This is Prompt No. 94-Independence
"Shania, please put that down," Mitchie said, feeling slightly weary. She turned around and gave her daughter a look that made the younger girl slowly set the knife down on the table and fold her arms across her chest. Mitchie snatched up the knife and turned away once more from the little girl.
"Honestly!" she thought. "Motherhood demands eyes in the back of my head at all times!" She turned from where she was in the middle of making bread to catch little Jeff's spoon right before he threw it on the ground. "I think you'll need this, darling," she crooned to the baby, causing him to gurgle and show her a mouth full of pink gums and no teeth.
She turned back to her bread, passing a hand over her forehead. Why did it seem so hot in here today? April was not normally a hot month, but Mitchie could practically feel herself melting in the heat. "Mommy?" a little voice asked quietly. Mitchie turned to find Shania standing in front of her, holding out a small sweater. "Would you help me?" she asked. "I'm cold."
"Cold!" thought Mitchie as she stared at her daughter. "It must be a hundred degrees in here!" But, she helped her daughter into her jacket anyway, realizing that it was probably the stress she was feeling that was making her hot.
"Where's daddy?" Shania asked. They went through this routine almost every day. Shania would want to know why Shane was gone, where he had gone to, and at what exact time he was expected home. Mitchie's answers, like her daughter's questions, never varied.
"He's out at work," she responded and answered Shania's other questions before the little girl could even open her mouth. "He had to go to town, and he'll be back around dinner time." She gave her daughter a look, pleading with her not to ask anything else, and was relieved when the little girl returned to her chair, satisfied.
Mitchie turned back to what she was doing, slipping the bread into the oven and hoping that it would turn out alright. Had she put enough yeast in? Had she forgotten some ingredient while she'd been helping her children? She didn't think so, but who really knew! Well, she could always feed the birds with it if the confection was unfit for humans to eat.
She turned around to say something to Shania, but stopped when the door to the apartment was flung open and she heard someone crying, "Mitchie! Mitchie!"
Shania jumped up from her chair, nearly knocking her glass over. "Papa!" she cried. She turned to her baby brother, who was watching everything that his big sister was doing. "Papa's home!" she cried happily.
A moment later, Shane flew into the kitchen, not pausing to give either of his children a second glance. He crossed the room in long strides and picked Mitchie up, whirling her around. Her feet swung out, threatening to knock over a chair or two, but Mitchie was far too surprised to care. "What are you doing here?" she cried. "You're supposed to be at work!"
Shane continued to swing her around, making himself dizzy. He staggered and set her back down, pausing for a moment to catch his breath, and then he cried, "There's no more work!" he cried joyfully.
"No more work?" Mitchie asked, not understanding. How could there be no more work?
Shane shook his head, his chocolate hair flying into his eyes for a moment before he pushed it hastily away. "None," he told her. He took her by the shoulders and bent his head towards her so that he could look at her levelly. "The war is over!"
The war is over. The war is over. Those words flew around Mitchie's mind, faster and faster until they were nothing more than a whirlwind. She stared at Shane, who was waiting for her reaction with a huge smile on his face.
"Over?" she said softly. Could it really be that her dream had come true? Was everything really over once and for all? Could they now live the normal life she had so often dreamed about? Could they not have to worry about dying every time they turned around? Was it possible?
Shane nodded, still eager for some other emotion besides shock. "Yes," he said. "General Lee's surrendered to General Grant. It's all over!"
General Lee, the one that had been supposed to bring the Confederates a victory, had surrendered. He had actually given up. Mitchie's hands tightened on Shane's shoulders as realization began to dawn on her, pushing away all of the confusion and doubt. "He's surrendered," she said, more to herself than to anyone else.
Shane nodded. "He's ended the war," he told her again, as though trying to break past the barrier of shock that had mounted around her mind.
And with that, the barrier in Mitchie's mind broke and she leapt up, throwing her arms around Shane's neck and hugging him tightly. She laughed just for the sheer joy of it, and so did he. He picked her up once again and swung her around, setting her down only when she insisted that he do so.
She stared at him, breathless from her laughter, but no longer shocked. "The war is over," she said with a huge smile. Shane nodded, looking just as happy. "The slaves have their independence," Mitchie went on. Shane nodded again. "We don't have to hide anymore." Shane shook his head this time, his grin getting still wider, if that was even possible.
"What are you two talking about?" Shania asked, her small face scrunched up in confusion as she watched her parents carry on in her kitchen.
Both Mitchie and Shane turned to look at her, and they both laughed. "Nothing, darling," Shane assured her. "We'll explain it all when you get just a bit older."
Shania examined him closely. "I'll be older tomorrow," she told him thoughtfully.
Mitchie had to cover a laugh, as did Shane. He nodded gravely, though, and said, "Yes, perhaps tomorrow." Satisfied, Shania turned back to playing with her little brother, leaving her parents to rejoice over the good news that meant so much to them.
"So we could get out of here," Mitchie said softly, glancing around the apartment. "We could go live in our house in Washington, right?"
Shane nodded. "We just have to move some of the bigger pieces of furniture," he told her, "but other than that, everything's ready to go and easily moved." He put his hand on the kitchen wall and sighed. "The whole base is clearing out. There's no more need for the UUS." He laughed slightly. "I never thought that there would come a day when I would be happy to stop working as a spy."
Mitchie laughed along with him. "Well, I'm done," she told him with a smile.
He nodded and kissed her cheek. "When you get a chance, I'd start packing up whatever you can. I'd like to move out as soon as possible before everyone starts rushing off."
Mitchie nodded and leapt toward the door leading into their bedroom before she turned to Shane, who was watching her go with an amused expression, and asked, "What's today's date?"
"April 9, 1865," he told her.
Mitchie nodded, committing the day to memory in her mind. "April ninth," she said softly. She looked up and smiled at Shane. "It's going to be a rather historic date, isn't it?"
Shane nodded to her, allowing Jeff to pull on his fingers. "Yes, I suppose it will," he mused. "And we were a part of it."
Mitchie nodded and disappeared into the bedroom, eagerly scrambling around to pull out as many clothes as she could pile on her bed. Shane strode into the room and watched her, leaning on the doorframe while she scurried around, muttering to herself about the wrinkles that this move would cause to her dresses. As though she could really care about wrinkles at a time like this!
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Shane asked, amused.
Mitchie stopped, mid-packing. What had she forgotten? She looked around the room, trying to figure out what he was talking about. "No…" she trailed off slowly, unsure.
Shane jerked his thumb in the direction of the kitchen. "Your bread," he prompted.
Mitchie's face turned bright red. In all of her excitement, she'd completely forgotten about her bread in the oven. "Oh," was all she managed to choke out before she ran back into the kitchen to tend to her cooking. For a moment, packing would have to wait.
A/N: One hundred chapters!! Oh my! LOL! Anways, thank you to those who so kindly reviewed the last chapter for me. As to my anonymous reviewer's question, yes, I'll definitely have more stories on here. Writing is like breathing for me. :D Thanks for reading my other ones!! iluvJB, I hope you're happy with this chapter! I was grinning as I wrote it and thinking of you. For the rest of you, please review once again. There are puppy dog eyes at my end! Only one chapter to go!!
