Thank you so much for reading this story and for your words of encouragement. I do apologize for taking so long to finish it. Life has brought a lot of twists and turns this past year, but how to bring this adventure to a close was there in the back of my mind all along, and now I am able to complete it. I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 22 Epilogue
With the family back at Wardlow to tend the babies and Phryne under the watchful eye of both Mac and Dr. Wilson, Jack ponders what to do about "Baby A" since Phryne's continued lack of true consciousness is forcing him to make solo decisions on proceeding with burying her. He makes sure that Dot has marked the other girls so when Phryne is able they can know which baby they are naming when they place the delicately engraved gold bracelets on their tiny arm or ankle.
He now thinks of "Baby A" as Daisy, Phryne's barely audible words clicking into his brain since none of their selected names seem appropriate for the delicate being who fits in the palm of his hand. Daisy makes him think of a field of sweet white blossoms dancing in a gentle breeze as far as the eye can see and early morning sunshine and freedom; his lips lift briefly as he thinks of naming her Daisy, feeling that her eyes, whose deep blue color he hopes he never forgets, would be fathomless with approval. It just feels like the thing to do, and he reflects, as Phryne rarely sets much store by what others think in terms of convention his choice of name will be perfect. "Daisy Espoir Robinson has a sweet ring to it", Jack resolves firmly; his mind made up. He also orders a headstone to match Janey's, sensing Phryne will approve, and knowing that decisions will be hard to make in the next weeks between care for the babies and Phryne's own recovery.
Dot makes a tiny white gown embroidered with the smallest of rosettes and thin ribbons for the baby to be buried in, and Jack stumbles across a box from Phryne's travels in the attic, made of a purplish wood carved with flowers and vines. It looks like a treasure chest; a much more appropriate resting place for his daughter than any of the caskets the mortician had available which only remind him of loss. Jack also decides to take a few pictures of Daisy before the burial.
Decisions made, he and Jane alone bury Daisy as everyone else is too busy caring for the triplets and Phryne. Jack reads Psalm 139, the words spoken in his deep bass resonating on the still morning air, and Jane sings a soft lullaby, which Jack joins in on, tears trickling down both of their faces. Jack is grateful for the work of shoveling the scoops of soft earth onto the beautiful box, wanting to spend these last moments with his baby girl alone, talking to her of her mother and her siblings and of how much he will miss her, until they meet again.
When he is done, he gathers a solemn Jane, and they head back to the busyness that is life at Wardlow, both feeling an extra special bond with the little girl who has touched their hearts – one who held her and fought for her life, and the other who had so longed for these babies to be here and to whom the thought of losing one precious sister was to be forever a source of deep mysterious loss.
Jack Robinson strolls briskly into the nursery only to find it empty, and smiling crookedly he moves back down the hall to the bedroom to find Phryne and the wet nurse with four babies feeding hungrily. Phryne has the two girls propped on pillows in the bed while the nurse is sitting in the large rocking chair with his son and her own boy latched to her chest.
It is a scene of tranquility that they rarely enjoy these days, but Jack wouldn't trade the chaos for anything. He and Jane both get in on the action when they are home, walking whichever hungry baby is having to wait its turn when the nurse has gone home for the night and there are only two breasts available to them. The three babies have rejected all attempts to bottle feed them, which Mac and Dr. Wilson tell Jack they are actually glad about as Phryne's milk is best followed by another source of human milk, and bottle cleanliness can be a problem.
Jack's gaze lingers on Phryne's breasts as she rests propped up like a great queen on many pillows with the infants greedily suckling; each with a hand resting on her, and he thinks about his own mouth worshipping there. "Get yourself together man", he admonishes himself, though these thoughts come more frequently now that that Phryne is much recovered, and the babies are growing so well and showing no signs of any serious ill effects of having arrived early. His news that City South finally cracked the serial killer case with an arrest and confession safely written up will keep as he asks what he can do to help. They are preparing to officially name the babies later in the evening with a few close friends coming to the house.
John Henry Robinson, already being called Jackie by Jane and Phryne much to Jack's amusement, is all smiles as Jack takes him from his nurse to burp him, careful to grab the extra length of toweling just in case he spits up. Jackie is a calm baby, watching intently all that goes on around him, and only crying when hungry or soiled.
Selena Grace and Phaedra Joy Robinson are so identical that none but Phryne and Dot can really tell them apart at this point. Jack still doesn't understand how Phryne decided which daughter was going to be which, but after puzzling awhile she put their name bracelets on them with a brilliant smile and blessing over each with the Greek meaning of her name. As an extra precaution, Dot puts a different colored ribbon around each young lady's ankle. Phaedra is a happy baby, rarely crying and full of smiles, a dimple appearing frequently on her tiny cheek. Selena is a more fractious baby, impatient when made to wait and loudly protesting anything that she does not approve of from wet diapers to how tightly she is swaddled. Dot is the only one whose swaddling she approves!
The naming "ceremony" goes well, all three babies sleeping peacefully throughout, and Phryne looking radiant though her eyes are shadowed with exhaustion as they gather in the parlor with their friends and family and fill out the birth certificates. Leave it to Phryne, though recovering from traumatic childbirth, to find the joy of the occasion and focus on that. She and Jack privately filled out a birth certificate for Daisy Espoir – not to be filed officially, but just as a remembrance for the two of them, and also filled out the family Bible that Phryne's mother had sent them.
Once these things are done and the babies are fed and sleeping again, Phryne and Jack fall into bed, talking softly and holding each other close, knowing the quiet is soon to be shattered by the cries of hungry babies. Their contentment soon becomes a more passionate expression of their feelings though they are still under doctor's orders to refrain.
"Soon darling Jack," Phryne says wistfully as she breaks off a very passionate kiss to reach for a towel from the bedside to mop up the milk that has started to flow. She snuggles back against him, "I love you Jack Robinson," she says sleepily.
"I love you more," Jack says seriously, "words can't even begin to express how blessed I am Phryne, or what a wonderful Mother you are already to our children – how much you've sacrificed for them. I can't imagine my world without Phryne Fisher in it."
Phryne mumbles sleepily now, exhaustion claiming her quickly, "I chose to come back to you and the babies. I could have stayed with Janey and Daisy, but I came back. Your love brought me back. Our greatest adventures are yet to come, my darling Jack."
Pulling her closer to his warmth Jack listens to the sound of her deep breathing as it lulls him to the place between sleeping and wakefulness, where he can hear nothing and everything as his soul rejoices in his many blessings. As he drifts off to sleep he dreams of Phryne, Jane, Jackie, Selena, Phaedra and the rest of the family in adventures as colorful and varied as the woman he loves; the woman who says he has saved her over and over, but who has been saving him almost daily from the moment she opened that bathroom door and he got his first glimpse of her.