VI. Five Months 2

"Here we are," John announced a few minutes later. A small farm came into view. The house, rather small and just a bit worn-looking, sat at the end of the dusty road. A barn sat to the left, surrounded by various animal pens and a garden off to the side. Beyond that was nothing but fields.

"Not a moment too soon, either," Victor said under his breath as the wagon pulled to a stop in front of the house. Despite Victor's protests, John had persisted in driving hell bent for leather all the way out to the house. Several times during the ride, Victor had been positive that he and Victoria were going to die. And he wasn't being melodramatic.

"It wasn't so bad," Victoria replied quietly as Victor shakily climbed off of the wagon seat. He decided not to bother answering. Victoria was just trying to be nice for John's sake, he was sure--after all, she'd been clutching his arm for dear life almost since they'd left the square. Holding Victor's hands for balance, Victoria managed to slowly make her way down to the ground. At least they'd both made it in one piece.

"You can both go right up to the door," John said politely as he unhitched the horse. "Mother should be waiting for you--oh, for Pete's sake, would you all please get out from underfoot! I'm trying to get the horse into the barn!"

Victor paused for a moment, startled, and shared a wondering look with Victoria. Had that been directed at them? If so, it was quite a way to address one's elders. Before either of them could say anything, a girl's voice broke in.

"We're nowhere near you; how can we be in your way?" the girl said. "We wanted to see Grandmama's visitors."

John grumbled to himself. Then, apparently remembering that there was company present, he said, "These are my sisters, Mr. and Mrs. Van Dort." He gestured to the other side of the wagon. Soon enough, six girls came into view, all of them looking shyly curious as they stepped toward Victor and Victoria.

"Hello," Victoria said pleasantly, wearing her warmest smile. The children murmured a chorus of hellos in return. It was easy to see, in Victor's opinion, that all of them were related--they all had the same hair and the same type of face. The only one of them that didn't look quite as shy as the others appeared to be the oldest. Well, she was the tallest, anyway, and the only one wearing her hair in a bun instead of in braids or loose around her shoulders.

She was the one that stepped forward and spoke in a voice that suggested she'd been heavily coached. "Pleasure to meet you both. My name is Nettie. This is Amelia, Jane, Helen, Celia, and the little one is Flora," she rattled off, pointing at each of them in turn. As they were introduced, the girls nodded and smiled at Victor and Victoria. Except for little Flora, who couldn't have been more than two and seemed to be extremely fascinated by Victoria's dress. Victor smiled pleasantly at each of them, knowing that there was no way he'd ever remember all of their names.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you," Victor said, Victoria nodding her agreement. Nettie smiled winningly before she turned to her brother, who was already halfway to the barn with the horse.

"John!" she called. He turned, looking just slightly harassed. "Take Amelia and Helen and Celia with you. They want to help with the horse."

"We do?" Helen (or possibly Celia) asked.

"Yes, you do," Nettie replied. "I'll take Mr. and Mrs. Van Dort in to meet Mother. That's my job for today, remember?"

"But we'd like to visit, too."

"You're too young for visiting," Nettie said haughtily.

Victor and Victoria stood there rather uncomfortably as they listened to the squabbling. It really wasn't their place to say anything--these weren't their children. For his part, Victor thought that the "too young" argument was a bit unfair. After all, the two littlest ones were coming into the house with them.

"Just do as I say, and go with John," Nettie finished. She picked up Flora, who had, unnoticed, toddled her way over to Victoria and was curiously investigating the flounces on the hem of Victoria's dress.

John sighed the sigh of the incredibly put-upon before gesturing for his sisters to follow him. Victor got the distinct sense that they were all used to being bossed by Nettie. Had Victor thought it would be interesting to have more than one child? Well, he'd just changed his mind, after listening to that little round of bickering. Victor was quickly realizing that one thing he and Victoria might have to prepare themselves for (in the event they had more than one child) was sibling interaction. Neither of them had ever experienced it firsthand, and it looked as though it would take getting used to.

Victoria took Victor's arm, and the two of them followed Nettie to the front porch. A short, sturdy woman (who looked just like her daughters, Victor noted) was standing in the doorway watching them approach, and she smiled warmly when they reached her.

"Good morning," the woman said, gesturing them into the house. "My name is Charlotte. And I see you've met some of my children already."

"My husband, Richard, isn't here at the moment," Charlotte explained, closing the door behind them.

"Papa's helping build a barn," one of the girls said helpfully.

"Jane, please, not unless you're spoken to," Charlotte said in a gentle but firm tone. Without missing a beat, she added to Victor and Victoria, "Yes, he is away helping a neighbor, but he should be back before you leave. Please, this way."

Victor paused in the entryway and took a look around. The inside of the house looked as well lived in as the outside. To the left was a small parlor, to the right the staircase. Ahead of them was a slightly dim hallway that presumably led to the kitchen.

"You have a lovely house," Victoria said as their hostess led them into the parlor. Charlotte smiled her thanks and told them to take a seat. After telling Nettie to keep them company, she went off to fetch Hildegarde.

Victor helped Victoria into an armchair, and, after a moment's hesitation, took the ottoman for himself. Nettie settled herself onto the settee, and plopped her younger sister down on the floor. The other little girl--Jane?--who looked to be about four, settled herself on a little stool near Victor's feet. It was a pleasant, though somewhat awkward, little scene. No one said anything. But Victor noticed that Victoria was looking at the three children with interest, and had a hand on her stomach as she gazed at them. In a few years, this really could be us, Victor thought. Sitting in the parlor with little ones all over the place...He rather liked the idea.

Suddenly he felt a pull on his trouser leg. He looked down, and there was Jane, smiling charmingly up at him.

"Hello," she said, wiggling her fingers in a little wave. Victor couldn't help smiling back. He glanced at Victoria, and she gave him an encouraging smile of her own.

"Hello," Victor replied. Much to his surprise, Nettie made an exasperated tuh! sort of noise from the settee.

"Jane, please, don't bother our guests," she said, imitating her mother. Turning her attention to Victor, she added apologetically, "I'm sorry about that, Mr. Van Dort."

"Oh no, she's not bothering," Victor said.

"Not at all," Victoria was quick to add, smiling again at Jane. Jane beamed happily.

Luckily, before the next awkward silence could stretch too far, Charlotte reentered the room. This time, Hildegarde was with her. Victoria drew a sharp breath on seeing her old maid. Victor stood and nodded to her, a smile on his face. This seemed to be the day for smiles. Victoria made a move as though to get up, but seemed to think better of it. She was getting to the point, Victor knew, where sudden movements were pretty much unheard of. So she simply smiled and put out a hand as Hildegarde crossed the room with slightly rickety steps.

The little reunion was a sweet and quiet one. Hildegarde took Victor's place on the ottoman, holding Victoria's hands in hers.

"Oh, Miss Victoria," she said, reaching up to pat Victoria's cheek. "You look very well."

"And so do you," Victoria replied, her voice sounding a little hoarse. "I'm so happy to see you!"

Victor stood off to one side as Victoria and Hildegarde exchanged quiet greetings and pleasantries. A warmth filled him as he watched the pair. This meant so much to Victoria. Everyone else in the room seemed to sense that as well--even Flora was quiet.

A shrill cry cut through the warm atmosphere of the parlor, making everyone jump. The cries continued, and it took Victor a moment to realize what it was--a baby.

"The baby's awake--I'll go fetch her," Charlotte said.

"That must be number eight," Victor said, almost to himself. It had just occurred to him that he and Victoria had met only seven children so far. Eight. His mind was still slightly boggled by that.

"And my little namesake," Hildegarde said, looking pleased. Victoria squeezed her hand.

"How lovely," she said. Glancing at Victor, she added, "I suppose we don't need to name our baby after Hildegarde, then."

We were planning on naming a daughter Hildegarde? Victor thought. That was news to him. Nevertheless, he settled on a grin and a shrug as a response.

"Here she is," Hildegarde said suddenly. Victor and Victoria both followed Hildegarde's gaze to the doorway, where Charlotte had reappeared. A blanketed bundle filled her arms. Crossing the room, she held out the baby for Victor and Victoria to see.

"Would you like to hold her, dearie?" Hildegarde asked Victoria. Looking uncertain, Victoria glanced up at Charlotte.

"Go ahead," Charlotte said encouragingly, "You should practice a bit."

With that, she set the baby in Victoria's arms, gently correcting Victoria's inexperienced hold. Victoria, for her part, looked almost overcome as she looked down at the little girl. What amazed Victor was how...little the baby was. For some reason he'd never thought that babies could be that small. He was also rather amazed at the way Victoria looked--so seemingly at ease and natural. There had never been any question of whether or not they would have children--like getting married, it was simply something that people did, whether they liked it or not. But Victoria was so looking forward to being a mother; she'd told him so several times during their marriage. Soon it was going to be a reality, after three years of talking about it. Just as much as he'd once looked forward to his and Victoria's wedding, he was now looking forward to Victoria having his children. Parenthood no longer seemed like the obligation it once did, but something that Victor wanted very much. It was quite the idea, really--three years ago, he never would have dreamed that he'd want to be a father quite so much. Victor supposed that it had something to do with the fact that Victoria would be the child's mother.

"We call her Hilda, just so we don't get confused," Charlotte said, cutting through Victor's reflections. Hilda waved her tiny arms about and made mewling noises. Only the other children seemed unimpressed with the baby's behavior--Victor figured that it was hardly new to them, not with so many siblings.

"Oh," Victoria breathed, cradling the baby gently in her arms. "Victor, isn't she beautiful?"

Actually, the baby looked a bit like a monkey to Victor, but he'd never say such a thing aloud. So he simply nodded, smiled, and replied, "Oh, yes."

"Would you like to hold her?" Charlotte asked. Victor took a minute to respond. He'd been so caught up in watching Victoria, he wasn't quite ready for the suggestion.

"Er..." he answered. It was all he could manage. He didn't entirely trust himself. This was someone else's baby, after all. Still, it looked easy enough.

"I...suppose," Victor finally said. Rather reluctantly Victoria handed the baby back to Charlotte, who gestured for Victor to sit. Victor sat down in the wooden chair next to Victoria's armchair and held out his arms. Every eye seemed to be on him. Just as she had with Victoria, Charlotte placed the baby in his lap and showed him how to hold his arms.

For a few seconds Victor felt entirely foolish. Victoria had looked completely natural with a baby in her arms, and Victor doubted that the same could be said about him. But, looking down at Hilda, he felt a small surge of confidence. The feeling of holding a tiny little person was an entirely new one--he couldn't even describe it. After a moment he felt Victoria's hand on his arm. Victor looked over at her, and they shared an intimate sort of smile.

I think we can do this, Victor thought as he looked back down at the baby. Something told him Victoria was thinking the same thing.