Chapter XXXVIII

10th July 1944

Dearest angel of my heart,

I am living on a cloud since this early sunrise of today. Firstly, I'll start by saying how grateful I am for your letter which I got only yesterday. It was so full of your constant and beautiful positivity that fills my heart as fully as water can fill up a cup. I am ecstatic that you love this new photograph I have sent you of myself and Vance. I am impatiently awaiting your own new photograph that you have promised to enclose in your next letter to me, how exciting!

Now, today was the day of Auntie Una's and Uncle Liam's new arrival from Heavens above. We were all so worried, you know yourself, that Auntie was overdue almost two weeks and in her age as well... I feared she'd never deliver her glorious baby yet she did safely and without any complications (thank the Lord!) at the hour of the sunrise this morning.

It is a little playmate for our Poppy, a little girl of features so sweet and perfect I don't know how to describe them correctly! She has the sweetest features of Auntie Una, so soft and precious as well as her big blue eyes, just as steadfast as Auntie's eyes always have been. Yet, she does resemble her father in one specific feature which is her hair as it is not black like Auntie's but it is pure gold mesh instead.

You're probably asking, well then, I understand she's beautiful, healthy and all but for goodness' sakes what is her name? Well, it is a rather spectacular one but what else would one expect in our family? The baby's name is Vera Cecilia Evans. Vera because it means faith and is the tribute not only to Auntie Faith but also to the life of her and Auntie Una's father, however it is also the tribute to the remarkable Vera Brittain, a nurse of the first war. Remember when I told you about her? She is quite an extraordinary woman who has suffered so much yet still had the courage to continue with her life regardless its mess. Cecilia is, of course, after the late Cecilia Meredith who will be always in our hearts even if she wouldn't have as many namesakes as she does. I'm sure that today she is smiling down from a cloud on her little granddaughter who apparently does have a look about her, according to Grandpa John, of Cecilia Meredith.

Oh, Marshall! How I always yearn for a day like this one! It is the one not only to remember but to feel, as well as appreciate. That is the only thing I actually thank the war for, it makes us all count the days of our happiness, those small joys of everyday life which we never really notice on everyday basis otherwise. My heart is full today and I don't intend on thinking the thoughts I usually do think of each day, especially just before I go to sleep. You know exactly, better than anyone else who knows me I think, what those thoughts in my head are, but today I will not think them, for my own good.

I wish I could take your hand and give it a squeeze as a reassurance that everything is actually fine in this world. I know you worry that it isn't sometimes but darling believe me it is fine, it is alright. Believe it or not, even Lily herself wore white today and smiled through tears of joy as she held that tiny new addition to our family of a name Vera.

This war will end and you'll come home, Gilly will, all of our boys will too and we will all be changed slightly, one way or the other, there's no way preventing it. However, sweetheart, we will learn how to live again, we will be free and our hearts will beat if for nothing else then for one another at least. Dearest Marshall… I can't help but dream of our future together. I know I shouldn't and I always reprimand myself whenever I start but I can't help myself as it looks so beautiful that my eyes always fill up with happy tears.

How can you even think that the scar across your cheek would ever make me feel repulsed by you, dearest? How can you write such things to me, and even think them? That was that one thing that bothered me in your last letter. Darling, that scar is something you will always wear and you should wear it as a reminder of your bravery but not a repulsion or regret, not ever. You are doing your duty and I could not be more proud of you, or any of you, my boys out there at the front. Once you come back home to me I will kiss that diagonal scar on your neck and then I will kiss it again and I will tell you what I am writing to you now: "I love you." because I do.

Answering your question: no, Ada won't be coming to Four Winds this summer, unfortunately. She is preparing for her last year at Redmond and she's terribly busy not just with revision but also her worry about her brother David at the sea. She knows he's fine and he is but she is his older sister and it's no surprise that she's worried, especially because she has no other sibling in her house in whom she could rejoice a bit. However, we do write frequently to each other, like we always used to and I will miss her terribly through the summer. I swear, she'll be a famous mathematician one day, she's so ambitious and clever it's almost impossible for me to imagine her future life otherwise!

Darling, I must go: I have a lesson with dear Georgie today who is the sweetest boy out there (with an exception of you, my dearest) in an hour's time and I still have to put my hair in order!

Dearest heart of mine, keep safe as always and smile because whenever you think of me, I promise you that I think of you too, as I always have you at the back of my mind with music in the background.

Give my brother a big hug from all of us and keep safe, both of you.

Forever and ever Your,

Hester

"I just left him there! Oh, I'd never do such a thing, ever! Why did I do it now…? Oh, but he, he enlisted without giving me any hint of doing so and I just… I just…" Marion wept in Lily's arms.

"-didn't know what to do?" Hester finished for her with a soft smile on her face, her right hand brushing Marion's brown curls gently.

It was a lovely afternoon with the sun slowly setting down behind the girls in the Rainbow Valley. This sun was, as usual, the audience of a new drama. Hester met up there with Lily, Vance and Daria to knit together for baby Vera as a present for Una and Liam whilst Jo was occupied with Fleur who was a bit poorly on that day. Marion was supposed to meet her sweetheart, Harry, in town and she did meet him there, however, not in his usual clothing but the brand new khaki uniform and a piece of paper stating that in only three days time he is to be sent for training and before the year was out he is to go to the front.

It was a very surprising scene to witness for Hester, Lily, Vance and Daria: the angry and weeping Marion running straight for her emotional rescue to where she thought she wouldn't see anyone yet embarked on her friends instead. She was now the centre of their attention and the centre of their attempts to comfort her, and that in itself was a hard task to achieve. "I didn't know and so I became a coward and after shouting at him, I just... ran." Marion said with a trembling voice and wet cheeks as she pulled away from her sister to look at each of her friends hopelessly "But how couldn't he tell me?" she put her hands on her face and groaned half furiously and half painfully.

Hester glanced at Lily, Vance and Daria and they all looked at each other in almost a despair. "I'm sure you know why, Marion…" Vance started.

"No, I don't." Marion replied whilst looking up again and wiping away her tears with the half finished dress for little Vera. Upon realising what she used as a handkerchief her eyes filled up with tears all over again "Oh, I'm such a mess! I'm so very sorry…" she put the knitting on the side very carefully as if it was made from expensive porcelain and Hester along with the others couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

"It's completely alright, darling." Lily said to her calmly and squeezed her hand "And it's alright for you to be angry at Harry, he should have told you. But you shouldn't be cross with him for long, he is leaving after all." her eyes overcame a shadow in a blink of an eye which Hester was immediately aware of and she and Lily shared a knowing yet almost invisible glance.

"I agree." Daria added in her usual energetic tone "Just accept that fact, however hard it is to do so and make the best of those three days." she smiled at Marion who smiled back at her whilst wiping away her tears again but with her scarf instead.

"I suppose I should… Yes…" she replied a bit calmer now and she arose from the blanket. She turned around just to hear a shouting from behind.

"Marion! Marion!" Harry ran up the hill, still in his uniform but with his dark hair disassembled completely and his eyes sparkling in an almost dangerous way as he reached for Marion who was looking at him as if he was an unearthly creature of a beauty never possessed by any other being but him. Hester's lips were turning into a smile and as she was watching the scene, her hands became held by Daria and Lily.

"How did you know I was here?" Marion asked breathlessly even though it wasn't her who has done the running.

Harry without any permission or reply, smiled at her joyfully and kissed her passionately instead. The girls around gasped in awe silently. Hester's eyes filled up whilst she put her hand on her chest as she knew where it was all coming to from purely looking into Harry's deep blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, Marion, my dearest girl." he whispered out eventually whilst putting his hands on her flushed cheeks "I just had to do it but simply couldn't find the right words to tell you this beforehand."

"It's done now, Harry." Marion whispered back, her cheeks not only flushed but also wet now "I just want to spend those three days to the fullest with you." she smiled at him and his own eyes filled with fresh tears as he kissed her lips softly before putting his hand into the pocket of his jacket and knelt down in front of her.

Marion's face was priceless as it went from pure red to eternal white. Her mouth opened slightly and her hands trembled as her lips were giving in to the brightest smile Hester or her friends had ever seen on her face. Hester and the girls watched intently whilst still giving each other heart-warming and filled with tears gazes. The moment was so perfect they all forgot about the war or that Harry was to go into its chaos himself soon, they felt nothing but happiness then.

"Marion, I've been carrying this ring of my great-grandma's for almost three months now." Harry said to her, his voice sure yet incredibly soft whilst his lips were grinning and dancing "I wasn't sure when I should ask if you'd like to have it but I suppose that now is better than ever," he took her shaking hand in his as she wept joyfully through a huge smile upon her face "-and so: Anne Rosemary Blythe, the only woman who is the possessor of my heart: will you marry me before I go?"

"Marion trembled all over then," Hester wrote to her friend Phillip two nights after "-but this didn't stop her from decidedly yet cheerfully replying: "Of course, I will!".

Phillip, I cried so much that if Mum or Dad would have seen me in that moment they would have thought someone has died. But it wasn't just me, quite frankly it was also Vance, Lily, Daria, Marion and Harry himself! Nonetheless, it couldn't be helped, the moment was so perfectly wonderful that nothing else could have highlighted it better than tears of joy.

Marion and Harry gained the blessing of our entire family, of course, as well as his own, which consists of only his parents and grandparents all living in Bright River. The day after and so yesterday morning, Harry arranged the marriage certificate all ready to be signed whilst Marion was running up and down, trying to figure out what she'd wear for the ceremony. Finally, Auntie Faith gathered her own old wedding dress and spent an entire evening with all of her sisters and sisters-in-law, including my Mum and Mary Vance, I mean Mrs Douglas, of course. They also prepared the veil which was the old beautiful wedding veil of Grandma Cecilia, the very mirror of personality of her own granddaughter, Marion.

Meanwhile, we girls spent the whole day together, talking about Marion's wedding and calming the bride's nerves. It was truly a beautiful day as we spent the whole afternoon at the beach, ending up splashing each other in the ocean, with little Fleur being held by her mother close enough to the waves so her chubby little legs would taste the saltiness of the ocean.

Today in the morning, though, Anne Rosemary Blythe became Mrs Harry Newton in a simple yet incredibly gorgeous and romantic ceremony performed by Grandpa John who too was all in tears at the end, when Harry kissed Marion, his wife.

We had a dinner after, in the garden of the old Ingleside and we got to know Harry's family a bit who are wonderfully kind and generous, let me tell you that much. Harry only had his eyes and lips for his wife whilst Marion only had her own eyes and lips for her husband the whole of today. Thank and praise the Lord that in the two pairs of their eyes were only joy and love and no fear just yet.

They are in their hotel room in town for tonight, awaiting the sunrise of tomorrow when Harry will be going off for his training and soon to the front like you did too, Phillip. Goodness, that was more than a year ago already! Well, time doesn't fly as quickly as I'd hope apparently.

I must tell you that today filled me with mixed feelings. I was so happy, so perfectly happy to see my dearest cousin and a friend marry the love of her life, even in that quick and simple ceremony. I was so, so joyful to see her smile ever so widely and her eyes being filled with this much love and gratitude. However, I felt a huge heartache at the same time. My own fiance is at the front now with all the danger out there surrounding him. I can lose him any day and any second! I am not foolish enough to believe that nothing can happen to him, and Marshall knows that too even though he does try to protect me from thinking that anything can even slightly touch him.

Today, I thought to myself: I wish I married him before he went back to the front. I wish we kissed earlier than a week before he boarded this horrid train. And then I said to myself: everything happens for a reason. I suppose that's true but I wonder at this sometimes. I wondered at this a lot today, especially when I saw through the joy of Lily's eyes the true pain and a horrifying sense of loss once more.

The one thing of those wishes of mine which is certain is that I wish you were here today to witness it all, Phillip. But then I'm glad to simply sit here and put it all on paper for you as well. I am so immensely proud of you, my dearest friend. Always remember that, whenever you're feeling a bit low.

I must go to bed now because if I won't go, I'll probably fall asleep on this desk in our living room instead.

Keep safe, dear.

Write as often as you can.

Your friend for always,

Hester