June 1917
"Peek a boo!" Abigail said as she moved her hands away from hiding her face, looking down at her daughter in the bassinet she laid in in the cafe's kitchen the morning after Rebecca's Graduation Party. "Peek a boo!" She said again, repeating the same motions with the largest grin on her face. Little did she know that Becky and Cody were already awake and standing at the bottom landing of the stairs, watching their mother happily play with their baby sister. They both smiled at each other, loving to see Abigail so happy.
As Cody shifted his weight from one foot to the other, the wood beneath his feet creaked and notified Abigail of their presence as she looked up at them with an even bigger smile. "Good morning, darlings." She told them before picking Josephine up and resting her over her shoulder. "What would you two like for breakfast?"
"Let us make it." Becky told her, going down the rest of the stairs toward the stove.
"Yeah." Cody agreed, following his sister's lead and going into the kitchen with her. They each grabbed a bowl, one for eggs and one for pancakes.
"Are you sure you don't need any of my help?" Abigail asked them.
"No. We got it." Cody reassured her. "Play with Josie some more." He smiled.
"It's time we take care of you for a change." Becky told her as she got out the flour.
Abigail couldn't help but smile again. "Alright, but if you have any cooking questions, just ask me." She told them before turning Josie around in her lap so the baby was facing out and she could watch her brother and sister with wide, curious eyes at the same time as her mother waving her baby rattle in front of her. The intrigued infant played with her tongue as she found entertainment in the toy her mother held for her.
When breakfast was ready, Abigail wheeled Josephine's bassinet over to the table so she could lay close to her while her mother ate at the table with the other two. She complimented her older kids on their cooking, making note of how much they had actually learned whilst watching her cook for the last few years.
After they finished eating, Abigail stood with Josephine in her arms to bounce around the kitchen and the living room with her. Moving around seemed to always keep Josie entertained and she loved being able to see her new surroundings. Becky and Cody washed the dishes and cleaned the counter as the eldest could see out the kitchen window with curiosity.
"I wonder what's happening out there." Becky said, stretching her neck out to try and see the people outside better.
"Out where?" Cody asked, doing the same thing then.
"What?" Abigail wondered, moving over to the back kitchen door. She used her free hand to open the curtain. The citizens of Hope Valley stood out on the street, chatting about something in a huddle with Florence and Molly and Abigail noticed a few of their eyes glancing toward her cafe. "Just…Molly and Florence starting gossip again, I'm sure." She softly chuckled though on the inside, she felt something was off. "Don't worry about it." She told her children before closing the curtain and bouncing around the room with Josie again.
The two teens finished the dishes and dried their hands before sitting in the living room for a bit, watching every adorable face and movement their baby sister made in their mother's arms.
Only about fifteen minutes had passed before Elizabeth and Rosemary stepped inside through the back door. Elizabeth looked at Abigail with a mix of worry and apology whilst Rosemary turned around to close the door. Once it was closed, she turned to face the Stanton family by Elizabeth's side, a look of concern on her face as well.
Abigail's smile faded a little. "What is it?"
"They know." Elizabeth told her.
"Know what?" Becky wondered.
"About Josephine. About you and Henry." Rosemary said directly to Abigail.
"I thought they knew about Mr. Gowen last night?" Cody said with confusion.
"Yes, they learned that he and your mother are courting, but they did not know that Josie was his baby too until just now." Elizabeth clarified. "They know everything." She said directly to his mother.
"What are they saying?" Abigail wondered with little to no interest in actually knowing, though she was sure she already knew.
"They-" Elizabeth gulped a bit, not wanting to tell her best friend some of the things she had heard on her way there this morning.
"Some of them don't even believe it." Rosemary jumped in for her. "Others….want to boycott eating here….And a few suggested we rethink allowing you to continue to be mayor."
"What?" Cody said angrily.
"What does her having a baby have to do with her being mayor?" Becky asked, just as frustrated as her brother.
"They all think that Henry is going to influence her decisions in the town hall and that she will no longer make smart ones for Hope Valley. They ultimately believe that your mother will become the type of mayor that Henry used to be." Rosemary told them.
"That's so stupid. None of them said anything like that last night when they told them they were courting. But NOW that they know about Josephine they change their minds? How does that make any sense?" Becky wondered.
"It's different now." Rosemary said.
"How?" Cody jumped in again.
"They know he's the father of her child. That can cloud a woman's judgment." Elizabeth said, still looking at her best friend with an apologetic look.
"It can?" Cody asked, confused again.
"No. Of course not." Elizabeth reassured him. "But some of the people in this town seem to think so."
"What are we going to do? Are they going to kick Mom out of the office?" Becky wondered.
"Ultimately, that is the town council's decision." Abigail explained. "But if they do, I won't mind."
"What? Mom-" Becky began, but her mother interrupted.
"You two, Henry, and Josephine are the only things that matter to me now. I don't care if I'm not mayor anymore as long as I still have the four of you." Abigail told them, softly smiling at Cody who smiled back.
"And you still have us." Elizabeth reassured her.
"Yes, exactly." Rosemary agreed.
"I don't understand. Why is it so bad that you had a baby with Mr. Gowen?" Cody said.
"It's not so much that she had a baby with him. It's that she had a baby with him and they are not married. Right?" Becky asked for verification from the other three adults.
"Yes, that is exactly it, hun." Rosemary confirmed with a nod. "And it shouldn't matter anyways. Because they love each other and they can raise a healthy baby together whether they have some fancy ring on their finger or not."
"How did they find out? I don't understand." Abigail said.
"Florence and Molly." Elizabeth answered her. "They said they overheard Henry speaking with his ex wife about it."
"Why would they tell everyone?" Becky asked. "I thought they were your friends."
"Hm." Abigail thought for a moment. "So did I."
Around lunchtime, Henry finished up some paperwork in his office before standing and putting on his coat. He stepped outside with a grin, intending on heading over to Abigail's Cafe for lunch but as he started over there, he could feel the eyes of the people in the streets on him. He was usually used to it, but something was different this time. Not only did he feel their hatred, once again, but he could also feel disgust. He immediately began to regret telling people at the party the night before about him and Abigail being more than friends.
Once he arrived at Abigail's Cafe, he saw that the dining area was empty, which was rare for this time of the day. Instead of taking a seat at a table like he normally would, he walked back into the kitchen area to see Cody reading a book on the sofa.
"Hi, Cody."
The boy looked up from his book. "Hi, Mr. Gowen."
"Where is everyone? Is the cafe closed for lunch?"
"No. Mom had to go to the mayor's office and she brought Josie with her. Becky is in the bathroom, but I am supposed to tell her if any customers come in. Do you want lunch?"
"No, no. That's okay. I'll head over to the office. I mostly just came to see your mom." Henry admitted.
"Yeah. She's working on mayor stuff right now." Cody said to him.
"Okay, Thank you." He sent Cody a soft smile before heading out of the cafe and heading over to the town hall office, enduring looks from people on the street again.
As soon as he entered the office, he smiled upon seeing Abigail for the first time that day. She stood behind her desk, looking over some paperwork with Josephine's baby stroller beside her and she used one hand to gently roll it back and forth to keep the baby moving so she would not get fussy. Abigail looked up as she heard the door open and close and she weakly smiled. "Hello, Henry."
"Hello, Abigail." Henry said, grinning as he stepped over to her, around the desk, to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Everything okay?" He could tell she didn't seem too thrilled at the moment and he looked down at Josie in her stroller. "Want me to hold her?"
"Yes, could you, please?" She asked, her arm starting to grow a bit tired from pushing the stroller back and forth. "Thank you." She said once Josie was in Henry's arms. Abigail then sat down at the desk, reading over some more papers.
"What are you looking at?" Henry asked as he bounced the baby a little.
"Reading the legal circumstances for overturning a mayor in office." Abigail answered him matter-of-factly.
"What? Why are you reading that?" Henry wondered while Josie's little hand reached up to play with her father's chin.
"Everyone knows, Henry." She responded with a hint of annoyance and frustration in her tone.
"Everyone knows?"
"Yes. Everyone knows the truth about Josephine. And about us…Some of them are talking about kicking me out as mayor because they think-" She stopped herself from telling him that they believe Henry will be a bad influence on her to spare his feelings, but Henry Gowen wasn't stupid. He knew immediately why they would suggest to kick Abigail out after learning they were an item. This was what he had been afraid of for years.
"I knew it. I told you and I tried to warn you that this would happen." He told her gently.
"This is not the time for I told you so's, Henry. I am trying to figure out a way around all this."
"There is no point. If the town council agrees to replace you with a vote then that is what they are going to do." He informed her before letting out a long sigh. "It's already started."
"What?"
"What I didn't want to happen. Your reputation-"
"My reputation doesn't matter. But I want what's best for this town and right now….if they agree to vote me out, there is no one else who will know how to look out for Hope Valley. I've had this conversation many times with the town council and none of them wanted to step up and do the job. They all admitted that they wouldn't know how to. I asked several people if anyone was interested in taking over after you lost your position and none of them came forward, Which is exactly how I turned out to be mayor in the first place. If they get rid of me and continue to disregard your capabilities of becoming mayor again, then this town won't survive."
"Then tell them that. Hold a conference explaining that to them. Give a speech to the whole town. They need to think rationally and right now, they are not. Their judgment is clouded by their hatred for me."
"They don't hate you, Henry."
"Then why is this happening?" He asked ironically, knowing there was only one answer to the question.
"They are just upset because what we did was wrong." Abigail tried to justify.
"Open your eyes, Abigail. This has nothing to do with Josephine and everything to do with how they feel about me. I bet if they found out you had a kid with Pastor Frank or even Bill, none of them would even be this upset about it. They wouldn't be threatening to kick you out as mayor. Face it. They are angry because it is ME." He tried to convince her of the truth.
Abigail was quiet for a moment as she watched him bounce with Josie and he kissed their baby on the cheek. Abigail's heart leapt and she shook her head. "Then they are going to have to deal with it."
"Deal with what?" He asked as he poked Josie on the nose.
"The fact that I fell in love with you." She stepped closer to him as he looked at her. "If they are too stubborn to realize that kicking me out is a huge mistake, then I won't fight them anymore. Right now the only thing that matters is my family." She placed a hand on Henry's chest beside Josie who placed a hand on her mother's face when she stepped closer. Abigail chuckled and took her daughter's tiny hand in hers, guiding it to her mouth to kiss it.
"We could get married." Henry suggested. "If we got married, then they-"
"It wouldn't change anything, Henry. And I don't want to get married like this. I need it to be genuine. Not just because we are trying to prove something to everyone else." Abigail told him. "It won't feel right."
He sighed. "I hate that I did this to you."
"You didn't do anything wrong, Henry. Neither of us did. Falling in love is beautiful. And we spent too many years allowing what they might think decide that it can't be beautiful for us."
"What do you think Your Noah would think?" He asked her.
"I think he wants me to be happy."
"Even with me?"
"You are a changed man now. You are good. You've always been good. You are a human man who made some mistakes and some bad decisions. And I think that Noah Stanton knows that and as long as we take care of each other…Noah is okay with it." Abigail softly smiled at their daughter who started to make some baby noises as if she were joining in on the conversation as well. She chuckled before looking back up at Henry. "I will do the speech."
"Really?" Henry asked her.
"Yeah. It was a good idea, Henry. Thank you." She softly smiled at him.
"When will you do it?"
"Why not this evening? Once everyone has closed." She suggested.
"Do you need more time to announce it?" He wondered.
"I will make flyers right now and hang them up on every shop in town."
"I will help you." Henry told her.
"You don't have to."
"I want to." He said. "I am still a little upset that I couldn't help you when you gave birth to Josephine."
"I know. I'm so sorry you couldn't be there." Abigail said as she placed a hand up on his cheek. "That is one thing I deeply regret about all this."
"What are the other things you regret?" He asked her as Josie gently grabbed a handful of Abigail's hair.
"Hm?"
"You made it sound like there was something else."
"Perhaps we shouldn't have kept us a secret for so long." She admitted. "Then none of this would be happening right now."
"No. You only would have lost your job much earlier." Henry assumed.
"We don't know that. Maybe by now, everyone would have gotten used to us being together." She said optimistically.
"Are you sure you don't want to just get married?" He offered one more time.
"No, Henry." Abigail softly chuckled. "Let me address the town in that speech and we'll go from there."
Later that evening, the townspeople began to gather at the Town Hall, standing outside as they waited to hear an announcement from their mayor. Some speculated what Abigail would say whilst others waited patiently without a word. A few of the assumptions were even that Abigail was going to address the ban on alcohol and Lucas's reopening of the Queen of Hearts and that this announcement was going to have nothing to do with the rumors spreading around town about her and Henry at all.
"Is this what I think it is?" Rosemary asked Elizabeth and Lee quietly once they had all arrived as well.
"What do you think it is?" Lee asked her.
"If you mean an announcement confirming to everyone that Josie is Henry Gowen's, then yes. I believe that's what this is." Elizabeth answered. "You know Abigail. She's not one to stay quiet once rumors start to spread around town. Especially about herself."
"Oh, right. That." Lee nodded. "Wait. Josie is-"
Before he could finish his question, Abigail stepped up onto the mayor's office porch with Becky and Cody. Becky was holding Josephine up on her shoulder and she sent every one of the townspeople a glare as if she swore to stand behind her mother no matter what any of them said.
Henry eventually joined the crowd as well and the murmurs stopped upon his presence. He rested his hands inside his pockets and seemed to act unbothered by everyone's reactions to him. His eyes grazed the crowd and fell upon his son and his fiancee for a brief moment before he noticed the look he received from Beatrice beside them. He ignored her expression and looked up at Abigail who had cleared her throat.
"Welcome, everyone. First, I'd like to say thank you for coming out this evening before dinner. I appreciate it. And second…I would like to announce that I will soon be putting in my resignation as Town Mayor." The crowd broke out in quiet murmurs again. "It is clear that a lot of you are not happy with the rumors going around that involve myself and Henry Gowen and I have heard that a discussion has been brought up about a vote to kick me out anyway. So I will respect the wishes of those who find it necessary for me to do so. However….I would like to address something." She looked at Henry in the crowd before looking around at the others again. "Four years ago….Henry Gowen and I began an affair. I initiated it." She emphasized. "At first, it was….physical. I will admit." She gulped, unsure if she should have included that part. "But the more we got to know each other, the more we realized how much we kind of fit together. It came as a shock to us too, believe me. But now….Now I love him and yes….we have a child together. But even Henry just learned that just as recently as the rest of you. But he and I want to make a relationship work and I understand that makes a few of you hesitant to keep me on as mayor. Therefore…I will resign if that is what you all wish." It was silent for about 30 seconds before Abigail spoke again. "That is all. Everyone is dismissed. Thank you."
The cafe owner turned around to take Josephine from her big sister and she gently bounced her baby and kissed her on the temple.
The crowd of people did not move as they tried to process the fact that the rumors were true….and confirmed directly from the source. After a minute or two, Elizabeth stepped in front of them all and turned around to face them. "Come on, everyone." She began to speak in a pleading tone. "Abigail AND Henry, both, have been two of the best mayors this town has had. Sure, maybe Mr. Gowen didn't make all of the same decisions that we would have LIKED him to make…but he never let the town fall apart nor did our town's finances ever truly suffer at his hand. And Mayor Stanton has kept us afloat even whilst out of town for over a year. Perhaps they will make a great team if she stays in office."
Abigail turned around to face the crowd again, still holding Josie, as she tried to read the faces on everyone in the crowd.
"Yes." Rosemary said, stepping up to stand beside Elizabeth, looking out at the group of citizens as well. "I agree."
"They have a child together." Florence spoke out.
"And they aren't married." Molly added.
"Yes, but does that mean that they love this town any less? Or does that give Abigail a handicap to continue as mayor?" Rosemary wondered. "I think not."
"It shows that they have poor judgment." Beatrice added fuel to the flames.
"Yes, and we cannot have a mayor with bad judgment." Florence spoke again.
"Exactly." A few others agreed out loud.
"But-"
"Elizabeth…" Abigail softly interrupted her, moving forward to stand at the top of the stairs. "It's alright. "I am being voted out…And I am alright with that. But I do want you all to know that even if I'd ever ask Henry for his advice….I would still take into account what you all think and what I think is best for the town. Henry is no longer mayor. So I would make any of my future decisions unbiasedly, but I understand why you all might be hesitant. But also please remember…that I have a family to feed. So if you are going to take away my chance as mayor…then please…do not make my cafe and my family suffer because of how you perceive myself and Mr. Gowen. Our children matter most. And we need to be able to feed them. They are your children's friends, their classmates. And despite what you may think of us….we still think of all of you as our friends. And we would not expect our friends to treat us as malicious people because we made some mistakes and kept a few secrets. I know some of your secrets and I would never hold them against any of you or your children. So please….give that some thought at least before you decide to shun my cafe or Gowen Petroleum." She looked at Cody and Becky behind her. "Let's head home for dinner, darlings."
"Yes, Mom." They both said quietly and followed their mother back toward Abigail's Cafe as Henry looked around at the people surrounding him and he followed the Stantons as well, his hands still in his pockets.
"I don't know about you…but I could go for dinner at Abigail's Cafe tonight." Lee said as he approached his wife with an elbow out for her to link arms with him.
"That sounds wonderful, sweetheart." Rosemary smiled at him and they also followed Henry and the Stantons toward the cafe to give Abigail some business again.
"Care to join myself and Allie for dinner at the cafe as well?" Nathan Grant asked Elizabeth in front of the entire crowd, including Lucas Bouchard who rolled his eyes slightly.
"That would be lovely." Elizabeth said, though her eyes briefly flickered to Lucas before falling on Allie who happily stood by her uncle, waiting for an answer.
The three of them headed for the cafe as well, followed by Minnie's family and Christopher and Rachel.
Beatrice stayed back along with Molly, Florence, and a few other citizens, whilst some went off to their homes for dinner instead.
A/N: Hey, everyone. Sadly, we are nearing the end of this fic. But I hope you have enjoyed the journey. I was hoping to finish uploading it before the current season aired, but clearly I failed at that, because real life got too busy for me. Haha. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with this fic till the very end. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope you enjoy the next / last one too. KISSES!