Chapter 2

March 1950

Brigitta settled easily into married life. Peter proved to be a patient if not experienced husband and before her 23rd birthday, Brigitta was safely delivered of her first child, a daughter she named Ann Maria.

Peter was not a good father in waiting. He wanted the house to run smoothly. He worked very hard in his construction business and felt it was Brigitta's job to make things at home run on time. When the pregnancy hindered Brigitta's efforts, she felt as if she disappointed him. She complained to Maria in her eighth month.

"I feel so huge it's hard to move around very fast, but Peter doesn't seem to understand how hard it is. I know he gets up early and having to fix his own coffee means he has to wake up before the sun but…" Brigitta didn't know what to do.

"When I was carrying Johnny, your Father had just gotten the promotion at the college and had to be in work, at his desk before the cadets got up and they got up at 6am. I simply told him that I couldn't do it. I tried a few times and I just couldn't handle it in my last couple of months, I just couldn't."

Brigitta rubbed her belly and sighed, "Was Father angry?"

Maria shook her head. "Your Father wanted what was best for me and the baby and that was that I got my rest. Peter will feel the same, you just have to speak up."

"Father said a good marriage is not 50/50, it's 100/100. I see how strong your marriage is and I want to give my baby what you have given the 10 of us. Happy, strong parents that love each other," Brigitta explained.

"That's true," Maria replied. "But sometimes one partner had to give more and in the end of a pregnancy is one of the times when you need to ask for help."

"And Father helped?" Brigitta clarified.

Maria nodded, "Oh, yes. Your Father was a great help. We ate a lot of tuna sandwiches, but he was glad to help."

With Maria's reassurance, Brigitta set her mind to speak to Peter that evening about giving her a little help or even slack until she had the baby.

"Honey," Brigitta began. "Do you think it would be possible for you to make your own coffee in the morning? Just for right now, or maybe if I make the coffee for you, you could make up the bed?"

Peter didn't hesitate to reply, "Of course. If you were having trouble, why didn't you speak up before now? I never knew you not to speak your mind about things."

Brigitta cuddled up to Peter and laid her head on his chest. "I know how hard you work to help us afford to live so well, I didn't want to ask you to pick up my slack."

"You are having my baby, the least I can do is perk a pot of coffee."

Peter's reaction brought relief.

The baby girl was born five weeks later. Brigitta's water broke on a Monday night. Georg canceled his classes and he and Maria waited with Peter and his parents for the arrival of their grandchild.

Maria had all three of their babies at home with a midwife, but when Liesl and Louisa had their children, they did it at the hospital. Now, Brigitta was doing the same and it bothered Georg to know his daughter was alone giving birth.

"Darling, try to relax won't you?" Maria prompted him. "It is okay, it truly is. Brigitta is a strong girl, you know she is, now relax."

"Why are you so distressed, Georg?" Grace, Peter's mother, asked. "Didn't you go through this 10 times already?"

Georg shook his head "I was physically present at the births of all of my children, even if not through the entire ordeal because I was busy caring for our older children, I was there when my child was born. I heard their first cries, all ten times and I feel that it is absolutely barbaric that a woman is made to endure the rigors of childbirth on her own."

"You had natural childbirth as well, Maria?" Grace asked. She had been vocal about Brigitta's decision to deliver without ether or other anesthesia.

"I had some pain relief, but I was conscious and Georg was a big help to me through it," Maria kissed Georg's hand. "Remember, our oldest shared child is only 11 and the idea of having a baby naturally was coming back into favor."

Georg nodded, "My first wife and Maria also were of the opinion that if a woman is fully conscious at a child's conception, she should be so for the delivery as well. The midwife used light pain relieving medications and that was all there was…"

Georg was cut off as the nurse appeared to find Peter. "Mr. Hamilton, you have a daughter."

John Hamilton passed out cigars and the men smoked them in celebration of the new life that entered the family. Maria was touched when Brigitta gave her daughter the middle name "Maria" in her honor.

Maria and Liesl stayed with Brigitta for a few days after the baby came to get her established and wait until she recovered. By the time little Annie was three weeks old, Brigitta was back to her old self again.

She was a happy, proud mother running her home as efficiently as her father had run his ship. She had learned a lot from Frau Schmidt and Maria on keeping the train on the tracks so to speak. Everything ran right on time, coffee, bed making, laundry, supper. Peter was happy, and on the surface at least, so was Brigitta.

November 1952

At 25, Brigitta delivered a son they named Peter Jr, or PJ for short. She was happy and content with two children, one girl and one boy. That was the perfect family.

As the children grew, Brigitta was a prominent figure in their lives. She did the car pool twice a week and joined the PTA using her efficiently to keep that organization running smoothly. Brigitta and Peter didn't think that they would have more children, but life had other plans.

December 1958

When Brigitta was 29, she delivered baby number 3, another precious girl they named Edit, but called her Eddie for short. She was a little tomboy, like her Aunt Louisa, from the get go often pulling the bows out of her silky brown hair and kicking up a fuss in lacy dresses. When the Christmas cards went out that year from the Hamilton family, no one would ever guess things were beyond perfect.

Brigitta had years of experience and practice as a wife and mother, but one thing she longed to do was write. She wanted to write anything and everything from poems, to stories, to songs. She wanted to preserve the memories of her family and tell her father's story, for he was her hero.

Whenever it felt that Brigitta might have time to herself, it felt like Peter needed something. As it was, Brigitta spent most of her time chauffeuring her children from school to doctors and dentists. Sometimes she drove all day. There was a lot going on behind the eyes of the smiling woman on the Christmas card.

Peter's business was growing by leaps and bounds. He had made some very important contacts in the hospitality industry and often desired to entertain prospective clients. He would usually invite them to the house often with very little notice to his wife.

April 1960

Brigitta was having lunch with Liesl and Maria when he called. She had little Edit on her lap while Annie and PJ played with their aunts, uncle, and cousins in the backyard. The phone in the homey kitchen rang. Maria picked it up.

"Why yes, Peter, she is," Maria answered. "Hold on, I'll get her."

Brigitta took the phone with a furrow of her brow. "I'm at my parents," Brigitta sighed. "I was hoping to have the chance to visit with my father and talk to him about my birth mother a little for…Well, I was serious…The silver needs to be polished and…Okay, I'll have it done. Yes. No, it's not a problem. Me too."

Brigittia sighed and turned to Maria and Liesl. "I have to go. Peter invited some people from the hotel group that is building near the train station in Montpelier for dinner. I need to wash and polish the good silver before he gets home and figure out what to make."

"Your Father used to do that to me with colleagues from the college," Maria replied. "All I used to do was call up that butcher shop in town and tell them I needed meals for however many people plus 5, then dump it into serving trays. I don't think he ever figured it out either. I can call for you if you like."

Brigitta looked shocked, but Liesl laughed. "I did that daily for a while when Joshua was demanding his supper hit the table by 6pm while I had two year old twins and was six months pregnant, but Louisa helped me cure him of that habit fast."

Maria started to laugh, recalling Louisa's tale. "What?" Brigitta asked.

"Louisa," Liesl laugher. "When Victor was acting up about suppertime put a raw chicken, a can of peas, and a potato on the supper table and told him "your supper is on the table by 6, now if you want to give me time to cook it…" When Josh was on that kick I tried it, took care of the problem in a flash."

"You go home, polish the silver and the china," Maria told Brigitta. "I'll call Tony's and have him put together some meals and Liels can drop it by on her way home. Peter will never be the wiser. I'll mind the children for you, your Father loves time with the grandchildren. He'll be home soon."

Brigitta was a little uneasy about that, but she saw the wisdom in her mother and sister's advice. She nodded and with a firm hug for each of them headed home.

A/N: So, here is Chapter 2. Seems like Brigitta might have had some dreamy expectations considering her parents marriage is so idyllic.

I'm glad there seems to be such interest in this story. It is different for the Fandom and will take a couple wild turns so buckle up.