First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I also want to thank you for your reviews and support. And thank you for your prayers regarding my very favorite Navy sailor. Your support is felt very deeply and it means more than you will ever know.
I do not own these characters, though I wish I did. Read and review! Thank you!
Neil lay on his back watching the candle light flicker on the ceiling above the bed. His head rested on his bent arm, his other hand fingering the edge of the quilt where it rested on his bare chest. Margaret was at the foot of the bed, sitting on top of the wooden chest, her knees drawn up to her chin. She held herself tightly, watching him, taking in every detail of his face and red curls, his chiseled chest and muscular arms and the light hair that covered the rest of him. He was breathing evenly, and they were quiet. She shivered, only one of his flannel shirts clothing her.
He had followed her to the bedroom an hour before after bedding down the rabbit for the night, banking the fire, and securing everything. He'd taken the stairs slowly, them creaking under his weight as he went. When he'd opened their bedroom door, she had been sitting at the vanity, slowly brushing her hair. Tears had been pouring down her face, and she had refused to meet his gaze in the reflection of the mirror. He'd moved quickly toward her, kneeling next to her and turning her toward him.
Neil hadn't said anything, just pressed his lips to hers and kissed the daylight out of her. She'd fought him at first, and then given in as his hands had crept over her body. Passion took over, melting together with the anger and the tears, and they quickly had found themselves taking part in their usual activities of love and passion. When it was over, she had breathlessly pulled away and stood, reaching for his discarded shirt and pulling it on. Finally he had spoken.
"Margaret."
"Hush, Neil," she'd whispered. "Don't talk."
"I have to explain."
"You should have done that before."
"You didn't give me a chance before you ran up here and hid from me."
"You should have explained when you finally came up here."
"I tried to show you."
She'd turned toward him. "Neil, we cannot ignore our problems and cover them up with that. We'll only crash and burn."
He'd nodded. "I know. I just…I didn't have words. I still don't. Except that you have misunderstood."
She'd then assumed her position on top of the trunk and he'd fallen onto his back to stare at the ceiling in silence. At last he sat up, the quilt falling to his waist. Her eyes stayed on him, waiting for him to speak.
"You were far away for too long to allow this distance between us while in the same room."
"Then bridge the gap, Neil," Margaret told him softly.
"You'll have to meet me in the middle."
She nodded.
"I know you don't feel that my reasons for refusing to teach you to practice medicine are adequate. But let me explain them further."
"Alright. But then you have to listen to my side."
"That's the only way our sides will be able to meet," Neil agreed. "I would give up anything for you, Margaret. But I will not give you up for anyone. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Not completely."
"You have spent the last year on death's doorstep. It is by some miracle that you are here and well now. I don't have any intentions of pushing you back out there. You are not yourself yet, Margaret. I don't know if you ever will be."
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. I see you when you don't think I'm looking. You struggle to catch your breath sometimes. You can barely lift anything heavy. You are thin, frail, and on some days you still look white as a ghost."
"Mac…"
"Please, let me finish, Love," he whispered. "I don't want to expose you to the illnesses of this Cove, and teaching you to practice medicine would be inviting you to do so. There will be no avoiding it. You are not fully recovered, and you will get sick so very easily. And something as small as a common cold will threaten your life."
Margaret looked down. She knew he was right.
He moved toward her, sitting on the end of the bed on his knees. He reached out and cradled her face in his hand, moving it so that she was looking at him once more.
"It took so much for me to go ahead and agree to try for another baby. Having a baby right now is dangerous for your body, but I know you are determined and I am willing to try. Please do not ask me to allow you to risk your life in this way as well. Please do not ask me to risk losing you anymore than I already am."
"Mac…" She sputtered through new tears. "I didn't realize…"
"I know," He told her, nodding.
"I didn't realize that it was so much of a risk."
"I should have been honest with you about it from the beginning; about having a baby and everything. I should have told you. I was trying to protect you from the worry and stress I am feeling about it all."
"We have to share all of this, Neil," Margaret insisted. "We have to."
He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'll be more open with you, if you promise to be honest with me about what is going on with your body. You try to hide it from me, I know you do."
"I'm sorry."
"So am I. I don't want to lose you, darling. You know, I love you, I want you to stay, and I want you to know that I'm not leaving you. I'm going to hold onto you with everything that I have."
She kissed him. "I've loved you for so much of my life that I barely remember a time when I didn't. I want it to always be that way."
He smiled, running a hand down her back and through her curls. "Come to bed. You need sleep."
She crawled into the bed and under the covers with him after he blew out the candle. "Neil, I would like to learn some things though. I want to be able to help that little rabbit like you did tonight. I need to know the basics for cleaning and bandaging wounds. For our safety and the safety of our future family, it would be best, don't you think?"
He nodded. "I can manage that."
"Thank you." She smiled and pressed her lips to his stubble covered chin. "Goodnight, handsome man."
He grinned and pulled her close.
Christy felt two arms sneak around her middle as she made sure every last item was in place for the Thanksgiving skit in the schoolhouse. She smiled and leaned back into David, feeling his lips press to her temple.
"You know someone could walk in here at any moment," she warned him.
"That makes it more exciting, don't you think?" He teased, earning a laugh from his beloved.
"I suppose it does." She smiled. "Does everything look right to you?"
"Absolutely perfect from where I'm standing," He told her and she craned her head back to see that his eyes had not left her.
"David," She giggled. "That is not at all what I meant."
"Everything looks great," He smiled. "And Fairlight, Alice, Margaret and Ruby Mae have everything in order outside. The weather is wonderful, my lovely future wife is absolutely glowing, and food is on the table. We are ready for guests to arrive."
"Wonderful. I'm starving," She admitted.
It was David's turn to laugh. "You never would have admitted that to me a few months ago."
"Proof that I love you, I suppose," She told him. "And that I'm carrying a growing baby."
He nodded and noise outside drew their attention. He released her and settled for holding her hand.
"It sounds like they are arriving," David told her.
The couple made their way outside hand in hand. An hour later, Christy found herself sitting in between David and Margaret, Neil on Margaret's other side and Dan and Aunt Hattie next to him. Alice, Fairlight, Jeb, their children and the McHones sat across from them. Ruby Mae had happily seated herself next to Rob Allen. The skit, which the children had decided to get out of the way before the meal, had not been perfect, but it had earned proud laughter and applause from their parents. Christy wouldn't have had it any other way.
Happy chatter scattered around the table, and Christy remembered back to past Thanksgivings. This was the first without her parents. She missed them, but their impending arrival in a week's time, currently did nothing but frighten her. Nevertheless, she realized that she had a new family growing around her. She had a mother in Miss Alice, a sister in Margaret, and forever friendships with Neil and Fairlight. And of course, the love of her life sat next to her. They smiled at one another.
"It looks like another successful Thanksgiving, Miss Huddleston," He told her.
"That it does, Mr. Grantland," She grinned.
She turned her head to see Neil sneaking a kiss to Margaret's nose. She thanked God silently for His perfect timing and for bringing Margaret back. Christy sighed contentedly, listening to Neil and Margaret discussing something with Alice, and was drifting into a happy state of sleepiness when thundering hooves pounded behind them. Everyone turned to see Bird's Eye riding in.
"Doc!" Bird's Eye shouted. "Doc MacNeill!"
Neil and David both rose.
"What is it, Bird's Eye?" Neil asked.
"Your cabin!" Bird's Eye shouted. "It's on fire!"
Everyone immediately leapt into action, Margaret jumping up out of her chair. Neil was immediately rushing for their horse, the other men following him.
"Neil!" Margaret called in panic.
"Stay here with Christy and your mother. You don't need to be around the smoke," He told her, turning toward her from his horse's back.
Christy immediately wrapped her arm around Margaret, and Neil and the other men rode off. They could see the black smoke curling up just over the trees.
"Oh, God…" Margaret breathed out. "Please no…"
Alice was at her other side then. "Come, Margaret, we shall all pray for their safety."
Margaret numbly stared at the ground beneath her feet as the other women gathered around her and began to pray. All she could feel was a deep panic rising up inside her, clenching her heart in fear. Just when everything was falling into place, their lives had once again been caught up in flames.
"Neil?" Margaret asked softly, stepping over the blackened rubble of their home to where he sat knelt in the middle. He was filthy, and his shoulders sagged with loss. "Neil?"
Her thin left hand rested on his right shoulder when she came to him, and he immediately covered it in his own larger one, his thumb running over her wedding ring.
"Everything's gone." His voice was deep, pain-filled.
She nodded, even though he wasn't looking at her. Dan, David and Jeb were still stamping out small flames, their clothes and skin black with grime. Their entire cabin was reduced to a pile of ashes. The only thing they had left were the clothes on their backs. A sob rose up in her throat, and it came out in a strangled loud noise, that she attempted to hide. Neil immediately stood to his feet and turned toward her, taking her in his arms. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried. He pressed his lips into her hair and she felt him shaking with his own quiet sobs.
"We're fine," He whispered at last. She wasn't sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. "We're going to be fine."
She clung to him desperately. "Neil…"
"We're fine," He whispered again.
"Neil, I was going to have a surprise for you tonight. I…I..."
"Shh… it doesn't matter now," Neil assured her. "Everything's going to be fine."
She shook her head, pulling back just enough so that she could see his face. She was pale and shaking and he had tear streaks down his face where the tear had washed away the black soot. "You have to let me tell you, because I'm scared and I need you to know."
"What?" He asked.
"I think I'm pregnant, Neil."
So there you have it. What do you think? How did you feel about Neil's reasoning for denying Margaret her desires to work with him? What will Neil and Margaret do now? Will their still rebuilding relationship survive the destruction of the cabin that has been in Neil's family for generations and has housed and witnessed everything that has happened to them?
The next chapters will include the much awaited arrival of Christy's parents. I cannot wait for you to experience everything that is unfolding in those scenes!