Chapter 48- Dinner Party

"We bought some blackberries from the fruit stand in town. Grandma said that she is going to finally teach me how to make Uncle Nathan's favorite cobbler recipe," Allie rattled off as soon as Charlotte entered the Grant's family home.

"That sounds delicious!" Charlotte exclaimed, giving Allie a side hug as she came over to where the two women were standing in the kitchen. Realizing yet again how much she had missed Allie being here the past month.

"It wouldn't hurt for you to learn this recipe as well Ms. Thompson," Maise winked over her shoulder. "You've heard the saying, 'the way to man's heart is through his stomach'."

"Ms. Thompson doesn't need your cobbler Grandma. Uncle Nathan already loves her snickerdoodle cookies."

"Snickerdoodles?" Maise stopped collecting ingredients to look over at Allie and Charlotte.

"Yes! Ms. Thompson makes the best snickerdoodles. They were the first things she baked for Uncle Nathan." Allie giggled as she bounded for the stairs. "I'm going to run these books from the library up to my room. I'll be right back."

"My mom always used to bake those for Nathan and Colleen when they would go and spend time at her house while Archie and I were…" Maise voice trailed off, remembering back to a distant time and place.

"Nathan never told me that Nan would bake snickerdoodles for him and Colleen," Charlotte's heart swelled. "He always speaks so fondly of them. Your parents and Colleen."

The corner of Maise's eyes misted as she reached over to touch Charlotte's forearm. "Yes, they were all very important people to Nathan. He loved them so much and I know if they were here with us today, they would love you just as much as the rest of us do."

Charlotte's cheeks blushed and her eyes misted as well. "You think they would have liked me?"

"Charlotte," Maise's steely blue eyes pierced Charlotte. "They would adore you. Nathan was especially close to his grandma. Before she passed away, I remember mom writing him a letter about the type of woman she hoped he would find. Nathan nor my mother ever told me what was in that note, but I have to believe it would describe you perfectly."

"I don't know about that…'' suddenly becoming very self-conscious, Charlotte's eyes shifted down to look at the floor beneath her shoes.

"I do." Maise reached over and gently brushed a wayward tear from Charlotte's cheek, just as her son had caringly done so many times. "I haven't even been here a full day and I know. I know because I've never seen Nathan this happy before."

"Really?"

"Really." Maise confirmed before lowering her voice to a whisper. "Charlotte, from a few things that I've pieced together from Allie and Nathan, I realize your past has not been an easy one, but I am thankful that you are here. A part of my family. After seeing you as a mother to Allie and a true partner to Nathan… Well, that's all a grandmother or mother could ever hope for. Part of me thinks that Colleen, Nan, Pop, and your parents had a little hand in bringing you three together."

"Do you think Colleen would approve of my relationship with Allie? I've often wondered if…"

"I don't think Colleen could have crafted a better person to love her daughter than you, Charlotte. You have become Allie's mother, just like she has become your daughter."

"Hey! What are you two whispering about?" Allie asked as she trotted back down the stairs to join the other women around the kitchen table.

"Just how much we both love you," Maise answered, pulling Allie into a hug, and kissing the girl's head. "And about how wonderful this cobbler is going to be."

"Mom, your cobbler was as delicious as I remember," Nathan leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach.

"Thank you, Nathan, but Allie and Charlotte did most of the work." Maise whispered as she nervously wrung her hands together. Charlotte noticing the woman's distress, moved her hand under the table to rest on Maise's arm in support.

Nathan raised his eyebrow in question. He was about to ask what was going on, when a raucous came from outside the back door.

"Sounds like the kids are having a lot of fun with that marble game," Minnie joked, drawing a laugh from the rest of adults who had stayed in the kitchen to finish their pieces of dessert.

Lee, Fred, Joseph, and Cooper had scarfed through their cobbler in order to escape to Nathan's backyard to play what was turning into a very competitive game of marbles. Allie and Angela had retired a bit earlier to Allie's room upstairs. That left Nathan, Charlotte, Maise, Minnie, and Rosemary sitting around the table.

"It was a delicious meal," Rosemary agreed. "But I think that my stomach is still pretty weak after the last few days, and I should be getting home."

"So soon?" Minnie asked.

"Yes. I hate to eat and run, but I should get boys and start heading for…"

"Lee, you can't cross the line!" Joseph scolded, his booming voice carrying inside.

"I'm not Joseph. I'm just…"

"Rosemary, why don't I walk you home," Charlotte offered. "That way Lee and Joseph, oh... I mean Fred and Cooper can finish their game."

Rosemary nodded her head in agreement and the two women stood and made their way out the front door.

Once they were on the path that led down the row houses, Rosemary looped her arm through Charlotte's and leaned in close. "What was that all about a minute ago? With Maise and the cobbler? Her reaction, and yours, seemed… strange."

Charlotte released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "I'm not quite sure. This afternoon, Maise was all excited about teaching Allie and I how to make her blackberry cobbler, but as soon as we started… it was like her mind went blank. She just stared at the bowl and the ingredients on the table and was lost. She had no idea where to begin or really what she had set out to do in the first place."

"Oh no!" Rosemary's grip tightened. "What did you do?"

"I didn't know what to do. It was Allie who stepped in and guided Maise and then I followed her lead and helped bring the recipe together based on how I remember my mom making blackberry cobbler."

"Maise seemed alright tonight."

"She was. That's why it is so strange. Other than that short time period while baking, she has seemed perfectly fine. I asked Allie about it right before you all arrived for dinner. Seems as though this was a normal occurrence while she was with Maise this past month. Little spells where she would forget what day it was or ask the same question repeatedly. Forgetting recipes she has made a thousand times before or misplacing things. Maise even forgot to pack normal necessities in her bag when they came to Hope Valley. That's why we first met at the mercantile."

"Isn't that all a part of getting older?"

"It just seemed to rattle her. You saw how she reacted to Nathan tonight."

"I did."

"Allie, also said that Maise has multiple times called her Colleen."

"Well, I could see that. I remember Archie saying that Allie was the spitting image of her ma."

"Maybe, but I just can't seem to shake the feeling that it is something more."

Charlotte and Rosemary had reached the Coulter's porch and the two women stopped at the end of the path.

"Speaking of something more," Charlotte looked down and kicked a rock that was beside her boot. "Do you think you could be…"

"That I could be what?"

Charlotte lowered her voice to a whisper. "Rosemary, do you think that you could be pregnant?"

It was the first time Charlotte had ever seen Rosemary Coulter at a loss for words. The woman stood stunned and mouth agape. Charlotte watched as realization came over Rosemary's features.

"I…" Rosemary words fumbled. "Do you think it could be possible?"

Charlotte grinned and nodded her head. "I do. You've been sick recently, especially in the mornings. Easily fatigued. They are all signs you could be pregnant. When was your last monthly?"

"I'm not quite sure," Rosemary answered, searching back in her memory. "I think it was right before we went to Brookfield. I guess I just quit paying attention after so long of..."

"Our trip to Brookfield was a couple months ago, Rosemary. Were you very regular before that?"

"Like clockwork." Rosemary's eyes grew big. "Do you… do you really think I could be pregnant? After all this time?"

Charlotte reached out and took Rosemary's hands into her own. "I do. Remember you told me once that 'just because I am not a mother, doesn't mean I don't know the signs of a pregnant woman'. Plus, it wouldn't be the first time that I've heard of a couple, who after trying for so long to become parents, decide to adopt. Only to find out they are with child soon after."

"I just… I never expected this to happen. Not for me."

"I think it is time you start expecting it," Charlotte enfolded Rosemary into a hug. "How about tomorrow morning, I go with you to visit Faith? See if she agrees with my assumptions?"

Rosemary was only able to nod her head in agreement. Tears of joy, falling between the two women's embrace.

"I just met Lee, Fred, and the Canfield's on the road. Seems as though we should hide the marbles the next time we host a dinner party," Charlotte joked as she stepped back into Nathan's house from walking Rosemary home.

"I think you are right," Nathan agreed. "I still don't know if they ever agreed on who won between Lee and Joseph. I think it was the two boys who said they should just end it in a tie."

Maise was at the sink, filling it with water, while Nathan and Allie were stacking the few remaining dirty dishes from their meal on the counter.

"Grandma, since Grandpa isn't here to dry dishes tonight, I'll do it for you," Allie offered, picking up a tea towel.

As soon as the words escaped her lips though Allie realized her mistake. Her big, brown eyes shot to Nathan's and then back towards her grandmothers.

Maise did not flinch or react. Instead, she kept on her task of washing.

"Grandpa?" Nathan's voice was tense. "As in Archie?"

Charlotte could clearly see the anxiety that flooded Allie with Nathan's questions, so she stepped over to the girl and placed a comforting hand on Allie's back. "Allie, why don't you go upstairs and get ready for bed. I'll help your Grandma dry the last of these dishes."

Allie again glanced from her grandmother back to her Uncle Nathan. Nathan nodded his head in agreement, "Goodnight, Allie. We will finish cleaning up here."

Charlotte took the towel from Allie's hands and set about drying the dishes Maise had just washed, while the girl hugged them each goodnight and plodded up the stairs to her room.

Once Nathan heard Allie's bedroom door close, he turned back to Maise. "Mom. What is Allie talking about?"

Maise again chose to ignore Nathan's question. Instead keeping a rhythmic action of dipping each dirty plate into the soapy water, circling the washcloth around twice one way and then twice the other way before handing the dish to Charlotte to dry.

"Mom, tell me what is going on!" Nathan's voice was sterner as he took a step closer. "Has Archie come to visit you? He promised me he was going to leave you alone. Is he bothering you again?"

Maise stayed silent until she handed the last cleaned plate to Charlotte and then turned to face Nathan. "No."

"No what, mom?"

"No, your father has not been bothering me."

"But he has come to see you?"

"Yes."

"Just while Allie was there this past month or before that?"

Maise's jaw clenched. "Your father and I have been talking for some time now. We've been writing for over a year and when a position at a local bank came available, he received the job and moved into the boarding house in town. He came over for dinner every night that Allie was with me last month."

"What are you two thinking?"

"Nathan, your father and I are still married."

"On paper maybe, but you have been separated for longer than you were together. In my mind, that is not being married. Dad hurt you. He hurt us."

"I thought you had forgiven him for that already."

"I have. It's just…"

"It's just what?" Maise questioned.

"You and dad... you never seemed to be the right fit for each other. You were always fighting and…"

"We were always fighting because your father had a drinking and gambling problem. Even then I never stopped loving him. I just finally realized I could do no more to help him until he decided to help himself."

"And now?" Nathan ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"Nathan, it is late. I think it's best I just give you some time to digest all of this. We can talk about it tomorrow when both of us have had some time to cool off."

"Mom…" Nathan began his rebuttal, but Maise was already halfway across the living room.

"Goodnight, Nathan," Maise looked back over her shoulder at him before she closed the door behind her. "Charlotte, I'll see you back at the house."

It was only then that Nathan remembered Charlotte who had been standing to the side, witnessing the whole conversation with his mother. Quietly drying and putting away the dishes while taking in the dysfunctional family scene in front of her.

Nathan took one of the last remaining pans that Charlotte had just dried and placed it in the cupboard, before he twirled on the heel of his boot to face Charlotte who was finishing stacking the last of the dried plates.

"Did you know?" he asked.

Charlotte's brow furrowed as she hung the towel she had been using to dry. "Did I know what?"

"Did you know about Maise and Archie?" Nathan's voice was stern and unwavering.

"How in the world would I have known about your parents reconnecting? I just met your mom yesterday and I've yet to meet your dad."

She was right. What was he thinking? Nathan rubbed his fingers across his brow, trying to ease the pressure that had suddenly built in his head. "I didn't know if Maise had said something last night since she was staying with you or if Allie had mentioned it before."

"I didn't know," Charlotte confirmed. She stood a few feet in front of Nathan, crossing one foot in front of the other, she leaned back gently against the kitchen counter. Folding her arms across her chest in the process.

Nathan analyzed Charlotte's stance and her stoic facial expressions. He had never seen her this way. She almost looked as if she were cross or upset with him.

What did she have to be angry for? He thought to himself.

"Nathan, in the morning I think you at least owe Allie an apology for your reaction to her tonight."

"I wasn't harsh with her…"

"No, you weren't," Charlotte agreed as she pushed her hip off the counter and took a couple steps closer to him. "But she also didn't deserve to be caught up between you and your mom. Allie loves you both so much and Archie too. Don't make her have to choose or play favorites. She shouldn't have to keep everyone's secrets. Allie's a teenager. You all are the adults."

"You're right. I'll talk to her in the morning."

"Now about Maise and Archie…"

"I can't believe they kept this from me!" Nathan cut off Charlotte. "Dad promised me that he would leave mom alone. That he would let her have a new life that didn't include him. I love them both, but they aren't right for each other. I know if I was married, I could never imagine not being there every single day for my wife and children. Letting them know that they are safe and cared for. Letting them know every moment that they are loved…"

Nathan hadn't realized that his hand was shaking with emotion until Charlotte reached forward and took hold of it into her own. Steadying the fury that built through every vein in his body at the remembrance of his past.

"I know you will," Charlotte's hand tightened in his as she offered him a sympathetic smile. "You and I, more than most, should realize that life isn't perfect. People make mistakes, but what they do to fix those mistakes, that's the important part. The love and courage it takes to mend those fences, to set things right, that is something to be proud of too."

Nathan let out a painful groan as he stepped back out of Charlotte's grasp.

"You'll never understand," he snapped. "My childhood wasn't like yours."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Nathan regretted them. He saw the physical affect his harshness had on Charlotte. Her body winced in pain. Charlotte's eyes closed and she again folded her arms in front of her chest. Protecting herself and retracting away from him in the process.

"Charlotte," Nathan muttered her name. Wanting to step closer to her and again connect them, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time. Not now. Not after he had been such a fool. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"

Charlotte held up a hand to stop him. "I don't believe your parents reconnected just to hurt or upset you, Nathan. There is probably a reason behind it all and unfortunately, I don't have that answer. Not tonight anyway. So, I think it's best if we both just try to get some rest. It's late. You have a lot of information and feelings that you need time to process through."

"I'll see you in the morning," Charlotte stood on her tiptoes and placed a gentle kiss on Nathan's cheek before disappearing out the back door of his house.

*I call baloney on any couple who says they have not had an honest argument in their relationship, and I realized I needed to give Nathan and Charlotte that arc as well. I've made it clear in this story, that life is far from perfect, and we need to see how his pair handles a little conflict between the two of them.

Just remember… making up can be fun too ;)