an: I had a request for more Violet and Isobel which I will happily comply to! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!
"I suppose that this is just one if those new fangled ideas that I won't ever be able to understand." Violet announced before she took a sip of her tea.
"I don't know why you're so against this Granny- I've been to at least half a dozen showers in Ireland- though I suppose that as this is Mary's second pregnancy, this is more of a sprinkling than a shower." Sybil insisted. Mary smiled at her grandmamas unhappy tittering, and leaned back into her chair as she placed a palm on her over extended belly.
"Mmm. But to celebrate before a baby is born, it does seem...ridiculous." Violet sighed, her knuckles twisting over her cane.
"Cousin Violet, I think you're being ridiculous, It's a lovely party, let's not ruin it with negativity." Isobel insisted. It was a lovely party indeed, a tea, with food, chocolate mostly. And gathered around her were those she loved the most, Granny, her mother, Isobel, Both of her sisters, Anna (Despite her mothers protest) and Lavinia, who had been hesitant to join in the celebrations, as she wasn't family. But she had been persuaded after Mary had called her on the phone, insisting "After everything you've done for me, you are family."
"Now, let's see, I suppose we should open gifts." Sybil sighed, as she rose up from her chair to gather every one about. "I'll give mine first- it's not much, you know Tom and I haven't got much. But I hope you like it." She said nervously.
"Oh darling, I'm sure that I'll love it!" Mary insisted as Sybil handed her a package wrapped in brown paper. She smiled at her sister, and then tore it open. "Oh...Sybil darling, It's- did you make this? It's beautiful!" Mary gasped and lifted the box from the paper. It was a beautiful box, and on the top was painted a beautiful meadow.
"Well, Tom made the box, and I painted it. It's a baby memory box, my friend Hattie got one at her shower in Ireland...I thought it was a good idea." Sybil explained. For reasons she couldn't explain, Mary found tears filling her eyes.
"It's wonderful, Sybil! It's wonderful! How could you think I wouldn't love it?" Mary cried, and reached out her arms, which her sister entered happily.
"Now all of our gifts will have to compete with that!" Lavinia said, making everyone in the room laugh. Mary smiled fondly at her friend, and shook her head.
"No, No! I'm certain that I will love them all- and even if I don't, I'm sure baby will! He's much more prone to happy tears than I." Mary explained, and everyone in the room laughed, or nodded sympathetically.
"Now lets see...I suppose we'll go from youngest to oldest, so that would put Lavinia's gift next!" Sybil said, and Lavinia rose to grab the bundle wrapped in yellow paper.
"So I see my gift shall be the last one- the finale." Violet said, a mere statement as opposed to a question or protest. "I shall have to hope the rest of the gifts are mediocre, so mine will not have much to compare to." Everyone in the room laughed as Mary took Lavinia's gift, and began to tear the paper.
"How lovely! Oh, yes, just darling!" Mary smiled as she pulled out a pair of tiny knit boots, blue. And then another in pink, another in yellow, and a fourth in white. "You've prepared for every outcome I see!" She laughed, and held each pair up for the tiny crowd to see.
"Well, I had intended to knit only the cream and the yellow ones, but then I thought that it would be so sweet to have blue ones if it is a boy, or pink for a girl! And then I thought, well, my goodness, they've only been married a year and they're about to have their third baby, any they can't use for this one they'll use for the next!" Lavinia explained, blushing.
"If we would have waited to hold celebrations until after the birth, as civilized human beings do, we might have saved Lavinia quite a lot of yarn!" Violet muttered beneath her breath, causing Isobel beside her to roll her eyes.
"A very good sentiment Lavinia!" Sybil said as she took a seat next to her sister.
"Thank you so much Lavinia, I think they're just so darling! And so very tiny! Look how precious- oh and they fit on a baby's feet!" Mary rambled until the now familiar prick of joyful tears stung her eyes, and she waved away everyone's concerned questioning. "No, no, it's not me, it's just"
"The baby." Edith finished, giving her a knowing smile. "Now I suppose it's my turn." She stood up, and handed the wrapped package to her sister. "I warn you, it isn't home made, so you may feel free not to cry."
"I'll try not to." Mary laughed, and carefully pulled away the cream colored paper, until she revealed a beautifully carved Noah's ark, complete with dozens of animals. "Edith, this is just beautiful! Oh, Never mind this baby, I know little William will love this- he's making animal sounds now, you know. Isn't that just the sweetest thing? He can't say a single word, but if you ask him what sound a lion makes he'll give the most ferocious roar you've ever heard!" And everyone laughed. "Thank you very much darling, It's perfect!" she blew a kiss to her sister in lieu of rising to kiss her cheek.
"I suppose it's to me then." Anna said after a moment, and took a tiny package wrapped in brown paper from her pocket. "It really isn't much, Mi lady." She said shyly, and placed it in Mary's waiting hand. Mary shook her head to stop her protest, and opened the paper.
"Anna, it's lovely! Did you embroider it yourself?" Mary asked as she pulled the small tapestry from the the paper.
"Mostly, Mi Lady, I had a bit o' help from Mrs. Hughes." Anna admitted shyly. Mary smiled at her, and unfolded the cloth that was nearly the size of a single sheet of paper.
"Let there be peace on earth" Mary read aloud as she ran her fingers over the leaves and flowers on the border of the cloth.
"Yes, Mi Lady, I thought it would be a nice reminder, of the peaceful world that he's being born into." Anna explained, gaining dreamy sighs from the older women.
"We'll hang it in the nursery, right over his crib. Thank you." Mary said, doing her best to disguise her emotions.
"Cousin Cora, I believe that you're next." Isobel offered after a moment, and Cora rose to give her gift.
"Here you are sweet heart!" Cora said excitedly, and handed the well wrapped box to her daughter.
"Thank you Mama...Oh, how charming!" Mary exclaimed as she lifted a delicate rattle from a box. "Is this Silver Mama?"
"Well, I read in the papers that it was customary for the child's grandmother to give silver at one of these...Showers. And I saw that, and I thought it was just so darling- after all there's nothing too good for my grandchild!" Cora explained, watching with delight as the rattle made a soft noise as it turned over in her daughter's palm.
"Thank you Mama, very much!" Mary smiled genuinely, though she knew that this gift wasn't one her child would be able to use for quite a few months.
"Now, Cousin Isobel, I believe it falls to you- if it doesn't then you hide your age very well." Violet said, and Isobel laughed as she rose with her gift.
"Oh, Isobel, You didn't have to bring anything! You help so much at home with the babies!" Mary protested, but Isobel just waved away her protests.
"On the contrary, Mary, I wanted to bring something. I only had one son, so I didn't have much opportunity to spoil any one- now I've got a daughter and my goodness, I'm going to spoil her!" Isobel explained.
"For a moment you were speaking in such an American way, I thought you might be Cora!" Violet said, earning a few chuckles.
"Here you are darling girl, It's just a little something I thought you'd like to have. though I'm afraid the babies won't get much use out of it!" Isobel explained as she reclaimed her seat. Mary tore the paper open, and her hand flew to her lips as she giggled.
"Is this- Oh Isobel, it must be- Oh, everyone look!" Mary insisted as she turned around the framed photograph.
"That's Matthew on his eighth birthday. On his first bicycle." Isobel explained.
"Oh, but the face he's making! And in a photograph no less!" Mary laughed.
"Well, My Reginald was something of a photographer, or at least he fancied himself to be. I've got at least six dozen or so pictures that he took of Matthew growing up...though, admittedly, many of them are quite blurred." Isobel explained.
"And his hair! I can hardly wait to show him this tonight!" Mary laughed as she ran her index finger over the face of her husband.
"I suppose he might be cross with me for giving it to you...Oh, well." Isobel merely shrugged, causing the women around to laugh.
"Now, Sybil, if you'd come get my gift." Violet said, smiling impishly.
"Oh, no, Granny, what have you done?" Mary asked suspiciously as Sybil lay a box on what was left of her lap.
"You'll just have to open it and see, now won't you dear?" Violet asked, giving Edith and Sybil a conspiratory wink. Mary sighed, and pulled open the ribbon, then the paper, and the lid- and then gasped, turning absolutely pink.
"Granny, You didn't!" She sputtered, snapping the lid back into place.
"Didn't what? Oh, buy you a lace nightgown? I certainly did." Violet said simply. The people around had varying reactions, some of them blushing fiercely, a few laughing wholeheartedly.
"If you didn't notice Granny, I'm currently nearly eight months pregnant, I hardly need any of this!" Mary continued as she held up the box.
"Why ever not? It'll fit- I had Sybil be sure that it was an empire waist." Violet sniffed delicately.
"Sybil! You were in on this?" Mary gawked.
"I told you I'd get revenge for the incident with Tom's mother before my wedding!" Sybil laughed, doubling over for lack of air.
"But at my baby shower-sprinkling- oh what ever this is!" Mary sputtered anew, and buried her face in her pale hands.
"I don't see what all the fuss is about." Edith shrugged simply as she took a sip of her tea. "It's not as if you've never seen lingerie before, Mary."
"And you used to be the shyest of us all!" Mary shook her head and chuckled.
"It's the same color as the dress you were married in. We thought Matthew might like it...perhaps it would bring back fond memories!" Sybil could hardly get through the sentence before another bout of giggles made it impossible for her to communicate. By now, even Lavinia had ceased blushing, and was laughing.
"You're all cruel!" Mary said, though her smile betrayed her true emotions. "Now, who's going to bring me some chocolate?" She asked, desperate for a change in subject. "How about you, Sybil?" Mary asked pointedly as her sister stood and walked to the table.
"What would you like, sister? Chocolate colored strawberries, an eclair, a scone- perhaps just a chocolate square?" Sybil asked, a bit too loudly to be proper- though propriety had since been thrown to the wind.
"Yes." Mary said simply, causing everyone to laugh.
"I thought so!" Sybil chuckled and got to work filling a tiny porcelain plate.
"Thank you, all of you...Truly. Even you, Granny. You can't know what this means to me." Mary said, feeling perfectly content.
AN: Thanks so much for reading! This, like many chapters was just fluff. If you couldn't tell, I love fluff.