Families
Chapter 04
Growing up
1963
Caroline had just come to drop the four years old Benton off with Lillian. Bob and Buck was out on a long mission as it usually was in the late springs.
"Are you sure you will manage?" Caroline asked her best friend.
"Yes, a very wise woman once told me I learn to cope with situations as they come up" Lillian kind of quoted her friend.
"It's just you don't have long to go now and with Julie and Mark of your own maybe Benton can be a bit too much" Caroline said, referring to the baby Lillian was carrying.
"I know my limits Caroline" Lillian said "And Julie always helps me with the boys" Mark had been born in October the same year as Benton had been born the last day of April.
"Just tell her to run over to the office and have them radio me if you need me to come back before I do" Caroline made her promise.
Caroline was now days the official medical service around the territories and had her own radio connected to the RCMP office at the post.
Benton was a bit fussy when Caroline stood to leave the house. She had been away quite a lot since there had been a bigger number of babies being born this year and he often had been left by her at the Frobisher's place. She hated to leave him, but this trip was a long one and with the snow almost gone she couldn't take the dogs and the sled.
Mark who had gotten some toy cars from his grandparents for Christmas called for his friend "Come here Benny, we'll take them outside and race them around the porch"
When they finally had made up Buck and Bob had built the porch to go all the way around the Frobisher's house and put a fence to it with a gate so the kids could play safely outside. They had gone on with building the first extension on the Fraser's cabin and that had become Benton's own room.
"I'll go outside with them" Julie said to her mother and grabbed her favorite book to read. The weather was warm, nice and sunny although it was only in the beginning of May.
Lillian emptied the teapot in her mug and decided to sit and rest on the porch herself.
"Good morning Lillian" she heard a woman say and opened her eyes.
"Oh, good morning Mrs. Thatcher" Lillian smiled at the slightly older than herself woman. This was the wife of the Inspector at the post.
"Lovely weather we have don't you think?" Mrs. Thatcher said.
"Yes we do" Lillian agreed.
"I'm on my way to the store, do you need anything?" Mrs. Thatcher asked. She had seen that the Fraser's boy also was under Lillian's care today.
"No thank you, we went yesterday" Lillian said "But if you like you can leave little Margaret here while you go" she nodded towards the child "Julie could do with playing a bit"
"Can I mother?" the little girl asked. It was so boring playing with her brothers.
"Yes you may" Mrs Thatcher said correcting her child's speech.
"Thank you" she skipped over to the gate.
"I will make some fresh tea for when you come back Mrs. Thatcher" Lillian said.
"That would be lovely" the woman agreed. "And Lillian, please call me Sue" she had added. She hated her full name Suezette, but Sue was fine for friends and family to call her.
"I will try" Lillian who had been brought up in the city sometimes had problems calling certain people by their given names and Sue was one of them being the Inspector's wife.
It wasn't easy to be an Inspector's wife at a small post like this one, but the ice had been broken when she had had to have Caroline's help at the delivery of Margaret. The young woman that still nursed her four month old boy and therefore had brought him had been a great help and the women had become friends. Caroline had later introduced her to Lillian. Her boys were now eight and six years old and they were at school in the town hall.
The girls went inside to play with some dolls. Lillian was happy there were at least one more girl around Julie's age. She kind of feared she was having another boy and with Mark and Benton around a lot there were a lot of boys since the Thatcher's had two as well. She slowly got up and told the boys she was going to be inside, while there she made some fresh tea and took out some cookies. On the table she put four glasses and a big pitcher of milk. The bigger the better she had learned when it came to Benton, that kid loved his milk.
When Sue came back she called the boys inside. "Careful" she told them as Sue hadn't made it thru the door yet.
Benton who always turned around quickly smiled at the woman they'd almost run down "I'm sorry Ma'am" he said straight in his back.
"Apology accepted" Sue said.
"I'm sorry too" Mark said.
"I'm accepting your apology too" Sue smiled at Mark.
"Go wash your hands" Lillian told them.
Lillian and Sue sat down with some tea and the kids all had milk.
"May I have some more milk aunt Lillian?" Benton asked.
"Of course you may" Lillian started to reach for the pitcher but Sue took it.
"You really like milk don't you?" Sue asked him.
"Yes Ma'am. I need to to grow big and strong. I'm going to be a Mountie just like daddy and uncle Buck" Benton said.
"I bet you will be a fine Mountie" Sue encourage the boy.
"I already know a lot of animal tracks and this summer daddy have promised we'd sleep in the woods, just him and me" Benton said.
"I want to sleep in the woods too" Margaret said.
Sue shook her head, Margaret was more wild than the boys had been at that age, or at all for that matter. "We have to see about that, maybe you and Julie could have a sleepover inside first" she suggested.
"Can we mommy?" Julie asked.
"Let's see in the summer when you don't have any school at all" Lillian said. As it was now she went to school three days a week.
"Great" Julie slide down from her chair "Come here Meg, let's go back and play" she took her glass and saw her friend do the same. Then she kissed her mother's cheek "Thank you for milk and cookies"
"You're welcome Julie" Lillian said and was surprised when Margaret did the same, but of course she called her Mrs. Frobisher. "You're welcome Margaret, if you like you can call me aunt Lillian just like Benton does"
Caroline picked Benton up five days later. At home as they together put away the groceries Caroline had picked up in the store Benton stopped and looked at her "When will we have a baby?" he asked.
"Why do you ask?" Caroline said.
"You said that all children have been babies, and Meg have two brothers, that's tree babies, Julie and Mark are two and a new one, but I'm only one baby" he answered.
"A baby take time, and it's not always easy to have one" Caroline said and got a bit sad. She had miscarried a baby two years ago, it hadn't even been two months old and they hadn't told Benton about it. But Bob had started to be more careful in bed, like he didn't want it to happen again.
The day when Bob finally got back home she made him a nice warm bath after they had put Benton to bed. She undressed herself and got in with him. With the soap she lathered his body not leaving out any part and when he was good and ready she straddled him.
"I've missed you lover" she said to his lips that she just had kissed.
"I've missed you too my dear" Bob groaned in pleasure. It had been a long trip and he really was tired and didn't mind at all that Caroline took the commando for their love making. Having been apart for so long it was over quicker than he liked. "Sorry about that" he said moving to a better position sitting in the tub "I couldn't control myself"
"No worries" Caroline changed so she sat with her back towards his chest "I've missed it" she said calmly and turned her head so she looked at him "I want us to try for another baby. I think it will be good for Benton with a brother or sister"
"But what if it goes like the last time" Bob said worried.
"We have to take the chance" Caroline smiled and kissed his cheek.
"In that case, maybe we should start trying now" Bob grinned at his wife. He still had it in him although he wasn't 20-something anymore.
"You seem to be up for it" Caroline said and got out of the bath.
This time they took time to explorer each other with hands and lips moving all over their bodies and when they both were beyond satisfied they fell asleep in each others arms, just like they had before they were married.
Caroline's trick worked and the next spring she gave birth to a girl they decided to call Rebecca.
Disclaimer/Copyright 2014 and forward: I don't own the characters from Due South, but I've written the story and therefore feel I own that. I also want to say I don't know about how the Academy for RCMP or something alike works so I've made it up a nice way to fit my story. I'm also not familiar with names for different kind of people in a village such as the Inuits live in.