Hope for Tomorrow
Page 7
When the day came to an end and the night was taking over, Nathan came back from rounds and settled Newton in the livery with the last treat of some carrot. He told him good night and walked home. The smell of his Ma's cooking wafting through the air always beckoned him to pick up the pace. The warm night was filled with stars brightly shining in the sky and he made a mental note to take Dee outside after dinner to enjoy the beauty in the darkness.
"Hello there Nathan! Dinner will be ready soon," Emily greeted him as he walked in and gave her a kiss on her cheek. Ginger was scampering around chasing her tail and had Allie in stitches laughing on the floor. When he went in to see what had them all giggling, he saw Dee coming down the stairs. She was around five months pregnant now and her face was glowing.
As she descended the stairs, Nathan's smile crept across his face and he opened his arms to give her a warm hug. When she embraced him, she stood resting in his arms. "I missed you today, Gunther told me that you went to Clearwater."
"Yes, Bill and I went there to test drive automobiles. I was going to tell you all about it after dinner. I planned on taking you outside to enjoy the twinkling stars and let you know all about this afternoon in Clearwater. I want to discuss it with you first before we share it with the others. If I ask you to wait until then, do you think you can?" he asked.
"It'll be hard, but of course, if that's what it takes, we're in this together," Dee smiled while confirming with a kiss.
As usual, Emily served up a hot, delicious dinner of wiener schnitzel with cherry tarts for dessert. "Cherries are ripe for the picking nowadays, so I thought we'd switch to cherry tarts, so let me know how you like it. I've been thinking about entering the dessert baking contest in the Hope Valley Family Fest. So, you will all be my guinea pigs, ya," she laughed.
"Yum, Oma!" Allie grinned, "these are super good."
"Ma, you never disappoint. These are delicious!" Nathan complimented his mother.
"Ma, I think you will win first place no matter what you enter. Your baking is incredible and no one will disagree!" Dee added.
"Danke, you loves!" Emily smiled warmly.
After cleaning up the kitchen for Emily, Dee and Nathan went outside and sat on the steps of their front porch. The clouds were gone and the night sky was lit up like twinkling candles. The moon was big and bright casting a soft glow over the land. The wind had died down to a soft breeze and blew Dee's hair away from her face. Nathan just stared at her taking in her beauty until she became so self-conscious she nudged him to stop while laughing. "Nathan, please tell me what happened this afternoon in Clearwater."
"Oh yea," he sighed while slowly diverting his gaze to the stars, "Bill and I both found automobiles that we want to buy. I wasn't going to give in so readily, but with the baby coming, during winter time no less, it just felt right. Besides, I don't like to keep borrowing Lee's automobile to take dad to see his doctor or for us to go out of town somewhere."
"How can we buy one while also building our new home?" Dee asked.
"I stopped by and talked to Mr. Jenkins at the bank, and applied for a loan. He didn't have any problem assuring me that the bank would be happy to give us a loan," Nathan said.
"Even with building our house? I just don't want you to have to work so hard..."
"Don't you worry, I got that promotion remember? Now that I'm a Sargent, my wages are increased along with the title and responsibility. It's all approved. Dee, I wouldn't have gone to the dealership if I didn't think it would be affordable."
"Oh sweetheart, I know and I trust you. I just don't want you working any harder than you already do, that's all," and with that, she reassured him as she rested her head on his shoulder. After a while of silence, she spoke again, "thank you Nathan for taking such good care of me."
Nathan wrapped his arm around his wife and kissed her, "Did I ever tell you I love you?"
The next morning, Dee got to work. She was enjoying her summer off and had been sewing up a storm lately making new clothes for Allie for school and for the nursery in their new home. Having stopped by to see the house plans at Lee's office earlier, Dee wrote down the sizes of the rooms and windows. Hoping to get as much sewing done before the move was her goal. So, she had asked some of the Chickadees that belonged to the sewing circle if they would help her sew once the material she ordered came in. Of course, being the sweet ladies, she had come to know and love, they were more than happy to help.
Dottie was busy with lots of orders of material and new arrivals for the upcoming fall season. There were boxes of dresses, skirts, blouses, trousers, shirts, hats, jackets and shoes. Rosemary helped with unpacking and displaying at times when she felt good. Those times seemed to be few and far between, but Rosemary always made the most of them. Clara would pitch in a few hours from time to time when Michael would nap in the playpen in the corner of the store.
The big box with Molly's emerald green wedding dress arrived and Dottie called Molly immediately to come over whenever she could leave the infirmary. Come lunchtime, Molly came running through the door all excited. "Where is it?"
Dottie laughed, "It's hanging up in the dressing room waiting for you!"
Molly flew to the room and just as fast as she could she put it on and waltzed out showing it off to Dottie, Rosemary, and Clara. "You look stunning!" Dottie said excitedly.
"Yes, definitely!" complimented Clara.
"I'm green with envy," Rosemary laughed.
"But will Bill like it?" Molly wondered out loud.
Hope for Tomorrow
Page 8
Molly and Bill had an appointment with Fr. Ricardo to plan their wedding ceremony, but before they did that, they had one pre-Cana session with him.
Fr. Ricardo knew this was not their first wedding and thought one session would suffice. They would have a chance to talk about their hopes and dreams for the future together and how it would affect their lives after being single for some time. Fr. Ricardo led with a prayer, then...
Knowing Bill, Molly understood how set in his ways he would be and that he could be a tough nut to crack, but she had already broken through his 'wall' so she knew what she was up against.
"Bill, darling, I can't wait for our wedding. The dress came in just yesterday and it's gorgeous!" Molly said excitedly.
Bill looked at Molly and his eyes softened, "Molly, you make me not only want to be your husband, but I want to be a better man!" he spoke tenderly. Then he cleared his throat and said, "But since I am the one who wears the pants in the family, I hope you won't have a hard time trusting me to provide for you the way I know best."
"Bill Avery, whatever made you think you had to say that?" Molly asked surprised.
Bill's mouth began to twitch, "Well honey, you are a very determined lady at times, and can be pretty insistent!"
"Don't honey me, Bill Avery, I am not a fragile, demure woman. I've had to raise Rosaleen by myself, I'll remind you, with no man providing for me!" Molly protested.
Fr. Ricardo just sat in his chair watching the two of them and quietly chuckled to himself thinking maybe they might benefit from another session.
"That's not what I meant Molly; you know that. I just want what's best for us, that's all." Bill was pleading with her to see it his way.
"Bill, seriously, you think that you alone know what's best for us? I am 50% of this relationship, don't I have a say?" Molly demanded.
Fr. Ricardo decided it was time to step in. "You two have a few things to discuss, but none I haven't heard before. However, Molly and Bill, you have seemed to forgotten one very important thing. Molly, you are used to being the sole provider and Bill so are you, but the most important thing of all missing is God. Yes, you have to learn to trust each other, but when it becomes difficult, give the other a chance and hear one another out, really listening. Then stop to pray about it."
Molly and Bill settled down and listened to Fr. Ricardo and realized he made perfect sense. They both smiled. Then, Bill reached for Molly's hand and squeezed it and she returned the squeeze which Fr. Ricardo was pleased to see.
"Now, shall we continue talking about the wedding plans?" he tentatively asked as his eyes went from Bill to Molly to Bill again.
"Yes," they both answered and laughed.
Fr. Ricardo thought was not the only one who was anxious for this wedding!
On Saturday morning, the Landochs went to Brookfield to bring home their newly adopted son, Benjamin. Everyone was so excited, especially Karen knowing that she would have a brother.
Earlier in the week, they had made up his bedroom hoping he would like it. They had picked out blue paint and white for the trim around his window. Marie had bought some material from Dottie that just came in and made a curtain to go across his window that had some blue and red in it. Not knowing for sure what he specifically liked, Bob had asked Lee for some leftover scraps of lumber to make a bed frame and a night stand for next to his bed, along with a shelf all painted white, to hold any books or pictures he might have.
Benjamin needed a dresser, and sure enough, Ned had one in the back room of the Mercantile he was just storing odds and ends in. So, he transferred what he needed to a box, and gave the dresser to Bob to fix up and paint.
Marie decided she would take Benjamin shopping the following Monday to pick out some new clothes at Dottie's, and any toys he wanted from the Mercantile. What worked out so nice, was that Dottie had provided a place in the children's area, where families could drop off clothes or toys they no longer needed or their own children had outgrown. As long as they were clean and in good shape, they were there for anyone to help themselves.
When they got to New Hope Orphanage, Karen ran to the house to greet everyone. Some new children had come there and some of her previous companions were still there. Miss Lillian had welcomed the Landochs inside with Benjamin ready and waiting.
Karen talked to Benjamin right away and was telling him all about his new house.
She didn't want to say too much in front of the other children, so she whispered, "I'll tell you all about your bedroom and Hope Valley on the way home."
When the children all began to play, Miss Lillian invited Marie and Bob into the dining room where she had the formal adoption papers for them to sign. Marie could hardly write, she was so excited. Bob's knee kept bouncing up and down under the table when it was his turn. Neither one of them ever thought they would have children, but the Good Lord provided in a different way, and they felt blessed.
After the paperwork was signed, Lillian had the notary from the bank come to the Orphanage as planned and the papers were completed. All that was left to do, was file them with the province. Judge Bill was to oversee that, so Lillian handed the papers to the Landochs to take with them. Since they had already adopted before, with Karen, she saw no reason this time to make any of them wait, so she allowed Benjamin to go to his new home with the Landochs.
Benjamin gave Miss Lillian a long hug and thanked her for taking care of him, sadly said goodbye to his friends, turned away, and walked with the Landochs outside. Once his parcel of clothes and mementos were packed in with him, he turned to look back and waved.
On the way home, Marie told her son, we are going to have a welcome party for you! At first, we planned it for today, but there's a baseball game going on, so we are having it right after church tomorrow, then we'll have the day just for you.
Benjamin grinned as his eyes lit up, "Can we go to the baseball game today?"
Hope for Tomorrow
Page 9
When Benjamin saw Hope Valley for the first time, he felt very comfortable as it reminded him of Brookfield. Bob and Marie with huge smiles waved at everyone in town they saw as if they were in a parade. They were beaming and so was Karen. Benjamin didn't know what to do but smiled back.
"I feel like a king!" he laughed telling Karen. "Do they know who I am already?"
"They sure do, Mom and Dad have been talking about bringing you home all week. That's why they want to have a party for you," Karen explained.
"A party for me is embarrassing," Benjamin said, "I mean, I'm not famous."
"Get used to it Benjamin, the people here are like one big family. They all really care about their neighbors. You'll see." Karen said confidently.
When they got to their row house, even their neighbors came out to greet them and meet Benjamin. It was nice and all, but he wanted to go in and see inside. So, as soon as he was done meeting those that came over, he ran inside. First thing, Karen took him upstairs.
"This is your room. Mom and Dad just finished painting it and Dad made the furniture for you. How do you like it?" she asked.
"Wow, it is my own bedroom!" Benjamin dropped his parcel and walked around observing his bed, dresser, and nightstand. There were a few new clothes in the dresser. He looked out of the window and saw the backyard. Outside he saw a dog snoozing. Turning around he ran over to the bed and plopped down on the beautiful new red and blue quilt Marie had made for him. Laying on his back, Karen joined him as they laid side by side. They both looked up at the ceiling talking while bouncing their feet off the side of the bed.
"This is going to be so neat! Having my own room, a mom and a dad, a dog, and a sister too," he gave out a silly laugh.
Karen giggled, "Yeah, you're stuck with us now. I'll take you around to meet the other children in town. My best friend is Allie. It'll be fun."
"Benjamin! Karen! Come down here please," their dad called.
"We better go," Karen grabbed his hand, and after quickly showing Benjamin her room they ran down the stairs.
"Come over here to the table you two. We've got some lunch ready."
Sitting at the table, Marie brought over some sandwiches and fruit. Bob had poured the milk and asked everyone to cross themselves and say grace together. Bob and Marie were so delighted so Bob included thanking God for Benjamin joining their family.
As they sat to eat their first meal together, Benjamin couldn't stop looking around and asking questions.
"When do we go to school? Is there anyone my age? Are we still going to the baseball game? I like baseball..."
Marie couldn't help grinning while listening to his excitement and wished she could keep this time alive in her mind as long as possible. Looking at Bob who was chuckling and letting Benjamin talk a mile a minute, they nodded at each other knowing they had done the right thing.
"Benjamin, do you mind if I call you son?" Bob asked for his permission hoping he would agree.
"Sure, if I can call you dad!"
"Of course, I want you to!" Bob chuckled.
"And, you can call me mom," Marie piped up.
"All right, it's a deal!" Benjamin laughed happily.
After they all slowed down laughing, they discussed what would happen at mass tomorrow. Marie spoke up, "Benjamin, we're going to have Fr. Ricardo baptize you because Miss Lillian had no religious information on you. Our faith is very important to us and part of who we are."
"Baptized? What does that do?" Benjamin asked.
Looking at Marie while reaching for Benjamin's hand Bob explained, "Well, son, just like you are now part of our family, baptism welcomes you into God's family. So, tonight after dinner, we'll talk more about it. Fr. Ricardo will explain it to you too."
"Okay, but where's the church?"
"Fr. Ricardo shares the only church in town with Pastor Joseph while we're busy building St. James. We were meeting in a home, but our group got too big, so now we go to the church in Hope Valley. You'll see it when we walk to the baseball game."
"When are we going to the game?" asked Karen.
"In a little while. I hear Dusty outside barking, I think she wants to meet Benjamin," Marie said.
"Can we be excused?" Karen asked.
Marie nodded yes, "put your dishes by the sink first."
As Marie and Bob were cleaning up, Bob stopped Marie and put his arm around her pulling her close to him. They walked over by the back door to watch their children tossing Dusty's ball for her to fetch. "Listen to them outside laughing and playing with Dusty! Honey, I've never been so happy in my life. When I see you smiling as you crinkle your nose, I know we are blessed."