Rated PG-13; Mild Sexual Content

My Darling Love

Chapter 6 – Two Birds, Many Stones

"There is nothing nobler or more admirable than when two people who see eye to eye keep house as man and wife, confounding their enemies and delighting their friends."

-Homer

On the last Saturday of November, four months pregnant, Mary Elizabeth Baker stood with her father at the back of the church. George had already paid the priest for the ceremony, as well as the rent for the flat where they would live after the wedding, located in the seedy part of London. It was the best he could afford. She was now unmistakably showing; the small bump only noticeable when undressed became rounder, and prevented her from wearing a proper corset. She dressed at her parents' home for the last time before walking alone to the service. She wore her mother's gown, a wedding gift from her parents. "Since I no longer have a daughter, my wife has no need to save it for her," her father informed her as he dressed for the service.

Mary had borrowed her friend Penny's plain wedding dress for the ceremony, but chose her mother's instead simply because it fit better in the waist. The old dream of wearing it on her wedding day now came true, after all.

When she arrived, her mother and father were already in the church, speaking with the priest about all the gossip that had been unleashed within the community. "I thought your fiancé," her father sneered George's title, "would have walked here with you."

Mary smiled pleasantly to her father, for nothing was going to ruin this day for her. "It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."

George also came alone; his parents coming later, although they swore up and down on stacks of Bibles that they would not come at all. They walked proudly to the front row, ignoring the stares and whispers of the few strangers that gathered, not for the nuptials of George and Mary, but for the funeral mass that was to take place immediately following the wedding. Neither family had invited their own guests and only a small number of George's and Mary's friends were present, sitting in one huddled group two rows behind Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Darling the Fourth.

George had dressed in his best suit, and handed Mary the bouquet of roses she was to carry down the aisle, thus seeing her before they were wed. "I wouldn't worry about bad luck, Mary. What more could happen to us now?"

Mary had bridesmaids dressed for the occasion upon Aunt Millicent's insistence that they not waste their investment on the dress. George asked his brothers to be groomsmen and they agreed, telling him that after the ceremony, they too would not speak to him again for disgracing the name of Darling.

There was no formal procession, no choir singing "Ava Maria," only the organist who begrudgingly agreed to offer his services to the priest for charity, playing one tune, the wedding march.

So down the aisle, the expectant bride-to-be was escorted, and, in the eyes of God once again, but more importantly to their parents, in the eyes of the law, they became husband and wife. Tradition stated that the father of the bride was to reply to the priest "her mother and I," when asked who gives this woman to this man. Instead, having one final word in the hopes of taking whatever of his daughter's heart he could with him he replied, "She gives herself, and if this fool wants her, he can have her."

Mary stepped down on Mr. Baker's toe with the heel of her shoe, and replied loudly to the priest, "I give myself to this man if no one else will stand for me." No one did, and so she gave herself. The priest, wanting them to be married and away from the sanctified altar just as much as they did, had the couple repeat their vows. They exchanged their rings and kissed to seal their sacred pact binding them together "'til death us do part."

Each set of parents' expressed one last parting thought to their disowned children. For Mary it was, "You can keep the dress, as it is the only thing you own." And for George it was, "If you're lucky, she'll die in childbirth, and the baby with her. Then and only then can you come home."

Mary and George smiled to one another, finally together and inseparable, too happy to be to care. With no reception, (so they thought,) George carried the new Mrs. Darling from the church and to the waiting carriage with their handful of friends throwing rice. Penny was her maid of honor and she hosted a small party for the new couple in her modest home. She even ordered a cake from Mr. Baker's establishment to celebrate the event. "I just hope your father didn't spit in it," Penny joked, as Mary and George cut into it.

He hadn't. In fact, when Penny's husband picked up the cake, the shop clerk on duty that day gave Mary and George a pretty porcelain bride and groom to decorate the cake with. There were only a dozen people, but they made merry and danced the night away to music provided by a friend of Penny's husband who played the piano. "It may not have been the grandest party your parents would have hosted, one fit for a princess and a prince, but at the very least, you now know who your family is," Penny said, as she kissed the newlyweds goodbye that night.

There was no romantic suite in a fancy hotel after their reception. There was no exotic honeymoon. All they had was each other, and the small flat in the seedy part of London for their wedding night. George did his best, and Mary thought it was fine. George was humiliated as his new wife entered their home for the first time; the place was filthy and smelt like moldy water and rotten garbage. After paying for their rings, all he could afford was a table and two chairs, one dresser and a bed.

"It's alright, George. Penny will teach me how do housework, and after I clean this place from top to bottom, it will seem like Buckingham Palace."

Penny was a true best friend, and also gave her maternity clothes to wear as well as a nightgown suitable for her first night as someone's lawful wife. They changed their clothes and retired eagerly to their bed.

Just as their first time together, it was over quickly, more so over before it began. They kissed for only a minute before George moved above her and pressed in. He entered her once and was done, jerking into her and then stopping abruptly. "George, are you alright, why are you not moving?

Embarrassed by his failure to please her, he mumbled into the pillow her head rested on, "I finished."

Mary still didn't understand the functions of the male body, let alone her own, and she replied, "Just start again, its alright." She relaxed her body under him and moved like she had the morning with him she wished this occasion to duplicate.

Feeling her moving for him, he removed himself and checked the clock. "What's wrong? Am I doing it wrong?" she asked adjusting her head to see what he was staring at.

"We have to wait till morning," he answered, "but that's only a few hours away." Even though he had released the urge, he was still hard as a rock and ready to go.

"Why do we have to wait until morning?" she asked.

"I don't know, I was told we are only to make love once a day." He had no good explanation, only his father's advice.

"I never heard of such a thing George. I don't think that it is accurate. I'm sure people make love more than once a day all the time. I know this is a horrible example, but think of prostitutes, George. I have seen them myself, the same women standing out on the corners all hours of the day and night offering themselves to gentlemen. Penny told me after she and her husband made love the first time, she had to beat him off her with a stick because he would chase after her constantly. She told me she spent more time on her back at the laundry shop where she was employed than standing running the counter while her husband was also working there."

George was a little startled by that little scandal never expecting his wife to be capable of gossiping about anything, let alone her best friend. But he was eager just the same to hear the juicy talk Mary mentioned and so he asked, "I'll assume that is why the launder released both her and her husband from their positions there? Is that not where they met? Yes, I remember her husband telling me, they met there, and were both fired by the launder's wife and were married soon after Penny began working with her mother cleaning houses."

Mary bit her lip, she was not one to ever tell secrets entrusted to her. She looked away from him, silently reprimanding herself for having a loose tongue. She gave her new husband no answer and abruptly changed the subject, using her mocking smile and amorous eyes to tempt George back to their original discussion, "I think George, we can probably make love as much as we want. I can't imagine anything very bad will happen to us."

"You think so?" George asked, with raised brow, giving it plenty deliberation before suggesting, "Let's just do other things like the last time, and then do it again when it's morning just to be on the safe side."

Mary accepted this idea, wanting to be as close to her new husband as possible. Soon enough, as George found himself between her legs licking and sucking her most intimate parts and entering her with two fingers did he realize that what his father told him was erroneous. For the simple action of his manhood rubbing the mattress as he kept pace with his own thrusting fingers did he climax once again. She came too, and he lay between her legs resting until dawn.

With their new discovery that body parts would not fall off if they made love repeatedly, they spent the entire Sunday in bed. They tried all sorts of different positions, giggling like school children. George found he enjoyed having her on top best, that way he could watch her, and gaze at her beauty, still not believing the she was his wife. He also felt Mary could reach completion that way much easier and without the extra foreplay, not that he minded what came before the act of intercourse.

Mary preferred that George be the one on top, the "traditional position," as George called it. After their first interlude months before, he did some reading up on it, a scandalous book about lovemaking in the rundown bookstore near his place of employment. Mary liked the safety she felt with him above her, and as far as she was concerned, wrapping her legs tightly around him and matching him stroke for stroke brought her to orgasm just as quickly. It was a little tricky with her expanding waistline, but George did his best to please her nonetheless. Neither one liked the position that called for Mary to be on her knees, so they only tried it once that day and never again. All in all, it was the most fun they had ever had in their lives. When night fell and a new day was only a few hours away Mary did something to George that made him melt into the sheets before they had to be removed from the bed.

Curious of the pleasure George gave her when he traveled below to her womanhood, after they bathed together, Mary reciprocated, more out of marvel and wonder than anything else. She had never seen a man naked. Truth be told, it was not until they bathed that she openly saw the parts that made him different. "I'll assume that is what my mother meant by personal measure?" she softly asked staring at him in awe as he dried himself with a towel.

George quickly covered himself mortified to have been seen naked by Mary, being very self-conscious of his member, knowing from his brothers most ladies would only consider him "less than average in size."

Mary thought he was beautiful when bare and she told him, "Why George I never noticed the strong you build you have. Oh my goodness, that fits inside of me?" she remarked looking downward at the distinct part of him that made their bodies dissimilar. George blushed and then pushed his chest out with pride strutting back to the their bed still completely naked, for Mary had not only eased his mind of his inadequacies, she had stroked his ego as well.

Mary joined him under the blankets giggling, "George, close your eyes, I want to do something, but I don't want you to see me." George raised his brow giving her a puzzled look, but did as he was told. He then went wide-eyed and could not help but watch her as she descended down, just as he had to her, kissing from his face to his neck to his chest to navel to his pelvis to his member. She swiftly brushed her lips to it, and he had no reaction. It was flaccid and unresponsive to the shower of quick kisses she pecked upon it. An instinct she had hidden in the back of her mind told her to lick, so she did. It began to fill with whatever made it stiff and she continued from there. Up from the base and to the tip, after only a few passes it was erect and ready for what was to come next. Thinking of her womanhood, she sucked at it. George, with eyes closed again, moaned and shifted, holding her head down to make her take more in. Mary gagged, but contained herself and her fear and repeated the motions she had done while licking. Soon he began to thrust and groan her name, begging her not to stop. Just as he always did when making love, he erratically and without warning began jerking himself into her mouth. Unprepared for his end, she began to choke on the liquid that shot out from him and poured down her throat. She pulled her head back and vomited all over George and the bed.

Devastated that she had ruined their honeymoon, along with the only sheets for the bed they had, Mary hid herself in the bathroom and refused to come out. George was forced to wash himself off in the kitchen sink under cold water and spend the rest of the night pleading with her to emerge and come back to bed. Mary finally did, some time after midnight, and George carried her to the bed that had no sheets and reeked of vomit.

Instead of reprimanding she had readied herself for, George apologized for making his new wife sick. "You are so delicate and expectant, I should not have done that to you. I am so sorry. It will never happen again Mary. I will be more careful next time. Perhaps it is better that there is no next time for that."

Mary apologized too for spoiling the happy day, informing him gleefully, "There will surely be a next time George," for, aside from vomiting all over her new husband; she had truly enjoyed what she did to him.

In the morning, they awoke and George left for the bank without breakfast. The cupboards were empty, and he left meager funds and a list. Mary, as he put it, was to "follow it precisely to the exact penny" to by groceries.

Mary, being well educated in literature, but ill educated in such matters as running the house, needed the aid of her best friend. She and Penny left for the grocer, and did the shopping to the exact the penny as George had instructed. Mary wanted to buy some fancier items and more extravagant products, but Penny corrected, "Mary Elizabeth you don't even know how to cook. Start with the list George gave you. After we are done cleaning, I will show you some simple recipes to begin with. Once you learn, we can always ask George to increase your budget, but for now we must shop to the penny and not a tuppence more."

They finished the shopping, and before putting anything away, they cleaned house. Mary had never gotten down on her hands and knees to scrub anything. Her parents employed a maid, so the filth, grime and muck they were scrubbing out had Mary constantly running to the toilet to vomit. It was a tiny flat with only one room. The kitchen, parlor and bed all sat in the same small area, and the smaller washroom was found hidden behind a curtain, off the kitchen. Certainly not the luxury she was used to, but Mary was convinced to be rich in love was far more important than the comfort that money provided.

Penny spent the entire day teaching Mary how to be a responsible wife to her husband. She had already copied down her own cookbook, providing Mary with the basic essentials she would need to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for her family on George's salary. Penny also showed Mary how to wash clothes in the sink on a washboard, Mary scraping her knuckles until they were sore. When the clothes were clean, the women hung them out to dry on a line that Penny had strung over the heater in the flat. "When George's shirts and pants dry, I will teach you how to iron correctly so he will not have to pay a launderer to do something you can do for free." They tidied and straightened and worked nonstop until George returned from work.

George's brothers told him that when he went to work on Monday; he would be hanging his head in shame. Never having spent an entire day in bed with a lovely woman, engaged in fiery passion, George believed them. Now, spending all of Sunday with Mary engaged in that passion gave George a different attitude when Monday morning at the bank arrived. He held his head high and greeted everyone he met with a smile. He daydreamed his morning away until lunchtime, when he went home to "refresh the Missus," as the other gentlemen called it, when Penny went home to get her iron and ironing board. His supervisor noticing his cheery disposition, and hearing the local gossip of his newlywed status, dismissed him early allowing him to return to his new wife.

As happy as they were, there was no doubt about it, George and Mary were destitute. His clerk's pay was fine for a single unmarried bachelor living at home with his parents without the hope of marrying. But for a newlywed supporting a wife with a child on the way, it was simply not enough. After only a month of marriage, they were broke and could not afford groceries after paying the weekly rent.

George, being good with juggling numbers, checked the books Mary kept, and found numerous errors and expenditures for things they did not need. Scolding her carelessness ("I don't care that you burnt the roast, you should not throw meat away, I could have eaten a week's worth of leftovers from that, burnt or raw!") broke his heart as well as hers, so he relieved her of that duty. On Saturday, they went to the greengrocer's together and bought only what they needed. There were many nights that George went to bed hungry, because they did not have enough for both of them to eat. "No, Mary, you are eating for two, I'm not hungry, anyway, and I had a large breakfast." He hadn't eaten breakfast that day, but Mary had an increasing appetite and strange cravings that cost money.

George got another job outside the bank, keeping the books for the undertaker who ran his business in the first floor of the building where they resided. Just as Mary could not keep the accounts straight, neither could the undertaker. George found mistakes that, unlike Mary's, which cost them money; the undertaker had many people owing him money. So pleased with George's hard work and skill at finding his missing profits, he would scavenge for the newlyweds in the homes of the deceased, whose bodies he went to claim. It started small with a picture for their wall, but as time went on, he brought them dishes and pots and a fancy sofa they put at the foot of their bed. "Just think of it as bonuses for good services George," the undertaker told him jovially.

By February, George had made enough to just get by, but was almost too tired to stand. He worked as much overtime as the bank would allow, and then it was off to the dank basement office of the undertaker, where he would balance accounts and count money until the late hours of night. Mary liked to sit and visit with him as he worked, but he found she was a distraction.

She missed him dearly and worried about his condition. In only a few months of marriage, he had lost a considerable amount of weight and his skin had grown pale. She worried that, in the cold weather, he could catch a cold that could take his life. It was then Mary pawned her grandmother's diamond broche, a precious item, which she had taken from her parents' home. Her grandmother left it to Mary in her will as her inheritance. With the money, she bought George a warm winter coat, hat, scarf and gloves. With the amount left, she had him invest it in a savings account for the baby, who was due in April.

"You should not have done that," he told her. "I have a fine coat for the winter. I wanted you to keep that for when we are better off; I'll never forgive myself if I cannot retrieve it. I am not worthy of any gifts, for I am making you live in poverty."

"I don't care where I live, George, as long as I am with you," she responded warmly.

But as hard as they tried to make it work, it seemed as though outside forces were continually aligned against them. Their landlord kept raising their rent. (Mary later learned that he was a personal friend of her father's.) George soon lost his job at the bank when his father and brothers removed all their accounts in late February. "We're very sorry George, but we can not afford to loose our customers due to your private situations."

With no money and nowhere to go, they moved in with Penny's mother. She had a little cottage, and George and Mary made their place in a tiny room off the kitchen, with only enough room to sleep in. They sold all their belongings, except for their bed, and put the funds into savings. No longer would Mary have the luxury of being a housewife who remained at home. At seven months along, Penny's mother found her work as a charwoman for an elderly couple that lived in the posh section of town. Now George was not the only one who kept late hours in the night, the couple Mary cleaned for would only allow her access after nine in the evenings.

George was a kind and forgiving man, his wife the same. But under such heinous and intentional attacks, Mary vowed to never speak to her parents again. In fact, one early morning in February, as she strolled through the park on her way home from her night shift as a servant, she met her mother and Aunt Millicent. They were stunned to see how large Mary was in the waist, not to mention the dirty rags she was attired in from spending the night scrubbing the toilet, bathtub and ceramic tiles of her employer's bathroom. Both were not just happy see her well, but see her at all. Mrs. Baker broke out in tears and went to embrace her daughter, "Mary Elizabeth, come here..."

Aunt Millicent also expected a hug, but neither were to receive one, for Mary ignored them and continued on as if they were never there at all, even after her mother called after her. Mary kept her pace, and Mrs. Baker dropped to her knees. "She looks filthy dirty, she doesn't even have clean clothes. They are so poor, its all my fault," Mrs. Baker repeated over and over again as she took off in a quick pace to her husband's bakery without waiting for Millicent.

George felt the same about his own family. He was forced to apply at another bank and was hired, but instead of a clerk, he was only a teller. Soon his father and brothers found out where he was working and moved all their money there. A week later they made a big stink about his poor attitude with wealthy customers, and he was again let go.

The undertaker did not care what people whispered about the new Mr. and Mrs. Darling, for he liked them just the same. "There is no shame in doing right by the woman you love. And if God knew you were to be married, He wouldn't mind you dipping in early, just as long as you were responsible to pay the piper when he came calling," he told George late at night while he worked. The undertaker gave him good references, and soon, a large conservative bank that did not care about the meager wealth of the Darling Family hired him. There was nothing more his father could do to except wait for his fourth son to come crawling home.

Mary and George did the best with what they had. It upset George to have Mary work, for he knew she was a proper lady, undeserving of hard labor. He was worried that she worked all day long, helping Penny's mother who seemed not to care that she was with child, and then all night long at her job as charwoman. As soon as he was able, and not a second later, George had Mary quit her position, and he moved them into a better flat, still in the seedy part of London, but better just the same.

It, too, had a kitchen with a small washroom off the side, but a separate parlor and one bedroom large enough for their bed and baby crib, which was donated by the undertaker. George kept up his pace with two jobs and had Mary stay home, knitting baby clothes, all pink with pretty patterns, cleaning, cooking, doing the laundry and keeping the place as tidy as possible. There she gave her husband the only joy he received during his day. It was when he came home, finding freshly pressed shirts and pants, a hot meal on the table, and not a speck of dust to be found, the best she could do as well. But just as they were convinced they were out of the rain and into the sunlight, another onslaught of nasty rumors were spread, and deceitful acts were committed against them.

Aunt Millicent never missed an opportunity to gossip about her fallen and spoiled niece and the pervert she married. Her parents filed charges against the newlyweds for theft, and an officer of the law was dispatched to their apartment to arrest George for stealing Mary's grandmother's broche. Seeing Mary was not far from her time, the officer let George off with a warning. He reported the next day to Mr. and Mrs. Baker that their daughter and her husband could not have taken it, for they were both hard at work from dawn till midnight, George as a bank clerk and accountant, Mary as a maid.

Mr. and Mrs. Darling then sent their fourth son a bill for room and board for the years he lived in their home from the time he graduated university. When George began to send payments, they sent another bill for his tuition at the private schools he had attended.

Bewildered, but not defeated, George and Mary sat down and had a heart to heart talk. "We can not afford to have this baby, we can't even manage with just two of us," he told Mary as calmly as he could, knowing that admitting this would be the same as admitting he was just as afraid about going forward with their marriage as she was. Mary did not look well since their war with their parents became fierce and intolerable. She sat in silence and said nothing as he went over their options. "We can stay married, but we will have to leave this baby at the orphanage. Or you can go home to your parents with the baby and I will beg their forgiveness and promise to support it but never see you again." George did not like either choice, but with no other one apparent, he hung his head.

"If I went home, my parents would take the baby away and leave it in an orphanage. And George, where would you go? I want to stay married to you, and I want to keep our baby with us where it belongs. I know I can't have everything I want, but these are things I must have. I must have you and I must have this baby with us. Unless you don't want me or the baby anymore."

George shook his head, his blue eyes closed and his expression miserable. "I can't imagine how horrible my life would be without you, Mary, and the baby, well it's just as much mine as it is yours. But I will not lie and tell you everything will be fine. We are behind on all our bills, and after I pay the rent, there will not be enough money to buy food for the week. We are going to be out on the streets, and although I think we can survive if we had to, I'm not sure our child can. Don't you want to give our baby the best chance in life? The orphanage can place the baby with a wealthy family that will be able to give our child all the riches in the world."

Mary listened to George and began to cry. She didn't even want to imagine being alive and knowing another part of the two of them was living elsewhere in the world. That they could not have and love the child themselves.

"I'll go back to work, I'll get a better job..." Mary tried but George only shook his head.

"Who will watch the baby? Your parents won't, neither would mine. Penny works a full time job and her mother is already watching Penny's daughter and you said it yourself, she is horrible with the baby. She was just to the doctor's for a nasty rash from letting that unfortunate child sit in a soiled diaper all day, and we can not afford to pay a nanny or physician."

Mary wiped her face and looked to the only other person she knew who could save the day. "Can't we just leave it in the hands of God and trust in Him?" was her only suggestion. George loved Mary and wanted so much to give her the life she deserved, but at every turn, down every road, he found nothing but dead ends.

They went to bed that night and did not sleep. In the morning, they went to church, as they did every Sunday. They sat in the back and prayed, it was the first mass of the day, and special for those who were poor and penniless. No collection plate was passed but the priest gave his sermon just the same. When it was finished, they walked arm and arm slowly home, no closer to a resolution than when they arrived.