Chapter 35

Ruth had never considered the fact that she might become the matriarch of the Ellingham clan. That should have been her sister Joan's position, she had the maternal instincts, not Ruth herself. Yet as she sat there on the couch in the farmhouse lounge surrounded by Martin's family, she realised that indeed she had been entrusted with that role. True it was a small clan given that neither she nor Joan had had children and Christopher had only produced Martin to carry on the family name. They had all assumed that he would never marry, or if he were to marry, would certainly never have children. They expected the Ellingham name to die out with him; but he surprised them all by marrying and producing not one child, but three. Her father, Daddy as she was never allowed to call him, would not have been surprised that Martin was continuing the family line. He had always had a soft spot for Martin. He knew there was more to Martin than the rest of the family recognised, and he would have been proud of the family he had created. At any rate, here she sat, baby bottle in hand, feeding Martin's youngest whilst he and Louisa made preparations for Christmas Eve dinner.

They had enjoyed a quiet weekend after their arrival on Friday evening, decorating the tree that Louisa's friend Alicia and her husband had set up in the lounge, and preparing simple family meals. Louisa and Martin had enveloped her as part of their family from the first, along with Joan, always including her in family celebrations. The boys just assumed that Graunty Ruth, or Graunty as they usually called her would be there for them, and they turned to her for help as often as they did either one of their parents.

She had never spent any time in the company of children, preferring to leave the whingy unformed little darlings to their parents, but James and Robert had opened her eyes to the charms of young children. They were delightful and nothing like her previous impression of children. Yes, they did have their arguments and periodic meltdowns, but they were also openly affectionate and gave her unconditional love; and, despite her stated distain for the name, she loved being Graunty, the name James had given her when saying Great Aunty Ruth was too hard when he was first learning to talk.

Robert and James were playing with the train set that Martin had played with here in this very room as a child. He had pulled it out of the loft and set it up on a table in a corner of the lounge their first day here at Havenhurst Farm, the de facto Ellingham family homestead. At the moment, James was absorbed with arranging the tracks just so, but Robert was becoming restless. He tried to move one of the train cars that James had meticulously placed on the tracks, and James cried out, "Stop it Robert. You're going to mess things up."

"Me play too!" Robert replied in a loud voice.

James looked toward his parents for help, "Daddy, Mummy, can you take Robert away. He's destroying my train set-up."

Martin looked up from the vegetables he was preparing and gave both the boys a look that could have silenced any one of his registrars, sternly chastising them, "James, find a way to share the train. Robert, you can play with one of the train cars."

James returned his Dad's black look, but reluctantly gave up one of the train cars for Robert to play with; and Robert grabbed it holding it close to his chest as he walked around the lounge and looked out the windows at the drive circling the front of the house. Louisa's brother and his family were due to arrive at any minute. His girls, Amelia and Abigail doted on the boys and he was looking forward to having someone besides his brother to play with. He kept asking "When 'Melia and Abby be here?"

"Robert", Ruth called out to him, whilst patting the seat next to her. "They will be here as soon as they can. In the meantime, why don't you go get one of your Thomas train books and I'll read you a story."

"Can baby Joanie listen too?"

"Of course."

He ran to find the book and then jumped up on the sofa next to her and opened the book to the first page. She started reading just as the baby finished her bottle.

"Oh dear, Robert, can you pass me that blanket please?" She threw it over her shoulder and patted Joanie on the back, then resumed reading Robert's book. As she continued the story about the little engine and his railway friends on the Island of Sodor, Robert cuddled up closer to her. He looked so sweet sitting there with his head tucked under her arm that she couldn't resist leaning down to give him a kiss on his head. "My, my", she thought, "I'm certainly getting sentimental in my old age. On the other hand, it is nice to be appreciated." She blinked back a single tear that welled up in her eyes, a maudlin physical reaction to the touch of another person, and she shifted her thoughts to how complicated life could be with three young children. Louisa often said she didn't know what they would do without her, a statement she usually pooh-poohed, but now she was beginning to see the truth in it.

When Martin had first renovated the farmhouse, he had opened up the wall between the kitchen and the lounge to encourage family interaction. Ruth was certain that was Louisa's idea as Martin was never one to think about encouraging interaction between family members. She remembered Joan's absolute conviction that Martin was already planning on marrying Louisa when he started the renovation because he consulted her on nearly every change that was made. Whoever made that decision didn't matter; the result was that she could see into the kitchen and observe Martin and Louisa as they prepared the holiday meal.

On their way down to Cornwall, Louisa had confided that she was looking forward to having Martin all to themselves and from what Ruth had been able to observe, her wish had been fulfilled. They were busy at work, chopping vegetables and stirring a sauce or two, but through it all they kept close, with Louisa occasionally placing her hand on Martin's back as they huddled over a recipe or debated the best way to prepare this dish or that. Martin would rest his hand on her shoulder as she stirred a pot or give her a loving glance as she held up a spoon for him to taste the sauce for the inevitable fish they were planning for supper. Louisa herself was glowing; it was obvious she was receiving the attention that she craved from him, and Martin himself seemed more relaxed than usual, content is how Ruth would describe it, perhaps even happy. Ruth's psychologist's mind was certain that, despite the distraction of three children, the physical intimacy that they must be enjoying on this trip was doing both of them a world of good.

Ruth could only hope that the congenial atmosphere would continue once Alan and his family arrived. Louisa's brother and his wife were gentle souls, and their girls were loving towards the younger Ellingham's. But Ruth remembered many previous family occasions when the four of them arrived, when the boys couldn't contain their excitement, squealing and jumping up and down as they vied for attention from the two girls and their Uncle Alan especially. It could easily descend into bedlam, and it wouldn't be long before the boys had Alan out in the yard playing football or down on the floor wrestling and rough-housing as Martin looked on astounded at the behaviour of his otherwise well-mannered children.

Ruth stretched to look out the lounge windows to check on the weather, grateful to see that the rain, which had greeted them off and on all weekend appeared to have stopped for good. The sky was a brilliant blue. All could be sent outside if need be when the atmosphere became too raucous. In fact, Ruth suspected she would be relieved from her responsibilities as Joanie's minder once they arrived. The girls couldn't wait to meet their new cousin; and as Amelia was now sixteen and Abigail, or Abby as she preferred to be called, was twelve, both were old enough now to entrust with the care of a new-born.

She continued to read Robert's book and as they were finishing, Joanie gave a grunt and soon a distinct odour wafted up from her nappy. Changing dirty nappies was one of the tasks that she had never willingly taken on so she called out, "Martin, your youngest could use a nappy change."

Martin was slicing bread for the meal and put down the knife and walked over to Ruth. "Did she finish her bottle?"

"Yes, she did. And I've winded her as well. Obviously, her gastrointestinal track was stimulated and thus we have a full nappy." She handed the baby up to his waiting arms, "She's all yours."

As Martin walked away with Joanie, Robert looked up at his aunt and asked in his sweetest voice, "Read it again, G'aunty … please?"

Ruth gave him one of her infamous wry looks and replied, also in her sweetest voice, 'I will be happy to read it again Robert, but I need a cup of tea before I begin. Can you sit here quietly whilst I go get a cuppa?"

"Okay."

Ruth rose and, as she headed into the kitchen, she heard Robert begin to "read" his book without her. After listening to the story innumerable times, he had memorized every page, as had she. She was certain that he was as brilliant as his father and older brother before him, not that she was biased in any way whatsoever.

The sound of tyres crunching on the gravel driveway announced the arrival of their guests, and Robert jumped up from the sofa and ran to the door. James joined him in a flash as did Louisa, and Ruth followed them, only a few steps behind. Etiquette required that she greet the new arrivals and quite frankly, she liked Louisa's family. She greeted them warmly and offered to take several of the presents they were unloading from their vehicle into the house and place them under the tree. Soon enough everyone was inside the house, gathered in the kitchen, all talking at once. She smiled to herself as she observed Martin enter the lounge, pause to review the scene and whisper some bon mot into his daughter's ear before steeling himself to join the joyful pandemonium now reigning in his home.