she'd quieted enough to keep feeding.
"It's quite normal. She may be a quiet baby, but she is in pain." I reassured him. "Do you mind that Charles is going to be there for her more often than you are?"
"Not really." Hawkeye replied. "I mean I wish I could be there every second of the day or night, but at the same time, I know I can't change it, and I'm just glad that she's got someone who loves her and her mother as much as I do. And the same goes for Ben, I'm glad that there's still someone around who will love him just as much." At that point Felicity had gotten upset and begun to cry some more.
"Here it is, I couldn't find it" Before bedtime, I'd dampened a washcloth well, and put it in the freezer. It should, I hoped, be cold and soothing enough to let Felicity go back to sleep, and let us follow.
"Thanks Charlie dear." I smiled, and took the cloth, Felicity took to it quickly, and a few minutes later, very much relived, Hawkeye took his daughter from my arms and lay her down. She was sound asleep again, and quickly, we all went back to bed.
"You're doing great Charlie, just remember that. . . pee fountain!" I shrieked with laughter. Ben had done it once again, fortunately, Charles had gotten the diaper over him in time.
"I definitely think I prefer changing Felicity." He murmured, rubbing my belly gently. "But you wouldn't do that your daddy would you now?" He addressed the bump. In response almost, the baby kicked a little. I had to smile then. The baby seemed to respond to being talked to, and I was delighted at that.
"Excuse me Miss Anne, Master Charles is on the phone for you." I looked up, Ben giving a squeak at the removal of his food-laden spoon, as I turned towards Sara. I was two weeks off giving birth and excited beyond reason.
"Would you please finish feeding Ben Sara?" I handed her the spoon and took the call.
"Hello?"
"Annie, my sweet how do you feel about leaving the twins with Sara and coming to a dinner with me?"
"Well, I, Charlie dear. . ." I hesitated. I was ever too keen to abandon my children for a night.
"Robert Harwell and his wife have invited you and I around for dinner."
"Who? Oh, Uncle Bob right?"
"Right, would you come Annie?"
"Of course, meet you at the hospital in an hour? I need to finish feeding the twins, and then I'll have to dress up a tad." I agreed.
"Wear that Japanese silk I bought you last week. An hour will be fine, Dr Harwell doesn't get off until then anyway." We hung up, and I finished up with the twins. I no longer breastfed them, but it wouldn't be long until I was breastfeeding again.
"Right this way Mrs Winchester." One of the nurses gave me a strange look as she directed me towards Charles's office. I guessed it had something to do with the fact that I had obviously been pregnant longer than I'd be married. That fact in itself was causing a fair amount of gossip, 'marriage for convenience' being high on the list.
"Annie!" Charles kissed me. He didn't throw his arms around me like Hawkeye would have, but he still showed me exactly how much he cared, while taking pains not to wrinkle the Japanese silk gown I wore.
"Sorry I'm late Charlie dear, Ben threw up on Nora, and he cried for twenty minutes, he's not sickening for anything though, he just ate too much."
"Never mind, we're to drive to Dr and Mrs Harwell's house." We left, and arrived at the Harwell house in about fifteen minutes. They were a lovely, albeit slightly stuffy couple, and seemed happy enough to meet me.
"So Charles, tell us about when you met Annie." Mrs Harwell asked.
"The first time I saw her, she was smiling to light up even the darkest of dark, and she grabbed the nearest two people in the tightest hug she could manage. I saw then, from the way everyone greeted her, that this woman was not only beautiful, but important and that if I ever hurt her, not that that thought ever crossed my mind, but should I ever do that, I'd have everyone, probably even the patients to answer to. About the same time I realised that she was rapidly scoring grooves across my heart, I realised she was Hawkeye's girl."
"My former husband." I added, Mrs Harwell nodded understanding.
"I couldn't touch her, that gold band meant she was never a possibility. So, like the fool I was, I acted in the most opposite way I could, as though I was not comfortable around her, as though I couldn't bear call her by her Christian name, as though I didn't want her by my side. I thought I had got her out of my system, and then she told me off in OR, and her determination and pride in herself as a woman had me tumbling down so hard, I knew when I hit the bottom it was going to hurt. The night Colonel Potter made us spend together was very awkward for me."
"We were confined to 24hours in each other's presence." I explained. Dr Harwell chuckled.
"It's sounds like a good idea, I know what you can get like Charles. How did it go?"
"I didn't know how to act towards her, but as I was still falling, I acted how I felt, she quite plainly thought it was in fun, but when we woke in the morning, I knew if she wasn't the woman for me, I didn't know myself. I gave up though, I met Martine and made myself believe I was in love with her. Martine would never, could never be accepted by my family and I came to love Annie all the more. In July 53, her husband was admitted to a hospital in Tokyo, and Annabelle fell asleep with a friend on their bunk. I was asked to move her to her bunk, and when I lifted her, she shifted to lean against me more, and the feeling that she actually needed me, had me even further head over heels. Then they had a falling out and Annie and Dr Pierce divorced shortly after the end of the war."
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that!" Mrs Harwell exclaimed.
"Never mind." I smiled.
"About this time last year, Annie came to stay with me, and I proposed, she said yes, and the rest is history, we married and very soon, she'll be having our first child." We chatted on a little longer, and just before we were to go, I tugged gently on Charles's sleeve.
"Yes my sweet?" He turned gently with a smile, putting his brandy down.
"Charlie, dearest, I think we'd better go, I just had a contraction."
"Yes, of course." He stood up, "Thankyou Dr, Mrs Harwell, it was a lovely evening, we'll let you know how the proceedings go of course."
"Yes, best of luck to you both." We were seen hurriedly out, and Charles helped me into the car.
"Annabelle Winchester, you're two weeks early!" His voice bordered on panic.
"Never mind that Charles, all I know is I had a contraction, and I'm assuming it's real. I've been ignoring the false labours that have occurred every day for the past week. This one was different."
"I'm not arguing but, I, I don't know."
"Drive Charles!" He put the car in gear and we moved off. We had to return home so I could get my bag for hospital, but in a remarkably short time I'd been propped in a delivery suite with the top obstetrician.
"Mrs Winchester, you're hardly dilated, it's going to be a fair wait. I'd say your family in Portland can drive down in time." We'd called Hawkeye, Margaret and my Mum, letting them know the baby's arrival was imminent.
"Thankyou." I smiled. I was pretty happy, so far, everything was going smoothly and I had been promised that Charles would be allowed in the room.
"Mrs Winchester, it's obvious that you're going to have to wait at least until tomorrow. Would you prefer to go home, and wait it out there, in comfort?" However, the baby was big, and I was a little apprehensive about leaving.
"Alternatively, you can be admitted to a ward, you'll have a private room, and you can wait there, and I can return in the morning. I honestly cannot see that the baby will arrive soon, your contractions are 40 minutes apart, there's really no sense in worrying."
"Okay." I agreed. I was shifted to a room, where Charles sat by me. It was about 1am, and I had been in labour for 5hours when Hawkeye and Margaret arrived. They had driven very fast and arrived in no time at all.
"So, how far off are you?" Margaret asked anxiously, appearing to nurse her left hand.
"Hours. I'm to try to sleep. Is your hand okay?"
"Yes, it's just, that, oh, I'm engaged!" Margaret's face lit up wonderfully.
"Margaret Houlihan, to who?" I demanded, sitting up a little. Charles hushed me carefully. Margaret became quiet, almost sheepish at my query.
"Hawkeye." She murmured, "We worked it out. Going to pick up the pieces, marry in July."
"Baby in December." Hawkeye added. "We found out today."
"I'm so happy to hear that!" I beamed and Charles added his congratulations.
"How long before they throw us out?" Hawkeye asked.
"They won't." I replied. "Let's just say Mrs Winchester holds a fair bit of power, to say nothing of the fact that Houlihan is a well-known and respected name."
"And what of Pierce, that's hardly known on this side of town. How did you get me in here?" Hawkeye demanded.
"Think nothing of it brother-in-law." Charles smiled. We'd said Hawkeye was my older brother. Hawkeye offered him a warm handshake and the night wore on. It was a long night, despite the fact that this wasn't my first birth, things seemed to be taking just as long.
"How are we feeling this morning Mrs Winchester?"
"Tired." It was 10 before the doctor reappeared, and I had been in labour for nearly 14hours. However at about 6 that morning, I'd begun to have stronger, more regular contractions and half an hour before I had started into the second stage of labour, when my waters had broken. As a result I was back in the delivery room, with Hawkeye and Margaret outside, and Charles holding my hand tightly.
"Never mind, we'll have this baby out of you soon, you're fully dilated and effaced, so you'll be fine. Okay, I just want to wait until the contractions are somewhat more frequent, and then we'll really start things moving."
"Good." I replied, trying not to be rude, I was exhausted and the sooner I could hold my baby and sleep, the better.
Half an hour later, our beautiful daughter arrived into the world. There was a fair degree of surprise, as we'd all hoped the baby would be a boy and had referred to the growing bump as 'he' for a long time.
""She's beautiful, just perfect." Charles was effectively besotted. I didn't blame him. She had her daddy's eyes and his hair, or lack thereof, she was completely bald, but it didn't take an ounce away from her beauty.
"She is, isn't she?" I agreed. "Names?" We'd never really talked names, taking it for granted that I'd produce a Charles IV.
"What about Charlotte?" Charles suggested the pretty female diminutive of Charles.
"What if we have a boy? We can't very well have a Charles and Charlotte."
"What if we don't?" Charles replied, then smiled. "What about Rosalinde or Miranda, something Shakespearian?"
"I don't know." I said, "Though Miranda Rose sounds pretty, I don't like Miranda Winchester much."
"Point taken Annie my dear." Charles kissed my forehead, still cradling his hour-old daughter. "What about Rose, or Rosalyn?"
"I like Rosalyn, but either way, let's get Margaret and Hawkeye in here, all they know is the baby arrived ok.." In a few minutes my very proud friends were admiring my beautiful baby.
"What a beautiful boy, looks just like his daddy, I see. Welcome to the world Charles." Hawkeye was admiring the baby, and gently extracted her from Charles's arms so that he could hold the baby.
"Umm, Hawkeye. . ." Margaret had checked the charts and discovered I had not had a boy. "I think that you'd better think twice before addressing the baby as Charles. You don't want to give her any gender complexes do you now?" Hawkeye's eyes flicked to Margaret, then my beaming face, then to Charles, and finally to the sleeping baby. He carefully lay her down on the bed, unwrapped her blankets and peered into her diaper.
"Oh, I see. . ." He had the good grace to blush as he rewrapped the baby.
"She's a Winchester alright!" Hawkeye said, rocking the sleepy infant. "Not a hair on her head."
"Have you picked a name yet?" Margaret asked, her finger was squeezed tightly in a small pink fist. She had my hands, small and delicate, with longish thin fingers.
"Not really. Rosalyn is the only name we've liked so far. We liked Miranda, but it doesn't go with Winchester."
"Let's see," Hawkeye lifted the baby to his eye level and studied her. "She looks like a Gertrude to me." I screwed up my nose. He normally picked nice baby names. Hawkeye saw the look and made amends.
"Okay, seriously, she looks like an Amanda to me, it means 'worthy of love' and she deserves it."
"Keep that name Ben dear." I smiled. After Katharine, Amanda was Hawkeye's favourite girl's name.
"Well, she looks like a Rosalyn to me." Margaret said. "And I'm sure whatever beautiful name you choose as a middle name, will suit her just as nicely." Margaret was right, and we came up with Rosalyn Marie a few minutes later. We announced the name, and as I sat there, with my beautiful daughter, loving husband, proud friends, and a few minutes later, thrilled, admiring family members, I realised that I was truly, blissfully happy, and there didn't seem to be anything that could change it.
I was right, I remained wonderfully happy with Charles. When Rosalyn was three months old, we went up to the Cove to watch Margaret and Hawkeye wed. I went back up in December to see their daughter Katharine Annabelle born. Three more children followed, Amanda Louise in 1956, Daniel Alvin in 1959 and Isabelle Rose in 1961.
Charles and I had more children too, when Rosalyn was three years old, I gave birth to her twin sisters, Honoria Dianne and Annabelle Jeanne, two beautiful identical blonde babies and broke my family's tradition of one of each. When in 1960 I gave birth to another girl, we pretty much gave up on having a boy, but didn't christen our daughter Charlotte, opting for Martine Elizabeth instead. As a result, we were pretty surprised and pleased when after the promised tenth anniversary celebration in France I produced our fifth and final child, Charles Emerson Winchester IV in late 1965.
I'd been given everything I wanted; a fantastic home, a loving husband, and five beautiful children. It was still like a fairytale, with me as the princess. And as with all fairytales, I really did live happily ever after.
I found that I really enjoyed being a Winchester. It was kind of like a fairytale. My husband was truly Prince Charming, and lavished attention, love and gifts on me whenever the chance arose, even when I thought he couldn't find a reason, he'd come up with one to buy me flowers, or something for the baby, still 8 weeks away, or tale me out to dinner.
Charles's' extended family loved me too, and delighted in paying visits to see me while I was at home with the twins. They also brought plenty of things up for the baby, and I strongly suspected that this bump, when he or she arrived was to be the most spoiled baby in all New England.
"Anne I just noticed that your latest maternity dresses are looking a tad restrictive. I have some time off tomorrow afternoon, would you like to go shopping with Nora and myself?" Diana observed as I squeezed into a dress with her help. The bump was already proving difficult to dress with, and I needed help getting things over my head.
"Well Diana, I could have Hawkeye bring some more of my things from the twins up next time he visits . . ." I protested hopefully, I liked being spoiled, but at the same time I sort of felt bad, as I rarely gave anything back.
"Do, by all means, but you are aware that we've been invited to dinner with Elaine Montgomery this weekend, and Anne, I wouldn't like to think you felt uncomfortable." Diana meant that the Montgomery family would probably make fun of the fact that I was wearing decidedly lower-class clothes. She hadn't said directly, but Charles, both senior and junior, had been the subject of many very snide remarks about an inability to provide decently for their wives and family, and while for me they didn't make a fuss, they still felt that perhaps it was true.
"Okay I will Diana, but nothing overly fancy this time. I insist." I protested, knowing full-well, they wouldn't be happy to settle for the comfy cotton dresses that I had worn with the twins.
"And we really should get Annabelle some new pyjamas." Charles put in, he'd been rocking a very sleepy Ben and had just set the baby in his crib. In the corner, Nora was reading to Felicity.
"Charlie, dear that was a one-off." I'd worn one of his old uniforms. Felicity had been in the bath, and swallowed some of the water accidentally. A few hours later, it had disagreed violently with her little belly, and she'd thrown up all over my remaining clean nightdress.
"So?" Charles put his arms around me and bent down to kiss me. "I still like to get you plenty of new clothes."
"Why?" I queried with a grin.
"Because I love you, and I've never had anyone to treat like this before, and. . ." he paused and waited until he was certain Nora and Diana were occupied with my daughter, "it's expected of me." This was added in a whisper.
"I would have been happy just to settle for the first reason. I love you too." I cuddled Charles as well as I could manage my belly, and his stout figure making it hard. I was dying for the day when I would be the little me again.
Time passed quickly in the Winchester house, and I came to love the fact that no one expected me to work during the days. Attending the occasional function with Charles or Nora didn't count. The whole days at home meant that I was able to spend as much time with my beautiful growing babies as I wanted. They were learning to walk, little by little, Ben being the faster of the two.
Sara, a nanny had been hired for me, and she was around to help me with the children whenever I needed it. I appreciated the help with two babies, but hoped that she would not try and take over with the baby when it was born. I wanted to be around my child from the very first instant, and be the one to do everything. I also wanted to gradually teach Charles more about being a parent, and looking after children.
"She's getting a new tooth Charlie dear," Charles had decided that he wanted to take a far more active role in his children as babies than his parents had with him and Nora. As a result, he was practising with the twins, and trying to learn what various things meant, in this case, why Felicity was screaming at two am, with red cheeks and strands of saliva running down her chin.
"See how flushed her cheeks are darling?" I pointed out as Charles tried to soothe her, "But she's not running a fever, and she's drooling a lot, there's a new tooth coming in."
"What's the matter with my baby girl?" Hawkeye, who had come up with Margaret for the weekend to see the twins, had woken when Felicity had started to scream.
"Teething." I explained. Hawkeye looked pained, as a doctor he'd seen many a child come through his clinic with teething problems, and knew there was little more to do than give the baby something cold to suck on and wait.
"What can I do?" Charles asked, he was quite naturally concerned, but if the sight of him so lovingly holding the baby upset Hawkeye, I didn't see it.
"There is a washcloth in the freezer." I explained, taking Felicity from him, and lifting her to my shoulder, my presence calmed her more, but she was still in pain. "Go get that, I'll see if she wants a feed." I was trying to wean the twins slowly, and having a lot of success, but there was still some milk available and I figured that Felicity could use the comfort.
"I'll be right back." Charles left hastily, as Margaret appeared sleepy- eyed at the door.
"What's wrong, she's not sickening for anything is she?" Her voice was tired, but concerned, as I sat in a chair and rocked Felicity a little bit before offering her a feed.
"No, she's just cutting a new tooth, I can't work out where though, and I'm not exactly game to try and feel for it while she's in this mood, her other teeth are quite sharp!" To my relief, Felicity decided the idea of a snack was appealing and she quieted down. Charles was till moving around downstairs, looking for the washcloth.
"I don't remember her crying this much when she was younger." Hawkeye said concerned, stroking her little head, in response Felicity tried to jerk her head away and screamed louder than before. It was another minute before she'd quieted enough to keep feeding.
"It's quite normal. She may be a quiet baby, but she is in pain." I reassured him. "Do you mind that Charles is going to be there for her more often than you are?"
"Not really." Hawkeye replied. "I mean I wish I could be there every second of the day or night, but at the same time, I know I can't change it, and I'm just glad that she's got someone who loves her and her mother as much as I do. And the same goes for Ben, I'm glad that there's still someone around who will love him just as much." At that point Felicity had gotten upset and begun to cry some more.
"Here it is, I couldn't find it" Before bedtime, I'd dampened a washcloth well, and put it in the freezer. It should, I hoped, be cold and soothing enough to let Felicity go back to sleep, and let us follow.
"Thanks Charlie dear." I smiled, and took the cloth, Felicity took to it quickly, and a few minutes later, very much relived, Hawkeye took his daughter from my arms and lay her down. She was sound asleep again, and quickly, we all went back to bed.
"You're doing great Charlie, just remember that. . . pee fountain!" I shrieked with laughter. Ben had done it once again, fortunately, Charles had gotten the diaper over him in time.
"I definitely think I prefer changing Felicity." He murmured, rubbing my belly gently. "But you wouldn't do that your daddy would you now?" He addressed the bump. In response almost, the baby kicked a little. I had to smile then. The baby seemed to respond to being talked to, and I was delighted at that.
"Excuse me Miss Anne, Master Charles is on the phone for you." I looked up, Ben giving a squeak at the removal of his food-laden spoon, as I turned towards Sara. I was two weeks off giving birth and excited beyond reason.
"Would you please finish feeding Ben Sara?" I handed her the spoon and took the call.
"Hello?"
"Annie, my sweet how do you feel about leaving the twins with Sara and coming to a dinner with me?"
"Well, I, Charlie dear. . ." I hesitated. I was ever too keen to abandon my children for a night.
"Robert Harwell and his wife have invited you and I around for dinner."
"Who? Oh, Uncle Bob right?"
"Right, would you come Annie?"
"Of course, meet you at the hospital in an hour? I need to finish feeding the twins, and then I'll have to dress up a tad." I agreed.
"Wear that Japanese silk I bought you last week. An hour will be fine, Dr Harwell doesn't get off until then anyway." We hung up, and I finished up with the twins. I no longer breastfed them, but it wouldn't be long until I was breastfeeding again.
"Right this way Mrs Winchester." One of the nurses gave me a strange look as she directed me towards Charles's office. I guessed it had something to do with the fact that I had obviously been pregnant longer than I'd be married. That fact in itself was causing a fair amount of gossip, 'marriage for convenience' being high on the list.
"Annie!" Charles kissed me. He didn't throw his arms around me like Hawkeye would have, but he still showed me exactly how much he cared, while taking pains not to wrinkle the Japanese silk gown I wore.
"Sorry I'm late Charlie dear, Ben threw up on Nora, and he cried for twenty minutes, he's not sickening for anything though, he just ate too much."
"Never mind, we're to drive to Dr and Mrs Harwell's house." We left, and arrived at the Harwell house in about fifteen minutes. They were a lovely, albeit slightly stuffy couple, and seemed happy enough to meet me.
"So Charles, tell us about when you met Annie." Mrs Harwell asked.
"The first time I saw her, she was smiling to light up even the darkest of dark, and she grabbed the nearest two people in the tightest hug she could manage. I saw then, from the way everyone greeted her, that this woman was not only beautiful, but important and that if I ever hurt her, not that that thought ever crossed my mind, but should I ever do that, I'd have everyone, probably even the patients to answer to. About the same time I realised that she was rapidly scoring grooves across my heart, I realised she was Hawkeye's girl."
"My former husband." I added, Mrs Harwell nodded understanding.
"I couldn't touch her, that gold band meant she was never a possibility. So, like the fool I was, I acted in the most opposite way I could, as though I was not comfortable around her, as though I couldn't bear call her by her Christian name, as though I didn't want her by my side. I thought I had got her out of my system, and then she told me off in OR, and her determination and pride in herself as a woman had me tumbling down so hard, I knew when I hit the bottom it was going to hurt. The night Colonel Potter made us spend together was very awkward for me."
"We were confined to 24hours in each other's presence." I explained. Dr Harwell chuckled.
"It's sounds like a good idea, I know what you can get like Charles. How did it go?"
"I didn't know how to act towards her, but as I was still falling, I acted how I felt, she quite plainly thought it was in fun, but when we woke in the morning, I knew if she wasn't the woman for me, I didn't know myself. I gave up though, I met Martine and made myself believe I was in love with her. Martine would never, could never be accepted by my family and I came to love Annie all the more. In July 53, her husband was admitted to a hospital in Tokyo, and Annabelle fell asleep with a friend on their bunk. I was asked to move her to her bunk, and when I lifted her, she shifted to lean against me more, and the feeling that she actually needed me, had me even further head over heels. Then they had a falling out and Annie and Dr Pierce divorced shortly after the end of the war."
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that!" Mrs Harwell exclaimed.
"Never mind." I smiled.
"About this time last year, Annie came to stay with me, and I proposed, she said yes, and the rest is history, we married and very soon, she'll be having our first child." We chatted on a little longer, and just before we were to go, I tugged gently on Charles's sleeve.
"Yes my sweet?" He turned gently with a smile, putting his brandy down.
"Charlie, dearest, I think we'd better go, I just had a contraction."
"Yes, of course." He stood up, "Thankyou Dr, Mrs Harwell, it was a lovely evening, we'll let you know how the proceedings go of course."
"Yes, best of luck to you both." We were seen hurriedly out, and Charles helped me into the car.
"Annabelle Winchester, you're two weeks early!" His voice bordered on panic.
"Never mind that Charles, all I know is I had a contraction, and I'm assuming it's real. I've been ignoring the false labours that have occurred every day for the past week. This one was different."
"I'm not arguing but, I, I don't know."
"Drive Charles!" He put the car in gear and we moved off. We had to return home so I could get my bag for hospital, but in a remarkably short time I'd been propped in a delivery suite with the top obstetrician.
"Mrs Winchester, you're hardly dilated, it's going to be a fair wait. I'd say your family in Portland can drive down in time." We'd called Hawkeye, Margaret and my Mum, letting them know the baby's arrival was imminent.
"Thankyou." I smiled. I was pretty happy, so far, everything was going smoothly and I had been promised that Charles would be allowed in the room.
"Mrs Winchester, it's obvious that you're going to have to wait at least until tomorrow. Would you prefer to go home, and wait it out there, in comfort?" However, the baby was big, and I was a little apprehensive about leaving.
"Alternatively, you can be admitted to a ward, you'll have a private room, and you can wait there, and I can return in the morning. I honestly cannot see that the baby will arrive soon, your contractions are 40 minutes apart, there's really no sense in worrying."
"Okay." I agreed. I was shifted to a room, where Charles sat by me. It was about 1am, and I had been in labour for 5hours when Hawkeye and Margaret arrived. They had driven very fast and arrived in no time at all.
"So, how far off are you?" Margaret asked anxiously, appearing to nurse her left hand.
"Hours. I'm to try to sleep. Is your hand okay?"
"Yes, it's just, that, oh, I'm engaged!" Margaret's face lit up wonderfully.
"Margaret Houlihan, to who?" I demanded, sitting up a little. Charles hushed me carefully. Margaret became quiet, almost sheepish at my query.
"Hawkeye." She murmured, "We worked it out. Going to pick up the pieces, marry in July."
"Baby in December." Hawkeye added. "We found out today."
"I'm so happy to hear that!" I beamed and Charles added his congratulations.
"How long before they throw us out?" Hawkeye asked.
"They won't." I replied. "Let's just say Mrs Winchester holds a fair bit of power, to say nothing of the fact that Houlihan is a well-known and respected name."
"And what of Pierce, that's hardly known on this side of town. How did you get me in here?" Hawkeye demanded.
"Think nothing of it brother-in-law." Charles smiled. We'd said Hawkeye was my older brother. Hawkeye offered him a warm handshake and the night wore on. It was a long night, despite the fact that this wasn't my first birth, things seemed to be taking just as long.
"How are we feeling this morning Mrs Winchester?"
"Tired." It was 10 before the doctor reappeared, and I had been in labour for nearly 14hours. However at about 6 that morning, I'd begun to have stronger, more regular contractions and half an hour before I had started into the second stage of labour, when my waters had broken. As a result I was back in the delivery room, with Hawkeye and Margaret outside, and Charles holding my hand tightly.
"Never mind, we'll have this baby out of you soon, you're fully dilated and effaced, so you'll be fine. Okay, I just want to wait until the contractions are somewhat more frequent, and then we'll really start things moving."
"Good." I replied, trying not to be rude, I was exhausted and the sooner I could hold my baby and sleep, the better.
Half an hour later, our beautiful daughter arrived into the world. There was a fair degree of surprise, as we'd all hoped the baby would be a boy and had referred to the growing bump as 'he' for a long time.
""She's beautiful, just perfect." Charles was effectively besotted. I didn't blame him. She had her daddy's eyes and his hair, or lack thereof, she was completely bald, but it didn't take an ounce away from her beauty.
"She is, isn't she?" I agreed. "Names?" We'd never really talked names, taking it for granted that I'd produce a Charles IV.
"What about Charlotte?" Charles suggested the pretty female diminutive of Charles.
"What if we have a boy? We can't very well have a Charles and Charlotte."
"What if we don't?" Charles replied, then smiled. "What about Rosalinde or Miranda, something Shakespearian?"
"I don't know." I said, "Though Miranda Rose sounds pretty, I don't like Miranda Winchester much."
"Point taken Annie my dear." Charles kissed my forehead, still cradling his hour-old daughter. "What about Rose, or Rosalyn?"
"I like Rosalyn, but either way, let's get Margaret and Hawkeye in here, all they know is the baby arrived ok.." In a few minutes my very proud friends were admiring my beautiful baby.
"What a beautiful boy, looks just like his daddy, I see. Welcome to the world Charles." Hawkeye was admiring the baby, and gently extracted her from Charles's arms so that he could hold the baby.
"Umm, Hawkeye. . ." Margaret had checked the charts and discovered I had not had a boy. "I think that you'd better think twice before addressing the baby as Charles. You don't want to give her any gender complexes do you now?" Hawkeye's eyes flicked to Margaret, then my beaming face, then to Charles, and finally to the sleeping baby. He carefully lay her down on the bed, unwrapped her blankets and peered into her diaper.
"Oh, I see. . ." He had the good grace to blush as he rewrapped the baby.
"She's a Winchester alright!" Hawkeye said, rocking the sleepy infant. "Not a hair on her head."
"Have you picked a name yet?" Margaret asked, her finger was squeezed tightly in a small pink fist. She had my hands, small and delicate, with longish thin fingers.
"Not really. Rosalyn is the only name we've liked so far. We liked Miranda, but it doesn't go with Winchester."
"Let's see," Hawkeye lifted the baby to his eye level and studied her. "She looks like a Gertrude to me." I screwed up my nose. He normally picked nice baby names. Hawkeye saw the look and made amends.
"Okay, seriously, she looks like an Amanda to me, it means 'worthy of love' and she deserves it."
"Keep that name Ben dear." I smiled. After Katharine, Amanda was Hawkeye's favourite girl's name.
"Well, she looks like a Rosalyn to me." Margaret said. "And I'm sure whatever beautiful name you choose as a middle name, will suit her just as nicely." Margaret was right, and we came up with Rosalyn Marie a few minutes later. We announced the name, and as I sat there, with my beautiful daughter, loving husband, proud friends, and a few minutes later, thrilled, admiring family members, I realised that I was truly, blissfully happy, and there didn't seem to be anything that could change it.
I was right, I remained wonderfully happy with Charles. When Rosalyn was three months old, we went up to the Cove to watch Margaret and Hawkeye wed. I went back up in December to see their daughter Katharine Annabelle born. Three more children followed, Amanda Louise in 1956, Daniel Alvin in 1959 and Isabelle Rose in 1961.
Charles and I had more children too, when Rosalyn was three years old, I gave birth to her twin sisters, Honoria Dianne and Annabelle Jeanne, two beautiful identical blonde babies and broke my family's tradition of one of each. When in 1960 I gave birth to another girl, we pretty much gave up on having a boy, but didn't christen our daughter Charlotte, opting for Martine Elizabeth instead. As a result, we were pretty surprised and pleased when after the promised tenth anniversary celebration in France I produced our fifth and final child, Charles Emerson Winchester IV in late 1965.
I'd been given everything I wanted; a fantastic home, a loving husband, and five beautiful children. It was still like a fairytale, with me as the princess. And as with all fairytales, I really did live happily ever after.